This new Mexican seafood spot just opened in Haleʻiwa

Get ready, Haleʻiwa — the cevichelada has entered the chat. This ingenious concoction allows you to eat ceviche while drinking a michelada (popular Mexican beer cocktail) at the same time. (Da Seafood Cartel’s michelada doesn’t include alcohol, but customers are welcome to BYOB).

That’s just one of the eye-catching dishes you’ll find at the Da Seafood Cartel’s second storefront location, which just opened in Haleʻiwa. Those familiar with the area will recognize the space as the former home of Poke for the People. Not to worry — the poke shop is still in Haleʻiwa and moved further up the road, across of Storto’s Deli and Nalu Health Bar & Café.

Da Seafood Cartel, which officially started in 2020, opened its first brick and mortar location in ‘Aiea about two and a half years ago, according to business owner Amanda Cordes. The business focuses on Sonora-style Mexican seafood.

“We’ve been selling ceviche since 2020 — first during Covid-19, then at the farmers markets,” she says. “We started in the thick of Covid-19 and the idea (for the name) came really fast to us. At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know if cartel has the best connotation.’ But when I looked at the definition, ‘cartel’ is someone who takes over an industry. We do want to take over the Mexican seafood space; it’s (our name’s) kind of a twist on the cartel.”

When she was exploring the possibility of opening a second location, Cordes says that she found out through word of mouth that Poke for the People were looking to move locations.

“It just really worked out,” she says. “We really love the area and we thought ceviche and the North Shore beaches really went hand in hand. We thought it was a good cuisine for people to enjoy after a day at the beach. Or, they could grab a container (of ceviche) and enjoy it at the beach.”

Similar to the ʻAiea location, the new Haleʻiwa spot features Mexican seafood, but offers several exclusive dishes. While the ʻAiea eatery has dishes like fish tacos and steak quesadillas, the Haleʻiwa one includes more dishes centered around fresh seafood.

“Some of the more exciting things we have here are our mariscadas, which is a variety of Mexican seafood,” Cordes says. “Mariscadas pretty much translates to ʻseafood dish.’ People can try a little bit of everything — ceviche, cooked shrimp, fish, scallops and octopus — if they want a variety of fresh seafood.

“We also have cevicheladas — a mix of micheladas with our ceviche — fruit cups with chamoy and tajin, a shrimp Caesar salad, a Mexican-style poke bowl and poke nachos,” she adds.

Mariscadas feature a variety of fresh Mexican-style seafood marinated in the eatery’s special Cartel sauce. It’s served with housemade chips and the “black sauce of death.”

The Mexican-style poke bowl ($18.25) features spicy ‘ahi, ceviche, soybeans, blue crab tobiko spread, avocado, mango, unagi sauce, chipotle aioli, furikake and serrano. Meanwhile, the orale poke nachos ($17.95) include chips topped with spicy ‘ahi, blue crab tobiko spread, guacamole, jalapenos, unagi and chipotle aioli.

“I grew up in Hawaiʻi; I know typical poke bowls are pretty much poke and rice,” Cordes says. “Here, it’s like a wide variety of different flavors.”

Cordes highly recommends the aguachile verde ($18.95) to customers. The dish features shrimp crudo in a citrusy aguachile sauce, and it’s topped with cucumbers, purple onions and serrano. Customers can choose from verde (green), rojo (red spicy) or pineapple habanero aguachile.

“I guess you can translate ‘aguachile’ to chili pepper water, Mexican style,” Cordes says. “The shrimp starts off raw, but it cooks in the lime. The green sauce is really good; I highly recommend the fruit one, too. If you like a sweet and spicy flavor profile, that one’s delicious.”

No trip to Da Seafood Cartel is complete without the business’s signature OG tostada. This is the business’s bestselling tostada, and it’s layered with blue crab tobiko spread, ceviche and avocado. All chips and tostadas are still housemade, according to Cordes.

If you want to take your tostada to the next level, opt for the tostada la basta, ($19.95), which features a medley of fresh seafood — cooked shrimp, shrimp crudo, octopus, mahi crudo and ‘ahi — served with chipotle aioli on a tostada and garnished with purple onions, serrano and an avocado.

Looking for a smaller snack? Check out the business’s chamoy fruit cups ($9.95) or horchata ($5.95).

Da Seafood Cartel’s Haleʻiwa store is currently open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For updates, follow the eatery on Instagram.

“We really focus on and take a lot of pride in being the only place that serves Mexican mariscos,” Cordes says. “Mariscos is the word that Spanish people use for seafood; we’re the only ones that are doing something like this right now.”

CONTACT
Da Seafood Cartel
Haleʻiwa Plantation Shops
66-528A Kamehameha Hwy., Haleʻiwa
Instagram: @@daseafoodcartel Open daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.