Mariscos Chente: Get your snook on in West L.A.

Sinaloa-style seafood joint Mariscos Chente in Mar Vista has already become a local foodie legend thanks to the tireless Bill Esparza, champion of authentic Mexican food. With 187 replies to Bill's original Chowhound post, nearly all glowing, this is the kind of place that everyone wishes they had discovered.
But after hearing about it for months, I may have been expecting something a little different than this very bare-bones storefront which sat empty and stuffy at lunch on Labor Day weekend. The folks at Mariscos Chente actually travel to Mazatlan every week to bring back impeccably fresh fish, so they're able to offer varieties that aren't usually available in L.A. The menu is simple: a dozen shrimp preparations, raw seafood coctels, ceviche, and a handful of cooked fish dishes. They're served simply with a little rice on the side and corn tortillas. Thick, crunchy tortilla chips come with lime-heavy salsa verde which works well on the fish dishes, too.FoodGPS, Matt and I ordered camarones a la diabla (shrimp in spicy chile sauce, $12) and pescado zarandeado, a whole snook butterflied and grilled with a soy-mayo marinade (above). We also asked for hard-to-find marlin tacos, which weren't on the menu, but Josh and I preferred the ones we had in Baja. The shrimp was excellent, with a just-spicy-enough sauce and the meaty texture you want in a Mexican shrimp dish. The snook ($20 a kilo, which serves two or three) arrived impressively splayed on a platter, glistening with marinade and perfectly cooked. It's a firm fish that stands up well to the grill. Folded into a corn tortilla with the pickled onions that are served alongside, and doused with the green salsa, it was a fine-tasting, rustic package that laughed at the complexity of a fried fish taco.
I realize now that we missed out on the raw seafood cocktails, so a return visit is now in order -- hopefully with mas cerveza on a cooler evening.
Mariscos Chente is super-authentic and very fresh, but as a specialty operation, it's a different style of Mexican restaurant from what most of us are used to. One Chowhound poster, for example, complained that it's not cheap. It's not a taco truck, but it's an excellent value nonetheless -- it's fresh seafood, folks -- is Santa Monica Seafood cheap?
Mariscos Chente does take credit cards now and serves beer, but there are a few other things to remember:

• It's a small, family-run operation with a Latin American approach to service -- if you need the bill or anything else, flag the server down, don't expect her to anticipate your every need. The interior is bare-bones, and there's no patio, so don't expect to replicate a hanging-out-at-picnic tables-in-Mexico type of experience.
• As I said before, there are few extras. Drinks are mostly beer and sodas -- no iced tea or aguas frescas. There's just the one green salsa -- Bill says Mexican seafood dishes are usually accompanied with bottled hot sauce, not fresh salsas. No beans, fries, or other sides either.
• It might be best to call ahead and make sure they're open, as hours can vary. But if you want to see what real fresh Mexican seafood is all about, and a trip to Ensenada isn't in the offing, you'll want to try Mariscos Chente.

Mariscos Chente
4532 S. Centinela
Mar Vista
310-390-9241

BottleRock is up to new tricks in Culver City and Downtown

BottleRock sommelier George Skorka adds port to Allagash Curieux beer to make a Hungarian Blood cocktail.

At a media tasting to introduce BottleRock executive chef Jared Levy, we got to hear about the new BottleRock Downtown as well as sample some fascinating wines and potions selected by sommelier George Skorka. The Downtown BottleRock, opening in March at 11th and Flower will be twice as big, with a more ambitious menu, says Levy. He's also revamped the Culver City menu, despite the tiny prep space, with housemade rilletes and pates and new lighter dishes. Foie gras torchon with kumquats from his backyard probably isn't the lightest, but it instantly became my favorite bite of the week. At $6 a plate, I'd stop by for foie gras and a glass of wine anytime. Gambas -- Spicy gulf shrimp, smoked paprika and garlic were an amazing match for the 2007 Robert Eymael Urzig Wurzgarten -- or a slighty sweet but complex Riesling, to the non-oenophiles. Another great match was the 2007 Le Rote Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG, with sauteed scallops. At $13.99 a bottle, I'm going to have to pick up one of these for my next shellfish feast.
The most fun tip I picked up? Skorka suggests a newer twist on a kir or kir royale: try a few spoonfuls of Ruby Port in sparkling wine or in Belgian-style beer. He calls the one with wine, Turkish Blood and the one with beer, Hungarian Blood. Sounds better than True Blood anyday!

