Saloon BBQ Co. - Ventura

Ventura? I thought, What the heck is in Ventura? I still haven't found an answer to that question, but I did find Main Street and the Saloon.

There are plenty of beers on the menu and on tap  many of them local. And if I weren't interviewing the next day, i probably would have sampled several whiskey flights.

The food goes good with beer and whiskey, and although the BBQ is obviously the entree, the sides are pretty sweet. The broccolini is legit - they definitely know how to steam. The baked beans don't give my beloved Beantown a run for its money, they're still soft and taste like the good version of what comes from a can.

The Sample Platter to Share could have easily fed three moderate people, but we made it work for two. The pulled pork could have been more moist, but the brisket couldn't be better. The tri tip was a luxury - the tender nuggets with tracks of fat were my favorite.

A decent place to eat and pretty good place to drink? Thanks Ventura, that'll do. I could still nitpick, but why sweat the small stuff when I can eat, drink, and be merry?

Ink - Los Angeles

As Mark Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend once cautioned on The Social Network, "The internet isn't written in pencil, it's written in ink."

And in Ink is written one of my best meals in LA, starting with the Broccolini. The pig ears have a cartilage crunch that is music to my ears, with an airy, fatty fry that lingers long after the charred tips of broccolini are gone. On the other hand, the pool of creme fraiche was totally unnecessary - the best broccolini I've ever had could have easily stood solo.

Dungeness Crab is almost cheating. The fresh-crab flavor is so good, I would marry it and sign my vows in ink. Believe me, this crab is worth kissing through a veil of green melon on a bed of fish sauce mayo.

Watch out for the Potato Polenta. Creamy but forgettable, the foie gras saves it from drowning in the murky duck broth of obscurity. The foie adds lascivious beads of fat and oil that lather the tongue.

You definitely don't go to fine dining to be obscure, but you do want to look classy at the same time. Good thing squid ink is the little black dress of dining. Containing no speakable taste, the murky color add mystery and excitement that any palate can handle, and it really does go with everything. The ink shells set the gold standard of al dente, and the thick tentacles of Octopus are a fragrant explosion, tentacles-down the best octopus I've ever had.

The Lamb Belly has a heavy finish. The robust gamey flavor of lamb gives character to the soft, fatty fronds, infallibly finished with a thick, pasty yogurt. The pine nut cassoulet was yet another unneeded extra - the beans were a bit hard and tasted undercooked.

Despite the smaller shared plates, dinner so sated my thirst for luxury that no room remained for dessert. But let's look at the bigger picture: I only had five dishes at Ink, and two of them became the best ever. And although "best ever" may not mean much coming from a small-time foodie, I won't let that stop me from declaring myself a fan of Ink, written in ink.

N'ice Cream - Venice

No doubt Abbott Kinney remains a Venetian hotspot. In summer the meaning becomes literal, and you become desperate for some reprieve.

A large cup at N'ice Cream gets you three fabulous flavors, and ten samples later, I'm convinced you can't go wrong. My cup consisted of Cookies n' Cream that keeps it simple, dark-roast Coffee as earthy as the ground (groan), and a Salted Caramel that can only be called sublime.

So for a bit of a break from the hotness and the hipsterism, Venice's N'ice Cream is perfect for getting high on a scoop of high-end gelato.

Kanpachi - Gardena

I put Kanpachi on my bucket list because I wanted to compare it with Kantaro. Both boast of the cheapest high-quality sushi in the South Bay, serving up omekase in their tight, hard-to find corners.

The experience is different but equal. Kantaro affords the anonymity of hiding behind a conspicuously sketchy liquor store, while Kanpachi is lost in a lot of lights, sandwiched between a multitude of small storefronts in yet another nondescript Gardena strip.
While Kantaro offers a full experience where food goes on a journey, Kanpachi keeps it simple with an amuse-bouch-y appetizer, the omekase entree, and a dessert.

The Egg Custard appetizer is a savory blast from the past. same-same-but-different from the chinese variation, this egg-pudding is fully flavored with shitake.

Some of the nigiri stays the same, with a comparably smooth Amber Jack, succulent Sweet Shrimp, and a greasy-good, fat-marbled Toro. The Salmon Roe bursts into little balls of flavor, and the Uni is briny bliss. The Halibut slides right down, and the Tamago finishes airy and sweet.

The Red Pepper looks like a wrinkly fish, but it's just a sweet, unfamiliarly-textured slice of a familiar filler. But it's so satisfyingly sweet at the end that the Red Bean ice cream seems almost superfluous. Good thing for the Black Sesame ice cream, which finishes with a little more sass. 

Okay, so the sheer quantity of quality at Kantaro could put a Greek family to shame, but Kanpachi is still one to watch. The quality is consistent, the portions are a standard size, and the sushi is too good to only be savored once.

Ugo - Culver City

It has been a sweltering summer, and even my redondo beach apartment has been a sauna...ocean breeze my ass!

But paying rent for a practically-oceanside Redondo Beach apartment is not without its consequences - I, for one, cannot afford to be constantly in and out of restaurants and coffeeshops to escape the heat. So where do I go to beat this sweat-sucking, face-melting heat?

Apparently Ugo is the place to go, the answer to my heat-of-the-moment prayers. Gourmet gelato is definitely my jam, and many delicious samples later, I "settled" for the Salted Caramel, some of which I traded for a sample of Pistacho. their gelato is rich and creamy and cold, and the shaded outdoor dining is enticing. Check in on yelp, and your gelato is free.

So don't bring me water with ice when the heat kicks it up another notch. I'll be going to ugo where they bring the gelato with the water.

Crab Shack - Gardena

My greed knows no bounds. After gorging on a shared three pounds of crawfish at the Long Beach Crawfish Festival, I decided I had to have more. Unfortunately, I was out of cash, and the one thing MasterCard can't buy is gigantic crawfish.

Crab Shack in Gardena was more than happy to swipe my call-in order, and the plump, juicy, shrimp soaked in medium-spicy sauce were so worth it. Just approach the hot sauce with caution - sometimes you can hit a painful hot spot.

The Crawfish were impressively freshly flavored, but their miniscule size kind of sucked. All that work for a sliver of a tail smaller than a marble hardly seems worth the effort.

But size doesn't always matter, and the little Crab Shack fills some pretty big shoes. Their sauce is definitely better than Shrimp Lover, and I am definitely a lover of their shrimp.

King Poke - Lomita

King Poke is the new middle-school kid on the block, struggling through an awkward adolescence, trying to find its stride.

Their prices are fair, and for not very much, you get a hot mess in a bowl. Every single tidbit is fresh, but the mix of tuna, salmon, albacore, white fish, and masago is overwhelming. It's impossible to know what you are eating at any given moment, and the spicy mayo was clearly a mistake. The cloying creaminess added to the confusion and it wasn't even spicy.

The sushi rice is commendable, with just the right amount of vinegar, and the Harusame noodle salad is a nice bed to lay on, but the imitation crab topper was superfluous.

Less is a lot more here, and that was the theme of my next bowl. Just Tuna, salmon, and masago with a simple ponzu made for a much better experience, but still I prefer Jus' Poke for its generous, well-seasoned chunks.

I didn't dislike King Poke, but it does need to grow into its big boy pants. I have no doubt it'll make a good king one day, but if call it duke for now.