I first ate at Fishing with Dynamite 5 years ago, just after they opened. While I’ve been there for a lunch on an occasional basis, I hadn’t returned for dinner. I had a gift card for Fishing with Dynamite and my wife and I got together with my cousin and her husband for dinner.
Their menu is still in the same format. Under Old School is a selection of established items like fish and chips, crab cakes and clam chowder. Conversely, the New School section lists their version of items that are trending like grilled octopus, risotto, and grilled street corn. What Fishing with Dynamite is really known for is their oyster and raw bar. And yes, their signature key lime pie is still on the menu.
We shared a bottle of Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc. This was a nice fruit forward wine with a smooth finish. I think it was the ideal wine for enjoying with seafood. Jules Taylor is from the Marlborough region of New Zealand and has twice won the Champion Sauvignon Blanc trophy at the Air New Zealand wine awards.
Peruvian Scallops with grapefruit, cilantro and citrus pesto
One of my favorite dishes is their Peruvian scallops. It is a simple creation of scallops with fresh grapefruit, cilantro, and citrus pesto. The scallops were tender and had a slightly nutty taste and the small piece of grapefruit added a nice citrus element.
New England clam chowder
My wife isn’t keen on certain types of seafood and since she loves clam chowder, I gave her my portion of the soup. She was quite happy with that and said that it was very tasty and creamy. It wasn’t like the original Rhode Island version that we remembered having when we first dined at Fishing with Dynamite, but more of a New England style chowder.
Traditional Fish and Chips
Their fish and chips were beer battered using locally brewed, Strand Brewing Company’s 24th Street Pale Ale. The cod was light and flakey and the exterior had a delicious batter. The house tartar sauce was slightly thick, tart and nicely seasoned.
Grilled octopus with white bean hummus, pine nuts, mint leaves and chermoula
Grilled octopus is frequently found on many LA restaurant menus. This one was paired with a small amount of hummus, chermoula, mint leaves, olive oil and pine nuts. The combination of flavors nicely complimented the charred octopus flavor.
Koshihikari Rice shown before I mixed the ingredients together.
After hearing that “Koshihikari Rice” is like a Japanese version of risotto, I immediately selected that. Japanese dashi takes the place of the chicken broth and blue crab, shrimp, uni, basil and an egg is added to the rice. Our server explained that the rice dish should be mixed before eating it. That way the egg yolk blends with the rice. I thought the dish was a creative combination between tamago gohan (Japanese rice breakfast) and Italian risotto.
Grilled Corn with Korean gochujang BBQ sauce
The grilled corn was much like Mexican elote except a Korean gochujang BBQ sauce was applied to it. That with the pickled jalapeno on top amped up the spice level.
Key Lime Pie with graham cracker crust
Chocolate Pretzel and Bread Pudding
My cousin ordered the Chocolate Pretzel Bread Pudding with caramel sauce which was a huge dessert. On the other hand, I had been looking forward to their key lime pie. It was exactly as I remembered it to be: graham cracker crust and the meringue was applied like teardrops.
Our server was very accommodating. She offered to split 2 orders of soup so that the four of us each had our own portion. Grilled corn was served as 3 mini corn cobs and she asked the chef to add an additional one so each of us had our own.
The dinner options were as tasty as I remembered them to be and I thought the Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc nicely enhanced the meal. The only thing that bothered me is that the tables are small and tightly packed together. Fishing with Dynamite used to only have two tables available for reservations and the rest were available for walk-ins. It appears that they have relaxed that policy and now use OpenTable for reservations.
Fishing with Dynamite, 1148 Manhattan Ave, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266; 310.893.6299
eatfwd.com