Oven-roasted farmer's market vegetables, above

Father's Office 2: Great bathrooms, but will I ever get my softshell crab?

beautiful bathrooms!

I popped in to Father's Office 2 on a Saturday afternoon for a quick bite and brew, but just like at Animal the week before that, there were no softshell crabs to be found. I wasn't in the mood for major burgerage so I tried a light raw albacore plate with olives and tiny yellow tomatoes. It was too early for the heady, hoppy beers I really like, so I went for a Great White from Lost Coast Brewery which went well with the fish. Love the bathrooms with the shiny red tiles, frosted glass doors and "sons" and "daughters" signage (get it, Fathers, sons, daughters?).
I sat right next to the cash register, where I felt kind of bad for the counterpeople.

They spend their days patiently explaining to one patron after another that no ketchup is available, no diet sodas are available, etc., and at least at one in the afternoon, they rarely get to actually explain the great selection of beers. I'd say at least 25% of people were ordering wine, 50% water or cane sugar-sweetened soda and only 25% or less actually seemed to care about the beer. I'm sure the percentages are different at night, but it's a little odd that the new Father's Office seems to be more about the burgers and sweet potato fries than the beer.

M Cafe de Chaya: If one is good, two must be better

It looks like butter on the side, but it's "soy butter."

The new M Cafe de Chaya in Culver City doesn't even have a sign out front yet, but that doesn't stop gaggles of parents with slick strollers and lunching gal pals from filling every table on a Saturday afternoon. The second outpost of the trendy macrobiotic cafe is far easier to navigate than its cramped Melrose parent, with its nearly non-existent parking and broiling hot sidewalk tables. There's a spacious patio, lots of street parking, and a bar along one wall with plenty of extra stools in addition to the large communal table. I like M Cafe much better than most supposedly healthy places because 1) Most of the food actually has some flavor and 2) There's fish, so I don't get that panicky "what if I don't get enough protein" feeling that vegan restaurants sometimes cause.

It's a bit early for their excellent tuna burger, and I'm feeling virtuous, so I'm ready to spring for a tofu scramble with tempeh bacon and sweet potato hash. But they're somehow out of scramble, so I try the cranberry walnut French toast with maple syrup and cranberry compote. I'm not sure how they make it since there's no eggs involved, but it's a tasty, hearty brunch dish with the tangy cranberries on the side adding a nice counterpoint to the syrup, even though I could swear they're raisins. It's a little odd that although you can get a double espresso, you can't get any black tea like Earl Grey or Darjeeling, so I get a strong cup of green tea served with cunning little packets of maple crystals. The only problem with the Culver City location is that you're probably less likely to spot Jake Gyllenhaal or Sarah Silverman than at the Melrose one. Or that could be an advantage for some people, I guess.

Dolce Isola, Let's Be Frank, pupusas and more...

It's not quite as interesting as a week with Jonathan Gold's stomach...but for lack of any formal reviews this weekend, here's 36 or so hours with Pat's stomach. Every other Saturday, I'm stuck in the vicinity of La Cienega and the 10 for an hour and a half. The immediate area is a food wasteland, with nothing but Samurai Sam's within walking distance. But I've found a wealth of lunch places within a five or ten minute drive of there. In the past I've hit Cafe Surfas, Meltdown, JJ's BBQ, The Point. Today I had hopes that maybe Father's Office's new location had secretly opened and I would be invited to sneak in and try it. No luck -- the Let's Be Frank lady says she thinks April 15 or so looks more likely, and reports that FO will be open for lunch Friday, Saturday and Sunday, yay! Some nice benches for the patio had just arrived, and as Laist pointed out, the plywood is down. I was planning on going to Dolce Isola for lunch, but couldn't pass up the grass-fed dogs and organic sauerkraut, so I surrendered to Let's Be Frank. I love the concept of a basically guilt-free hot dog and the freshly grilled onions were excellent; I'm not sure I was crazy about the concept of a low-sodium hot dog, which to me lacked a meaty punch of flavor. Next time I'll try the pork brat, made from pigs that were lovingly coddled and sung bedtime stories to before butchering, or something like that. I eventually made it to Dolce Isola, which is the bakery that used to be next to the Ivy and still supplies their desserts. On an odd block of Robertson shared by Midnight Records and the Mystic Emporium, Dolce Isola is a little slice of European charm with funky antique chandeliers and weathered French cafe chairs. In addition to freshly-baked baguettes, cookies, croissants and pies, there's a selection of sandwiches like Louisiana crab cake, Croque Monsieur and Capri meatball. And coffee, and gelato. The oatmeal cookie was particularly tasty, and there's a refreshing lack of attention to cupcakes. We did pick up a miniature caramel spice cake, but a gremlin in my house devoured it before I could report on it.

