Suburbia Offers Global Eclectic Menu

Editor’s Note: Suburbia closed in 2018. Little Sister took its place. Review here.

I received a gift card to Suburbia and so my wife and I decided to use it on a recent date night. Due to the restaurant’s popularity, we were only able to obtain reservations at 5:15 p.m. Fortunately for us, it was still Happy Hour and unlike some places, they openly welcome people that aren’t sitting at the bar to take advantage of their happy hour specials.

Oysters on the Half Shell

During Happy Hour, oysters on the half shell are only $1.00 each. The Kumiai oysters were served with three dipping sauces. The oysters were delicious and a tad salty without a sauce; I think they probably would have paired quite nicely with a beer. Of the three dipping sauces, I preferred the mild horseradish sauce.

Grilled prawns with bean sprouts, fresno chiles, green onions, red onions, chopped peanuts and chile garlic vinaigrette

The Prawns Salad is also on the Happy Hour menu and so we decided to try that. Perfectly grilled prawns were combined with bean sprouts, green onions, red onions, fresno chiles, chopped peanuts and chile garlic vinaigrette. I thought the vinaigrette married the flavors quite nicely.

Underneath the tall bed of Thai herbs was a mound of red curried rock shrimp rice mixed with seared baby scallops. To me, the dish was a southeast Asian version of seafood risotto and I thought the flavors worked quite well. I felt the dish would have worked better with less herbs on top.

Fried Chicken with macaroni salad

Seeing the American classic fried chicken on this global menu seemed interesting to me. The chicken was crispy on the outside and best of all, was not greasy. It was paired with a Hawaiian-style macaroni salad and a piece of dried seaweed for decoration.

Charred Octopus with a poached egg and romesco sauce

The Charred Octopus was our least favorite dish. I’m unsure what part of the octopus we ate because it was much wider than an octopus leg. In fact, it resembled a small chicken breast in appearance. It was paired with a poached egg and surrounded by romesco sauce and topped with slivered fried potatoes. I thought the octopus lacked flavor and was slightly gummy in nature.  

Curried Cauliflower

Our favorite dish that evening was the Curried Cauliflower. It was bursting with flavor: lots of spices, buttered couscous, pine nuts, fresh mint, spicy tomato fondue and Turkish yogurt. I thought these flavors worked extremely well together.  

Craft Cocktails: The Notebook and the Miles Davis

Three of the ten craft cocktails are on the Happy Hour menu and are 50% off. We had all three: the Miles Davis, The Notebook and Adriana Lima. The Adriana Lima was my favorite and is named that way because it is a spicy drink.

There were a lot of dishes that had descriptions that appealed to me. Some included the Gen T’s Prawns, the Cubano and the Street Corn “Off the Cobb”. What I really wanted to try is Suburbia’s S&P Lobster, but they were out of lobster that evening.

Unsure about whether to come here? I suggest you try them during Happy Hour (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.). Their prices are quite reasonable for the quality you receive.

Suburbia, 247 Avenida Del Norte, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
http://www.eatsuburbia.com/