Fair Warning: Eating Carefully at the LA County Fair

As an annual pilgrim to the LA County Fair, I have learned certain lessons about fair food. If you're not careful, you can leave disappointed and nauseous. If you do it right, you can find some really good eats, but you have to be careful.



Beware the latest deep fried or chocolate covered novelty. With the exception of the excellent deep fried Snickers, these things are almost always sub-par. In particular, the over-hyped Chicken Charlie's, home of the annual "Look What Crap They're Deep Frying Now" news story, is pretty uniformly bad.



Remember, just because you can deep fry it or cover it with chocolate, doesn't mean you should. There are a reason people have been deep frying potatoes and onions for centuries, because they're good, and the homemade chips at the Tasti Chips stand are as good as any you'll find.



What the Fair does have are a number of stands from great local eateries. A carnitas torta from King Taco or a Pink's hot dog beats out pretty much all of the other crap. This year, I was pleased to see that Harold & Belle's, the South LA Creole/Cajun restaurant, also had a stand. So, yeah, you could get a three foot long corn dog and a plate of french fries as big as your head, or you could get a perfectly spicy gumbo, a rich and succulent crawfish etouffee or a shrimp po-boy and a bread pudding with Jack Daniel's sauce (pictured).



Finish it off with a scoop or two of Dr. Bob's ice cream and you will leave knowing you have conquered the culinary obstacle course that is the LA County Fair.

Vegas Report: Hot 'n Juicy Crawfish

Had a long weekend in Vegas and made my way to Hot 'n Juicy Crawfish in Vegas' Chinatown. Hot 'n Juicy specializes in Louisiana style shrimp and crawfish boils. You pick your seasoning and spice level and they come in a big plastic bag which you eat right on the table with a roll of aper towels to sop up the grease.

We got 2 pounds of crawfish with the hot 'n juicy seasoning (a combination of all of their seasoning). At medium spice, these things were lip burning hot and had tons of flavor. They are weighed down with what must be a pound of garlic, butter and various spices. The seasoning was as good as crawfish boils Ive had in Louisiana, but the mud bugs themselves were pretty puny. Even in the best of circumstances, you get a pretty low yield for your work when shelling crawfish, but with these tiny characters, it was more work for less fish. The corn, cooked in the same boil, was excellent, sweet and juicy and spicy but not too soggy, which can be a problem for corn in a seafood boil.

We also got some nicely fried catfish with a cornmeal breading and some acceptable fries. There are two Hot 'n Juicys on Spring Mountain Road just a few blocks apart. The closest one to the Strip is about a mile and a half west of mid-Strip (where the Mirage is). My only real complaint was I wish they had better beer. These hot and spicy crawfish would have gone well with a full-bodied, flavor-forward beer, but all they offered were the big brands.

Hot 'n Juicy Crawfish
3863 Spring Mountain Road
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 750-2428

4810 Spring Mountain Road
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 891-8889

Louisiana Best Seafood

C. Thi Nguyen, a food loving UCLA grad student (in philosophy no less) has, over the past few years, been showing himself to be one of the finest food writers in LA. He started as a frequent poster on Chowhound but is now an occasional contributor to the LA Times' The Find column, which reviews downscale joints and hidden gems. In the city of Jonathan Gold, it's hard to break out as a food writer, but Nguyen has both a knack for new finds and for describing them in a way that makes you want to drop everything and speed out to whichever restaurant he's reviewing. I open the Times food section every Thursday hoping to find one of his reviews.

One of the places I learned of through a Nguyen review last year was Louisiana Best Seafood in Long Beach. Louisiana Best is the real thing, similar to the take-out shacks that dot the landscape in Southern Louisiana.



Louisiana Best makes some of the best fried shrimp and oysters in town. The shrimp are far better than most southern style shrimp in that they manage to keep their moist, buttery flesh beneath the cornmeal batter. The oysters properly burst open with juice when you take a bite, and benefit for a dip in some Louisiana hot sauce. Those oysters would make for an excellent po-boy, but you'll have to make it yourself because the menu at Louisiana Best is pretty much limited to fried fish.

Along with shrimp and oysters, they have a list of fish of which I have so far tried two: the catfish and red snapper. The catfish was excellent; the firm, perfectly fried pieces had an addictive quality to them. It was tough to stop eating. I also really enjoyed their homemade tartar sauce, which is far less mayo-heavy than most. I did not care for the red snapper which was dry and fishy tasting. Nguyen loved the sand dabs, but I haven't gotten around to them yet.

Louisiana Best is pretty much a take-out only establishment, but be forewarned that transporting the goods can leave an odor that will haunt your car for weeks. After my first drive home with a family bucket of fried fish, I tried sprays, leaving the windows open and other tricks to no avail. Now, before a trip for fish, I just prepare myself for the several weeks of seafood scent I will enjoy each time I open my car door.

There's not much other than fish at Louisiana Best. The hushpuppies are well fried and tasty, but the fries are just average. There are a few pre-made desserts in the case, but why do that when Jongewaard's Bake N' Broil is only a mile or so north; those cream pies make a fine coda to a fish fry.


Louisiana Best Seafood
2400 Atlantic Ave.
Long Beach, CA
(562) 424-0298.

