Redondo Beach Restaurants?

[JayBassin]

I'm going to Redondo Beach for a week-long business trip November 14. I lived in So Cal 1975-1979, but that doesn't count. What's now recommended?

[Carolyn Tillie]

Redondo is where I lived for nine years before I moved to Napa, three years ago...

What type of food are you looking for? It is not big on Haute Cuisine but Chez Melange will do in a pinch. It is a bit cold in November, but still worth going down to the harbor. There, you order your crab, are handed a wooden hammer and a bunch of newspaper, and pound 'till your heart's content. Of course, coming from Maryland, you probably don't care a whole lot about west coast crab...

Just north is Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. Manhattan Beach has a few more upscale restaurants because a lot of Angelenos have beach homes there. I'm hoping Mr. Cognac will chime in with what's great these days as he is one of the local restaurant reviewers there.

What I really miss about the area is the town of Gardena. Technically, it is about five miles away, but is home to the FINEST Japanese food outside of Tokyo. See, Gardena is home to the U.S. corporate offices of business such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, etc... It has a thriving Japanese community and during my dot-com/pre-9-11 days, I ate Japanese food in these restaurants five days a week. My personal favorite is a Yakitori restaurant called Shin-Sen-Gumi on Western, just east of the 405.

[rjwong]

JayBassin, I don't know whether you'll have a car to drive around, but here are a couple of threads about some restaurants in the area:

Food in Venice

Joe's Restaurant Review, Venice, CA

With a car, you're not too far away from Santa Monica/Venice area. Do you want to stay south of the LAX area? West of the 405? Culver City? Around the Forum?

Let us know what you want ...

[Chris Cognac]

There are a ton of places...what kind of stuff do you want...I live in the area and write the local newspaper reviews....got a million places I can tell you about...

[Carlsbad]

What was that place in Redondo Beach in the '70's that Elmer Dills dug. (Sorry I couldn't resist that.) The place that looked like an old chain that had been reinvented? Pretty good grub and they used to give you a flute of "champagne" if you had to wait. We used to love that place.

[luwom]

Kincaid's is where we ate a couple of months ago and had a couple of really great tasting items for lunch. Get there early and take a table outside for a great balcony view of the ocean below. I chose two dishes and still remember the wonderful taste and presentation.

Hot Dungeness Crab Sandwich

Dungeness crab, artichokes, Parmesan, sweet

onions and tomato covered with Parmesan

and cheddar, then oven broiled.

Spiced Prawn and Mango Salad (NOTE: for lunch, I got this minus the prawn since I had Crab already and they were happy to accommodate)

Romaine greens, ginger grilled prawns, spiced

jumbo cous cous, Fuji apples, mango, bell peppers,

cilantro. Topped with toasted walnuts.

[JayBassin]

What I really miss about the area is the town of Gardena. Technically, it is about five miles away, but is home to the FINEST Japanese food outside of Tokyo.

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There are a ton of places...what kind of stuff do you want...I live in the area and write the local newspaper reviews....got a million places I can tell you about...

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Whew! You guys are great! I will be staying at the Crown Plaza Redondo Beach. I will have a car. I probably will need to stick relatively close to the hotel for lunches (probably 1.5 hours for lunch including travel), but can drive around for dinners. I'm partial to Japanese food, but I'm good with any quality restaurant regardless of cuisine. I'm really looking for anything unusual or unique to the area.

Thanks again.

[JayBassin]

Reporting back on restaurants in Redondo Beach, based on a non-random sample during the week of Nov 14. First, let me say that most of my choices were limited by group-think among my colleagues.

Old Tony's -- On the Pier. Great location and views, mediocre, institutional food, poor service. I ordered grilled halibut. The fish was slightly overcooked, but it and the accompanying potatoes were so over-salted that I had to send it back. The waitress was rude and denied that the kitchen ever salted the fish. My companions had different versions of halibut (with sauces) and they were pretty good. I wouldn't go back.

Harbor Drive -- On Route 1. Hard to tell because I went with a group of about 15. Surprisingly good wine list, and excellent service. Food was high-end institutional, nothing particular to remember. I wouldn't go back.

The Charthouse -- On Route 1. Also visited with a group. Excellent service. You have to wonder, though, when the top recommendations by the server at a seafood restaurant were beef shortribs and beef medallions. I had halibut, and it was ok. Appetizers were over cooked (scallops, calimari, fried oysters) with a pedestrian unimaginitive lemon sauce and cocktail sauce. Desserts were chocolate volcano cake and a slab (literally) of coffe ice cream with fudge sauce. The cake was fine; the coffee ice cream was flavorless, but the portion was huge. Again, a surprisingly good (and reasonable) wine list, including some fine alsatian gewerztraminer as well as well-priced California varietals.

Captain Kidd's -- On Route 1 just north of the Pier. For lunch. Wide variety of fish for platters and sandwiches. Place order, get ticket, come back and pick up. Usual sides (potatoes, slaw, etc). I had grilled monkfish. The fish was good, but served on a plain dry bun. Coleslaw inedible. Prices very high for what you get.

Japonica --- about 1.5 miles south of Redondo Beach. Excellent Japanese/fusion restaurant. The chef(s) stuck pretty close to traditional Japanese presentations of sashimi and sushi. Some home-marinated albacore was excellent (house specialty). Meal began with a complimentary "california roll" (what else?). Soup was excellent, service excellent. I'd go back in a flash.

I was told that Kinkaid's Bay House was excellent, but didn't make it. Other people went to Ruby's Diner and reported that it was "pretty good."

[LarsTheo]

I didn't see this earlier, or I would have recommended Musha in Torrance for Izakaya style food. I also like El Pollo Inka in Hermosa Beach.

[Chris Cognac]

Man I love Inka..that green hot sauce is to die for and the cilantro chicken soup....oh yea baby!...too bad he missed El Gringo and Blue 32 which are both great places in Hermosa Beach

[ulterior epicure]

It's been about four years since I moved from Manhattan Beach... this thread is dredging up some eating memories. What's the name of that really simple, homey, all vegan/vegetarian restaurant in Hermosa (I think it's in Hermosa)? Was it "The Spot?" Is that still around?

I'm not a vegetarian, but I do remember I went there a couple of times (pulled by my vegetarian friend) and had a memorable "walnut and mushroom 'meat loaf'" that wasn't too terrible...

U.E.

[Chris Cognac]

I think the spot is still there, its on 2nd st I think, just east of Hermosa Ave