thatās where they get uni from ?
I found the salsas to be complementary to the seafood. I would take one bite, as prepared, and then the a bit with dab of each of the salsas which all added a little heat, and then repeat the cycle over again.
It reminds me a lot of the seafood lady in ensenada who has gotten a ton of hype/love she always has a million salsas on her cart that go with pretty much every offering they have.
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That reminds me i did use the salsas on my torta and it was wonderful. Then again those salsas can make even lodgeās pizza palatable.
Pizza was my first thought - not that one though.
I doubt it
We finally got a chance to try Holbox! 
The new food stall in the Mercado La Paloma food court, Holbox is the creation of Chef Gilberto Cetina (of Chichen Itza fame), which is just across the way.
Holbox (Mayan for āBlack Holeā) specializes in Yucatecan and other regional Seafood specialties, and when you walk up to the counter to order, you see fresh Seafood on display.
In fact, just minutes after we ordered, Chef Cetina Jr. was breaking down a giant Opah! 
Pretty impressive.
Each order comes with complementary Chips & Salsa. The Salsa was fantastic, deeply tart, lightly spicy and fragrant. The Chips were sadly stale though. 
:
Pata de Mula (Mexican Blood Clams, Onions Cilantro, Lime Juice & Chile Morita Sauce):
If youāve never had Pata de Mula before, thereās a reason they are called āBlood Clamsā: Stunning, natural crimson-colored liquid surrounds these Clams. They were potently oceanic, almost earthy but quite interesting. Weāve had Pata de Mula with some friends a few years ago at a local hole-in-the-wall that seemed brighter, but these were fine.
Opah & Uni Ceviche (Opah & Santa Barbara Uni, Onion, Cilantro, Tomato, Salsa Roja, Avocado) (S):
Compared to earlier menus, it seems Holbox is now offering their famous Ceviche in Small or Large orders. Small arrives on a Tostada (like what @PorkyBelly highlights), but a Large order arrives on an elongated plate, with 2 Tostadas on the side for self-serve.
First, it looks like theyāre back up to 5 Uni per Small Order. It looked gorgeous.
Sadly, the curse of Variable Uni strikes again: The Uni was really funky, overly briny (like bad seawater), and just old. 
Last weekās visit to Miyabi Uni, with their servers telling us their supply of Santa Barbara Uni was not viable that week may have been a foreshadowing of what happened here.
The actual Opah Ceviche was very fresh and tart. It was easily leagues ahead of the awful, muted Ceviche we had Verlaine (a supposed elevated alta cocina restaurant).
If the Uni was fresh, I could imagine this would be incredible. But I think here on this board, weāve all experienced the tragic ups and downs of Uni this past year. But Iāll be back to try it again.
Coctel Mixto (Shrimp, Octopus, Oyster, Avocado, Housemade Sauce, Onion, Cilantro, Lime):
This was incredible! Extremely fresh Shrimp, Oyster and especially the Pulpo (Octopus)! The Octopus was the highlight, being so tender and nothing like the rubbery texture that Octopus is associated with. We devoured this in seconds. 
Wood Grilled Black Cod Fish Tacos (Wood Grilled Black Cod, Housemade Mayo, Cabbage, Pico de Gallo, Handmade Tortilla):
A new menu item, the Wood Grilled Black Cod was perfectly cooked! Imagine buttery, tender, supple Black Cod and you have Chef Cetina Jr.'s version. It was just a touch underseasoned (everyone in our group thought so), but still so fresh and perfectly cooked.
We felt Chef Cetina didnāt really reach the levels of Guerilla Tacos and Chef Wes Avilla in terms of matching Salsas and flavors, however, thanks to @PorkyBelly and others, we remembered to test out their 5 Handmade Salsas:
They all were very interesting and very fresh. For the Black Cod Taco, a bit of the Chile Morita was good. The Cacahuate Salsa (with Roasted Peanuts) was even better.
But I thought even the Kut (Roasted Habanero Peppers Salsa) was also very distinct and matched well with this Taco.
Basically adding any of the 5 Handmade Salsas made this Black Cod Taco sing and much more interesting.
Torta de Camaron Empazinado (Breaded Shrimp, Homemade Bread, Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado):
Thanks to @PorkyBelly for this recommendation as well! The Breaded Shrimp was lightly crisped (although we wish it had more crunch), and so fresh! They were very generous with their Shrimp as @PorkyBelly noted, and biting into it with their Homemade Bread tasted like a very good Shrimp Poā Boy.
Like the Taco test above, I sampled all 5 of their Salsas and really, all 5 of them made this Shrimp Torta SO GOOD! Any of the 5 wouldāve worked just fine, so be sure to add one for your meal. 
