Monterey, CA

“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses. Its inhabitant are, as the man once said, “whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches,” by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, “Saints and angels and martyrs and holymen” and he would have meant the same thing.”-John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

John Steinbeck put this so perfectly that Monterey need not be explained by any other means. The one thing Steinbeck does not address in his novel, Cannery Row, is food. Before we went to Monterey, we both read his novel, and were thoroughly excited to visit this seaside town. Although Monterey is small compared to the bustling streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles, somehow, you are still shoulder to shoulder with complete strangers on the streets. On the way to Monterey, we traveled on Highway 1, from which so many songs are inspired by. And there is no doubt why they are. After all, “Why would you want to live anywhere else?” (The Only Place, by Best Coast). Since we got to our hotel late, we went to Passionfish for dinner. Although people call Passionfish a “local” place, we discovered it on Yelp, and it even has its own website. From our experience (though truth be told- we’ve been to India and maybe our perspective has changed), “local” places don’t have their own websites. Passionfish (http://www.passionfish.net/)  is a local seafood place on the outskirts of Monterey. We first ordered their famous asparagus fries- don’t worry, it’s not what you think. In fact, it is one of their most famous dishes and is somewhat like deep-fried asparagus and comes with horseradish sauce- kind of like the sauce that comes with our fried leeks from Andreoli’s (see previous post- for our loyal sophisti-kid readers). We also got the Morro Bay oysters, which came with a very, very, very, VERY over-the-top citric-flavored kimchi. This was probably the worst thing we ordered on the menu (except for Mommy, who liked it). The kimchi flavor completely overpowered the actual flavor of the oyster. Karsen ordered the spicy fish soup with tomato broth topped with a tiny bit of cilantro. This was all of our favorites; in most fish soups they put too much fish in it, but in this one it was just right. And personally, we think that broth is the best part of soup.   Anya got the dungeness crab and avocado salad. The best part of this dish was the crab and avocado mixture- a great mixture, by the way. The lime SO overpowered the crab and avocado that Anya couldn’t even taste the spiciness of the fish soup that everybody else reacted to.   Mommy got the sea scallops with tomato-truffle butter and rice pudding (not the delicious sweet kind 🙁 )

The best part was the tomato-truffle sauce that we sopped up with warm bread… 🙂

Papa got the rockfish with black pepper rum sauce, coconut rice, and delicious cucumbers (much like Popo’s).

For dessert we ordered the lemon panna cotta with strawberry compote and the banana-walnut pudding with honey ginger cream.

The panna cotta, small as it was (only the size of a spoon), was devoured in a heartbeat, leaving nothing but a plate and a satisfied stomach.

Now most of us (AKA not Mommy) preferred the banana-walnut bread pudding over the panna cotta. The ice cream was Kai Lee’s organic honey-ginger ice cream- a local Cannery Row place, and DELICIOUS.

We would all definitely return to Passionfish- and all get fish stew.

Anya: 😀 😀 😀 😀

Karsen: 😀 😀 😀 😀 1/2

When they gave us the check, they also gave us this sheet of paper with fish that you should avoid, good alternatives, and the best choices.  Since it was so helpful, we asked for another one. They should do that for every seafood restaurant.

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Day 1: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, and 1833

After chilling out in the hotel, we walked almost 2 miles to the the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, along a path by the ocean. On the way there, we passed along some of the shops in Steinbeck’s legendary Cannery Row. Here is both of us with a Steinbeck’s bust.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium (here is the link: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/) is known for it’s Open Sea Exhibit, the only place in the world with this unique exhibit. The Open Sea Exhibit was by far the best exhibit in the aquarium. There is also a jellyfish exhibit, an octopus exhibit, kelp forest, sea otter, penguin, rocky shore, and sandy shore and aviary exhibits along with the open sea exhibits. The aquarium also has daily feedings of both the sea otters, penguins, the open sea exhibit, and the kelp forests. In fact, the hostess at the aquarium restaurant told us that for the sea otters’ birthday they give them an ice cake- ice with fish inside- a huge treat for them because they love breaking the ice (no pun intended) to find the fish. They also have movies, which include Mysteries of the Deep, Luna: A Sea Otter’s Story, Project White Shark, Whales to Windmills: Inventions Inspired by the Sea, and Behind the Glass.