I never got over to Echo Park this weekend to check out the new restaurant The Park -- I only got as far as the Atwater Farmer's Market. Flan King has joined the lineup of stands, and the pupusas looked too good to pass up, so I tried a nicely-griddled cheese pupusa con todo -- just the thing for a blustery Sunday morning. And now I must go roast a chicken, so that is all.
Dolce Isola -- 2869 S. Robertson Blvd. 310-776-7070
Let's Be Frank -- across from Father's Office on Helms, Culver City
The Park -- Sunset and Douglas, Echo Park

Taste test: Meltdown's cheesy goodness

Meltdown's cozy patio -- kids' menu too, take your baby!

Even though we're basically a Hollywood-and-points east blog (god forbid we should invoke the dreaded Eastside label), we do like to mix it up now and then. Especially since every other Saturday I'm stuck near Culver City around lunchtime while my son tries to get beyond his green belt in karate. It's hard to tear yourself away from Surfas, but I still hadn't tried Meltdown, the charming little grilled cheese restaurant that's now open on Saturdays for lunch. I said it about The Point and I'll say it again: Those people in Culver City really know how to launch a concept. Simple idea: grilled cheese with numerous variations, soup, coleslaw, quirky sodas. That's it. Good quality ingredients. Nice outdoor patio with heaters. Super clean, efficient service. It doesn't seem that hard but I can't say there's one place over around Silver Lake that would fit that description. Of course, Culver City was lucky to have super-wide sidewalks and lots of underutilized spaces.
Anyway, I had a perfectly-executed classic tuna melt on marble rye bread -- I should have gone with the half sandwich and soup because it was easily enough for two meals. The tomato soup wasn't quite as creamy as I might have liked, but someone who actually likes tomatoes might enjoy it. The array of sweet melts like goat cheese, fig and honey or brie and apricot is intriguing, so I'll definitely be back to finish exploring the melts.
I also had time to walk around and check out all the new restaurants still under construction, like the styley Akasha, below, which is going to be groovy and organic and biodegradable and stuff. Further up the street, there's another M Cafe de Chaya and Father's Office II opening soon. Excellent, beer for Saturday lunch!

Taste test: The Point, and why is the Eastside missing out?

Plenty of outdoor tables in a modern setting

It doesn't seem quite fair that Culver City gets not just Surfas Cafe and Tender Greens but now The Point as well. Where are all the places for Eastsiders to get a nice fresh salad, or some soup or pudding to go? The Point opened recently on National in one of those highly groovy ultramodern office parks they have over in Culver City. "Fresh food for people on the go" is their slogan, as opposed to most of the cafes of Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Echo Park that share the same slogan -- "Slow service for Silver Lake slackers." Owned by the folks from Beacon, The Point has a simple menu of salads, paninis, wraps and soup, as well as take-home prepared meals of mac n' cheese, meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes ($9.50), chicken enchiladas and spinach and cheese stuffed chicken breast. You can also make your own salad or choose a bento box of four mini-salads. There's a few tables inside and several more outside, but it can also function as a place to pick up a quick dinner on the way home. Chicken caesar: yummy dressing, actual anchovies!
The difference between the Point and places like O to Go is that all the ingredients are fresh and carefully chosen, combined so they actually taste good. My caesar salad ($9.50) had a delicious dressing with just the right amount of garlic -- too thick to actually pour, but a hit nonetheless. Some people might be scared of anchovies, but the fat little fellows perched on top of the incredibly crisp romaine were a brave and tasty touch. Croutons were soggy, but these are the perils of prepackaged food. Squash soup ($3.50) was comforting on a foggy day, while butterscotch pudding was no budino, but a fun finish to the lunch. There's also breakfast in the morning, and giant peanut butter cookie sandwiches. It all sounds simple enough, so why do places like this only exist west of La Cienega?
The Point
8522 National Blvd.
Culver City
(310)836-8400

