Looks amazing. Are you able to give us some description of what those items are?

Sorry...for some reason, when i wrote my initial response I thought you were looking to compare Zo with Sasabune (i guess i just misread), not Asanebo. Asanebo is also an excellent sushi bar in my opinion and you really cant go wrong with either. Please disregard my prior comments as they clearly are not accurate (Asanebo is both very good...and very expensive).

For my money, there is no comparison (in either the food or the price). Zo is much better in my opinion...and more expensive

I dont think it officially opens until tomorrow (1/17)

You can get them at the SM farmers market from Carlsbad Aquafarm. They are literally sold the same day as they are pulled from the water. They charge $10/dozen. I know they are at the wednesday and saturday markets in SM and am sure they are probably at some others around town.

I ate there a couple of days ago and was fairly disappointed. Not because the food was poor, but because it is just average. This is not only a Puck restaurant, but the flagship restaurant. The menu looks great and sounds really exciting. The execution from the kitchen was off. The risotto was salty, the fish was overcooked and in general it was just average. Thats not what i expect when i go to Spago.

Waterloo and City would be a good place for a group of guys

Went for dinner last wednesday and there were literally 2 other parties all night. We were commenting on how they cant be covering their expenses on a night like that, and now its obvious that they have not been able to do so. Hopefully they will land somewhere else soon.

I would add Wolfgang's in BH.

Waterloo and City in Culver City might be a good venue for a group of 10 guys. Very good food and nice bar scene.

I havent found any good Chinese food on the westside but have been hearing that Joss in Beverly Hills is the best of the options. Has anyone been? What are your thoughts on this place? I dont expect anything like you would find in the San Gabriel Valley but am hoping its a decent spot for those days when i dont feel like driving 20-some miles for food.

Il Pastaio is great, but small and fairly noisy. Via Alloro is a good alternative.

If you call the guys at Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach, I am sure they can get you the Tarako.

Waterloo and City in Culvery City makes a good fish and chips.

Excellent post. thanks so much for compiling all of that information.
I will say that I have ordered from Eva's several times (including during major holidays) and honestly have never found them to be rude in any way. The lady that answers the phone and calls you back to confirm doesnt speak great english but I found that if you are polite to them they are generally very nice. They always have had the pig ready at the time that they quoted and were very helpful in getting it out to the car and loading it into the trunk. I have honestly had good experiences there many times.

We went to RM last night and have an amazing meal. It really exceeded our expectations. Below is the list of dishes we tried and our thoughts:

Brussel Sprouts - Agree with the other posters on this thread. This is a great dish. My wife hates brussel sprouts but ended up eating a healthy dose of these.

CRISPY SPRING ROLLS / dungeness crab, lime, pea pods, fines herbes, chili -- We liked this dish but felt that the flavor of the crab was lost in the spring roll. It was well executed but since the other dishes we ordered were so impressive, this was our least favorite (not to say it wasnt good)

AMBERJACK / red seaweed, buttermilk, lotus root, tapioca, succulents -- Another great dish. The mix of textures and flavors was very impressive...especially the use of the tapioca pearls.

DUTCH WHITE ASPARAGUS / salsify, almond milk, burdock root, pomelo - These spears were huge (like 10 inches long) but the true flavor of the asparagus really shone through. They are also pretty meaty and hearty.

HEIRLOOM RICE PORRIDGE / egg yolk, hazelnuts, ginseng, echire butter w/ Uni supplement - There were 3 of us at dinner and this is a pretty decent sized portion. Its a very hearty dish that compliments some of the other lighter, smaller dishes. The uni supplement consists of 4 pieces of uni. While I am a huge uni fan and liked this dish, it wasnt as mind-blowing as some of the other dishes.

SWEETBREADS / crispy sunchokes, prune, chicory, spice bread, smoked bone marrow - This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. Another great combination of flavors and textures...The crispy sunchokes and the smoke bone marrow sauce were amazing with the fried sweetbreads.

WILD SANTA BARBARA SPOT PRAWNS /cooked over hot river stones with lemongrass - This is one of the large format dishes. It comes in a ceramic pot which contains hot river stones sitting on a bed of lemongrass. On top of the stones are about 9 santa barbara spot prawns and some picked maitake mushrooms (which both cook by just sitting on the stones) and the fried heads of the shrimp. This was all served with lettuce leafs, picked cucumbers, shredded carrots, basil, mint and fish sauce. This was a great dish and the aroma from the lemongrass really permeated the shrimp. I would definately recommend this dish, but be aware that the large format dishes are quite expensive. This dish was $110. Although i expected it to be expensive (based on the ingredients), you are not told the price of the large format dishes unless you ask, so its easy to see that some people could be quite surprised by the cost.

Finally we had the Coconut Bavarois. It was a nice, refreshing end to the meal and reminded me of the coconut jelly that you get in a fresh baby coconut.

All in all, an amazing meal. I will definately be going back to RM soon. The food is heartier than most small-plate restaurants and the large format dishes are really quite large. The flavors and textures are incredible and the presentation of the dishes is spectacular.

Taqueria Sanchez on Centinela near Culver makes a good shrimp burrito

I am sure you have walked by JJ's a million times. Its literally connected to the market in castries. Its right between the market and the Super J grocery store. Chef Juice is an incredibly nice guy ( you will recognize him because he always wears his chefs hat) and he will take very good care of you.

