New For the Tastebuds

Hop Saint, (previously reviewed) on 190th Street, Torrance, has two items that were new to us. 

When asked by our server if we would like a drink to kick off the meal, we, of course, said "Yes."  (For the record, we have never said, "No.") 

I had studied their beer menu at home and knew that I wanted an OB Blonde Kenobi which is described as being a mead-beer hybrid with  "an insane amount of orange blossom honey and 13 pounds of hand-harvested fresh orange blossoms."  The menu added that it was 7.6 per cent alcohol and a pint was $7.    "Did it taste like an Orange Julius?" you ask?  No, it had a light-ish beer front and a faint orange back taste.   It was quite refreshing.  I forget which beer Himself ordered.  Clearly though, he liked it. 

In the past we've gotten either the deviled eggs or cornbread skillet to go with our pre-dinner libation, but this time we tried the Bacon Belly Bites, billed as pork belly with caramelized onion, bleu cheese and cane syrup.  The four bacon pieces (about 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.) were presented  nesting in a cup of one leaf of butter lettuce.  The bacon looked like little rafts with indeterminate smears across the top of the other ingredients.  $8

I had never eaten pork belly before and I have mixed feelings about it.  The lean part of the bacon was thick and extremely chewy.  The fat went "crunch" in my mouth and then "soft" which was ... semi-unpleasant somehow.  I was very much aware that I had just crunched into OMG Fat! 

Richie ordered the time sensitive (only served on Thursdays) Barbecue Plate which consisted of:  andouille sausage, brisket slices, chicken, sliced pickles, onion, and jalapenos $11.

My pulled pork po'boy was garnished with pickled radish slices and fennel, roasted red pepper chipotle and served with house slaw.  $14.  Very generous portions - dinner tonight is already settled and it's 9:43 a.m. 

Altogether, plus a glass of wine each with dinner, the tab came to $80.85 plus a $16 tip.  But figure four tasty dinners for $20 per meal - not too bad.   But it's still a really noisy room.  They had 17 customers at 5:50 p.m. but 15 of the 17 were yelling.