Is Sabor a Mexico the West L.A. version of La Super Rica?

cactus and chicken tacos, at left
That's probably a pretty rash statement, but Chowhound poster Dommy, who really knows her Mexican food, wasn't afraid to throw down the gauntlet. Sabor a Mexico is a small spot on National hard by the Santa Monica freeway on ramp, with the dining room and the ordering counter curiously bisected by a car stereo store. There are patio tables overlooking the scenic on ramp, and on weekend evenings they set up a taco table on the patio with $1 tacos.
But the menu extends far beyond tacos, to Mexico City style quesadillas, which are homemade tortillas stuffed with various interesting things like squash blossoms or epazote and deep-fried, more like an empanada, yet fairly light. There's queso fundido, chilequiles, several types of tortas, huaraches, breakfast and 17 different types of tacos -- hard shell, veggie, al carbon, guisado, you name it.
We tried it for lunch Saturday after the Ca Boom show in Santa Monica, and I'm not sure I'm going to switch my allegiance from La Super Rica right away, but it was definitely promising -- and a lot closer. Kathy enjoyed her tinga de pollo taco (stewed chicken in chipotle sauce). I wasn't too wild about the kind of bland grilled chicken taco, which needed a few of their many varieties of salsa to perk it up. But the nopalitos (cactus) taco and the quesadilla with squash blossoms were much more interesting and flavorful. The housemade jamaica drink wasn't quite as good as Loteria, but still much better than the industrial versions.
Sabor a Mexico is kind of a bastard nino between yuppie Westside Mexican food (no lard, only canola oil), and authentic Mexico City-style home cooking. Don't miss the awesome salsa selection, especially the creamy chipotle and avocado varieties. Plus, they deliver, it's cheap, and you can get some massive speakers installed in your car while you eat.
Sabor a Mexico
8940 National Blvd.
(310) 280-0380

Taste test: Uncle Moki's Original Hawaiian Shrimp

shell-on shrimp smothered in garlic

We're planning a trip to the North Shore of Oahu this summer, but it's a long five months away. All my research into which is the best shrimp truck -- Giovanni's, Romy's, the Shrimp Shack? -- has been getting me awfully hungry for Hawaiian garlic shrimp scampi. So imagine my surprise when I was shopping at the Target on La Cienega and Rodeo Road and noticed World's Greatest Shrimp -- Uncle Moki's in the mini-mall across the street. Even more surprisingly, owner Uncle Bob told me he used to be a part owner of Giovanni's, one of the original North Shore shrimp trucks. Uncle Moki's is a sparkling clean little place with copies of Hawaii magazine on the tables and a tiny menu -- garlic shrimp with rice, Volcano hot shrimp with rice...that's about it. I tried the wiki wiki size, which is five shrimp and a scoop of rice for $6.50. Uncle Bob generously threw in some volcano shrimp for me to taste, and they were pretty spicy indeed. He says they use olive oil instead of the saturated fat used in Hawaii, resulting in a healthier product. Garlic, olive oil, shrimp...how can you really go wrong? This place is the real deal -- not quite the same as eating in a field on Oahu, but as close as you're going to get in L.A. The only thing it lacked was a fresh coconut pineapple smoothie like you can get next to Giovanni's.
Mahalo, Uncle Bob, for a little preview of my vacation.
World's Greatest Shrimp -
Uncle Moki's Original Hawaiian Shrimp Scampi
3560 S. La Cienega Blvd.
(323) 954-7051

