Malibu

Sitting on the deck in the sun with the waves crashing underneath, a beverage in hand, and Malibu Kibo beside us in her chair, we realized - we had managed to achieve a near constant lack of movement.

Hiking replaced with a walk down the block for food, cycling reduced to reading a book about it, and our glasses no longer filled with electrolytes, albeit the liquid tended to be flavored with limes.

The beach house life

We found our little place in Malibu paradise on VRBO – a recently remodeled, gated, dog-friendly, one bedroom, one bath, with a big deck, large flat screen TVs, Ralph Lauren decor, and comfy deck chairs.   Sue, has multiple units in Malibu so give her a call if you are planning a stay in Malibu.

Never have two sides of a door been more different.  Inside the front door: serenity, with the constant sound the waves and a wall of glass for watching dolphins, starfish sunning on rocks, and pelicans diving for fish. Outside the front door: the noise and chaos of the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) as it winds it way through Malibu.

Malibu may be relaxed, but it’s definitely not a sleepy beach town.

Malibu eats

The best

• We’d never eaten at a La Salsa  and one was located about a block away – $1.49 for breakfast tacos & breakfast burritos at $2.99. Made to order, comes with chips and your choice of about 8 types of salsa. A perfect start to the day.
• Walking in the other direction about a block, next to the Malibu Pier, you find the Carbon Beach Club at the Malibu Beach Inn.  Beautiful setting, reasonably priced wine list, fire pits in the evening to keep you toasty and really good food.  The salmon was the best we’ve ever eaten – served with forbidden rice, Japanese mushrooms, edamame, baby bok choy, and miso broth.  Awesome.
• Crumbs.  Oh my.  We stopped in on our arrival day to get a couple of cupcakes and ended up having one every night we were in Malibu.  Red Velvet, Devil’s Food, and oh, the Arte Lange ~ scrumptious.
• Enjoying a Champagne St Germain cocktail, while admiring the gorgeous ocean view on the terrace at Geoffrey’s Malibu, certainly sets the stage for an idyllic Malibu lunch.The Grilled Ahi Nicoise Salad and the Seafood Paella were both delicious, as were the rosemary rolls. Friendly, attentive service.  Go for it.

The rest

• Lunch for us is usually mid-afternoon, so we tend to combine it with an early happy hour.  Cafe Habana Malibu served up some tasty sangria, conveniently available by the pitcher.  The cubano was good, the chicken sandwich, not so much.  A little pricey for the quality.
• Albeit a bit touristy, Duke’s is a Malibu institution with beautiful views and a friendly staff.  We had Mai Tai’s – hadn’t had one in a decade but the Hawaiian-inspired atmosphere seemed to inspire it.  The fish sandwich was pretty good, the shrimp and crab louie salad a bit ho hum.
• After reading the positive reviews for Reel Inn, we decided to give it a try.  Order at the window, pick up your own food, no music, kinda noisy, served on plastic plates. We both had grilled red snapper – fresh, nicely grilled. Sides were piled on the plate, bland and completely under-whelming.  Swing and a miss.

Afternoon out to Santa Monica

On a cloudy day that didn’t seem to be getting any better, we headed to Santa Monica for lunch and shopping (it was sunny by the time we got there).

Armed with a list of suggested of restaurants from a former Santa Monica local – Huckleberry, Father’s Office and Blue Plate Oysterette – we opted for the latter.  Cute place across from the ocean that quickly became crowded. We ordered beers, fried clams, mussels, and Oysters Rockefeller.  The oysters were fabulous – had to order another plate.

Following lunch, we strolled down the 3rd Street Promenade, a shopping area with street performers ranging from clowns to musicians.

More of Malibu

 

Article by Kim Hull

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