Fair Catch : Multitude of food choices at Kelley Court beckon visitors to the county midway.

In years past when I went to the fair, I went with no particular focus. I would stroll and amble, gawk and stare. This year’s opening-day visit, however, was mission-like.

Food was my sole purpose.

My intent was not to embark on some gross-out, eat-it-all frenzy in the name of Tidbits reportage and a blank company check. Rather, I wanted to speak to and learn from the Ventura County Fair foodstuff expert, the veteran fair-goer.

Admittedly, I was a Kelley Court neophyte. (For those like me, Kelley Court is a main food center where some serious eating is going on now through the fair’s conclusion.)

My excursion unfolded like this:

Upon arrival, a quick once-over of the food grounds helped plot my course before I commenced to make a pig of myself. Golden West, the sizable beef and chicken barbecue joint near the main entrance, was enticing. Cruise down Main Street, past the shaved ice and corn dog vendors, beer and lively colored fruit drinks, to the court entrance. Make a left turn and enter a large rectangular space outlined with vendors of most sorts.

Good gastronomic times await there, but for my first purchase it’s back to the bright green and yellow Korn-fused stand on Main Street.

Located here across from the Youth Expo Building is a heavenly corn-on-the-cob roasted in its husk. White sweet corn with smallish, crisp kernels, lathered in butter. Mmmm.

Korn-fused was also Gordon Riggins’ first indulgence of this sunny afternoon. The Ventura resident has been coming to the fair regularly since moving here from Seal Beach eight years ago.

“The food is usually what I come here for,” Riggins said. “I start at the front and work my way from one end to the other. You can eat yourself to death.”

And spend your way to an empty wallet while you’re at it. A single cob at Korn-fused, with butter, fetches $2.50. I consider that price to be on the other side of expensive, just like most of the fair eats.

Riggins’ philosophy: “The fair is only once a year, so you figure you’ll come here to blow your money. If you’re worried about the prices you might as well not come.”

True enough, so then I was off for some “real good” calamari on Riggins’ suggestion. But Palapa Fish Taco stand and its thatched overhang caught my eye along the way, and I sidled up to place an order. I was not impressed with the fish taco ($3.75). Wrapped in a flour tortilla, a skimpy offering of heavily battered fish was leaden with a white sauce of mostly mayonnaise. The healthy-portioned cabbage-onion-cilantro and cheese fill couldn’t save it. Off to Kelley Court with higher expectations.

It was there I overheard Manuel Canchola, seated at a picnic table, talking to his young nephew Nicholas about fair food. I proceeded to butt in and took a seat. Canchola, an Oxnard resident, has been attending the fair for more than 25 years. Each year he arrives at Kelley Court with a specific plan.

“My first stop is always the egg roll-teriyaki stand and I order the No. 1 combo plate,” he said. “They load it up with healthy portions.” The combo plate ($6.50) there comes with teriyaki chicken, fried rice, chow mein and egg roll.

Canchola’s sister, Mary, sauntered up with another family favorite: a steaming heap of curly fried potatoes.

“Never, ever leave without having the spiral fries,” she said. “You can stuff yourself with these potatoes all day.”

She’s right. If you have a hankering for fried potatoes, skin left on, stop by the Spiral Fries trailer, near the entrance of the Agriculture and Natural Resources building. One order, plain, is $3; cheese or chili costs a little extra.

Not sated yet, I was ready to consume some barbecue, enticed by the wafting scent of grilled sirloin. At the entrance of Kelley Court you will find Susy’s BBQ, a fair institution that has been situated in the same location for 14 years. My order: tri tip sandwich ($4.75) and beans ($2). The sirloin is sliced extra thin on an electric slicer and forked into a plain sandwich roll. The meat was moist and plentiful; the apply-it-yourself barbecue sauce was run of the mill and lacked zest.

From there my options remained bountiful. Bratwurst. Pizza-on-a-stick. Pan fried chicken. Blooming onions. Gyros, falafel and spanakopita. I opted for gyoza (pot stickers), 5 for $2, at the Oxnard Buddhist Church booth. I was glad I did. The salty gyoza sauce left me ready for something cool and sugary.

Seeking suggestions, I acquainted myself with a churro-eating Diane O’Connell, 26, of Ventura. I itemized my food intake thus far and explained I was now ready to begin dessert-ing.

She could not understand why I hadn’t yet devoured an elephant ear or funnel cake.

“The sweets rule here!” she said. To redeem myself, O’Connell said to truck over to Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls, located on Main Street near the Floriculture Building. Country Fair is a bit of an outpost, one of the last food vendors on the main drag toward Grandstand Arena. The spicy-sweet baked odors here commingle with other nose-catching smells from close-by small livestock stalls. The roll was a winner at $3 (50 cents extra for icing).

Time was now waning; I needed to get back to the office. Room for one more stop, though. During my arrival once-over I had spotted a date shake vendor near the Community Stage. I decided that would provide an adequate coda to my gluttony. Trust me on this one, even at $3.50 this generous shake is worth it.

I was sufficiently topped off.

Rodney Bosch writes about the restaurant scene in Ventura County and outlying points. He can be reached at 653-7572, fax 653-7576 or by e-mail at rodney.bosch@latimes.com.