Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Monterey Trip: Part II Passionfish


701 Lighthouse Ave
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
(831) 655-3311
www.passionfish.net

This was one of the worst meals I have had in the last five years. The one word that would describe my experience is: "under seasoned" or more appropriately the lack of salt. These are the dishes we had:

Dungeness Crab Cake: A standard breaded crab cake that lacked the proper amount of salt. I was not too happy with the consistency. There were no big chunks of crab in it, mainly lots of the fine shreds of crab meat.

Alaskan Halibut: This was my dad's entree, I had a bite and it was bland and flat.

Sturgeon with corn and bacon: This was my dish. Again, like everything else it was bland and flat. The bacon provided a little saltiness that made it better, but the bacon was cooked by a moist heat method so the fat and the meat was chewy. That with everything else turned me off to the whole dish.

Scallops: These were seasoned correctly and were sweet.

I could have asked for some salt. The thought is that if I have to add the salt, it does not correct the problem. Why did I not send the food back? The food took quite a bit longer than I was used to and at that point did not feel the wait would have been worth it. With so many other restaurants in the Monterey area, I will not be returning to Passionfish.

My rating 2/20 = Very Poor. I would not eat here if you paid me.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
Monterey Cannery Row
647 Cannery Row
CA 93940
831-372-1065
http://www.rmcf.com/

After that experience, let's end on sweet note.

I had white chocolate covered toffee and a couple of milk chocolate cover nut pieces. I also bought a mini-truffle collection. Here is a description from the website:Each truffle shell surrounds a soft chocolate filling made from the finest coveture chocolate, designed to liquify the moment it touches your tongue. Our truffles are flavored just right with a hint of liqueur (non-alcoholic) or fruit juice so as not to overpower the rich milk, dark or white chocolate for a truly exotic flavor experience.These are some of the prettiest truffles I have ever seen (See picture above). The chocolate was good and there was a nice balance between the chocolate and the added flavor. They are also mini truffles, so you do not feel so guilty eating them!

I guess I never noticed them in Old Sacramento, I will have to make sure I stop by there next time I am in that area.