California Food and Wine Blog

Archive for the ‘Central Coast’ Category

Had a casual brunch at the new Sidecar restaurant this morning with a few friends.

Had an enjoyable ambiance with eclectic style, friendly staff, and some patio seating. Mmm Eastern Bloody Mary with lemongrass infused vodka, basil, sesame oil, and soy sau – very good! Gotta love a few early morning cocktail options.

I ordered the Wild Bore Pozole. It was meaty, fresh, and spicy! I also tried the Brandade Benedict: a poached egg over salt cod which had the most amazing hollandaise sauce… we were licking the plate. All items priced $9-$14 with good portions.

4.5/5 stars

While wine tasting in Ventura County, we stopped in downtown ventura for lunch at a French-American restuarant called 71Palm. We ate outside on the dog friendly patio with water dishes ready for barley and enjoyed the warm sun and quiet breeze The outside of the building is a bit rundown from a distance but its actually quite a nice historic building.

We received friendly service, though I’m pretty sure we were the only customers that afternoon with farmers market happening right down the street.

I ordered the sampler with broccoli asparagus soup of the day, cessation salad, and portabella mushroom sandwich for $12. Flavors very good and healthy portions.

Nathan ordered the kobe burger very juicy and flavorful with a side of fries for $12. Again not huge portions but quite filling.

Overall it was a very nice meal at a reasonable price.

Service: 5/5
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 4/5

http://www.71palm.com/

We went to Union Brewery in Santa Barbara for dinner on their covered patio. Cushions were pretty gross and stained but the furnaces kept the outdoor patio toasty.

We ordered the western burger for $12 and the santa barbara burger for $10 with their Pinehopple Pale and Honeysuckle Hop beers. Nathan’s western burger had amazing sauce and was nice and juicy; my burger was pretty average though it seemed to have coleslaw in it which was interesting. Their sweet potato fries were quite good and we would have liked to try some of their other sauce options (7 to choose from) but that’s only available when you order a full order of fries, not on the side.. odd. Brews were good and at $3.50 can’t beat their price.

Halfway through dinner the speakers turned on and all tbsp changed to their pay per view WWE game which we got to watch all 15 seconds of before a nice knockout. We left just in time as a bunch of drunk college students arrived and what may have turned into a local WWE between some of the patrons over seating conflicts.

Ambiance: 3/5
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 3.5/5

Thank you Travelzoo for another great deal on the central coast; 3-course meal dinner for two with wine and coffee at a cute Italian restaurant in Morro Bay, Ca – Giancarlo’s

We entered the restaurant to a friendly crowd with a wrap-around bar integrated into the kitchen and the dining area adjacent on the left. We were greeted by confused waiters and waitresses not accustomed to the busy night due in large part to the travelzoo vouchers that were expiring that week. We were asked to wait while they found our reservation and table, and a short time later a waitress hollered at us from across the room and pointed to a small table by the far wall. We laughed and awkwardly made it to our table and seated ourselves.

The special menu was not written down but instead memorized by the waiter which made for an interesting recital of about 30 options for appetizers and entrees.

We chose the recommended Mussles and Mushroom Polenta – both were very good and quite filling. The mushrooms in truffle oil were mouth-watering and the mussles were quite hearty.

Cozze mediterraneo  
mediterranean style roasted 1 lb of mussels – lemon – garlic – olive oil – tomato – basil

Crostini di polenta ai funghi  
Crispy polenta topped with a mix of mushrooms drizzled with truffle oil

For our entrees I ordered the Crab Ciopinot and Nathan ordered the flank steak – both options from the travelzoo special not on the regular menu. There was some confusion with silverware and utensils for the crab which made for some messy eating, but the flavors of the ciopinot and the succulant scallops were worth the struggle. I ordered an oaky chardonnay which paired wonderfully with the rich fish and breads.

Crab Ciopinot

Nathan enjoyed his flank steak very on the rare side, but I found it a bit bland. His waiter recommended a Pinot Noir and exclaimed that ‘If you don’t like it I promise to drink it!’ It was a little young and not the best recommendation, but Nathan kept it and didn’t take him up on his offer.

Flank Steak

Just for kicks we ordered a couple shots of Grappa which was quite the experience

Grappa!

and saved room for dessert ordering a chocolate souffle a la mode. We sipped our coffee and waited for dessert but the check came first and 20 minutes later when they were wishing us a goodnight we realized they’d forgotten our dessert and then found out they were out of it anyway. Instead we got a rich 3-layer ice cream with cake and chocolate mixed into it. Silverware again came 5 minutes after the dessert, but the dessert was quite good and we did our best not to lick the plate.

As we left the restaurant we got friendly goodbyes and thank yous from everyone behind the bar and kitchen, and our waiter was very friendly and wished us a good night.

The service and flow of dinner was definitely shakey but it sounds like it was due in large part to the inexperience at handling such large guest traffic or preparation for specialty menus. The pricing was reasonable with about $15-$25/entree and with our travelzoo deal we saved over $50 in wine and great food.

Taste: 4.5/5

Value: 4/5

Service 2.5/5

Overall: 3.5/5