Eating on the Edge of a Loose Noodle!

This very weekend I ate at Pacific's Edge at the Highlands Inn in Carmel. I have been looking forward to this for a while. Chef Ayer's restaurant is the recipient of a 15 toque review from Gayot (my restaurant guide of choice) and consistently is in the top 10 U.S. Restaurants with a View list every year. I wasn't against the window but the view was spectacular. Now on to the food.
Let me start out by saying that as the sun faded my poor phone camera was inadequate. Sorry. However, I had plenty of light for my grilled prawns! This was the start of my 4-course (I eventually turned it into 5) meal. The grilling brought out a really nice unexpected flavor. And the presentation was nice. Look! They're friends! Hey! No spooning!
OK so the second course was a grilled duck breast on top of a rutabaga puree. Look at the cute little quail egg on top! The flavor was good, not amazing and one of my slices of duck wasn't as tender as I had hoped but the rest was pretty darn good.

Stupid candle light! Anyway, the dark glob above was my lamb on an I have no idea what kind of sauce (I guess I should take notes). But it was very tender and very tasty. I love lamb! A lot!

This was my dessert course. A Strawberry and Rhubarb Crisp with Mascarpone and some sorbet. Oh my freaking gadget that was one of the tastiest things I've ever consumed. It kinda looked like a graham cracker sandwich but it was very light and super tasty.

However I was still a bit hungry (I wish they offered a 5 course meal).

So I added the creme brulee. Creme brulee is always good and especially with fresh fruit. So Pacific's Edge was a very enjoyable experience. The view was fantastic and the food pretty good. It was a bit noisy but it's a lot of people in a small place so what can you do. Plus they have a live singer doing Rat Pack-ish music and that's always good.

Now as for Saturday I went to the Loose Noodle. OK I had soup, Spaghetti and Meatballs and Dessert for $23. And the spaghetti was freaking awesome. I could be talked into going back in a heartbeat. Plus it looks so pretty! No I did not lick the carrot garnish off.

Instead I got some carrot cake. Probably my favorite kind of cake and they did a good job. What else can I say? I continue to enjoy eating well in one of the best dining areas of the country. Next week I'm looking forward to a little place called Aubergine. So stay tuned!

I Know What Roys Like...Roys Like Food!

Two weeks ago (I'm sorry I'm behind!), I ate with my brother-in-law John Snow at the Montrio Bistro in Monterey. It has been voted the favorite restaurant in the city by readers of the local paper for several years in a row so we had to check it out. Above you see the interior. Rather groovy I thought but if you look at the ceiling you'll notice that it has what I think are supposed to be clouds but they really look like pealed potatoes. Well what can you do?

We started with Sunchoke Soup and some calamari. I had no idea what sunchoke was. I thought it was pretty good but sunchoke turned out not to be my choke of choice.

I love halibut! This was pretty good. I liked it better than the sturgeon I had a few weeks ago at Passionfish but maybe just because I like halibut so much. It was very fresh and the honey mustard was a good sauce choice.

We decided for dessert to get their "dessert bites," kind of a sampler platter of everything. Starting at the top left and moving clockwise we have the Lemon Raspberry Tart (John's favorite), the Salted Caramel Cheesecake, Carrot Cake with Ice Cream and Creme Brulee. I loved all of them. I think my favorite might have been the salted caramel cheesecake! I would go back just for the desserts.


The next day I was in Socal visiting my family so we had to go to the Saugus Cafe where James Dean had his last meal. I hope his Biscuits and Gravy weren't luke cold like mine. They would have been so yummy warm! Anyway, it didn't warrant a picture.

But the Cherry Pie did! Everytime I go to a dinner I think of Agent Cooper and I feel obligated to get some cherry pie. It was a good choice. This was a good weekend of dinning highlighted by desserts galore!

More Monterey Eats!

OK so last Friday I ate at Passionfish. Pretty tasty and reasonably priced too! So I got for my appetizer a spicy Mango Calamari salad with red peppers and other stuff. Mmm. Yeally yummy. The mango...I can't make up my mind on how well that worked with the rest of the salad esp the spicyness and squid. It would have been a great salad with or without the mango.

OK so I went here based on rave reviews on Yelp. And most of the people loved the above fish. It's a sturgeon with some kind of crazy sauce that was really good. Sturgeon isn't the strongest fish but the flavor in the sauce and the tenderness of the fish was wonderful.

On Saturday I ate at the India Ambrosia Bistro. OK I love indian food. Way. I told myself I wasn't going to repeat any restaurants while I'm here. I may have to break that rule because of this place. This chicken Samosa was very good. And look at the presentation! Beautiful and yummy!

Couldn't decide what I wanted so I got the Feast. I LOVE lamb and it came with some yummy lamb. My favorite stuff was the two dishes at the top. The sauces were freaking fantastic. Great food, great presentation great restaurant. Gonna try and talk my brother in law into going there with me tomorrow. Anyway, can't wait to post again after I eat more free food!

Eating Out!

OK so this is going to be part 1 of a series. I am here in Monterey right now and the government is giving me plenty of dough to eat so I'm exploring the fantastic Monterey Restaurant Scene.

I got this appetizer at the old Fisherman's Grotto on the wharf. Their Chowder was fantastic! Also, I loved their presentation. So above is my crab cakes with a honey mustard garnish. It was pretty yummy.


This is the Chocolate Creme Brulee the waiter recommended. Good Choice! Notice there is no picture of my main course. This is an unfortunate trend. It comes to my table and it's so yummy I just dig in! Sorry! It was a lobster stuffed with scallops and shrimp! Yeah!
This is at the Chart House. A little swankier than the Fisherman's Grotto but the chowder wasn't as good. This appetizer is the coconut shrimp. I love this stuff.

Here's my lava cake. The chef was from Hawaii! Anyway they are famous for this desert and it's pretty darn good. Again no pic of my main course. It was a prime rib. It was very tender and it came with a dipping sauce that was fantastic.

This is a friend of mine at the Sardine Factory. We ate here for my birthday. This place is pretty famous and the waiters were decked out. This room is called The Conservatory and I was hopping we'd be able to eat here. We all got the Abalone Bisque (they are famous for it ever since serving it at President Reagan's Inaguration). It was very good.

This was my pallet cleanser. You can't see but between the wings it a cup of mango sorbet. The waiter told me not to lick the ice sionce it is lightly irradiated (hence the glow). Wow! An atomic dish!

Here's my free Birthday desert. It was pretty good (and free!). For dinner I got the Steinbeck Duo (Prawns and a VERY tender Filet Mignion). It was a lot of fun to dress up fancy and eat there. This weekend I am eating at Passionfish and Ambrosia Indian Bistro. I'll take pics of my main courses this time, I promise!