Bondi BBQ-Closed

Bondi BBQ
46 Windward Ave
Venice, CA
310-392-3809

After the diaster at Glencrest BBQ, I walked down to Bondi BBQ, which bills itself as Austrailian BBQ. This isn't true, real BBQ. They do not smoke their meats but to their credit they do not bill themselves as a real BBQ place. Their menu even says their meats come right off the grill.

I got the Double Trouble, $13.95, with 2 beef ribs, 3 baby back ribs and cole slaw.
Right away I could tell this wasn't going to be good either. The ribs were drowned in a BBQ sauce that was so sweet, I thought I was eating syrup. The baby backs were pretty tender but then again they are babybacks. There was no smoke flavor at all so the sweet BBQ sauce made up for it.

The beef ribs were kind of fatty with a lot of gristle and very little meat. They again were drowned in BBQ sauce. I wasn't impressed at all.

A wasted day of trying BBQ places I haven't been to. To make matters worse it was spent in Venice, which is filled with pretentious asshole people.

Glencrest BBQ-Closed

Glencrest BBQ
1146 Abbott Kinney Blvd
Venice
310-399-9641

Glencrest BBQ is among the worst BBQ places I have ever been to. The meats are kind of smoked. But they sit around in the frig forever and then microwaved and then served. This is not how a BBQ restaurant should do things. At best ribs have a one day shelf life in the frig. Any longer and the ribs are bad.

I got the ribs dinner, $9 with double mac and cheese. I actually saw the guy take the ribs out of the frig and microwave them and then dump a store bought container of BBQ sauce on the ribs!!! The ribs were very chewy and had little flavor because they had been in the frig for so damn long. Not a good example of ribs.

Service is OK but it takes forever to get your food. Again everything is stored in the frig and then reheated. I saw what they called pulled pork, because reheated in a pan on the stove. The "pulled" pork was actually sliced!!!

I would not go back to Glencrest BBQ ever again. Besides the fact the food is terrible, it is in the pretentious neighborhood of Venice.

Western Smoke House-Closed

Western Smoke House
10640 Woodbine St
# 104
Los Angeles
310-837-3544

Western Smoke House has been on my list to try for over three months. I am rarely in that area and when I am, I will usually going somewhere else. But today I decided to go try it. I'm glad I did. Western Smoke House is a Texas style BBQ. But unlike many Texas BBQ places, they know how to BBQ pork ribs.

I got the pork ribs, $13.99, a la carte. They have a pork rib dinner for $19.99 but I don't need to be eating cole slaw or mac salad. While the ribs were a bit dry, I'm guessing they have been in the warmer a bit too long, they were very good. You will notice a nice bark and the classic smoke ring. They are smoked right. The ribs are tender and flavorful from the mesquite wood. But they aren't overpowered by the smoke.

If you go in a group, get the Texan, where you get one slab of pork ribs, and three other meats for $60!!!! The three ladies at the other table ordered the Texan and the brisket and fried chicken looked awesome.

Service is Ok. The owner is very nice, super nice. But service can be slow. I didn't get my drink and had to remind her of it. And it took awhile for the ribs to come out. Not sure why, there were only three other people there.

I would go back to Western Smoke House again. The ribs were good enough, in spite of the dryness, that I'm sure a fresh batch of ribs from the smoker would be great. The slightly higher prices for the ribs would prevent me from coming back.

Two Boots-Closed

Two Boots
1818 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles
213-413-2668

The second stop of our Pizza Crawl was Two Boots. The first stop was Pizza Buona.  Two Boots is a New York chain, that has NY style pizza with Cajun toppings. Yes, kind of a weird combination but one that works well.

I got a slice of the The Dude, a Cajun bacon cheeseburger pizza, $3.75. Tasso, ground beef, cheddar and mazzarella cheese. I didn't know what tasso was until I had this slice of pizza. Tasso is a cajun ham that has a ton of flavor. I really liked this pizza. All the flavors worked great together. A good thin crust that held up all the toppings. Wonderful combination of flavors.

I then got a slice of pepperoni, $3.75. Again a nice, firm thin crust that held the toppings. A nice spicy pepperoni and lots of gooey cheese.

The slices were huge, which is always a good thing.

Service was great. They did well serving 30 people from the Pizza Crawl. They were baking fresh pies and putting them out in the case as quickly as possible. They also answered questions, I'm sure many of the same question, in a very nice friendly manner.

I would go back to Two Boots anytime. It was wonderful!!

