Wow, thank you for your comprehensive list!
Yeah, but I sure wish La Costanera was open for lunch.
Speaking of Peruvian, we tried Puerto 27 in Pacifica last weekend. I had ceviche that was very unbalanced (way too acidic) and the timing of the food was horrible! Everyone got their food except for my daughter, who had to wait at least another 45 minutes for hers. They double charged us for a dish and we had to point it out. Waitron said it was a consistent glitch in their POS system. That place is a mess!
Recommend the chicken salvadorian tamale! After lunch at Dad’s I was still hungry, so I browsed around the farmer’s market for a snack. The $3 tamale fit the bill. The owner is salvadorian, hence I got the tamale from her home country. The masa was more moist than the Mexican version. The green and red salsa really made the flavors dance. Very economical too.
I believe the farmer’s market is every Saturday morning. Shares a parking lot with Dad’s Luncheonette.
Sorry, almost finished before remembering to take a picture.
1 Like
Another good meal at the Barn in Half Moon Bay.
Hot farmer burger, with some fried onions, arugula and buttermilk dressing. The arugula added a bit of fancy to the burger and worked very well. A little bit of heat with jalapenos.
BBQ Porkwitch- pull pork slathered with a sweet sriracha aioli. A little bit too sweet for me.
Storm Mac n Fry. Fancy mac n cheese. A breaded cube with mac and cheese oozing from within. Came with fries.
2 Likes
Man I guess its been a while since I’ve been down that way as I’ve never heard of this place. Looks good, I will have to hit it up when its time for a crab run at Pillar Point Harbor.
I am so glad that I followed @reuel’s recommendations.
Companion Bakery have some pretty fab sandwiches. Meat or non meat. And they were quick too- I placed the order they were ready in a couple of minutes.
I had the meat sandwich, the veggie sandwich and the goat cheese sandwich. All great. The breads in particular, were very good- The baguettes and the sliced. The meat sandwich came with some sliced meat, cheddar, arugula, mustard on a baguette. Fresh arugula imparted a great peppery flavor. Great combo. The garden sandwich came with pickled radish, cucumber. Nice pickles. The goat cheese in the goat cheese sandwich was very good too.
Forgot to take a picture of the meat sandwich.
Also had a chocolate croissant and a bacon quiche. Those were solid. Though I thought the sandwiches were great.
I walked around the parking lot while waiting for my order and saw in the dumpster that they use flour from Central Milling Company.
This will be my regular stop for lunch when I go to Santa Cruz in the future.
2 Likes
We like Bantam too! We got the recommended house made sausage pizza. Which had a bit of heat and was great.
The margherita was a bit on the sour side and had a slight bit of heat. Its not bad but the sausage one was definitely better. I guess that’s why the server recommended the sausage and the prosciutto pies but made no mention of the margherita.
They also have some essentials like canned tomato sauces, flour and drinks for sale.
They have a nice outdoor deck / seating area.
4 Likes
Wow, the prosciutto pie was awesome. Just the right saltiness from the prosciutto balanced by the peppery arugula and the reggiano. Better even than the sausage pie last time. We got takeouts so the arugula salad were in a different container, to be placed on top of the prosciutto pizza. The kids pretty much polished off the whole pizza so all I got was a slice. But what a nice slice it was.
The pepperoni with mozzarella was good too. The olives were definitely a nice touch.
The cauliflower soup with pine nut marjoram pesto. Wife liked it. I preferred the cauliflower soup unadorned.
2 Likes
We went down to Santa Cruz last month to see the Monarchs and went to Bantam for dinner, Companion for coffee, pastries, and bread, and Los Pericos for a late night burrito.
Bantam was pretty good. We got the sausage mentioned above a couple of times, and the tomato and anchovy. Both were good and I’d eat them again and often if I lived close by but nothing I’d travel for since we’re spoiled here in the city. Last Feb we went down that way and went to Mentone and it was definitely better.
Companion was kind of the same feeling — got a ham and cheese croissant, some chocolate bread, and a couple other pastries else I forget. All were good and I’d go there if I lived close by but I live a block from Arsicault.
On the way down we stopped at Barbara’s (made us sad seeing the tons of cab cages just waiting to go out) for some fried stuff and a drink. You know what you’re getting there. And on the way back, Pescadero for some artichoke bread for us and gifts for holiday meals.
Bantam:
Companion:
Mentone:
Barbara’s/HMB:
6 Likes
A bit of a fail for me lol when I tried to get some food at Mentone. We went to Santa Cruz again last week. Tried to order food at Mentone but they never picked up. Drove over to Aptos but they were slammed and wouldn’t do takeouts. So its a waste of 40 minutes round trip…!
I am intrigued by their sea urchin bucatini though.
I was highly unimpressed by the uni bucatini. I didn’t find the flavor of the uni came through at all. I think the pizzas at Mentone are the biggest standouts.
Glad I didn’t waste $38 (or something like that) on the uni bucatini then. I thought it would be sweet, and bright full of umami…
