Tag Archives: Malibu California

January in Paradise Cove

Restaurant: Paradise Cove

Location: 28128 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California 90265. 310-457-2503

Date: Jan 16, 2011

Cuisine: American

Summary: Great place to spend the day. Food is fine but hardly inspired.

 

Sunday morning rolled around, January 16, and the temperature was in the 80s. The hardships of Southern California — so what to do?  Go to the beach!

We headed up the Malibu coast to Paradise Cove. This joint isn’t my usual fare food wise, but they are superbly located in a quant beachy cove in Malibu, and they have tables on the beach and public chaises on the sand. A word of warning: if you go on a nice day, be prepared to wait. Sometimes as much as two hours for an outside table!

“Pineapple, Tequila, Mojito.” Gimmicky, yes. Tasty yes. I did wish the “glass” was bigger, really not that much volume had been hollowed out.

“New England Clam Chowder.” I was a sucker for Clam Chowder long before I went to Boston for grad school, and I still am. This was a respectable contender in the arena. Not amazing, but lots of cream and butter.

“Fish and Chips,” for the boy (2 years old). He was highly preferential to the chips.

“Veggie Burger and fries.”

“Iced Seafood Sampler.” This was me. The concept is good, the execution wasn’t perfect. Certainly edible, and the fish was fresh. It was soaked fairly liberally in what seemed to be Italian dressing — not sure what I thought of that — and it isn’t the most exciting specimens. Small scallops, frozen king crab, octopus. Still, I enjoyed it.

Cocktail sauce and louis dressing.

“Strawberry ice-cream,” came with the kid’s fish and chips. My son was much appreciative.

This is what you really come for. Umbrellaed and available chaise chairs.

On a gorgeous beach!

Food as Art – Nobu

Restaurant: Nobu Malibu

Location: 3835 Cross Creek Road # 18, Malibu, CA 90265 (310) 317-9140

Date: Febuary 16, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese Fusion

Rating: Maintains it’s very high standards, and price.

 

In my continuing quest to eat the oceans of the earth clean in the form of sushi I returned to one of my “old” haunts, Nobu Malibu. The various Nobus represent the corporate version of the Japanese-Peruvian fusion begun by Nobu Matsuhisa at his eponymous Matsuhisa (REVIEW HERE). While not quite as inventive as the original, the Xerox job is pretty darn good. Food quality is extremely high and highly consistant. The atmosphere is fun. The only deficit is the price, which is perhaps 40-50% higher than most similar restaurants, like say Takao (REVIEW HERE). And it’s not like these are cheap either!

From my cellar, parker gives this Rhone white 94 points. “The 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc (80% Roussanne and the rest Marsanne, Picpoul, and Bourboulenc) possesses classic notes of orange marmalade, honeysuckle, and rose petals, a full-bodied, unctuous texture, gorgeous purity and richness, and a stunningly long finish. It can compete with the finest full-throttle, dry whites of France as well as the world. It is difficult to find a better white Chateauneuf du Pape than Beaucastel. Much like their reds, their whites are made in a style that is atypical for the appellation. It is put through full malolactic, and one-third is barrel fermented, then blended with the two-thirds that is aged in tank. Extraordinarily rich and honeyed, it is ideal for drinking with intensely flavored culinary dishes.”

In the glass, this has a nice yellow/amber color not seen in duller (read generic Chardonnay) wines.

“Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno.” The total Nobu classic, but it still holds it’s own. This version is as good as any i’ve had.

“Sashimi Salad.” Another Nobu classic. The dressing has this nice flavor and texture I’ve always liked, and the mildly seared tuna is succulent. The overall salad is a bit salty, but Japanese cuisine usually is.

“New Style Sashimi.” Classic again. Apparently this is very Peruvian, although I wouldn’t know directly as my closest contact to that country was an hour spent in Lima airport. However, the halibut is supremely tender, and the warm olive oil, ponzu and sesame thing gives it a toasty richness.

“Shrimp Tempura with Ponzu Sauce.” More classics. I’ve always loved these little fellows. Basically the normal Shrimp Tempura, but pre sauced, and in smaller bite sized chunks. Addictive, but eat quickly before it sogs up.

