Grubtrotters

Happy Fourth of July weekend! Just to get you in the mood for the grill, here’s a shot of our BBQ platter from Baby Blues B.B.Q. in Venice. We were so hungry, we started eating before we remembered to take the pic. So if you notice a few bites missing, that’s why.

It’s easy to see how this little hole-in-the-wall joint is so popular. We shared the “Blue Devil,” a feast of four different meats with three sides: chicken, baby back ribs, Memphis ribs and pulled pork with a side of collard greens, mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed okra. The meat was moist and delicious, the BBQ sauce tangy and tight. Loved the cornbread, too. Cornbread is usually too dry for me, but this cornbread was like melted butter. The sweet potato was definitely my favorite side, though. Such comfort food. Collard greens tasted a bit too smoky, almost burnt, and the okra was drowning in garlic. Was it the best BBQ I’ve ever had? Sorry, I’ve lived in the south, so no.

But I can’t say enough about the service at Baby Blues. We got white meat chicken instead of dark by mistake, so they just cooked us up some extra dark meat and let us eat the white meat, too. Then, the friendly guys working the grill saw me salivating over the mac & cheese and gave me a small bowl to sample for free. We rolled out of there fat and happy, the American way. God Bless America, and God Bless Baby Blues! — Jenny

Baby Blues B.B.Q: 444 Lincoln Blvd., Venice. 310-396-8023

I must have walked past China Beach Vietnamese Bistro dozens of times without going in. It’s an unassuming little spot right next door to a corner liquor store and across the street from the Canal Club in Venice. I have always wondered whether it could be one of those divey, under-the-radar finds. Given that I live only a couple blocks away and have never heard any of my neighbors talk about it or seen any of them in there, I didn’t have high hopes. Still, you never know. Vic and I wanted to try something different, and we didn’t want to have to get in the car. I looked the place up on Yelp, and the reviews were unusually mixed, a five-star review, followed by a one star, averaging three overall. I asked my sister, a fellow Venetian, if she’d been there, and she said the soups were OK. So we decided to check it out.

I honestly wish we hadn’t. We spent only $22 on dinner, and it still feels like we were cheated. One Yelper had raved about the five spiced chicken so I ordered a plate that also included a fried egg, a salad and some rice. Vic ordered chicken pho, which is the Vietnamese version of chicken noodle soup. I must confess, Vietnamese is probably my least favorite of all the Asian cuisines I’ve tried. I have happily eaten my way through China, Thailand and Cambodia, and I’m a fan of Japanese, Korean, Indian, Singaporean, Malaysian and, occasionally, Filipino cuisine. Vietnamese food has always seemed a bit bland in comparison. There are exceptions, such as the excellent pho (tripe and all) at Pho Hua in Mountain View, Calif., or even the nice bowl of chicken pho I had earlier this year at a place named Absolutely Phobulous (seriously) when I was stuck in Encino after a meeting. But even when I lived just a couple blocks away from a Vietnamese neighborhood in Chicago, I only ate there two or three times, and in more than a decade in So Cal, I have never made the drive to the OC for the best stuff in the LA area.

Regardless of whether you’re a Vietnamese food buff or a novice, though, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could enjoy the chicken I was served. I don’t know what gives chicken that rubbery quality. Overcooking, maybe? Whatever it is, they have mastered the technique at China Beach. The chicken must not have been made to order because it came out in about about 5-10 minutes. The menu described the chicken as falling off the bone, but I had a hard time tearing the tough meat free. The side salad was basically bland iceberg lettuce with some carrot slices. The rice was … well … a pile of plain white rice. Vic wasn’t as unhappy with his pho. He described it as “standard” and “passable.” When I tasted it, the broth seemed too sweet, but he didn’t seem to mind.

In case you are thinking of checking it out for yourself, be forewarned, the tiny parking lot is a nightmare. There’s almost no way to head south when exiting that little lot. You’re better off parking somewhere else and walking. Better yet, take my advice and skip it altogether. It’s not worth the hassle. — Jenny

If you name a place Delizia Cafe, the food had better deliver. Unfortunately, what they call food at Delizia is anything but delicious.

Victor and I had been stuck inside our Venice Beach pad most of Sunday and wanted to get outside for a nice walk and to grab a quick bite. I have bladed past Delizia many times since it opened last year and have always wanted to try it. Something about its modern outdoor decor, bright orange sign and simple Italian menu made it looked enticing. But clearly the boardwalk location is the only thing keeping this place hopping.

Delizia has sunset specials every night that include beer, drinks like sangria and what they call “tapas.” Perhaps the use of the Spanish word “tapas” instead of the Italian “cicchetti”  for small plates — not to mention the Spanish Sangria — should have tipped us off that this would be nothing like the Italian food we spent our honeymoon grazing on every day. The only authentically European thing about Delizia was the vast number of smokers. (Their palates must be burned out.)

We ordered the pizzette, cannellini crostini and four pieces of dark meat roasted chicken with greens and garlic. The four tiny squares of pizzette on thick bread ($5) barely resembled any pizza I had ever seen. It looked and tasted like it had been sitting around all day. The cheese was burnt. The toppings were dried out. One of the pieces tasted like cardboard. We complained to the waitress, and she said, “I’m sorry, should I bring some olive oil and vinegar to spice it up?” OK, but no amount of oil and vinegar was going to make this pizza edible. The Amy’s Organic and Trader Joe’s frozen pizzas at home are far superior, and that’s kind of scary.

The crostini topped with a mixture of white beans, onions and parsley ($5) was bland but edible. It also tasted like it had been mixed hours before and refrigerated. Clearly they don’t make the tapas fresh at Delizia. I splashed some vinegar on that just to kick it up a notch, too.

Next she brought out chicken, along with a supposedly “clean” plate that had bits of food still stuck to the surface. Vic’s plate was also dirty. At this point, I was a little afraid to eat the chicken. It was slightly pink in the middle, and I had visions of salmonella running through my brain. Victor was equally unimpressed by our meal.

Despite our trepidation, we asked for fresh plates and did eat the chicken ($10). It was moist and mildly spiced, accompanied by broccoli and greens that were drowning in lemon juice and chunks of garlic. It’s been an hour, and I haven’t gotten sick so far, but that’s probably the ony compliment I can generate. The roasted chicken at Ralph’s is much better.

If you’re on the Venice boardwalk and need to eat, head to Figtree’s Cafe or grab a sausage at Jody Maroni’s. I’m sad to say Delizia was the worst $23 we have spent on a meal in months. –Jenny.

Delizia Cafe and Catering, 301 Oceanfront Walk, Venice Beach

–Photo courtesy of YoVenice.com