Hungry for curry? Thirsty for a special iced tea? Cafes open in east Ventura County
New restaurants are serving everything from savory Indian street food to French croissants in eastern Ventura County.
French pastries, baguettes and cakes await customers at Cafe Ficelle’s newest restaurant in Thousand Oaks. And in Simi Valley, the Ice Bar is serving smoothies and iced and non-dairy milk teas while Taj Chaat House presents Indian variations on chicken, lamb, fish and rice.
Cafe Ficelle
Cafe Ficelle opened its Thousand Oaks restaurant last week, to the delight of customers who no longer have to travel to the family-operated chain’s three other sites – one in Camarillo and two in Ventura.
The restaurant is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays at 1712 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Unit C, on the ground floor of a condominium complex. Area manager Lyndy Woodruff said she's already seeing a lot of business from the residents there.
But Woodruff also has her eyes on the crowds attending performances at nearby Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza just down the street. In May, the restaurant will become the first Cafe Ficelle with evening hours, closing at 9 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, she said. A 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday schedule will be added as well.
Plans call for beer, wine and mimosas to be served, along with a dinner menu, Woodruff said.
The restaurant is serving the same pastries, cakes and croissants as its counterparts in Camarillo and Ventura. Woodruff, whose father and fellow Ventura resident Bryan Scofield is the executive chef and owner, said the most popular croissants are the Kouign-amann, a blend of butter and sugar, and the almond croissant.
Woodruff noted her father and brother-in-law, executive baker Jarrett Chambers, got their culinary training at The Institut Paul Bocuse in Écully, France.
More details are at cafeficelle.com.
Taj Chaat House
Chaat is savory Indian street food, and variations of it are served at Taj Chaat House in Simi Valley.
The eatery opened in January at 4351 Valley Fair St., and its hours are 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 9 p.m. daily except Mondays. The location is the former Chop Shop Bar & Grill, according to restaurant's old website.
The most popular chaat is the spinach chaat, said Jesse Bindra, who co-owns Taj Chaat House with fellow India native Jaspal Singh.
“I sell a lot of lamb biryani,” Bindra said, referring to the mixed dishes of meat, rice and spices.
“All of our curries are made to order,” the Northridge resident added. “They’re mostly medium to mildly spicy.”
For more information, see tajchaat.com.
The Ice Bar
Simi Valley customers visiting the Ice Bar in Northridge encouraged the iced and milk tea and smoothie outlet to set up shop in their city, owner Jason Le said.
Le was happy to oblige them. The Ice Bar opened its newest location in January at 2760 Tapo Canyon Road, Suite 6, at the Simi Valley Civic Center Plaza. Hours at the mall outlet are 1 p.m. to midnight weekdays and noon to midnight weekends.
Le said the beverages are entirely natural. "We don't use powder at all."
He said everyone can drink the milk teas, which are all soy-based and non-dairy.
And the beverages have twists such as the foam of coffee topping the Dalgona tea, Le said.
For more details, see @theicebarteahouse on Instagram.
Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: New restaurants open in east Ventura County
