Nachos in Paradise: Komodo

I only had the one night with Chelsea so she did some research to find us the best nachos around to a do a little nacho blog. I was starving by the time we got to the restaurant since we didn't have any food because a fox ate all our supplies camping at Buccaneer Weekend (that's a whole other story). The restaurant we eventually went with was called Komodo and has a couple locations in Venice. We went to the place on Main Street and were even blessed with parking right in front of the place. They started out as an infusion food truck that made a bunch of deliciously crafted tacos. But they also have Kimchi nachos on the menu. Not only were we extremely curious as to what kimchi nachos would offer us, but we were also skeptical as to what exactly they would be made of and of the quality of the kimchi (Terry's mom makes the best kimchi in all the land). We ordered a few tacos each to try and a nachos to share. The tacos came out first and we ravishingly devoured them. By the time the nachos came, we were already getting full, and this turned out to be seriously unfortunate. The kimchi nachos were some of the best nachos I have had anywhere, ever. I needed more room in my tummy. The combination of flavors from the bacon, kimchi, sriracha sauce, and all the other toppings was a party explosion in my mouth. Although they looked like they wouldn't be very cheesy, from the first nacho pulled, you could see the ooey gooey strings of cheese hanging from the chips. The chips were crispy and stayed strong against the amount of liquid toppings. Did I mention there was bacon on them? With all the Korean restaurants on Oahu, someone has to try to make something similar to these. They were amazing!!!! Also, free refills on an delightfully refreshing lychee lemonade! Bonus pics of the epic tacos we ate at the bottom of the blog.

Kimchi Nachos $13 - Fried corn tortilla nachos served w/ hot kimchi, bacon, chicken, green onions, sour cream, mozzarella & cheddar cheese w/ jalapenos and sriracha aioli

Chelsea (5, very original) – PRESENTATION: Looks neat and beautiful, lots of sauce. Bacon is always a good sign. SOMETHING RAD: Chips are thick and crispy. I couldn’t see a lot of kimchi but you can taste it and it’s delicious. SOMETHING LAME: It’s a one of a kind kinda nachos. So far so good! TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: I thought the distribution of toppings were perfect. Again, one of a kind! Kimchi, cheese, green onion, sour cream, tomato, bacon and chicken. So good! Yummy food and staff was very nice. My new favorite nacho place. Ha ha.

Terry (5) – PRESENTATION: very neat, nicely put together. Toppings are evenly distributed. Lots of BACON! SOMETHING RAD: So delicious! Lots of toppings so you get lots of everything in every bite. SOMETHING LAME: They are called kimchee nachos but I feel like the kimchee is not the star. Until you bite into it, then you bet your ass it’s the star. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: Lots of toppings. All over. Makes a mess…so good… Very clean environment. Not a big fan of their ordering system. Wish it was more of a sit down and order type place.

Shananigans (4.8) – PRESENTATION: WTF exactly are kimchi nachos? I have been pondering since Chelsea told me about them. Now they are here in front of me and look amazing. So many colors and pretty toppings. I do not see a lot of kimchi but it could be under all those glorious toppings. Is that BACON? Put it in my belly! SOMETHING RAD: Homemade thick, crispy chips. Smothered in toppings. BACON!!! They don’t look cheesy, more like a cheese sauce, but oh no my friend, when you pick a chip up you are pleasantly surprised with ooey gooey stringy cheese deliciousness hanging down from the chips. SOMETHING LAME: They are a bit messy because of all of the glorious toppings. Really pissed that with all the Korean food we have in Hawaii these do not exist. I ordered too many tacos and now I don’t have enough room for nachos in my belly. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4.8, at first you can’t see the kimchi, but it’s there and it’s marvelously delicious. The staff is incredibly friendly. The sit down area is clean and fresh. The house salsa is spicy and bountiful. Free refills on lychee lemonade which I found out is “lychee” is pronounced a completely different way in Cali than in Hawaii.

Straight from Buccaneer Days to Nachos, I wasn't quite ready to give up the hat. Well that and I had some serious dreads going from the weekend. Random So Cal people are not as friendly to the pirate hat as the folks on Catalina Island were.