The Unvegan » ribs

LA’s Best BBQ at J “N” J Burger and Bar-B-Q

The Unvegan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:00:47 +0000

Welcome to Adams.

The Eagles once wrote “If you call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye,” so it is with great trepidation that I roll out my review here. The meaning I have always taken from that line is that if you tell people about a great place, that place will cease to be great because more people will go there and ruin the experience. On the other hand, I feel the need to tell the world about J “N” J Burger and Bar-B-Q and hope that this review will not kill paradise, but simply give it more customers.

Make sure you go out back for the bar-b-que

To many, Culver City is only downtown Culver City, a place of shiny newish restaurants, a couple of posh bars and deep gentrification. But Culver City is bigger than that, and whenever a city is big, it is bound to have a “questionable” area. In Culver City, that happens when you cross over to Adams Boulevard, a street that runs through a lot of LA and is synonymous with sketch. Yet, going to J “N” J is not simply sketchy (with its well-gated shack), it is like crossing into some back woods part of Louisiana. Mind you, I’ve never been to Louisiana, but the back area of J “N” J where you order bar-b-q (the front register is for burgers and grill items not associated with bar-b-q) is how I’ve always pictured it. Back there is a pile of wood from the lumber place next door, a locomotive used for smoking and a man hanging out on a lounge chair whose sole purpose seems to be to answer when you ask questions like, “How many ribs come in the pork rib lunch?”

Smoke on a train!

I’m not sure I could have been more excited about this meal, and while the burgers in the front of the place, specifically the JNJ 4 Finger Burger (2 patties, 2 hot dogs, 2 slices of cheese, 3 slices of bacon and an egg) intrigued the hell out of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the rest of the menu reminded me of the countless little burger shops strewn about LA that are good, but rarely amazing. On the other hand, LA isn’t exactly known for bar-b-q and J “N” J just felt like the right place to get it. Plus, I figured if the bar-b-q was awesome, I would be back to tackle that burger another day.

Nothing beats a neighbor with good wood. For smoking.

I decided to order their baby back ribs lunch, with was $8.25 and came with baked beans or potato salad and two slices of bread. I went with baked beans, then ordered white bread when I was given the option of wheat. As for sauces, they offered mild, hot or mixed. I asked the woman if the hot was really hot and when she nodded her head I opted for the mixed. To top it all off, I got a side of mac and cheese.

Is this heaven or Louisiana?

After ordering, we headed out to the side of the place, where they had some plastic patio seating set up like those I had in my backyard growing up. Before long, our ribs were brought out on some sectional styrofoam plates and looked nothing short of amazing. I could only hope they tasted as good as they looked. As far as money-to-rib size value, my buddy had done much better with a $6.00 set of pork ribs, but my baby backs were certainly nothing to complain about, especially when it came to taste. For the must part, these succulent bits of meat fell right off the bone and any gnawing at the bone that I did was a direct result of me just trying to find any more juicy morsels of meat. The meat took on a delicious smoky taste that only tasted better because of the scent of the freshly chopped cedar next door.

Get in my mouth.

The sauce was also quite impressive. I was glad I went with mixed on my first try, but if this was truly a 50/50 blend of mild and hot, I could handle the hot without a problem. The sauce had a great blend of sweet and spicy, but also a hint of smokiness that really made it taste as though this individual batch had been custom-made for my ribs and mine alone. Of course, this was not the case, but it sure tasted that way.

Worthy, but not the highlight.

The mac and cheese made for a nice addition to the meal, and I am glad I got it in addition to the baked beans. This is not to say anything bad about the baked beans, which were delicious, but simply to say that the mac provided a nice balance to the bar-b-q flavors. It wasn’t too special in any regard, but certainly had no trouble filling its role as a bar-b-q sidekick.

If J “N” J is one of LA’s best-kept secrets, that secret is officially out. I’m telling everyone about this place, whether they like bar-b-q or not. I’m not even sure I ever need to go to Louisiana now, because I simply can’t imagine it being better than this.

Finger Lickin’ at JR’s BBQ

The Unvegan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Gimme some bone.

JR’s BBQ sits in a little nondescript building at the corner of La Cienega and Fairfax in Culver City. Despite the many many times I’ve driven by there, I still had no idea the place existed until a buddy of mine suggested we check it out. Once I found the place, we went inside and found an old timey place with a bunch of stools set up and a little dining area in the back with mismatched tablecloths, chairs and tables. It was actually pretty cool to be in a place that seemingly cared a lot more about their food than the scene it would be eaten in. We were the only people there, so we took our seats in the dining room and started looking at the menu.