With their Housemade Salsas added, I enjoyed this Shrimp Sandwich more than Little Jewelās Shrimp Poā Boy.
Overall, Holbox is a nice, exciting at times, place to enjoy Chef Cetinaās Seafood creations with a Yucatecan angle. While the much-vaunted Uni Ceviche was disappointing (foiled by bad Uni ), weāre hoping it was just an off-day (for supplies) and look forward to trying it again.
The Cocktel Mixto (with that amazing Pulpo) was reason to return - so good! - and the Black Cod Tacos are fantastic, so fresh, perfectly cooked and buttery tender (with the addition of one of their Housemade Salsas).
Holbox
(inside Mercado La Paloma)
3655 S. Grand Ave., #C9
Los Angeles, CA 90007
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Nice report @Chowseeker1999 , glad you liked it, except for the dreaded bad uni. The uni looks fresh from your pictures,
but i guess you never know until you taste it. The coctel is indeed excellent and the torta with salsa is so satisfying. was the paella on the menu on your visit?
Try out the live diver scallop next time.
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Hi @PorkyBelly,
No, didnāt see the Paella as an option. Iāll definitely keep an eye out for that, and try the diver scallop next time. 
Thanks.
Great report!
Too bad Holbox wasnāt firing on all cylinders for you.
The advantage that place like Guerilla Tacos has its that they arenāt married to a particular menu. If the uni isnāt great, Wes wonāt put it on the menu. If the uni isnāt great, it seems like Holbox will just go with it because their menu is more static.
Iām going back soon to do a proper exploration of the menu but I think Iāll wait until the uni report is more positive.
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Went for dinner today and no uni tostada, maybe they arenāt getting good uni right now.
Looks like I missed the illustrious @Chowseeker1999 by a matter of hours!
Chowseeker, you are spot on about the uni (we also received 5 lobes), which was indeed disappointing atop the otherwise terrific opah ceviche.
We, too, had the cocktel mixto and the wood-grilled black cod fish tacos, both of which were delicious.
We also had the scallop al carbon which was tasty, too. One half of the shell had the frilly edge bits (pretty sure thatās the scientific name, right?) fried up like calamari, served on top of shredded red cabbage with a few dots of mayo and the darker salsa. Mentioning this because I hadnāt seen it in previous reports.
They were sold out of the surf clam ceviche, pata de mula, and the tortas by the time we got there (between 3:30 - 4:00 pm), so it may be worth going earlier for those who are interested in trying these items.
Even with the uni mishap, looking forward to a return visit to try the other dishes and maybe level-up to a bang-bang like some of you. Many thanks for this recommendation.
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Great report @Pomsmoms.
Bummer about the Uni, but now based on your experience and ours, it looks like this weekend was just not a good time / batch for Uni. 
But Iāll definitely be back (loved everything else). The Surf Clam looks great, thanks!
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@Pomsmoms, that long frilly part must be the outer mantle - nice. We didnāt get that with our orders. Either itās a new part of the presentation or maybe discretion of which chef is on duty? How was it?
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I think Sundays might be the day where things will run out. Holbox must be sourcing their seafood like the local reputable sushi/fresh fish places.
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Outer mantle - learn something new every day here on FTC!
Iām hoping itās a new presentation that sticks around (less waste, more food for us, right?). I did see Chef Cetina around, so fingers crossed.
It was pretty good, really similar to calamari. In fact, the hubs thought it was calamari and said, āWhatās with the two random pieces of calamari?ā 
Not overly chewy, a good crisp batterā¦nice textural foil for the rest of the scallop.
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Whoops. Forgot to mention that I was there Saturday afternoon, not Sunday.
This just might be a sign that Holbox is getting very popular then. Sunday might be a bust on a lot of items. We almost went yesterday for lunch but said-daughter (see above) had a very long face. She might have actually saved us a trip.
āOuter mantleā
I have a very rudimentary knowledge of mollusks. That outer mantle on the scallop has a series of very simple eyes - they often show up as blue when visible light is cast on it. Beyond that and the abductor muscle - the piece of flesh we associate as scallop - is pretty limited.
I looked up the anatomy of the scallop, and now know what that other portion that is served with the abductor muscle is. Itās the scallopās gonad. @PorkyBelly - when raw, red is female, whitish for male.
#nutsfornads
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So basically youāre telling me I ate a bunch of eyes and nads. 
Jokes aside, that is good information to know! Thanks, @bulavinaka for this first lesson in Mollusks 101.
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Thereās something makes sense for creatures that has such big 'nads to have so many eyes - like up to 100.
āLook at the size of those things! Look look look look look look look lookā¦ā
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