First, we saw the jellyfish exhibit- Anya’s favorite. She just loves seeing the little jellies move.

Here is a video of the jellyfish moving: IMG_0436

We then went to see Project White Shark-the movie. The person who spoke about the great whites was an ex-marine biologist.  The man concluded the story with telling us how many people died with coconuts falling on someone’s head.

We then saw the Open Sea Exhibit- THE BEST PLACE EVER!!!

P.S. This exhibit makes the Monterey Bay Aquarium the best place in Cannery Row.

The exhibit is the only one in the world that opens right to the sea- so is great for scientists who want to observe marine animals in their natural environments.

 

We also went to the coral reef exhibit. The coral reef exhibit features the cleaning fish.

Then we went to see the sea otter feeding before lunchtime. The sea otter feeding was SO crowded, that in fact, we didn’t even bother going to the penguin feeding. Although, the sea otters are really cute.

They also love playing with the toys in their environment- it helps with hunting skills.

We had lunch at Cindy’s, the restaurant at the aquarium- mediocre. At the restaurant, Karsen made a lot of funny faces.

And Anya- teenager!!! Seriously?

After lunch, we went to see the movie Luna: A Sea Otter’s Story. The lady there really creeped us all out- she smiled all the time! Luna was a baby sea otter who was lost; the Monterey Bay Aquarium took her in. Her surrogate mother was Tula- and she learned how to hunt. The Aquarium does this for all sea otters as a program- and you can volunteer to help.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Monterey Bay Aquarium food: 😀 😀 😀

After visiting the Sockshop- they only have socks!- we walked back to our hotel and went to 1833 (the restaurant).

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1833 (www.restaurant1833.com)- yes, the building was built in 1833-in fact, there are rumors that the restaurant is haunted. And truly, every night we were haunted by those bacon cheddar biscuits.

But before everything- the amuse bouche, a watermelon gazpacho- who knew? Delicious. As usual, it comes in a small glass- which you take like shots.

We immediately ordered the deviled eggs, bacon cheddar biscuits, and sun dried tomato and feta biscuits for starters.

Those are the one-bite deviled eggs-delicious!

1833 is well-known for their delicious bacon cheddar biscuits.

The biscuits are one thing, but the sauce- wow. Blows everything away. It was so popular that they made another dish- sun dried tomato and feta biscuits- this time with a basil butter.

 Then came the raw oysters. Seafood is always good in Monterey- it’s right near the ocean and is one of the most successful California fishing ports.

Anya’s favorite thing on the menu was the poached hen egg- the most scrumptious thing ever! Imagine this: toasted bread with a poached hen egg- topped with truffle salt, with truffles and prosciutto. Melt-in-your-mouth.

We also ordered the Cavatelli mushroom pasta, a delicious pasta dish, though we must say, not as good as Mommy’s. In our opinion, the sauce is what makes the pasta, and without good sauce, well, you get the jist.

Our final dish was the wild king salmon- with trumpet mushrooms and asparagus. Anyone who knows us knows that our family is a sucker for good quality salmon.

That day, we had 4 desserts, and they were all delicious. Usually, our family has a tendency for NOT ordering desserts, but these deserts had just our favorite flavors combined in just the right ways.

We got Booker’s butter bourbon pudding with sea salt and cocoa nibs- this one was a bit too sweet. Good humored berries and cream was among our favorites with its strawberry crumble and sorbet.The Caramel pot de creme is always an option- AND coconut sorbet. Caramel AND coconut? What could be better? Our server (we asked him to surprise us) got us Dr. Stoke’s mignardise- a collection of small bite-size sweet things including almond biscotti, fruit jellies, and sesame brittle.

Anyways, we rate 1833 5 smiley faces!!!! We also apologize for the lack of pictures (picture= a thousand words- they should make that a mathematical equation), Karsen slacked off on his duties. Sorry!!! He promises to do better next time. Also, special thanks to our waiter, Al. He gave great recommendations!  Here’s a (dark and very bad) picture of Karsen with Al.

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Thanks for reading and wait for the update on Day 2- Monterey featuring Carmel Belle and Mundaka and a tired Mommy and a blistered Anya, but (how???) a very energetic and arrogant Karsen. Such are little brothers.