Spencer Makenzie

Spencer Makenzie's Fish Company

806 E. Thompson

Ventura, CA 93001

New Covered Patio and Outdoor Seating

There are a few places around the town that people rave about, and they just don't seem to do it for me. I like to think that I give them a couple of chances, but even then, nothing.

Spencer Makenzie always fell into that category. Opened about five years ago on the site of Kodani's, a great hole in the wall Japanese take out place that was fast and cheap, I wanted to like Spencer Makenzie from the first time I visited. But that first visit conspired against me.

It was shortly after they opened, and one of my children had some sort of thing at their elementary school. We were all hungry, and wanted to go someplace quick to eat. We arrived at Spencer Makenzie shortly before the posted closing time, and if memory serves, we were greeted a bit rudely at the door with something along the line of, sorry the kitchen is closed.

We trudged back out, and that's the memory that has stayed with me. That, and that Kodani's would serve meals as long as the owners were in the restaurant, which seemed like all the time.

I've gone in over the years since then, and it seems like things are always a little expensive, and no one is very friendly, so though the food was pretty good, I never became a regular. Lots of places to get fish tacos in this town where people are friendly and it isn't so expensive, especially if you're okay on the Avenues. The seating was always poor, the wait was long, and though it is very convenient to my house, nothing made me want to go regularly.

New Dining Area

But driving by recently, I noticed that they updated the patio seating area, and streamlined the outside. The original design mimicked a tug boat, which made for lousy seating in an awkwardly shaped dining room, and a patio area that was often too hot or too cold to sit at all. It added to the "Take your food and go" aesthetic of Kodani's, but didn't seem to fit what SMF was trying to accomplish, even though I never found them to be friendly.

But with a new look, there seems to be a new attitude. Stopping by on a recent Saturday, though it was crowded, we scored a table by the giant picture window inside. The waitress was friendly, and after taking our drink orders, our glasses were never empty-really an important part of the eating experience for me, and something that didn't seem to be the case in the past.

Though I don't generally like paying for chips, SMF makes theirs, and they were very tasty, especially with the rojo and verde salsas that come with them, and I actually ordered a second order after we polished off the first one.

I don't mind paying a little more if the atmosphere is good, and this time, it really was. My wife had the $5 Fish Taco, my daughters both Clam Chowder, and I went with an unusual choice, the $10 Poki salad, and all were quite good. The orders came up fast, and I found the service to be excellent-virtually unlike every other time I've been there.

SMF prides itself on it's hot sauces, and I found them all to be tasty and hot. Sometimes I'll try a hot sauce, and it just burns, almost for no apparent reason-hot to be hot, not to add flavor to the food.

My wife had all of us try "Little Sweet, Lotta Heat" first, and like the name says, it starts sweet, but then the heat builds in your mouth, and is touched off each time you put warm food in your mouth. It takes a minute for the heat to really build, but then it catches up. The other two offerings, "Caribbean Blaze" and "Sweet Chili Fire" also took a moment or two to develop their full flavor, but "Little Sweet..." was by far the hottest of the trio. I used a touch of "Caribbean Blaze" to spiff up my Poki Salad.

So, like Caffordite last summer (Aug. 11, 2013), I have to update my feelings on Spencer Makenzie. Maybe it just means that I'm finally-after 16 years-becoming a local. I'll be back to see if it was just a fluke, but I know there are times when I'm craving New England Clam Chowder, it it was pretty good here.