Delicious Places To Eat in Southern California

by - February 19, 2018

Planning a trip to sunny SoCal? Amazing. Here's some gorgeous places to eat to fill your belly and mind with joy...

Gratitude Cafe  

512 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291

Website: here
 


This was a real honour to be able to visit. Recommended to me by my wonderful friend Aurora,
who visited Venice a few years ago. On my first visit to Venice in 2013,
I didn’t explore the Abbot Kinney boulevard. No, Kerri and I were more concerned with drinking beer on
the beach boulevard and hiring skateboards ;) which was super fun.
The guys who run the Gratitude cafe are also behind the documentary: Let me be Frank
which tells the story of Frank, a geezer who's totally overweight and really not loving himself at all.
He frequents the Grat cafe regularly and they sort him the f*ck out not only by feeding him the
good shit but helping him to explore the reasons why he's lacking in self-care.


The menu is entirely vegan, elaborate and a tad expensive but it's so beautiful when it arrives and you really feel as though you're nourishing and loving your body by spending your money and time there. After driving around the hills of Los Angeles for an afternoon trying to locate the best spot to take a picture of the famous Hollywood sign, we were so ready for these bliss bowls to regenerate us. 
  

Inside the cafe is white, spacious and the walls are adorned with inspirational musings for your reflection whilst you are waited on by people who love you. It's just a completely positive experience from start to finish, even the bathrooms are painted with big, beautiful animals on the walls for your enjoyment during peeing. A good question, what are you grateful for? The question they asked us on seating us was, "What inspires you?" My thoughts on that were, the colours of nature, the vibrant and diverse colours of food and other natural things created by the planet truly inspire me and fill me with joy. I can feel so happy just looking at a red cabbage, it's crazy! But we can all learn a lot from observing nature: the stoicism - such as a tree, a tree is unshakable, it stays grounded and rooted yet it allows itself to move with the wind. Be like a tree. 
 

Malibu Farm (end of the Pier)

23000 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265,
Website: here

Eva took me here on the last day of my trip which couldn’t have made it a better ending to such a fantastic trip. A gorgeous breakfast, which was a hench portion but the best part was the stunning view of just endless blue ocean.



We went on a Friday morning and it was surprisingly quiet for the absolutely stunning location; you'd think there'd be more early weekenders there soaking up the sun but no, we got a seat fairly easily in a prime spot and it was all just fantastic. You can park really close to the pier and then just walk down. 


There's actually two branches, both on the pier, one immediately as you enter on the left and the other, where we sat with the gorgeous views, right at the end. The closer one is cosier so both serve a purpose depending on what you're after.



Shuhari Matcha Cafe

1522 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291, USA 
Website Here

Just a quick note on this place because we didn't sample much except the F*cking cool sushi sandwiches that they make! How cool is that? SO LA! Love it. As the name suggests, they specialise in matcha green drinks, hot and cold as well as a range of grab-and-go Japanese snacks such as sushi burritos/sandwiches.  


Jan's Health Bar 

501 Main St, Huntington Beach, CA 92648, USA
Website: Here


My mum's called Jan (Hi mum!) and she’s a right health nut and she birthed me hence being Raw fucking Rhubarb yo. This is the "Krunchy Kale Wrap" made with a spinach tortilla. They ask you if you want fruit or chips as your side and it comes all cutely boxed up and perfect to take down to the beach. They do loads of amazing smoothies, salads, wraps and "amaze bowls" as well as fresh juices and breakfasts. Nice one, guys! Love your work!

(sorry for the photo quality!)

This was the branch they have in Huntington beach but you can also find them in Costa del Mar, Costa Mesa and Laguna, too :)



Lemonade

21016 Pacific Coast Hwy, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Website: Here 

AHHHH Lemonade, I LOVED this place. 
SO fit. SO FIT! 



They do fresh, build your own amazing poke bowls or hot meals and serve a range of lemonades, including sugar-free and half sugar options. Again, there's two or three branches up and down Cali. We went to the one in Beverly back in 2013 and it was equally as amazing and really sorted us out when we were in dire need of replenishment.


North Shore Poke 

214 5th St #101, Huntington Beach, CA 9264
Website: Here

North shore poke - wow so yum, such a good find! Poke is a raw fish dish that originates from Hawaii which normally includes rice, fish, some kind of seaweedy topping and other little delightful goodies. Click here for my recipe for Tuna Poke and make some yourself: it's super easy!
They do brown rice or mixed leaf bases (which is great when you don't want standard white rice)
They often have fresh crab you can add as a topping, have a range of fish on offer such as: ahi tuna, albacore and salmon. They have a massive range of SEXY AF sauces, (the coconut chilli citrus one is pengaleng) and the portions are, true to American standards, HUGE of course!



And lastly, Californian Oranges

Orange County, California

There is just something so incredible about the taste of the oranges in Orange County (OC). "Well, durrrr" I hear you say! But no, just listen, if you go to OC you MUST eat as many oranges as you can get your hands on. They taste like no orange you will have ever had before. So incredibly sweet and juicy and delicious. If you go to a farmers' market or, as pictured, the Surf City nights on a Tuesday in Huntington Beach, you can normally try lots of different samples of the various kinds. Gorgeous. So get them in your face.

I'd love to know if you visit any of these excellent eateries so please leave me a comment if you do or hit me up on Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook

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