Showing posts with label comfort food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comfort food. Show all posts

Monday, December 8, 2008

Chow Down at Baby Blues BBQ

I've been trying to actually use my Cozmo cards, so when I had to go to LAX I decided to try out Baby Blues BBQ in Venice.The place was crowded and loud - typical small BBQ joint. I was excited that they had sweet tea!!! It's hard enough for me to find ppl in LA who even KNEW what sweet tea is.

We decided to share the Blue Devil plate which gives you 4 meats (although Texas and baby back will cost you extra :/), corn bread, and 2 sides. We got the Texas beef ribs, Memphis ribs, baby back ribs, and shrimps - with sweet potato and corn on the cob for the sides.

The corn on the cob was sweet and moist.
I initially enjoyed the blue cheese they put on the corn, but after a while it was too much for me and I really just wanted to taste the sweetness of the corn itself.

The ribs were all great. Pretty tender with beef < memphis < baby back in tenderness.

Now, to show you the differences between the ribs, here are the bones, from top to bottom, of the Texas style beef ribs, then the baby back ribs, followed by the Memphis style long bone ribs.
See the size differences? And the curved bone of the baby back!

In an attempt to hit $50 so we can use our cozmo card, we ordered two desserts: the banana pudding and pumpkin-sweet potato pie.
I think there's too much starch in this pudding and I didn't really like the texture - too sticky.

The pumpkin sweet potato pie was good, although very rich.

This was a good BBQ place (next time I will probably get the baby back ribs, although they were all good), although it was relatively expensive (I want to go back before the end of the year to use my other cozmo card :D). Still, overall a much better experience than that LA BBQ Fest ....
The ribs here are tender and had great flavor, and the ambiance was pretty cool.

Baby Blues BBQ

444 Lincoln Bl.
Venice CA 90291
310-396-7675
www.babybluesvenice.com

Baby Blues Bar-B-Q on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Neighborhood Nook

Nook was quite hard to find. Not only is it in an ordinary looking strip mall, it is also in the back corner of said mall. And while the website boasts a red arrow, the actual place is marked by a big blue arrow (that does not say Nook). After walking round and round I finally found the place.

The restaurant was not too crowded or loud - it is a good place to have a nice dinner and actually have conversation! Plus free parking.

Instead of bread or amuse bouche, Nook does something different: boiled peanuts. Not very friendly to the peanut-allergy folks out there, but this reminds me of my childhood when I used to buy boiled peanuts at the zoo (you're supposed to buy them and feed the elephants but I thought I deserved them more than the elephants!).

I ordered some "New Orleans style gumbo" and a portion of the proceed goes to the hurricane relief fund - good cause!
As far as the gumbo goes, though, I thought it was just okay. Good but I've had much better gumbo. Well, let me put it this way: It was a good soup - but if you ask me, it ain't gumbo! Can't compare to the one I had at Luke in NOLA.

Crispy Fried Calamari ($10)
Tossed with citrus-soy vinaigrette and wasabi dipping sauce.
This was a good calamari - not too greasy as it sometimes tends to be. The wasabi dipping sauce is interesting and is a delicious twist - it helps cut the grease of the fried calamari.

Shiitake and Gruyere Bread Pudding ($7)
Quite a flavorful and aromatic bread pudding! Liked this dish a lot (although it could use more shiitake for better texture) - it was better the next day when the bread has soaked up all the flavors :P

New Zealand green lip mussel pan roast ($12)
with linguisa sausage, oven-dried tomato, garlic, herbs and white wine saffron brot
Really loved the broth for this dish. The mussels are also big, plump and juicy. Probably my favorite dish of the night, and not bad for $12 (there were more mussels, this was half eaten)

Sauteed Brown Rice Bowl ($12)
With tofu, carrots, broccoli, and egg white this is a very healthy dish. And tastes kinda healthy too :P It is much better the day after as a leftover, just like fried rice is much better when made with day-old rice. Pretty basic dish, nothing special.

For dessert we got the chocolate pot de creme, as it was recommended to us ($7)
It's a pretty small pot but definitely a delicious dessert. The current menu online lists chocolate pot de creme with fresh strawberries, but I believe the one we had were blueberries.

The prices are Nook Bistro were pretty reasonable and the food is delicious (even if they can't do gumbo, IMHO) with good quality ingredients. An excellent neighborhood bistro and a pretty casual dining place. Nothing mindblowing but definitely good comfort food. I'll definitely be back.

Nook Bistro
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025
T 310.207.5160
http://www.nookbistro.com

Nook Bistro on Urbanspoon

Friday, August 22, 2008

Beach's Comfort Food

I've been making quite a few runs to LAX, and Venice area is always a nice place to stop for dinner, so I've been trying different places. This is a backpost from a few weeks ago, when I hit James' Beach for the first time.

The place was pretty hopping outside on the patio, where you first come in, but is pretty quiet inside the dimly-lit main dining room. We sat inside on a booth. James' Beach offers a consistent special entree every day and on Tuesdays it was chicken pot pie. I actually wanted to try the Monday's Special (Short Ribs), but I guess not this time a round.

We ordered a smoked duck salad (from the specials menu) as appetizer:The smoked duck was good, but we thought they didn't give quite enough. The peaches added a really nice flavor and goes well with the blue cheese. There was too much blue cheese for us, but since you can easily pick those out it wasn't a problem. Overall a light refreshing salad.

I ordered the pot roasted briskets:
The briskets were a bit fatty and the sauce a bit salty. It's definitely "comfort food" and hit the spot, but wasn't anything special.

My friend ordered the Sand Dabs and it was actually really delicious!
I liked it better than my brisket. It was light yet flavorful and the spinach, and especially the golden raisins played really well together.

Now, I didn't know what sand dabs were prior to this, so I looked it up and according to www.ochef.com:

"Alan Davidson, author of The Oxford Companion to Food and one of the world's foremost authorities on seafood, refers to the sand dab as a European fish, found in the North Atlantic. It is a flatfish, with a brown back, and can reach 16 inches in length, although is often closer to 10. He says it is "a good fish, with a pleasing flavour, well suited to being fried.
It's so great when you find out about some new food and liking it :)


The Summer Peach Crisp from their Specials' menu was pretty good - noticeably fresh peaches that are still crisp upon biting.



But, the one that takes the cake (or pie) for me was their Cherry Pie:



It wasn't too sweet, the whole cherries they have in there were awesome and it also had a nice crust. As far as cherry desserts go, this was one of my favorites. I would definitely get this again next time around (if they're still serving it)!

The service at James' Beach is kind of slow and the noise level depends on whether you're sitting inside or outside (way quieter inside), but it has solid food. I'll probably be coming here again when I have to make a run to LAX.

James' Beach
60 North Venice Boulevard
Venice, California 90291
310-823-5396
http://www.jamesbeach.com

James' Beach on Urbanspoon

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP