Table at Third & Fairfax is a weekly dining column in 2023 where Food and Drink editor Patricia Kelly Yeo will eat her way through the Original Farmers Market. Each column will drop on Thursday for a week-by-week recap of her journey through the classic L.A. tourist attraction. Last week, Kelly tried Pampas Grill.
Despite my recently acquired sensitivity to shrimp and squid, I still love seafood, and I’m eager to see what Roxy and Jo’s (est. 2020), the market’s seafood specialist, has to offer. Visions of creamy chowder, lush lobster rolls and other photogenic dishes dance in my mind as I make my way to the Original Farmers Market for the 15th time this year, with our freelance videographer Richard along to capture the visit.
Run by Stéphane and Katy Strouk of Monsieur Marcel, the stall was previously owned by Bob Tusquellas of Bob’s Coffee and Doughnuts before changing hands in 2018. Despite the misfortune of opening during lockdown, the nautical-inspired stall now seems to draw a steady stream of customers week after week looking for clam chowder, fish and chips and other classic American seafood dishes. The name of the game, with minor deviations like tacos and poke, is East Coast-style seafood.
Across Los Angeles, this particular dining genre happens to have greatly expanded in the last six months. Recently, I reviewed Saltie Girl in West Hollywood, which blows most other competitors out of the water with an enormous, ultra-buttery lobster roll, a first-rate clam chowder and a huge tinned fish selection. There’s also been Dear Jane’s in Marina del Rey and the Lonely Oyster in Echo Park—the popularity of which reflect the fact that many Angelenos, no matter the neighborhood, seem to want nothing more than to blow all their hard-earned dough on a luxurious seafood tower. They may no longer be the new kids on the block, but new-school favorites Broad Street Oyster Co. (Malibu, Downtown and even Santa Barbara) and East Hollywood’s Found Oyster remain quite busy as well.
In the last year, I’ve visited all of the aforementioned places, which means Roxy and Jo’s has a tough act to follow on my Tuesday afternoon visit. After shooting a few—okay, several—introductory shots around the market, my cameraman Richard and I order a tiny seafood feast: a dozen oysters ($37), cod fish and chips ($18), New England clam chowder ($10) and a spicy tuna poke bowl ($16). In the end, we forgo the lobster roll; I find it unlikely that Roxy and Jo’s take on the dish will upstage the excellence of the one offered at Saltie Girl, which originally hails from Boston.
For video, we plan to capture reaction shots for each dish, which slows down the usual quick lunch meal I have for Table at Third & Fairfax. Sitting at the counter, I can tell we’re drawing stares after filming each take. We have a few other diners sitting with us at the counter, including a man with an iPad converted into a laptop, typing away like he’s in a coffee shop. We’re presented first with the clam chowder. Served in a lobster-covered tin cup with two packets of oyster crackers, the soup sadly tastes mostly just like bacon and cream. Though I’m able to fish out a few chewy pieces of clam, they have no impact whatsoever on the chowder’s overall flavor. For the camera, I half-heartedly ladle the chowder with a spoon, a clingy film already starting to appear on the surface of the soup.
Next, we turn our attention to the fish and chips, which seem slightly more promising. I’m reminded of school cafeteria fish sticks when I bite into the gluey, flavorless mix of batter and whitefish. Tartar sauce, lemon juice and malt vinegar—thoughtfully brought on the side—help ameliorate the overall disappointing mix of deep-fried fish and potatoes. For the price, however, I wouldn’t be inclined to order this ever again, especially with existing great old-school options like Malibu Seafood and John O’ Groats.
The last dish to arrive is the spicy tuna poke bowl: a mix of rice, seafood, ahi tuna and avocado drizzled with spicy mayo. Before we dig in, Richard and I polish off the raw oysters—a half dozen Kumiai and a half dozen Kusshi. These are beautifully presented and pricey, as freshly shucked bivalves often are. The oysters, as always, are great, with a squeeze of lemon juice and a few drops of shallot mignonette.
Unfortunately, the poke is just as disappointing as the clam chowder and the fish and chips. The red rice, a welcome and unusual touch, is slightly undercooked. Like most build-your-own poke places in L.A., Roxy and Jo’s doesn’t marinate the ahi tuna cubes, which means all the flavor in the dish comes from the creamy, not-so-spicy spicy mayo. Even with the drizzled sauce, each bite tastes fairly bland. I’ve never been to Hawaii, but the more traditional poke at Ali’i Fish Co. in the South Bay has firmly convinced me not to settle for the inferior unmarinated versions more commonly found around town, Roxy and Jo’s included.
While Monsieur Marcel—the other eatery owned by the Strouks—is worth coming to the Farmers Market for, I wouldn’t recommend the same for Roxy and Jo’s. When classics like clam chowder and fish and chips are executed this poorly, I find it hard to believe that their other dishes like ceviche and crab Louie salad would fare much better. For high-quality seafood in a casual daytime atmosphere, you’re better off heading toward the beach for the usual suspects like Quality Seafood in Redondo Beach or Malibu Seafood along PCH.
Meals from Table at Third & Fairfax fall into three categories: Skip It, Worth Trying and Must Have.
Vendor: Roxy and Jo’s
Order: A dozen oysters, clam chowder, spicy tuna poke and fish and chips
Verdict: Skip It. Most dishes are bland, and the oysters are expensive.