The Roxbury Deli, Port Hueneme

The Roxbury Deli

443 W. Channel Islands Blvd.

Port Hueneme, CA  93041

Back in LA, I loved going to Canter's Deli on Fairfax. Open 24 hours with a wide variety of good tasting food, it was a a great place to go after hitting the clubs in Hollywood, or any time that I wanted to look cool on a date. Occasionally a celebrity could be spotted dining-I saw members of Guns n' Roses, Nicholas Cage, and Rodney Bigenheimer (who became a regular after the closing of Ben Franks). More often, I'd see people that looked familiar-the character actors that got enough screen time to make a living. But really, being a 20 something in LA, I prided myself on having a handful of go-to places open 24 hours-a-day (Tommy's, The Harbor House Cafe, Gorky's, The Atomic Cafe) that weren't Denny's spread all over the city.

I don't really need that knowledge anymore, but I never lost my taste for a good deli. I'm a regular at Danny's Deli and have been since it opened. It's across the street from my church, and we go at least one Sunday a month. And though they're friendly and fast, I don't know that they are really good. Convenient, yes, and certainly edible, but not really good.

Roxbury Deli opened in Hueneme about the same time I moved to the area 18 years ago,  and though I've driven by, I've never had occasion to stop. It's across from the SeaBee base, and I'm just not down that way very often. But my daughter wanted a sandwich for lunch, and we were nearby, so we pulled in and gave it a try.

It was a good call.

There were only a handful of diners on a recent Saturday afternoon, and we were seated, interestingly, in a booth that backed up to another booth of diners, instead of being spaced out, like I expected. That being said, the space is filled with Broadway play posters (I've seen this at other delis, being some sort of New York thing, I think, but having never been to New York, I can't say for certain), and what seemed to be a zillion TV screens showing college basketball. Service was fast and friendly-my water glass was kept constantly full, and the menu was extensive.

Even though I had eaten at the Oinkster earlier in the week, I opted for the half pastrami (watching my figure, you know) which came with an option of fries, cole slaw, potato salad or fruit. My daughter went with a half BLT, and we split an appetizer of garlic and parmesan fries.

Service was quick and friendly, and my half sandwich was quite good. Not Oinkster good, mind you, but good, and with the coleslaw, which was much better once I added salt, certainly was plenty. My daughter said her BLT was good, and the fruit, fresh.

I have to confess that I was a bit disappointed on the garlic and parmesan fries. I expected the flavors to be blended more, but it seemed like they cooked the french fries, and then put garlic and parmesan on top. The french fries weren't bad, but tasted like french fries with garlic and parmesan on top.

That being said, I'll certainly come back. I saw a pizza at another table that looked quite good, and some of the other plates looked tasty too.