May 03 2009
Dinner at Santa Monica Seafood Cafe
Last weekend, we were invited by a friend to have dinner at Santa Monica Seafood Cafe on Wilshire Blvd. It’s a family-run business that offers a wide selection of fresh fish and seafood for retail. For this location, they happened to make a section of this market a small Cafe and Oyster Bar. As you can see, we were not disappointed with our dinner choices!
This is the outside of the versatile Santa Monica Seafood.
Our oyster platter was surprisingly fresh and delightful. I was actually craving oysters, since the last time I had it was in New York!
Daniel wanted to try the Manhattan Clam Chowder. Ingredients include: chopped ocean clams, celery, potatoes, carrots, plum tomatoes, basil, oregano and fennel. In other words: It was really tasty.
His dinner entree was the Cioppino, which is a classic Italian dish with clams, mussels, fish, shrimp, and calamari in a spicy tomato sauce. You just have to be careful when eating this to not splash it all over your shirt!
I opted for the Spicy Salmon Burger (I like anything with the word "spicy" in it). It's a grilled spicy salmon burger on a potato dill kaiser bun with oragnic greens, cucumber, tomato and gremolata (a chopped herb condiment). Delish!
Surprisingly, we weren't too stuffed from our appetizers and main course, so we splurged and got the cannoli for dessert. I took one bite of this, made a funny face, then ate the strawberry. It wasn't my cup of tea, but now I know. Besides the crummy dessert, the entire meal was really good and the company was absolutely pleasant.
What a great post, and what awesome photos! I am glad I found you…foodbuzz has become a hard read with all its buttons that lead this way and that…
I agree! Foodbuzz also lags on my computer, so I get annoyed. I’m still trying to get used to it.
How funny because New York was the last time I had oysters too and I’ve been craving it. Was this place pricey? Maybe I’ll try it next time I’m in the area.
Sandy, it wasn’t that pricey. I think it was about $10-$15 a plate.. you can check out the rest of the menu on their website. I think the concept is great with having a cafe/restaurant for Santa Monica Seafood, but they need to make it bigger… it was kinda weird eating in a fish market, and there were only like 5 tables, so the wait took forever. It’s good for a quick lunch or if you just want to have oysters at the oyster bar!
Oooh, so you approve of this joint? That’s great to know because we’re looking for honest to goodness fresh seafood restaurants. That cioppino looks amazing.