Pizza Buona-Moved

Pizza Buona
2100 W. Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles
213-413-0800

Update May 30, 2019- Check out my review of the new Pizza Buona- which moved a couple blocks south of their old Sunset location!

I went on a Pizza Crawl in Echo Park. We went to two places that I have never been to, Pizza Buona and Two Boots.

Pizza Buona was the first stop of the pizza crawl. A family owned store that has been around Echo Park forever, they are a no frills pizza place.

We ordred a medium pepperoni pizza,$11,70. When I first saw the pizza, I thought it was burnt. But in fact this pizza was baked just right. This was a heavy pizza, lots of toppings on thin crust. I bet the used more cheese on this pizza than four pizzas from Dominos. The cheese was nice and gooey and melted just right. Lots of pepperoni that was mild in flavor and worked well.

Service for about 30 people was great. Nice and friendly service.

I would go back to Pizza Buona anytime. Don't let the outside appearance fool you, this is a good quality pizza place with good prices.

EJ Malloys

EJ Malloys
4306 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach
562-424-5000

There are two EJ Malloys in Long Beach, one on Broadway and this location on Atlantic in the Cal Heights area of Long Beach. I'm not a fan of Mick bars but Malloys is more of a regular sports bar.

They have good food. I got the bacon cheeseburger with their gorgonzola fries, $9.95 and $1 extra for the gorgonzola fries. They ask how you want the cheeseburger cooked, I asked for medium rare and it was a bit undercooked. The burger is a half pound of beef with lettuce and thousand island dressing. The bacon had been sitting under a heating lamp. I thought the burger was pretty good, nothing great, but worth the price more for the quanity than the quality of the burger.

The gorgonzola fries are great. They are the waffle fries topped with gorgonzola cheese sauce and green onions. A nice combination of flavors with the seasoned waffle fries and tartness of the gorgonzola cheese.

Service is actually pretty good. The bar was packed because of it being Friday and I sat outside because the hottie I was having dinner with wanted to smoke. But the server came by our table and was nice and friendly.

EJ Malloys is a good place to watch a game, grab a beer and have some pretty good bar food. I would go back again though I may not order another burger.

Duke's- Huntington Beach

Duke's
317 Pacific Coast Highway
Huntington Beach
714-374-6446

I did a review of Duke's in Malibu, and now I will review the happy hour at Duke's in Huntington Beach. The Duke's in HB is right next to the pier and right on the water. It is a nice location but you gotta put up with the pretenious, asshole, jerk people of Huntington Beach.

But Duke's has a great Taco Tuesday special. Mahi Mahi tacos, either grilled or fried, for $2.50. These tacos are great. A huge piece of mahi mahi, I ordered both the grilled and fried, on top of fresh cabbage, tomato, and a white sauce. The grilled mahi mahi is very fresh, flakey, nice firm texture. The fried is firm and tasty ont he inside and has a nice thick crispy batter on the outside. All the veggies are fresh. What was missing was salsa, gucamole, and sour cream for the tacos. I saw other people get them. I got my tacos in a plastic basket with no salsa or sour cream.

Service is OK. The $2.50 tacos are only served in the bar area. But the server I had wasn't around alot and the bar area was not that crowded. So I'm not sure where she was.

I would go back to Duke's for their Taco Tuesday specials. Otherwise I wouldn't be anywhere close to Duke's.

Uncle Andre's

Uncle Andre's
11715 Moorpark St
Studio City
818-763-8414

Uncle Andre's is one of the worst fake BBQ places I have ever been to. BBQ is all about cooking the meat with the smoke of hardwoods. It is not cooking meats in a stupid oven, finishing them up on a grill, and drowning it in BBQ sauce, what I call Chilizing of BBQ.

I got the half rack of baby back ribs, $12.25. After I ordered them, I could see the cooks putting a half rack of ribs on the GRILL!!!!! The ribs were not better than any Tony Roma's or Chili's.. I knew the ribs would be hot to the touch since they were reheated on the griill. They were meaty, not much fat, since they are baby backs, and had a cumin and paprika rub on the outside. What a waste of money.

Service at Uncle Andre's SUCKS. The workers speak broken English, are rude, and not helpful at all. After I ordered the ribs, he told me the ribs would take 25 mins to be ready. WTF??? I told them I would eat there but the ribs were packaged in a to go container that had no napkins or forks or knives. I still ate there, got some napkins, forks and a knife. I finished eating but I looked around and there was no trash cans. I saw one of the workers and asked if there was a trash can. He said something but I couldn't understand what he was saying so I just left my tray there and walked out.

