Ducking Out of Ollie's Duck & Dive - Malibu

When you're not from Malibu, trying to find a place to eat is as anxiety-inducing as a game of duck, duck, goose with strangers. But I tagged a random head on Yelp and ducked into Ollie's Duck & Dive, a hole in the wall of a small shopping center in the middle seemingly nowhere.

Ollie's may serve a lot of duck, but they're pretty far from dive. The classy dark-wood high tops are gorgeous against the mood lighting, and dishes like Spanish Octopus are clearly made for those with class. The chef clearly paid attention IN class because the thin slices of juicy, fragrant octopus were textbook. But if you really want to taste those tentacles, skip the smothering smashed potatoes, which are literally little potatoes punched by someone with serious anger issues. The underlying spicy chipotle aioli is equally stifling, and it's hard to taste anything over those smashed balls of starch.

I really should have ducked out of the Brussels & Belly, too. A bevy of bitter Brussels against dry slabs of pork in an overpowering mustard vinaigrette, the saucy sweetness turned the whole dish sticky.

Good thing we ordered the Duck Dip. The duck confit was right on, and the combination with caramelized onions and gruyere just can't fail. Too bad it got goosed by the grilled kale. The stiff, not-completely-cooked texture added a bizarre element to the smooth sandwich, and the sharper flavors didn't mesh. But feel free to drown the kale in the salty jus. Together they douse any and all of the savory notes of the duck.

Ollie's does get props for free-range, cage-free ingredients. It's just too bad that they don't know how to put them together. Unfortunately, until those bizarre combinations and flavor-fails change, I will be ducking into a restaurant somewhere else.