“Rosemary crusted Scallops in sweet and sour crust with cilantro sauce.” This was my first new dish of the night, and it was pretty incredible. The pseudo fried crisp on the scallops was a bit sweet, and the cilantro sauce mild, but it all went together perfectly, and inspired marriage of textures and flavors.

“Lobster Sweet and Sour.” Another new dish, and pretty delectable. Tender lobster on a spinach bed, with a subdued sweet and sour sauce and then the whatever-it-was on top adding a bit of texture.

“Austrialian Wagyu Beef, butter truffle sauce and crispy onions.” Yum. The beef was almost like candy, sweet and rich. The onion-ring-like crisps were good for soaking up the sauce.

Marbling!

“Miso Soup.” Classic, and as expected.

A bit of sushi.

In the front, Tai (red snapper) with shiso, toro (tuna belly). The white thing with frisy stuff on top I can’t remember.

In the middle, Kani (king crab leg) sushi.

In the back, Unagi (Fresh Water eel).

The white stuff in the middle. Ika (squid) with shiso leaf and a bit of ginger.

The yellow chunks Tamago (sweet omelet).

On the left Ikura (salmon roe) and on the right Uni (sea urchin).

Completely stuffed, we rolled out of here well satisfied. My only complaint is that Nobu is so expensive. For example the “Toro Tartar w/ Caviar” is $36 compared to $25 at Takao — identical too.

Quick Eats: Taverna Tony

Restaurant: Taverna Tony

Location: 23410 Civic Center Way, Malibu, CA 90265, Tel: (310) 317-9667

Date: Dec 10, 2010

Cuisine: Greek

 

I have a weakness for Greek food. I spent big chunks of the summers of 1990 and 1991 in Greece, and a month in 2005. I know it isn’t always the fanciest (although in 2005 I had a brilliant modern Greek meal on the Island of Rhodos), but I love the flavor palette, particularly lamb and yoghurt. And Tzatziki, which I absolutely can’t get enough of. Here in LA our favorite Greek haunt is Taverna Tony. We haven’t exactly tried a zillion of them either, but Tony’s is fun.

The menu.

The serve one of the typical creamy greek spreads with their bread. This is one of the yogurt, garlic, eggplant, olive oil type ones. A guilty pleasure.

As big a wine snob as I am, I’m also a huge believer in drinking the local beverage. I actually like Greek wine. This one is a mainland wine made by monks, Tsantali Agioritikos. In my opinion the best Greek whites (I don’t really drink Greek reds) are from Santorini. If you want the really authentic flavor, go for Retsina — Tony has it — makes me remember my college summers in Greece, but not to everyone’s taste.

One thing about Tony’s, they have mega sized portions (to use the Greek). My wife always gets the “Vegetarian’s paradise” which is basically every dip and vegetarian appetizer known in Greece. It comes on two plates, the hot and cold. Don’t even think about trying to order an appetizer, or even a salad unless you have a lot of people. A partial list of what’s included is: Hummus, Tzatziki, Melitzanosalata, Tabouli, Spanakopita, Tiropita, Feta Cheese, Horta.

The hot plate of above. Spanakopita etc. You can see the ubiquitous rice and overcooked vegetables (I like them this way at Greek and Turkish places).


This is the “ROAST BABY LAMB KLEFTIKO, Baby Lamb, slow-roasted with Herbs, Garlic, Onions, Oregano – A House Specialty that melts in your mouth.” That pretty much says it all.

In case you couldn’t see the lamb itself well enough, here it is again!  Baah!

I always get a side of “TZATZIKI DIP  Fresh Yoghurt, Cucumber, Fresh Mint, Garlic.” Roast lamb is just not roast lamb unless slathered in Tzatziki.

It’s worth noting that the atmosphere is fun here, and they have very loud live Greek music. There seem to be an endless supply of families throwing some kind of big dinner’s with like 20-30 people at huge long tables laden with food — this also is very Greek. There might be better Greek food in town (if anyone knows please tell me), but I’m perfectly happy with my monthly dose of lamb, yogurt, and Greek wine.


You can see the band in the corner.


A giant table arrayed on the patio.