Everything seemed pretty good, but then we realized there was a pretty noxious odor like a septic leak. It was pretty painful, but we toughed it out and eventually made our orders, hoping the food would be worth sitting in that smell. Having a hard time deciding on which meaty dish to get, I ordered the combination that let’s you pick any two meats and comes with two sides and a dinner roll. The two meats I chose were beef ribs and chicken, and then I chose their medium spice BBQ sauce. The sides were a little more difficult because they were limited to only three options. I asked the waiter if I could forgo the two sides and instead get mac and cheese, and in response he pointed out that there were no substitutions. At least I tried. Instead I just went with two orders of their baked beans.

When my food arrived, I was overwhelmed by the monstrous size of the beef ribs. These things looked like they came from the Flintstones. Unfortunately, they were actually pretty lacking in meat. The little meat that I got off of them were good, but it made me glad that I also had some chicken to eat. This chicken was tender, juicy and delicious with that medium sauce and the meat just fell off the bone. The two sides of baked beans were a great idea, because they were pretty good and also because the other options looked pretty bad on my friends’ plates.

I was pretty happy with my experience there, but there was a bit of a downside. My meal cost me $14.50, which isn’t such a high price except that the place was pretty divey. You kind of expect to get a good meal at a cheap price in a place like this. The meal was good, and definitely worth waiting out that smell (although it would have been much improved without the smell), but I would have enjoyed it more if the price more accurately reflected the ambiance.

The First Melt at the Grilled Cheese Truck

The Unvegan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:46:33 +0000

So shiny and like-new

The highly anticipated Grilled Cheese Truck finally rolled into town tonight and due to my frightening obsession with cheese, I made sure to greet the truck. In the tradition of other great ks before it, the unveiling took place at The Brig on Abbot Kinney. I arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled 8:00 start time and was shocked to find the parking lot at The Brig empty except for the shiny orange truck. Apparently, I was to be the first in line!

These prices changed at some point.

Within a few minutes, other people formed a line behind me, assuaging my fears that this was some sort of well-coordinated, but cruel joke played on me. As 8:00 rolled around, someone asked when the truck would open, only to discover they weren’t really expecting to open until 8:30. Patient and unwilling to give up my prime spot, I continued to wait. I was glad I didn’t leave, because my hanging around gave me the chance to meet Zach Behrens, editor for LAist. He gave me a little interview, which should probably be popping up on LAist soon. But back to the truck.

Finally, 8:30 arrived and one of the proprietors of the truck came outside to announce that technical difficulties were hampering the preparations of the mighty grilled cheese. One of the griddles wasn’t working, so with heavy hearts and even heavier anticipation, we realized we would have to wait even longer.

A perfect sample of tots.

Then, something magical happened. Rather than face an impatient mob, the workers (including someone’s elderly and incredibly sweet parents) started handing out samples of what they could prepare on a single partially-functioning griddle. First came the soups, which I politefully declined since they were vegetables like tomato and pumpkin. Then came the tater tots. These were nice and crispy, but a little bit too salty. It definitely saved me the trouble of having to order my own side of tater tots.

Looks onion-free to me.

As more time passed, they brought out the mother of all samples, the Cheesy Mac and Rib. This little delight was filled with mac and cheese, plus BBQ pork. In two bites I was finished and knew I would have to order a full sandwich with that.

Finally, around 9:30, a mechanic came and went, signifying the real melt was about to begin. I sauntered over to the window to finally place my order. Although my Cheesy Mac and Ribs sample didn’t have carmelized onions, the menu said it came with them, so I first ordered one of those without the onions. Unfortunately at some point between dishing out the samples and taking my order, they had combined the onions with the meat, creating a concoction unfit for an unvegan. As a replacement, they suggested bacon, and I didn’t argue. In addition, I ordered a regular cheddar grilled cheese with bacon and a dessert grilled cheese, which was made of a roasted banana puree, Nutella and marshmallow. The woman taking my order asked how many people were in my party and I laughed as I told her all that food was for me.

Mac and Bacon/Heart Attack

The bill came out to just under $20, which was a little sad, but then I did order three entire sandwiches. The strange part was that the prices didn’t include sales tax. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a mobile eatery that didn’t just include sales tax in the prices, and a fear that dealing with copious amounts of change will hinder the efficiency of their operation. Nonetheless, my order was in and although I was first in line, I was given the number 6 and a coupon for half off next time to thank me for waiting.

