Part II of the LA Food Series: Finally some seafood, one of the spiciest things I have ever eaten and the infamous Erewhon smoothie…
Malibu Seafood
We took a day trip to Malibu, which obviously called for the consumption of copious amounts of seafood. Luckily, my friend John knew a good place to go, which was not directly on Malibu pier but a bit further away from the touristy areas (always a good sign).
Foodie that I am, I wanted to try as many things as possible, so I opted for a set menu consisting of steamed shrimp and a little taster of clam chowder, a dish that originated in the Northeastern United States and that is now served in large parts of the country. It is basically a creamy clam soup that is commonly served with saltines or oyster crackers. I also went for a sneaky side of fried oysters.
The food really satisfied my craving for seafood with the clam chowder being nice and creamy and the shrimps sweet and fresh. I was not a huge fan of the fried oysters because the breadcrumb coating totally overpowered the oyster flavour, but the shrimps made up for that.
Price: about $25
Rating: 8/10
Hailey Bieber Smoothie from Erewhon
Now, if you don’t know what Erewhon is, then you probably live in a healthier online bubble than I do. Erewhon was founded in 1966 as a health food producer with a few stores in Los Angeles. The name is derived from a satirical novel by Samuel Butler, in which Erewhon (an anagram for „nowhere“) is a utopian place where people have to look after their health meticulously. Should they get sick, they will be legally punished.
While Erewhon has struggled financially in the past, the shops have gathered a cult following over the last few years with many celebrities frequenting the stores to get healthy granola, dietary supplements and other fancy lifestyle stuff. However, Erewhon truely went viral when they cooperated with Hailey Bieber to create the Strawberry Glaze Smoothie. It has ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, sea moss and collagen, which are supposed to make your skin glow. The smoothie is priced at $20 and a friend asked me whether this is the modern day equivalent to the $5 milkshake in Pulp Fiction. Actually, it is pretty much the opposite. People don’t really complain about the price tag but they flock to Erewhon because of it. The shop has garnered a reputation as the „world’s most expensive supermarket“ and has basically become a tourist magnet.
To be honest, I expected the prices to be even higher and it seemed to me that „normal“ food was only slightly overpriced. What killed it was the Erewhon own brand things. My favourite discovery: An Erewhon tote bag for a whooping $150 and Palo Santo Auric Purification Mist for about $50.
So, how does the $20 smoothie taste? I hate to admit it but it was pretty good. It was way sweeter than expected and I highly doubt that it classifies as a „health drink“ (despite collagen and all) but it was a tasty smoothie. I particularly liked the tiny jelly-like chunks, which reminded me a bit of bubble tea.
Did it make my skin glow? I don’t think so.
Would I buy it again? Maaaaybe.
Price: $20
Rating: 9/10
Salt and Straw Ice Cream
One night John and me went out in the Arts District of LA and after a few beers at brew pubs and some cocktails at Death & Co., we decided to treat ourselves to late night pizza from Prince St. Pizza (a place originally from New York that I love) and some ice cream from Salt & Straw, which is apparently an LA institution (according to John).
I went for the Cinnamon Snickerdoodle and Pear & Blue Cheese. As is often the case with artisanal ice creams, the ice cream was actually pretty creamy and nice. However, I have had better. The flavours were simply not strong enough for my liking.
Price: about $10 (yikes…)
Rating: 6/10
Holbox
I had first seen Holbox in one of Lukas Galgenmüller’s YouTube videos (one of my most important research channels before I travel) and I instantly wanted to go. When I later found out that the little Mexican place inside a busy hall was awarded a Michelin star, Holbox got a fixed spot on my „must eat there“-list.
Since there were three of us, we ordered loads of stuff from grilled branzino over squid ink and baja fish tacos to shrimp aguachile… and it was a feast! I did not like every single dish (apparently raw shrimp is not my thing) but I liked how everything tasted totally different. The squid was tender, the scallop tacos had a nice spice level and the aguachile broth was tangy, spicy, salty… I might have just used a spoon to get every single drop of it.
Would highly recommed for Michelin star food without all the Michelin star fuss!
Price: about $150 for all of it
Rating: 10/10
Howlin‘ Ray’s Nashville Hot Chicken
I eat lots of spicy food and I love it. So when I had heard about Howlin‘ Ray’s and their notoriously hot Nashville chicken, I made my way to Chinatown. The wait of about 30 minutes gave me lots of time to decide which spice level I would go for. With the scale going from mild to howlin‘, I decided to go for x-tra hot (one level under howlin‘). When it was my turn and I placed my order, the lady at the counter took a good look at me and asked „So, is this your first time here?“ I answered yes and she went on asking about my spice tolerance. I told her I had no real problem handling Da Bomb hot sauce and that it would be fine. She took another good look at me and said „Look, here’s what we do. I give you a little sample piece and you tell me whether you can handle x-tra hot.“ I took the little piece of chicken, put it in my mouth… and all hell broke loose. It was easily one of the spiciest things I had ever eaten. But idiot that I am I put on a brave face, went for the creamy pasta salad as a side and said (holding back tears) that I could handle the x-tra hot.
Then the lady at the counter smirked and said: „Honey, I tricked you. That was only the hot one. Not x-tra hot.“ Now, that was the moment where I should have backed down, accept my defeat and ask for a mild but I didn’t.
She offered that she could give me two wings in spice level hot and one x-tra hot just to try and I accepted the offer. (Have I mentioned that I am a huge idiot?)
Eating the chicken, I felt all of my taste buds slowly dying. The heat burned through everything and while I often also enjoy this sensation, there was nothing really enjoyable about Howlin‘ Rays. Yes, it was my mistake for going for a spice level that I could not really handle. But also, the chicken seemed pretty dry to me and there was more coating than chicken. Think I should just stick with KFC and add some hot sauce.
Price: about $25
Rating: 3/10
Couch Potato Chronicles 
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