A small walk down from Malibu Beach Inn, as you turn into the pier, is Malibu Farm restaurant, showing promise for its location, but it closes for the night earlier than one would like. On their clock, we were dining too late; nobody was there but us, however they were still serving. I suddenly had a wrenching feeling in my stomach, making me think perhaps the food isn’t going to be that fresh. Or brunch was a better idea. I sat down, not really sure what awaited me. The menu was not big, but not that small either, leaving me unable to work out entirely what could be frozen or not made to the minute. Tacos. Build your own. Ok. It’s somewhat a safe path to go down, right? I went for the fish, because honestly I felt like I didn’t have a lot of choice at this hour.
As predicted, I wasn’t that impressed. Everything was launched onto the plate in a bit of a mess, with the bowls stacked onto it, filled with sauces and condiments, including a weird broccoli-type mash. The tacos were wrapped in Malibu Farm branded paper, which definitely didn’t look homemade, with the fish plonked on top of a pile of vegetables. It was all too busy for me and I didn’t get that sense of freshness I was hoping for. How am I going to fit all that into a taco? This just doesn’t work at all. As for the taste, a first impression of this restaurant (if we can call it that) isn’t a remarkable one.
Could I blame this on the late dining time? Well no, because they are still open, so what’s that got to do with it? They seem to be proud of their broccoli concoction, because a huge plate of it was given to us as extra, with some rocket on the side. Rocket with mash? (I’m not going to try and understand.) Unfortunately, it’s not the most delicious thing ever, and I am not poking a hole at the health side of this either; broccoli can be rewarding if you pair it with the right flavourings. Maybe if I was a baby, I might like this for my lunch and eat the whole lot without throwing a tantrum.
Also, in November it’s cold eating outside on the pier, but we were not given the option to eat inside opposite. So instead we shivered a little, ate fast (what I could stomach), finished up and left, unsatisfied. As the days went on, my friend asked me, “Shall we go back to try a brunch?” And I did think about it many times… But every time I walked past, I left it right behind me.