Bayou Worthy Oyster Po Boys: Big Mama's in Pasadena

One of the hardest cuisines to find a decent version of in LA is Cajun. Having had a job which required me to roam around the entire state of Louisiana for two years in the early '90s, I developed a deep love and respect for Cajun food. Not the refined creole dishes of New Orleans, but the rustic, fried seafood, jambalaya and gumbo of the Cajun country. The object of my deepest affection back then was the fried crawfish po boy, but given that mud bugs just don't make it out of Louisiana all to often, the best you can hope for west of Houston is a half way decent fried oyster po boy.

In the best version of this delicacy, the oysters are fresh and plump, flash fried and slapped on a bun with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Then, you add hot sauce to taste, which for me, means enough to saturate the bread and blend with the mayo, turning it the color of Russian dressing.

For a few years after moving to LA, I relied on the fried oyster po boy at the Venice Boulevard Uncle Darrow's shack for my fix. Unfortunately, that location closed years ago, and while there is another Uncle Darrow's in Marina Del Rey, I simply never make it out to Marina Del Rey.

On my recent LA gelato tour, I found myself hanging out in Altadena to sample the wondrous Bulgarini Gelato and needing someplace to eat after knocking down some goat milk gelato or olive oil yogurt. I didn't find a lot of options in Altadena, but just over the Pasadena border is Big Mama's Rib Shack.

Big Mama's is not an impressive looking place. More of a lounge than a shack, it has the feel of a run down night club. A massive TV greets customers at the front of the restaurant, and the place is divided in half with two separate decors. The left half of the room has some stylish touches, tables and a bar, but the right side features worn out booths with ripped fabric and a carpet in need of a serious cleaning.

As the name indicates, Big Mama's is a barbecue joint and the menu tends to emphasize the barbecue options. But when I scanned the menu, my eyes landed immediately on another section, tucked away on the side: Jambalaya, file gumbo, fried seafood, and a whole list of po boys...Louisiana food. One of my rules of life is that if an oyster po boy appears on a menu, I will order it, although in California, usually it will disappoint.

The Big Mama's po boy was an unassuming creature. A smaller version than is typical, featuring just two large oysters, but biting into that po boy was one of those moments in life you treasure, when you realize that you have found something truly and unexpectedly wonderful. The first bite revealed a crisp, nicely spiced cornmeal crust encasing a beautifully cooked, huge, juicy oyster within. It included the typical lettuce and tomato, though with a bit of onion and mustard as well. I grabbed the hot sauce, splashed some on to make that perfect bite and sat back, dreaming of shacks on the bayou, the decks of which I used to lounge on eating something like this. It was one of those flavors that takes you back. I was so happy that I came close to ordering a second one right on top of the first, but I try not to overindulge in such ways as I slip into middle age.

The hush puppies were good, but nothing else we ordered was worth noting. Despite the fact that Big Mama's bills itself as a rib shack, the ribs were unexciting and the catfish had that musty, dirty taste they get when they aren't prepared quite right or aren't the best quality to begin with, but none of that mattered. For now, I've found the best LA oyster po boy that I've had in years and within just a few miles of one of the best gelato shops anywhere. This was my definition of a find, and a balanced meal to boot.

Big Mama's Rib Shack
1453 N. Lake Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 797-1792

Farmers Market: Second Tier

We continue our comprehensive review of the Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax with the second tier. These may not be my very favorites, but they are decent places that will do in a pinch.

Tusquellas Fish & Oyster Bar

Fish and chips are the mainstay of Tusquellas, and they do a competent version. The fish is crispy and the fries have a nice chewy texture, though the accompanying cole slaw is fairly flavorless. They used to do a nice fish/oyster combination, but that seems to have disappeared from the menu.


The Gumbo Pot

Having lived in Louisiana for a couple of years, I love Cajun and Creole food. Uncle Darrow's was my mainstay back when they had a little sandwich shack on Venice Boulevard, but since that closed, there's not much in the way of Cajun food east of the 405 and north of the 10. The Gumbo Pot, the lone Cajun contender is popular, but for me, always seems to disappoint. The po-boys are made from lackluster bread, and while the cornmeal battered oysters are good, there aren't nearly enough of them on the po-boy. The gumbo and jambalaya are passable but nothing to write home about, and the alligator is mostly a good novelty dish. I still go from time to time because, as I said, it's hard to find good Louisiana food in LA, but it mostly makes me dream of real Cajun food.


Singapore’s Banana Leaf

Another relative newcomer, Singapore's Banana Leaf may be the only restaurant in LA claiming to serve Singapore-style food. A combination of the flavors of India, Thailand and Indonesia, my favorite dish at Singapore's Banana Leaf is the Roti Paratha, fried Indian bread served with an awesomely flavorful curry sauce. I also enjoy the Cane Juice which has a wonderful sugar cane taste.


Moishe’s

Moishe's dishes out standard Middle Eastern fare...falafel, hummous, kabobs, etc. Nothing thrilling, but all done fairly well. Their best dish is the lamb kabob, which is perfectly cooked and well seasoned.

Next week: Sweet Shops of the Farmers Market