Darrow’s New Orleans Grill - Carson

Support black businesses. And more importantly, support the best businesses! Darrow's makes the best sandwich in the South Bay, and it's our damn fault if we let them go!

The best sandwich in the South Bay. You'll hear that a lot. Many dare to make the claim, but none of them make the Zeek. And none of them that dare to make this claim have ever had the Zeek. A po'boy with potato salad sounds like something you’d see on thisiswhyyourefat.com, but it’s unequivocally the best of the bayou between two slices of bread. Fried catfish has a crunch, and the shrimp are sweet and fresh under golden-brown breading. The creole potato salad cushions the rougher edges of the frying, and there is something about how the mashy potato and mayo bring it all together. It's also a literal glue so your sandwich never falls apart.

The Bayou Classic made me nervous - life is like a box of oysters - you never know what you’re going to get. Fear the salty pungency, fear the briny stench, and especially fear the freshwater oyster which tends to taste like mud. No fear needed, the oysters fry light, and the freshness kills the stench. The frying cuts the slime factor, and the texture and finish are more meaty than mollusk in a way. A bit on the saltier side, but stays on the tasty side. 

Fresh seafood seems to be their specialty. The Soft Shell Crab Po'Boy is a smooth and sizable crustacean, sweet and for lack of a better description, just really good. 

The Chicken Sausage is nice as well - made with dark meat to give it some extra flavor. The spice mix sings, but I wish it would singe a little more. It doesn't have that Cajun-Creole fire, but it would make one heck of a breakfast. 

Sides are important, and all of theirs are vegetarian. I prefer my collards with the ham, but these Bayou Blend Greens are a healthy, garden-y, god's-green-earth mouthful of bitter greens that have a refreshing pop. 

Also vegetarian, the Red Beans & Rice. The beans are soft-boiled, the rice fluffy but firm. Comfort food for sure. 

I recommend a soup and sandwich, specifically a po'boy to dip into the File Gumbo. I've had my share of gumbos, and this is the gumbo to roux them all. A brown, almost-gravy stew is spicy and meaty with crab and shrimp bringing out the seafood savor and chicken adding the meaty flavor. 

I support Darrow's. Because they are awesome! They roll out some of the best flavors that ever graced a roll, and judging by all the hits I've tried, they seem to be on a roll.  

Nikuman-Ya UPDATE - Gardena

A new quaran-theme is born: foods that look good despite being haphazardly thrown on a plate. 

The containers go directly into the trash to minimize potential contamination, and let’s face it, my re-plating isn’t pretty. These fluffy Bao-clouds from Nikuman-Ya survive the transfer intact, but the photo is hardly advertising. This virgin-white pork-stuffed puff is all sorts of tasty, but my picture makes it all kinds of pasty... the only thing pastier than me. Don’t let my photography deter you. The pork filling is tender and juicy every time, though I’m more seduced by the shrimpy sass of the slightly spicy seafood bao.

The Pork & Cheese Bao is a dumpling wrapper around a large Bao filling, with a crusty layer like a chicharron but it’s cheesaron. Sounds weird but it works. Get this one if you prefer, or just get the regular. One order of either is big enough to share if you’re getting other stuff. 

The Pork and Takana Dumplings are a mash-up of the two. A chewy dumpling wrapper err on the side of thick and is pinched into a bucket-bag purse like a mini-bao. Same tender pork, mixed up with leafy greens, a veggie with a drier texture like chaya and a deeper flavor like the leaf of a mustard green. 

Their entrees are also worth a gander. The Crab Fried Rice is firm but light, with all the crabby flavor you could ever want infused into every bite. Visible crab bits, even in this crude AF photo, highly recommend if you’re feeling fried rice. 

Essence of mapo tofu. The ingredients are all there and the peppercorn numbing-burn will linger, but where Chinese food tends to shout, this one has flavors that whisper so listen up.

Close your eyes and point to something on the menu if you can’t decide. It’s going to taste great, guaranteed, and especially if it’s bao. There’s a not a lot of menus that can make that promise, but Nikuman-Ya can deliver. And if you can’t there and literally need them to deliver, don’t miss out - have Doordash do that for you. 

