Sunny Spot
Blueberry Pancakes – Sesame Seed Butter, Maple Syrup
Diablo Shrimp and Grits – 2 Poached eggs, Spicy Rum Sauce, Garlic Butter, Herbs
Sweet and Salty Plantains
Exiting A-Frame after an ‘all you can eat’ breakfast that I instead used to sample several styles of pancakes it was onto Sunny Spot that I moved, and although conversation with a new friend met through Chowhound proved quite excellent the restaurant itself was a bait-and-switch shit-show spent amidst Venice’s see-and-be-seen ‘scene.’ Originally decided upon due to location and an online menu featuring no less than six items that sounded great, it was to a packed house that we arrived just minutes past noon and seated after a short delay despite having made reservations it was unfortunately to a substantially truncated menu that we were limited, our overburdened waiter unable to explain why French Toast, Bread Pudding, and a fanciful Sundae were suddenly nowhere to be found. Loud on the patio and borderline deafening inside thanks to 2-Pac, Chili Peppers, and more So.Cal. sounds blaring overhead, it was eventually in a duo of entrees plus one side that we entrusted our appetites and with beverages quickly emptied as backservers bustled to keep up I was thankful for the company…though were I dining alone I’d have likely walked out. Soon served plates that each proved just large enough to share it was with one sweet, one savory, and one appropriately named “sweet and salty” side of plantains that our meal ensued but with the pancakes flat and sorely lacking for berries while shrimp were truly ‘hot as hell’ with a highly acidic finish only the plantains were really worth a second glance, the $7 dish cooked crisp on the exterior with soft, sweet flesh within.
RECOMMENDED: Maybe the plantains, though similar preparations can be found at half the price at most restaurants focusing on Cuban cuisine.
AVOID: Diablo Shrimp, and Blueberry Pancakes – the $13 stack of three only $1 cheaper than better, all you can eat, options at Roy Choi’s A-Frame just a few miles away.
TIP: Though overpriced valet is available, free public parking can be found on the streets directly behind the restaurant…and from there you can just walk right past Sunny Spot, down Abbot Kinney for a far superior brunch at Gjelina or Tasting Kitchen.
http://sunnyspotvenice.com/
