Charcoal & Meze Restaurant

Charcoal & Meze Restaurant

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At Josiah Citrin's Charcoal Venice, the meat is meat. But the charred ...

The grilled chicken wings are good enough — they really do taste as if they were plucked off a backyard grill — but what you may remember best are the mickeys, Yukon gold potatoes tossed into the coals until they resemble a geological specimen, then served with an upscale take on the usual fixings: crème fraîche, aged gouda, and Normandy butter.

I like the yellowtail sashimi — it is apparently stroked with a live coal in the kitchen, which gives it a hint of smokiness — and the sweet grilled lamb ribs, but not as much as I do the collard greens salad with a bit of cheese and a sweet-sour raisin vinaigrette.

Restaurant Review: Charcoal Venice Is Imprecise

Review analysis
staff   menu   food   drinks   value  

At Charcoal, Josiah Citrin’s sleek steakhouse straddling the border of Venice and Marina del Rey, it is unlikely that your server will suggest fresh bread and French butter to start, although it sits at the top of the menu.

If you decide to forgo meat altogether, Charcoal is more than accommodating — though you shouldn’t expect to dodge the usual steakhouse premiums.

Even better was the smoked short rib: decadent, fatty strips of meat as soft and smoky as Franklin brisket, though unfortunately basted with a bit too much sweet barbecue sauce.

If indulging in a well-sourced, beautifully grilled steak and a nice (pricey) bottle of wine sounds like your kind of evening, Charcoal is a fine option on an otherwise sleepy section of Washington.

And even given Citrin’s illustrious track record, it might be unfair to expect him to reinvent the classic steakhouse trope — though convincing the expense-account crowd to start their meal with a $9 grilled cabbage is its own small act of transgression.

Charcoal Venice | (310) 751-6794

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