I will never go to Uncle Andre's again. Terrible ribs, terrible service and anybody who thinks Uncle Andre's is good BBQ, they are morons.

Sushi Koyo-Closed

Sushi Koyo
868 N Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-861-6537

Updated August 30, 2015:  The Sushi Nazi, as the owner of Sushi Koyo was known, has retired and Sushi Koyo, open since 1982, is now closed.

Sushi Koyo has been in Diamond Bar for almost 30 years. When you are greeted at Sushi Koyo, they ask if this is your first time. They expain to you that sitting at the sushi bar means Omakase only. Omakase is basically chef's choice. I, of course, went with ordering off the menu. Sushi Koyo is a no non sense sushi place. There are signs that says they do no serve such things like rainbow rolls. They are a traditional sushi restaurant.

Yellowtail-$4.25 I wasn't that impressed with the yellowtail. A bit mushy and not that fresh. I wasn't impressed.

Tuna-$3.95- Loved the tuna. Very fresh piece of fish with a nice texture and flavor.

Shrimp $3.95 The sushi chef must have been a little heavy handed with the wasbi, when making these two pieces. I was feeling that burn in my mouth and throat. But the shrimp was nice and fresh. I would order this again.

Blue crab hand roll-$5.50. What really looks like tuna fish in mayo, is fresh blue crab with mayo and just a wonderful flavor. The blue crab was filled through the entire roll, not just what you see on top. I was impressed and would order it again.

Service is good but then again we were the only two people ordering off the menu.

Sushi Koyo has a 10% off sushi, if you ordered $25 or more.

I would go back to Sushi Koyo anytime, though I would stay away from the yellowtail. I have reviewed two other sushi restaurants in Diamond Bar, Kyala Sushi and Yoko Yoko. Sushi Koyo is by far the best.

Walker's BBQ-Closed

Walker's BBQ
3219 Carson St
Lakewood
562-420-6050

Once I find out about a BBQ place, I don't waste too much time before trying it. I found out about Walker's BBQ Tuesday and went down to try it, the next day.

I was very impressed. But then again, they are the sister restaurant to Bodacious BBQ, so why wouldn't I be impressed?

I got the rib dinner, $13.06, with mac salad and cole slaw. The ribs were great, just like Bodacious, a nice smoke flavor, they use red oak, tender, St. Louis style ribs. Red oak can be a very heavy smoke and can ruin the taste of ribs, if you don't do it right. Walker's like Bodacious, does it right. The only thing I didn't like is how they were presented. BBQ places should never present ribs with the bottom part, that has the membrane, showing, like the last picture. The ribs should be like the second picture with the bark showing. I turned over the ribs to show how ribs should be served.

The mac salad was nice and creamy and fresh. The cole slaw had raisin in it and wasn't drowned in mayo. The portions were a bit small, but then again I don't really care about the the damn sides at a BBQ place.

Service is good.

I would go back to Walker's BBQ anytime. It is as good as Bodacious and it is a closer drive!!

Wadiya-Closed

Wadiya
949 S Euclid St
Anaheim
714-635-0005

Wadiya maybe the only Sri Lankan restaurant in the LA/OC area. They recently opened in and have gotten good reviews.

They have buffets Friday nights, String Hopper and Hopper Night-Hopper is much like a thicker, less sweet crepe. Saturday nights are Godhamba night and Sunday is mutton, chicken and fish nights.

I forgot my camera when I actually ate there but took pictures with my cell phone, so sorry for the poor quality of the last picture. I did go back to Wadiya later that day to take pictures but by that time, they were not serving a different kind of fish, that is why I had to use the last picture.

I went on Sunday and got the buffet, $10.99. The buffet had three entrees but I only ate two of them, one by mistake. They had chicken curry, which didn't look too appetizing and there were only legs and thighs, I'm a breast man. :)

Anyways, the first picture is the mutton curry. I hate lamb/mutton. I can't stand that gamey taste and texture. This mutton was in a mild curry sauce, which I liked not overpowering and well seasoned. If they put chicken or fish in this curry, it would be awesome.

The last picture is the King Fish Curry or what they told me was king fish. I have never heard of King Fish but what they said was King Fish was much like tuna. That same denseness and texture of tuna. What I didn't like was the curry, it was both sour and way too spicy for me. They must use a lot of tamarind which accounts for the sourness. But this was so spicy, I couldn't enjoy the fish. I did go back for seconds but I only took the fish.

