El Gato Azul
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Just two streets over from Prescott’s historic downtown Courthouse Plaza is the quirky El Gato Azul. Here they serve their take on tapas, which are a type of Spanish food consisting of various small appetizer plates. It’s also similar to a much less formal version of Japanese kaiseki, but in this we get to actually pick our food. The great thing about tapas is that you can try out so many different things in one meal. They do also have regular-sized lunch and dinner plates, which we have yet to try.
El Gato Azul has limited inside seating, but there is plenty of outdoor seating under their patio. Fortunately, the weather in Prescott is quite nice most of the year so seating outside shouldn’t be an issue. The patio is next to a small creek which helps make the outdoor seating even better.
Since El Gato Azul serves tapas, we just ordered a bunch of plates and ate them as they came out. There really aren’t any appetizers here. We were first served the fried avocado and green chili wontons. The fried avocado is lightly fried and drizzled with a nice spicy mayo on top. The green chili wontons are nicely fried with a creamy filling. The green chilis in the filling add a nice kick that breaks through the creaminess.
Next came the beef and bleu tacos and the crab cakes. The tacos have tender beef, the bleu cheese isn’t overpowering, and the pickled onions add a nice contrast with the vinegar. The crab cakes are lightly fried, and the crab mix is very creamy with a slight kick from some jalapenos. There is also a citrus aioli on top.
Finally we were brought out the pecan and goat cheese on pita bread as well as the Cajun corn dogs. The pecan and goat cheese was served on soft pita bread with creamy goat cheese spread on top and crushed pecans sprinkled all over. Honey was then drizzled over the top. The pecans added a nice crunch and between the honey and goat cheese it made it quite sweet. We got two orders of Cajun corn dogs because each order comes with three, and it was annoying having to try to split the third the last time we ate here. The Cajun corn dogs are, so far for us, the best thing on the menu. They’re jumbo shrimp wrapped in prosciutto, dipped in cornmeal batter, fried, and then drizzled with a sweet citrus honey sauce. These corn dogs are amazing. The shrimp make a nice little pop when biting into it, and the salty prosciutto adds a nice contrast to the sweet sauce on top. We were definitely glad we didn’t have to share this time.
On our previous visit we had ordered the chorizo meatballs, baked brie “nachos”, dancin’ chicken verde, and the fried artichokes. We also of course got the Cajun corndogs and learned that we couldn’t share. All of these were very good as well.
The food at El Gato Azul is fantastic, and there are so many options that it will take us many, many visits to try everything. There is a large number of fried dishes, so just be prepared for that.
Google Maps Link: El Gato Azul
