Moby Dick, Stearn’ Wharf | Santa Barbara, CA
So I finally got a desire to leave LA for a little while and ventured up to Santa Barbara for the day. Its about a 2 hours drive from where I live, straight up the 134 west and continuing on the 101 north. People have been telling me to get up here for several months now, and the one day I come… FOG. Although Im a little disappointed, its just over the water, and the views from where I am sitting is still not bad.
Anyway, Im sitting at one of the touristy spots in town called the Moby Dick Restaurant, located right on the pier. Just like everything else on this pier, it has a nautical theme. And the cheesiest honky tonk kind of piano music. But I digress..
Like any respectable foodie sitting on the pier, I cant leave without trying some seafood, so I started out with their mussel appetizer. This was served in a classic white wine sauce and is really nothing special. Mussels tasted ok, nice, tender, and clean, but the texture when you got to the heart of it was a little chalky. I dont know how else to put it.. .gritty? The sauce is a little thin and there is nothing for the mussels to hold on to, so the taste of the broth doesnt really stick.
After some mediocre mussels, I was greeted with the biggest, sloppiest open
Read MoreCastagnola’s | Fisherman’s Wharf
There is nothing like eating in a nice restaurant with a great view. Knowing me, I am more of a mom and pop type of place, but today, I met my parents out for lunch at a place called Castagnola’s right on the marina at Fisherman’s Wharf. Fisherman’s Wharf is a little bit of a contrast with the professional tours down the way, and then the local boat owners on this side giving tours of the Golden Gate from their personal boats. Some of them were ran in and out several times over our lunch, and then there were the ones that looked a little questionable. I don’t know if I would pay $5 to take a tour on a “vintage, historical boat” that does a great job in hiding the safety gear. But I digress, lets eat..
I was really impressed with the selection on this menu, from starters, to meats and seafood like Lobster Thermadore. I have always heard of it, but I had never had it. I started out with Oysters Rockefeller, which is one of my favorites. Again, there was nothing special about this dish for a seafood restaurant. The only thing that I noticed that was different was that it came out a little cold and the cheese had hardened on the top.
My main course was the Cioppino. If its something that I have never heard of and reads well, hell, may as well try it right? This is a bouillabaisse with crab, calamari, mussels, clams, shrimp and lobster in a thin tomato broth. Honestly, I dont know what I was expecting. I was hoping that the myriad of flavors would mix in the sauce creating this unique taste, but a sea water taste was definitely a dominant flavor. You know when you eat something that you get a taste of something in every bite? Well if that is something that you love about food, this dish was not it. But it did work well for bread dipping. The saltiness tended to be less apparent on bread. As you travel around San Francisco, this dish is a staple among seafood restaurants. You can find it just about anywhere. But I think I will stay away from these types of dishes, at least for a little while.
Lobster Thermadore. What can I say. Creamy, decadent, salty, cheesy, savory. It was all there. Not something that you would have every day, but oh it was delicious. I think it was a little cliché to serve it in a bright red lobster, but I liked the presentation. Its a unique flavor that I would definitely recommend if you are into rich seafood.
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