We’ve had this iconic beach cafe on our bucket list for at least 12 months so it was a super fun experience to have lunch here on New Year’s Eve. My wife had made an online reservation for 1.30pm and we arrived a few minutes earlier as requested. We actually parked in the lot across the highway and walked the scenic tunnel route to the cafe in about 15 minutes. There is an optional shuttle which will ferry you close to the cafe for a small fee.
We were instantly shown to a table on the outdoor deck with a 200 degree ocean view so that was awesome. It was a chilly day and to our surprise our backsides were being warmed by a furnace down under. It felt lovely ! A friendly server named Mary initially looked after us and took my beer order before her shift change. Our new server Mackenzie looked after us impeccably for the duration of our lunch.
My ice-cold Trestle’s IPA arrived in a couple of minutes and tasted pretty decent. The place was totally packed inside and out with people celebrating the last day of 2018. We kicked things off with Crispy Calamari + Fire Grilled Artichokes for our appetizers. And they sure came out pretty quick. For an entrée my wife chose the Shrimp Pasta while I wanted the Beef Short Rib Melt ( a huge sandwich & fries house special not on the printed menu ).
Eating all my delicious crispy calamari made me want another beer. This time it was an Eel River Blonde Ale. Our entrees arrived and looked too big a challenge for us to get through and leave room for dessert. My Beef Short Rib Melt Sandwich tasted positively succulent and the fries were so fresh. My wife was simply plucking the huge shrimp out of her pasta. I tasted a couple of those babies and they were great. So as I said we had the best seats in the house.
We could see everyone coming and going plus the enormous ocean view. Gee does it get any better than this ! My wife somehow had enough space in her tiny tummy to squeeze in some Banana Cream Pie. I don’t think we will be eating dinner tonight. The fabulous looking dessert came out and wow it tasted very very good. Thanks again to our servers Mary, Nick and especially our main server Mackenzie. This was our Holy Grail . . what’s yours ?