El Barrio UPDATE - Redondo Beach

At El Barrio, I definitely prefer the taco. It’s a concise, more concentrated meat-purse in a bold blue corn tortilla. But you do get a lot more food in a burrito for not that much more money, and all of it is lip-smacking, tummy-filling good. Just find someone equally hungry to split them with so you can switch it up and try them all.

The Al Pastor Pork Burrito is so sliced-off-the-spit tender that the middle cries a little with every chew. Little bits of pineapple add a splash of citrus, and the salsas add pinches of spice to perk up the rice-and-beans-in-a-wrapper. 

I love the toasted cheese crust. It does double duty in keeping the burrito closed and adding crispy crunch to a soft tortilla. Crunch contrasts the juicy in the Carne Wagyu Steak Burrito, and the green salsa brings a mildly wake-me-up kind of sting. 

It's a rare day that I don't miss the meat, but the Cauliflower Con Mole Burrito doesn’t need it. The roasted cauliflower has a robust texture, lighter but just as filling. The mole adds an earthy depth, and I wish they’d smear some of that black magic on everything else.

I guess the birria fell off the delivery menu, but it was the best thing ever while it was there. I’m waiting for it to come back, but there’s not a single thing on the menu not worth having. The delivery fees aren’t fun, but I’d pay almost anything for one of El Barrio’s tacos. 

Saigon Dish - Lawndale

There is nothing more nerve-wracking than recommending ethnic food of your ethnicity. I can count the South Bay Chinese restaurants I’d endorse on one hand...or may just one finger, and it’s such a punch to the gut if someone doesn’t like your food.

I’m told there’s barely a handful of good Vietnamese food around here as well, but Saigon Dish did come recommended. 

A gander at the menu indicates some degree of authenticity. An overwhelming selection requiring  a system of numbers exceeding 50 promises a long list of things I can’t pronounce.

Warm up with the #28, the Bun Tom Cha Gio Thit Nuong, a classic. Vermicelli with al dente noodle-floss, with fresh grilled shrimp and sweet, tender pork and an egg roll that’s moist and savory with thin, crispy skin. Toss it all in fish sauce, and enjoy the mix of hot and cold. The photo makes the meats look stingy, but trust me, it’s buried treasure under all the noodles.

A couple of banh mi because I was curious, and the fillings are pretty good. The Spicy Lemongrass Chicken is perky and seasoned well enough. 

The Grilled Pork is savory with a sweeter finish. The  breads are store-bought hoagies, but $5 per sandwich is practically free and I’m not about to bash that. 

The #52. If you’ve run out of comedies on Netflix, as me to order “Mi Xao Don Thap Cam.” It’s a house special, crispy noodles like a bed of Asian nachos, doused with a soupy stew of everything. They call it a stir fry, but the juices are thickened by starch, and you get a mix of so much meat. There’s whole fresh shrimp, slices of chicken, gluey dices of beef and fish and shrimp, vulcanized into meatballs. This mix has a fishy finish, an acquired taste for some, the flavor of home for many like me. And if you're worried about portion size, don't. This is literally 1/4 of the order.

I like it. I like you, Saigon Dish. I can’t go to Garden Grove right now but for now, I can settle down with you without having to settle for you. 

Pho Ever - Gardena

Okay, no. 

No Pho ever, not from here, probably not even again. The broth is thin and sweet and not very beefy. The noodles are whatever, and it’s mostly just noodles. The rare steak looked good, and I’m told it was. 

We also ordered the Bun with five toppings but they crammed it all into a styrofoam container so every item spilled into the bottom of the bag somewhere in transit. So for $16, we got vermicelli and bean sprouts. 

The Banh Mi were pretty good. The Lemongrass Chicken wasn’t dry and it was juicy. The bread was toasted, and it didn’t slice up the roof of my mouth. 

The Cold Cut Combo works as well. Thick slices of pork loaf, head cheese, with all the fixin’s, a cured and pickled delight. 

The banh mi are good and everything else was okay as well. Nothing bad here but pho sure nothing I’d pho ever make a point to come back for.