The rice was very undercooked. I couldn't believe it.

Service is below average. The young lady who served us, was very nice but they need to work on their service. When we were seated, she said it would take 30 to 40 minutes to get food, if we ordered off the menu. She was pushing the menu, which is fine but come on, don't give a bad impression by pushing a buffet. Then they were out of many items on the menu.

The buffet wasn't replenished until asked for some more rotti, which is a nan like bread. I asked for water and never got it, so I asked again and again until finally I got a pitcher of water.

I will not go back to Wadiya during their buffet nights. I would like to order off the menu but they need to improve their service.

Que N for Kids

Que N for Kids is BBQ competition and fundraiser. Admission is $10. Food tickets are 5 for $10, each ticket gets you 3oz samples of BBQ, for ribs, you get one rib. You can pick your favorite BBQ by turning in the People's Choice ticket to your favorite BBQ team. I will write the review of each team below their picture.

The money raised from this competition, goes to Kristie's Kids, a non profit organization that provides assistance, support and cherished moments to critically ill children and their families. You really have to be an asshole, not to support this cause.

I bought $20 worth of tickets and a very nice lady gave me an extra ticket because she couldn't eat anymore BBQ!!! This is a great way to try some great BBQ. For other meats like pulled pork and brisket you get a 3oz sample but nobody is really weighing the damn meat and I saw some people get a huge amount of meat. But if you figure 5, 3oz servings at $10, it is a great deal. And you get all meat!!! Ok it is $20 if you include your admission but it is going to a good cause.

I will review each BBQ team's ribs and ribs only. The general feeling is that in California, the judges like sweet ribs. So I kept that in mind when I did my reviews, since I am not a sweet ribs fan. The ribs need to have some spice to it.
Also you'll notice that for REAL BBQ, there is very little if any sauce. Real BBQ ribs, if done correctly do NOT need sauce. Sauce covers up the lack of smoke flavor.




Rib Tickler: Not that impressed with these ribs. The ribs were a bit dry and lack much of a smoke flavor. There wasn't much fat in the ribs but otherwise I wouldn't buy ribs from Rib Tickler.




Here's the Rub: Not that impressed with these ribs either. Their "secret" is using a root beer rub. It was sweet, too sweet for my tastes. A bit dry and lacked much smoke flavor. Not impressed.




Notley Que. A very good rib. Well smoked, not lacking in smoke flavor or overpowered by smoke. Good rub, very tender, no fat, just a great example of a rib.




Slap Yo Daddy BBQ: These ribs were competition ribs. Competition ribs are ribs that are turned into the judges. BBQ teams use better quality spices and rubs for their competition ribs. So I am using a higher standard when reviewing these ribs.

These ribs were great. No fat, very well smoked, a nice rub with a bit of a kick, and just wonderful example of ribs. Not surprisingly these ribs finished #1 among the judges.




All Hogs Go to Heaven: I was a bit surprised at these ribs. They looked pretty good and I was expecting them to be good. But sadly these were very average. A slight hint of smoke flavor, a bit dry and tough, some fat and lacking a bark.




7 Kinds of Smoke: A very, very good rib. Well smoked with hickory and pecan, a nice combination, if you do it right and 7 Kinds of Smoke does it right. They will soon open a BBQ restaurant in Commerce. Look for a review when they open.




Smokin Yankeees: These ribs must have been finished on a grill, because they were hot to the touch. Real BBQ ribs are not hot to the touch. They were dry and a bit flavorless. Not impressed.




BLQUE: Another dry rib. They were tough, not tender and pretty fatty. A slight smoke flavor, I think hickory but otherwise not an impressive rib.




Papa Smokehouse BBQ- They have a huge display and spend a lot of money on their stand. They need to work on their ribs. Very fatty, a bit tough, and lacking smoke flavor. I wasn't impressed at all.




Road Whore's BBQ- Interesting name for a BBQ team. The ribs here had a decent smoke flavor, a bit fatty, and dry. I wasn't too impressed with these ribs.


The above photo is courtesy of Soul Fusion Kitchen!!!!



All Sauced Up BBQ: I forgot to take a picture of his stand. But with the help of Soul Fusion Kitchen there is a picture of All Sauced Up BBQ's Stand.

These ribs were very dry but as you can see from the picture, I got the last few pieces of ribs. But the ribs had a good smoke flavor, I think they used a combination of hickory and apple woods. I would need to try a fresh batch of ribs to make a fair judgement. He should not combine the ribs in the same warming tray as the brisket.