From the Dudes Who Brought L.A. the Phorrito, Komodo Now Wants to Be Your Sunday Football Sports Bar. Venice Beach, CA.

Even if you're not into football, you'll at least like the food.

Are you ready for some football?! That's the battle cry slash question any given Sunday during football season. But, if you're hangin' with your bros or girls at Komodo while viewing games on three freshly installed flat screens, the real question should be: Are you ready for some fried grub?! Because there is no shortage of the fried stuff on Komodo's newly launched Sunday Football Specials menu, which premiered last Sunday.


Pan-Asian beer bucket!

Executive Chef Erwin Tjahyadi and the Komodo krew whip up exactly the kind of food you want when you have your eyeballs glued to three screens at once. You don't need to be messing with "cuisine" to which attention must be paid. No! Actually, you don't need cuisine at all! That's why Chef Erwin loads the list of offerings up with snacks and bites, so you can simply grab, grind, and repeat. A beer bucket special helps wash all that delicious debris down your gullet. My bucket included the greatest hits of Asian beer: Singha (Thailand), Hite (South Korea), and Asahi (Japan). (Didn't even need to renew my passport!) And, no, all Asians do not taste the same—Asian beers, I mean.


Kimchi Nachos are a win no matter what team you're rooting for.

What's on the menu? There's the Tailgate Sampler Platter which includes: Brutus salad, kimchi nachos, garlic fries, and four cheese quesadillas. The kimchi nachos—dappled with the fermented, funky cabbage—was my fave followed closely by the garlicky garlic fries.


B.L.T.A. comin' straight outta Venice!

Also, the B.L.T.A. Sliders were handy, unobtrusive, and tasty. You get three servings of center cut bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado served with garlic aioli sandwiched between Hawaiian sweet rolls. So easy to pile slider after slider into your mouth without ever looking down at your plate and away from the pigskin action. You can sort of feel healthy-ish about it too.


Calamari and crawfish. Like Peaches and Herb. Nice combo.

Another pretty cool platter with that special Chef Erwin touch was the Southern Fried Calamari and Crawfish; it's calamari and crawfish marinated with seasoned buttermilk and chili paste tossed in undisclosed seasoning and served with cherry pepper remoulade. A little kick of heat in this one, but what do you expect when you're eating fried crawfish?


KFC is Komodo Fried Chicken, baby!

My favorite of the lot was the Sweet Sesame Marinated Jumbo Chicken Wings (Mild). These wings have tons of flavor, especially from the sesame. They have a toasty savoriness that is singular to any other wings I've ever devoured. You get about eight to ten chicken wings that are marinated overnight, tossed in seasoned flour, and deep fried, comes with some homemade sweet sesame sauce. They're lip smackin', mama slappin' good!

For a change in your Sunday sports viewing scenery, check out the Komodo branch in Venice. The food is better, and you're near the beach! Screw Fantasy Football. Chow down with your team's touch down!

Gimme more wangs!

Football Specials served every Sunday from 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Venice location only.

Komodo Venice
235 Main Street
Venice, CA
310-255-6742