I have always found the St. Louis food scene to be unique. It houses some wonderful and inspired food, but finding the best restaurants can sometimes be tricky. Sure, there are always the high profile restaurant openings, such as the critic-favorite Publico on the Delmar Loop. But there are other restaurants that open quietly, with nothing other than a simple vision and a desire to bring something new to the table.

When researching for a restaurant to review for what is likely my last Student Life review, a tiny picture on the internet of a seafood bowl caught my eye. That bowl belonged to a restaurant named Mariscos el Gato. Further searching would show “el Gato” refers to the nickname of the head chef Pedro Diaz. “Mariscos” just means seafood, but not knowing a word of Spanish, I still needed Google Translate to help me out.

Brock Workman | Student Life

Mariscos el Gato’s Molcajete Kora.

Mariscos el Gato specializes in a type of Mexican food that focuses on seafood. Upon arriving, my waiter informed me the young restaurant had only been open for just about eight months and was still working on securing a liquor license and printing a finalized menu.

“It needs more pictures,” he assured me. And why not?

A picture is what inspired me to drive 25 minutes to Cherokee Street to sample the restaurant. Much of the food is served family style, which in this case means pricier, larger entrees that are meant to be shared. Choosing was difficult because of the volume of choices and the minimal descriptions attributed to each option. My waiter recommended the Pina Rellena, a pineapple stuffed with seafood and cheese, and the Molcajete Kora, a sizzling kettle of seafood including crab legs, octopus and prawns. In addition to these two dishes, we also ordered a shrimp ceviche, which was like a salsa but with less liquid and a larger range of flavor.

The food we were given blew me away. The stuffed pineapple juggled savory shrimp and octopus chunks with sweet pineapple slices in a hollowed out pineapple, baked with a layer of cheese on top. My table cleared out our pineapple almost immediately. The pineapple was a little rich for me by the end of it, but I was saved by the arrival of the Molcajete Kora. Much like fajitas, this dish is served literally sizzling in a cast iron pot that keeps the contents near boiling until they are removed and placed on a plate. The crab legs were easy to crack and seasoned so well they could be eaten straight, and the prawns were sliced in two and easy to carve out. The rest of the pot included seafood mixed with a lightly spicy sauce and a few other items such as cucumber slices. I found a renewed appetite for this part of the meal, as I scraped every last bit of seafood from the pot.

For a seafood restaurant, we received a huge amount of food for our money. We split a $75 check three ways after probably ordering too much food. Since most Midwest seafood is expensive due to transportation costs, I am upset I just now—as a senior—found an affordable, delicious option like Mariscos el Gato. I never thought my last St. Louis restaurant review would be one of my favorite restaurants. It just shows that, in typical St. Louis fashion, you never know when you are walking into a hidden gem just waiting to be unearthed.