Maagoo’s: It Doesn’t Have to Be Tuesday for Kick Ass Fish Tacos in Panama
We typically have one night in Panama City on our way to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, and we’ve always hosted our group dinners either in Casco Viejo or out on the Amador Causeway. Accordingly, when I recently watched one of Cooper Gallant’s videos featuring my friend JP DeRose I couldn’t figure out why they ate dinner away from the coast, closer to the canal, at a place called Maagoo’s Fish Tacos. The food looked great, but it seemed like an odd find. Now, though, I get it, after a brief lunch explained more than a thousand words ever could.
When we returned from the lodge late on a Friday morning, four of us had about seven hours to kill, and one member of our group had an extra day in the city. Fortunately, our driver Archie was on call and able to chauffeur us around. He took us to the Panama Canal Miraflores Visitor Center to view the locks and watch an Imax movie narrated by (who else?) Morgan Freeman. By that time we were famished, and when Archie suggested Maagoo’s my memory of Coop’s video was Pavlovian. I love tacos, I love fishing-themed restaurants and bars, and I pushed our group to go.
It more than lived up to expectations with a distinct spin on taco culture. We had grilled and fried dorado tacos, ceviche, an amazing smoked roosterfish dip, and pineapple-dotted pico de gallo that I could have eaten straight. While the location is unassuming, once you step inside, you could be at a beach bar or marina restaurant anywhere around the world. It’s full of fish replicas, fishing art and all sorts of signs that these folks take the sport and sustainability seriously. I’m glad I didn’t eat more, because I had a five hour flight ahead of me, but I wanted to try more items just to get a sense of what was going on.
Making it even better, the open-kitchen restaurant was connected to a gift shop and tackle store (Diablo Bait & Tackle) full of gear commemorating their country’s water-based culture.
They also run a local fishing, diving and wildlife-viewing outfit called Blue Adventures. Indeed, while the food and atmosphere were enough to draw me in and keep my attention, it was the father-son team of Carlos and Charles Henriquez that sealed the deal. They recognized us as customers of Shane’s and came over to talk fishing. They were friendly obsessives like us and it made me want to push back our flight home a day or two to experience some island hopping and fishing in their part of one of our new favorite countries. If you get a chance, go. We’ll be back.
