Category Archives: Ventura

Taqueria La Hermita

by Mikey

So I’ve been asking around to find really big burritos in order to warm up for my quest to take on the B3 at the Sahara in Las Vegas.  My neighbor told me that TLH (I’m just going to use the initials because I’m way to lazy to keep typing the name) had a fairly good sized burrito called the super burrito.  Time for a little warm up…

Taqueria La Hermita – Ventura – Johnson Blvd

TLH is really only big enough to be run by two people at a time: a cashier and a cook.  The cook is right next to the cashier so he was cooking my food as I was ordering it.  I ordered their carne asada super burrito with everything.  They told me that it was a bit over 2lbs, so it’s a good warm up.  I didn’t want to order more than one because I was a bit worried I wouldn’t like it.

They handed me the goods and it felt pretty heavy.  It was a pretty large burrito, and definitely not one you’re going to pick up and eat. The tortillas they use are pretty good and very fresh.  The sauce has a great kick and it’s kinda nice to have a burrito with a little bite.  They have a pretty good salsa and it has great jalapeno action happening.

It was pretty much down hill from there, which really sucks, because they have some great prices on their combo meals.  The carne is so diced up I could almost eat it through a straw, not to mention that it was closer to grey than brown.  I’ve never had meat so cut up.  What adds to the whole dicing thing is that the cheese is all crumbly, not shredded or even cubed, but crumbly.  The guacamole seemed a bit off too.

The beans and rice were fairly bland and the sour cream was tasteless too.  Their salsa saves the burrito as far as flavor, but it’s not enough to bail out a burrito of this size.  I ate the whole thing because I needed the practice, but my search is definitely going to have to continue for an even larger, and hopefully better tasting, burrito.

If you recommend places for me to try, don’t just give me some place that puts together a really large burrito. Let’s try and make sure it tastes good to so that I’ll actually want to finish it.  This burrito was more like the last few Nicolas Cage movies. You wanna like it, and really hope it gets better by the end, but alas……….

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China Palace

by Mikey

It’s time for some Chinese food and China Palace advertises authentic Mandarin & Szechwan cuisine.  This is all well and good, but the real question is: how does it eat?
I was taking this particular order to go ’cause I wanted to do a little Trader Joe shopping and then get home so I could submerge myself in my self-loathing.

China Palace – Ventura Victoria Blvd next to Trader Joes

I went into the Palace to get a couple of orders of this and an order of that. What I ended up doing was following the direction of a really nice lady who was very helpful.  I’ve never bought Chinese food from someone this helpful.  She explained every dish and set me up with a great combination to try the most possible without spending a lot. Even if the food sucked, at this point, I still take my hat off to the Palace. Continue reading

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Evita’s Mexican Café

by Mikey

I was told to hit Evita’s for the salsa and the enchiladas.  Since I dig both, I headed on over.  Evita’s has won a few local awards for salsa at the Oxnard salsa festivals and you can view their various awards right over the salsa bar.  I was hoping I was in for, at the least, some really good salsas.

Evita’s Mexican Café – Ventura off of Main St

Evita’s is a little pink restaurant on the side of Main St, at the East end, before you hit the Pacific View Mall.  Even though I rarely enter a pink building, because it is a man card violation, I figured it was for a good cause and I had already gotten another violation that day for watching Footloose.

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Food and Fun at the 2009 Ventura County Fair

by Brian

Last weekend, Mikey and I had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Ventura County Fair.  It was my first time at the fair and I had no idea how big it was going to be.  Even more importantly, I had no idea how much food they would have to offer.  As it turns out, Mikey and I barely scratched the surface of what they had, before reaching our agreed upon calorie limit of 5000.

2009 Ventura County Fair – Seaside Park off California St., Ventura

The fair is right down by the beach, at Seaside Park.  It’s gorgeous, right up until the time when you have to walk back to your car, downwind from that horrid sewage smell that sometimes wafts its way along the beach.  Other than that, it’s the perfect location.  Parking isn’t too bad and if you’re willing to park in the nearby structure and walk, you’ll get a little exercise before gorging yourself on all the great food.

Obviously there is more to the fair than food.  But food was our main reason for attending.  They have tons of rides and carnival games, along with local vendors selling their wares.  There are also several exhibition halls with everything from local flora to collections of Harry Potter memorabilia.  Mikey and I spent 20 bucks each at the carnival and walked away with 3 stuffed animals and a sense of manly pride that only comes from showing a carny what’s what.

But first and foremost we were there to eat.  We didn’t really do too much sharing, instead opting to go head to head with our food choices.  Round 1 was Mikey’s Tri-tip sandwich vs. my Cajun corndog. Continue reading

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Edo Sushi & Grill

by Mikey

I’ve been on a pretty good run of luck sushi places.  I was hoping it would not end at Edo.  I wanted them to be good mostly because they are not far from my place.  It’s always good to have great food around you and, for the most part, what’s around me is average at best.  I opened the door to go in and realized I might have made a mistake.  It was just me, the sushi chef, the waitress, and the thought that I should have gone for Italian.  Nobody else was in the place.

Edo sushi & Grill – Ventura on Telegraph and Victoria

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I went ahead and took this order to go.  I don’t really like being the only one in a place ’cause then I feel guilty and order more then I’ll eat.  Plus, they were staring at me.  They either were glad to see me ’cause fat guys order a lot of sushi, or because they wanted to add me to the menu as a Mikey Roll. Continue reading

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Breakfast at Jim and Rob’s Fresh Grill

by Mikey

We need more places around the area that give us a decent breakfast for a good price, that isn’t fast food and isn’t the highly marketed 10 minute “eat it and then get out ’cause we need the table for the next group” kinda place. I think I found a good option in Ventura that has a simple menu, good prices and fresh ingredients.  Plus, it’s next to a cool little coffee joint called Caffrodite’s.

Jim & Rob’s Fresh Grill – Main St not to far from Ventura High school

You’re gonna have to keep a sharp eye out for them, but they are right on a corner. They look more like a taco stand than a place to get breakfast, but they have great outside seating.  Ventura is a place that’s perfect for outside seating.  The weather changes are, for the most part, very small.  So most of the time you actually want to be outside enjoying a great meal.

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There are no servers here.  It’s an order it and then pick it up kind of place, which means you only have to tip the cooks if you want to.  The food is pretty good though, so you’ll probably want to give them a tip.  I enjoyed my breakfast so much that I gave them a great tip. “Never play leap frog with a unicorn!” Now if that’s not a good tip then I don’t know what is. Continue reading

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Uniquely Thai

by Mikey

I had a movie to get to, so I had to find something nearby and something quick.  I had about 30 minutes to work with, so I decided to hit this little Thai joint that is right next to the theater.  On the outside of the building it says Thai To Go, but the lady running the place told me its actually called Uniquely Thai, so we will go with that.  It’s a really little place that seats 10 at the most, but they are attached to a food court so there is plenty of seating around it.  I was hoping for a quick hearty meal.  What I got was…….

Uniquely Thai – Off of Johnson next to Century 16 Theaters

My first impression of this place is that it’s under new ownership.  Most of what they have on the menu is pictured on the wall and they offer as much help as a hobo with schizophrenia when trying to find out what’s good.  I asked 3 different times what would be good and all I got was a vacant stare.  It was kinda like asking a Zebra how it got its stripes.  Basically the Zebra will look at you and acknowledge your existence, but he ain’t givin up anything.

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