Cheddar and bacon, another potential heart attack.

When my number was called, I dashed over to grab my sandwiches. They were packed in convenient little foil bags, which I rapidly tore open to begin eating. I started with the Cheesy Mac and Bacon. It was pretty darn good, but not as good as that onion-free sample of Cheesy Mac and Rib I tested out earlier. After taking that sandwich down, I moved on to the Cheddar and Bacon, which was grilled perfectly, but couldn’t compare to having mac and cheese in a sandwich. Finally came the dessert melt. This was the least tasty of the lot. The bread was kind of dry and the insides were a bit overwhelming with sweetness (yes, it is possible).

And finally, the decent dessert.

Overall, the sandwiches showed that the chefs had a great understanding of how to use the griddle. Each sandwich was grilled to a crispy perfection and I know that despite the relatively minor maintenance issues, the grilled cheese truck has a bright future on the streets of LA. Especially if they can separate their caramelized onions from the BBQ Pork!

Korean BBQ Festival and Cook-Off

The Unvegan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:27:15 +0000

The lines were long, but not endless.

On Saturday, my friends and I headed down to Koreatown for the Korean BBQ Festival and Cook-Off. Korean BBQ is known to be heavy in meat, so I felt this would be a great opportunity to tackle my daily meat intake.

The festival ran from 12:00-5:00 and although we arrived around 1:00, the lines were already getting pretty long. I wasn’t too surprised by the long lines since the event was free, plus $10 per plate.

Assuming the longest lines had the best food, I jumped into one of the lines without

Tubs of meat roll by.

even knowing what it was. This was one of the areas in which the festival could have improved. If they had put the signs above the booths rather than on the table, I would have really been able to decided where to go. Instead, I (and likely a lot of other people) just jumped in a random line. Eventually a friend joined me and held my place so I could find out. I went to the front and saw that it was called the Beverly Tofu House. The name scared me a bit, considering tofu is typically the unvegan enemy, but the food I saw being unloaded was plenty meaty. I went back to my spot in line and devised a plan: My friend would hold my spot in line while I went to a different booth with a shorter line and brought the food back for us to eat in line. The plan was genius, and I set off.

So Hyang? More like so hungry.

One key component to my plan, which I neglected to tell my friend, was that I was also looking for a place without kimchee. I know it is almost sacrilegious to like Korean food without liking kimchee, so I was afraid to announce my disdain for the strangely pickled cabbage out loud for fear that I would have been kicked out of the event. But now that I am far removed from Koreatown, I feel comfortable announcing that kimchee might be one of the worst foods I’ve ever accidentally tasted. Luckily, I quickly found a place called So Hyang with a short line and no kimchee.

After five minutes, I returned to my place in the other line again, but this time with a plate full of meat and salad. Luckily my friend was not of the unvegan persuasion and ate the salad while I ate most of the meat. The meat was from a cow, but damned if I could say which part. I had watched as one of the workers cut little slices of beef with meat scissors, but I still had no idea what to call the cuts . There was also a massive bone on the plate, probably meant to say where the beef came from, but I’m no cow scientist. The beef slices were really tasty and although I could see the fat glistening in the sun, the fat didn’t distract from the tastiness.

While waiting in line, we got to watch an eating contest that was put on by the event organizers. Apparently people had signed up without knowing what they would have to eat. I secretly hoped it would be dog or some sort of organ meat, but instead it was a dry Korean snack called Choco Pie. This was a little disappointing, but still somewhat entertaining.

Koreans dishing out at Bevery Tofu House.

About 30 minutes later, we finally arrived at the front of the line at the Tofu House. There we were given a plate full of short ribs, pickled vegetables, rice and potatoes. Once again, I allowed my buddy to have his way with the vegetables while I concentrated on the short ribs. These were definitely worth waiting in line for, but probably not for as long as we just had. The meat was deliciously seasoned and perfectly cooked.

Finally, my meat from Beverly Tofu House

When I was done, I still wanted to try more Korean food. Unfortunately, the lines had grown too long to be worth it. Even the previously short So Hyang had gained a huge following.

For the first year of an event, I was pretty impressed by the outcome, but they definitely have some kinks they need to work out. Better sign placement and preparing meat ahead of time would have gone a long way in making the Korean BBQ Festival and Cook-Off an even more memorable event.