COD on 3rd street

Drove by it today. Space looks very inviting. Anyone been? Apparently it’s from the same owners as EMC Seafood.

looks like it could be decent, interested in a review

meh

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Would have to agree with @PorkyBelly. The Hamachi Ceviche and Halibut carpacio were very good, fresh, well dressed but neither sauce was overpowering or covered the taste of the fish. The kumamoto oysters we had were good but not amazingly sweet or briny tasting. Garlic noodles were also very good (but really its just tons of garlic with some soy, salt, and oil). Octopus was meh.

But we had probably the nastiest uni I have ever had. It looked so fresh because they had the shells unopened on ice in their display case, but it was disgusting. I’ve had better uni at a AYCE sushi buffet.

If you’re looking for a seafood restaurant that has relatively decent and fresh seafood in the area this is not a bad choice. But nothing I would drive for or go out of my way to visit.

For the fourth time since my joining Chowhound / FTC, I will post my 2 cents on this matter (verbatim):

"Uni myth: Opening the live urchin fresh in front of the customer means it’s gonna be great uni, right?
No. Contrary to popular belief, cracking open uni just before eating doesn’t ensure quality.

The quality of the urchin roe within the shell is an innate biological characteristic and pre-determined even before opening. Opening the shell in front of a customer does nothing to improve or detract from the quality of the uni within. There’s no way to predict the quality of the uni until it’s tasted.

That’s why “fresh uni out of the shell” is a scam, in my opinion. Opening a live uni is a crapshoot - you have no idea if that uni (while undeniably fresh) is gonna be good, mediocre, or bad.

The uni are sold in Japanese markets (generally higher in quality) are already extracted from the shell. The uni-monger sorts out different quality tiers before it’s brought to market and puts them in different wooden trays - this way, proper price levels can be set based on quality. Chances are, the uni monger, who is far more experienced at predicting which urchin will have the best roe, will open those shells first at his/her facility to determine the best prices. Meanwhile, some of the more questionable urchins get shipped off to restaurants intact for the “fresh uni out of the shell” ritual."

Translation: This place will do just fine because it services adequately well the other 99.3% of people out there who are not as crazy or nitpicky enough about food as we here on FTC are…

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If i was in the area i would drive the extra 10 minutes and go to connie & ted’s

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I would agree

@J_L thanks for that info. I always thought if they were fresh they probably would taste good. I’ve even dove for uni in the past but the ones that tasted worse I always chalked it up as an anomaly.

Every time I read any post mentioning the “live” uni thing, your PSA always comes to mind. To all who haven’t taken notice, please do so now!

I think that by the time these creatures in this way of offering meet their maker, they’ve been through hell. Moreover, they’ve been out of water for how long? And without eating anything for - days? - probably sets the organism into a survival mode - most likely self-cannibalizing its less-vital organs to keep the more vital parts functioning.

Urchin gonads are huge relative to body size but aren’t the most vital for functioning, making these parts perfect for sustaining the other more vital functions.

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Or take the short walk down the street to Son of A Gun.

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If they’re owned by the same owners as EMC, I wouldn’t bother. The first (and only) time I went to EMC in Ktown, I saw them rinsing out the oysters after shucking. I later spoke to a friend who mentioned they went to the Westfield Topanga location, and they, too, said they saw them rinsing shucked oysters. Not sure what that’s about, but no.

(If I’m wrong, please enlighten me, but never, ever, have I seen that before at any reputable raw bar. Why the hell would you want to lose that delicious liquor?)

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I have always thought son of a gun was a pretty meh restaurant, I felt like the Animal style used for land proteins never really translated to their seafood offerings.

I would very respectfully disagree with this.
I love SOAG. And one of the reasons I love it is that they don’t “animalize” the seafood very much - it is quite a bit more understated and respectful of the ingredients (rather than honoring combinations of ingredients which I feel is more animal’s forte).
Plus they have a full bar and a great cocktail program.

OTOH, EMC in Ktown is terrible. Not planning on going to COD anytime soon.

I pretty much agree with everything you say about uni.

I would add as a sidenote though that I have been to sushi restaurants - specifically Sushi Iki on Ventura Blvd where “Crazy Eddie” is the itamae - where the live uni is always top quality. He claims that he can determine the quality of the roe by looking at the shell. No idea whether this is true or not, but he clearly has some means of ensuring his live sea urchins are of a consistently high quality.

My hypothesis: Procure tiny saw or serrated shellfish knife, saw open uni with minimal damage to shell, take out existing uni roe, replace it with high grade uni from bought tray, close it up, put it back on ice, prepare for customers to order it and be “wow’ed”…

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I went to one of their opening events with some friends because someone in the group was friends with the owner(s). The food was fine for having while drinking with friends. Stuck with basics like fish/chips, tuna tartar, etc. That’s about all I remember.

But then what dos the chef do with the bad uni they’ve paid for?

Well barring this whole oyster situation, the rest of the menu at EMC is pretty good and their happy hour is great.

Use them for pranks, of course

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Glad we can disagree, different strokes for different folks. For me if I want a seafood heavy meal that is reasonably priced and good quality in the same area , I would just go to Connie and teds (I know they aren’t 100 percent analogous but it’s a preference for me)