I have bought them live in the past and kept them in the fridge under a damp cloth and they stayed alive for 24 hours.

Seafood Paradise sells them live when they can get them at about $3.99/lb.

We are back from St. Lucia and I wanted to jump back on here to fill everyone in on the various meals we had.

Laurel's (On Trouya Road north of Castries). This is a locally owned, small restaurant that serves local foods. We had dinner there one night because it was within walking distance of where we were staying (Windjammer Landing). We ordered Accra (salfish cakes) to start and then I had the pork ribs and my wife had the local fish (mahi mahi that night). The accra was delicious but a little oily and both the ribs and fish were fantastic. Both were served with rice, beans and plantains. This place is a great little, family owned restaurant and really makes you feel as though you are eating in someones house.

We had several lunches at JJ's which is just outside the market in Castries. You wont see a sign that says JJ's but there is a sign that says "Caribbean Cocktails". They make several dishes every day and we found that a lot of locals would come there to pick up their lunch at lunch time (most tourists would come and have drinks but most of the eaters were locals). We ate there several times and had creole octopus, stewed pork, fried fish and creole shrimp over the various meals. The food here was very good and again felt very local and authentic. The chef (Chef Sweet Juice) was a very friendly man and went out of his way to explain the food and take good care of us. JJ's is well known by the locals for their stuffed crab backs which they do on wednesday nights. Unfortunately on the wednesday night that we went down there, they were closed because JJ's mother had recently passed away and everyone was at the funeral. Chef Juice was incredibly apologetic the next time he saw us because he had told us to come down on wednesday, forgetting that they would be closed. He was so nice and we had such good food there, that we were not upset in the least.

While on the island, we also made a point to go to the jump up (local street party) in Gros Islet. This was a fun night and one not to be missed. All the locals put bbq's out on the street and grill a variety of foods. There is a dj playing music and its a huge street party. We had some grilled kidneys, grilled lambi (conch) and some fried fish at the jump up and again all the food was very good. At all of the street stalls, no matter what you pick you get rice, beans, salad and ground provisions (some combination of local starches...yams, plantains, dasheen [taro]).

We went to the Gros Islet jump up the following friday again, but this time we went to a little place that a local friend had suggested. I dont know that i has a name, but starting at about 6pm at the Gros Islet fishery (where all the fishing boats come in with their catch), there is a little place where they grill fresh fish and lambi on the coal. This place was great and was frequented almost exlusively by locals.

One saturday night we drove to Dennery which is a small fishing village on the east coast of the island and which has its own jump up on saturday nights. The Dennery jump up (or fish fiesta as its sometimes called) is also a fun event with great food. if you are into seafood, this is the place to go. We had stewed octopus, grilled fish roe, grilled fish, lambi, and although I couldnt have them because i was too full, crayfish and sea snails. If you go to the Dennery jump up make sure you arrange for a taxi driver to pick you up at a certain time because it can be challenging to find a cab from there.

On a recommendation from the resort, we had dinner one night at Spinnakers in Rodney Bay. We honestly found this place to be a tourist trap. The food was not very good and the service was probably the least friendly of any place we ate at on our trip. Its in a beautiful location on the beach but other than that i would stay away from it.

One day we took a trip to Pigeon Island (not really an island any more because you can drive to it) and had lunch at the only restaurant there called Jambe de Bois. Because it was the only place there, and because pigeon island is a big tourist spot, we expected the food to be average at best, but we were the first ones there that day and they made us some very good fried and grilled fish. Nothing spectacular, but again, good, home cooked-type food.

Finally, we had heard so much about The Edge in Rodney Bay that we went there for dinner one night (and then went back again another night). This place is said to be the best restaurant on the island and we found the food to be very good. We had local prawns poched in butter with seafood raviolli (one of the best dishes...the one that made us go back), grilled red snapper with anise foam, and kingfish and shrimp wellington. All the food here was very good and for a high end dining experience, i would highly recommend it.

Im sure we ate at some other places too that i cant think of at the moment but as i remember them i will post again.

Hope this helps those heading to the island in the future.

Crowbar, thanks so much for this information. Its just what i was looking for.

Are there any local joints that are worth visiting and not necessarily on the tourist path? is there such a thing? Just looking for the best food. Everything else is scondary.

Hey guys, there is less than a month till we head out to St. Lucia, so please let me know if you have any ideas. thanks

Santa Monica seafood generally has a nice selection. Seafood Paradise in Rosemead is my favorite though...almost everything is alive in tanks.

We are hoping to really explore the whole island so suggestions are welcomed for any place on the island. We will be staying just north of Castries but really want to travel around the island and find some places that are off the beaten path.

Anyone? Anyone?

Although it not in Culver City, has anyone tried Lattitued Thai on Lincoln? Its fairly close to CC and I have heard good things about it (but never been).

The beef tartar is actually quite good as well. Its an interesting twist with korean pears in it. As far as the BBQ goes, you cant go wrong with the seasoned Galbi. Its the best.

The 5 course tasting menu at providence will be plenty of food. I guarantee that you will not leave hungry. I do like the other places that you mentioned, but I would pick Providence all the way.