Preview: Ford's Filling Station

mini lamb chop at Ford's Filling Station

Chef Ben Ford, previously of Chadwick, is opening Ford's Filling Station in Culver City on Valentine's Day. I had a peek of the gastropub-style menu and the space at an opening reception Saturday -- dad Harrison and Calista also stopped by -- and it looked like a worthy addition to the slowly blossoming Culver City restaurant scene. Ford wants his new place to be more informal and looser than Chadwick's, which focused on organic, sustainable cuisine. This restaurant has a clearly manly slant, with offerings running to Maytag blue cheese burgers, shortribs with horseradish mashed potatoes and Berkshire Hog pork chops. There's also a selection of flatbreads with unusual toppings like lamb pesto, for snacking on with beers on the patio. We sampled an array of cheeses and pates (charcuterie will come from suppliers such as Salumi) and appetizers like shrimp po'boys, mini lamb chops, a very savory beef tartare and lentil bruschetta. Ford's will start opening for lunch in March, which should certainly make the folks at Sony happy.
Ford's Filling Station
9531 Culver Blvd.
Culver City
(310) 202-1470
Archived comments:

Anonymous said...

Just saw the place driving by last week! Can't wait to try it. So many places opening in CC, do you know what UGO is? It was next to Ford's I think... Love your site.

Steve Wasser said...

I work right down the street, so I'm going to jog over to taste test a lunch! Nice picture preview.

Anonymous said...

I loved Chadwicks which was on the cusp of being profitable when it closed. I'm not even going to make a snide remark about Ben's cheap bastard of an old man.
Kate

Anonymous said...

Disappointing. Visually unattractive. DO not honor reservations. Don't get entrees out at the the same time for the table. Couldn't wait to get home and brush my teeth to get the bad taste out.

Anonymous said...

Ford's Filling Station should change their name to Ford's UNFULFilling Station. Do they think everybody's on the Zone or something? Cannot the Young Ford ask Pappy ford to throw in a few cents so they can offer paying customers a few for micks per plate? Oy, yoy, yoy...

Merely scratching the Surfas

herbed tuna sandwich with lavender lemon bar

When I first heard about Surfas years ago, the food area was called Van Rex Gourmet and it was a small area inside a restaurant supply store on National. Well, the food section grew and grew, the Van Rex part went away, and recently Surfas moved around the corner to a large, well-designed space that shows off the gourmet section to better advantage and displays the cookware in a way that appeals to home chefs as well as professionals.
And cleverly, Surfas opened a cafe as well, with a carefully thought-out lunch menu as well as a coffee bar and baked goods. So far, I've tried the roasted tomato sandwich with grilled fig and taleggio cheese, which tends to be a bit soggy, but very tasty; and the herbed tuna, which is really flavorful with pickled okra and Fiscalini gold cheddar. Each sandwich (around $7.95) comes with two little sides -- addictive homemade granola and some sort of pickled vegetables, one day sweet cucumbers, another day mushrooms. There's also a few salads such as the Asian duck salad, as well as macaroni and cheese topped with roasted pepper hash, garlic sausage and gourmet hot dogs and filet mignon chili. I also tried an excellent lavender lemon bar, which had an amazingly interplay of sweet, tart and lavender flavors.
Surfas is like the sandwich shop I sometimes dream of when forced to eat in dreary delis on Wilshire -- a place where every dish has a little extra zing of flavor from quality ingredients like Maytag blue cheese, celery root slaw or chipotle ketchup. To drink, there's strawberry basil or ginger lemon thyme Italian sodas and plenty of quirky soft drinks, and there's an alcoholic beverage application in the window. Seating is at a few tables on the patio, which also has a little extra touch of kitchen tool imprints embedded in the sidewalk. There's lots of welcome attention to detail here (as well as a bit of preciousness, with quotations about food affixed to the sandwich boxes), and decent prices for the top-flight ingredients. The only problem I can see is that the premade sandwiches, which are put on a panini press to warm them up, sometimes fail to retain their integrity after a few hours in the cooling case.
Cafe Surfas
8777 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City
(310)558-1458