passionfish

an absolute gem!. nice location, friendly and attentive waitstaff, spare yet inviting interior design. the wine list was impressive and sensibly priced, and they even had a nice selection of beers. their menu is just the right size - enough options without being overwhelming. we had an appetizer of mussels, and those were really nicely done. both of the fish entrees were absolutely fantastic - the kind of creatively designed and perfectly cooked dishes i would expect to pay more than $18-25 for. we couldn't resist dessert.

in the tourist-trappy monterey area, restaurants offering a quality experience like this are few and far between. don't miss this.

excellent food and service. 4 of us. 4 different fish dishes. all excellent. best were the tilapia and the sturgeon; halibut and scallops also good. desserts were outstanding. i liked the lemon creme brûlée. all dishes showed creativity and thought; full of flavor.

a delicious evening of eco-friendly ingredients, prepared with farm-fresh ingredients and warm setting. the fried monterey bay squid with herb salad appetizer was amazing and worthy of being an entree. for entrees, we tried the 12 hour lamb was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and the rockfish was fresh and light. the wine list was extensive and the staff were helpful with suggestions. located about two blocks off the coast, this neighborhood restaurant makes up for views with delicious food worth repeat visits. overall, an excellent evening.

located on congress and lighthouse is this eating establishment that’s been in pacific grove for 17 years.  our hotel was located about 8 blocks away, and i chose this place based on the great reviews on yelp. . our reservations were at 7:30 and we were seated right away. in the reservations i commented it was a birthday celebration, and the restaurant gave us a menu with “happy birthday” on the top, with the date. nice surprise!

my husband and i dined at passionfish our first night in monterey on holiday after doing a quick online search not being familiar with the local area.

the restaurant is cozy with a lovely ambience and our waitress was exceptional.

over dinner we shared an excellent bottle of merry edwards russian river valley sauvignon blanc, a big bowl of slow-cooked venison stew which was just divine, an excellent salad full of goats cheese then the lemon verbena creme brûlée. everything was well cooked, flavourful and delivered perfectly.

i don’t think there are many people who will disagree with this statement: food is an important part of every culture. it follows then that one of the great pleasures of travel is the opportunity to taste the local cuisine. there's something about sharing a favorite dish with a friend or stranger that makes it taste even better. we truly do bond over a meal.

located on congress and lighthouse is this eating establishment that's been in pacific grove for 17 years.  our. hotel was located about 8 blocks away, and i chose this place based on. the great reviews on yelp. . our reservations were at 7:30 and we. were seated right away.  in the reservations i commented it was a

service was excellent. by the glass wine list was sparse. spoonable lamb was about the best thing i have ever had, as was the bee pollen gnocchi. the sturgeon was tough and dirty tasting, as that kind of fish will taste - my mistake in ordering it in the first place. overall great experience.

very noisy because the restaraunt is so small, but service was great and building was nice. insane wine list, so many choices!!! however, the menu is very limited, but extremely tasty.

not as good as during previous visits, sorry to say!. noisy as all get out! did i say noisy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 michael bauer bombs for this place. excellent cuisine but the service has deteriorated since our previous visits. the wine list has also jumped in price so their ad about keeping the pricing well below standard restaurant retail is no longer true.


-----08 dec, 2014-----

service has deteriorated. noisy as all get out! did i say noisy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 michael bauer bombs for this place. excellent cuisine but the service has deteriorated since our previous visits. the wine list has also jumped in price so their ad about keeping the pricing well below standard restaurant retail is no longer true.

passion fish...it's definitely a place to check out.... well, there have been over 1000 reviews written about passionfish – and we want to add another positive/exciting review. the place is more cozy than cute in pacific grove, and the experience is a night to add to the lexicon of excellent restaurants. pacific grove (aka pg) is a quaint little town on the pacific ocean that is just a delight to walk around and discover new places to dine – passionfish is such a place. it’s all about seafood – with great eclectic suggestions from their ’nightly specials’ to their standard fare. we met some friends and the four of us had a fantastic time trying each other’s dishes. our orders consisted of crab cake appetizers (i could have dined on just this alone), dungeness crab salads, tilapia (wow!), sea scallops (send another order for the table to share!) rockfish (very tasty) and we ended dessert with both a mud pie and bread pudding. we actually expected passionfish to be a bit ‘stuffy’ – it wasn’t. we felt very relaxed (our dinner was about 2+ hours), not rushed and our waiter team was on top of it the entire time. just stop reading this and go... and it was a tuesday night and it was packed with diners – better make a reservation... on the “tommy b restaurant rating scale” from “a” to “f” passionfish gets a solid “a”. we can’t wait to return.

phenomenal. passionfish blew me away. i had a pot of loose leaf tea, and 2 appetizers instead of an entree since i wasn't very hungry. the spicy seafood soup was the best part of my meal... i've never tasted anything like it. the other entree, dungeness crab atop avocado, was spectacular and fresh as well. the bread basket was top notch - soft in the middle, crusty on the outside. for dessert my companion and i split lemon creme brulee. also incredible. highly recommend this place, it was definitely the best thing i ate while in monterey this week.

living up to the hype. we visited passionfish as the second stop of a 9-day trip to california. we were told passion fish was one of the best restaurants in pacific grove and we agree with that assessment. first of all it’s trendy, a bit pretentious and there were a lot of hipsters dining that evening. in addition it was a bit loud with conversation hard to hear across the table without a raised voice. think new york city style tables in a row with a bench on one side and chairs on the other.

with all that said we loved our meal and their wine list is both impressive, extensive and really tasty too. we chose a pinot noir off their “legendary locals” list, a 2009 caraccoli, santa lucia highlands. we paid $56 for the bottle which retails at $47...yeah they have a practice of not gouging you on any of their more than 250 selections.

for appetizers we chose two items, a pair of grilled sea scallops on a bed of julienne vegetables with a sauce. the scallops were cooked perfectly but the sauce was a bit much for my girlfriend. the second choice was a smoked salmon dish with the salmon and flavored cream cheese rolled up in two 3-4 inch pastry. the plate was garnished with several different colors of fish roe. we both loved it.

dinner was fantastic for both of us. i ordered the duck confit with honey reduction and served with a smoked chile-potato cake and broccolini. the skin on the duck was crispy but so moist inside it fell off the bone. the potato cake was a great pairing. she ordered rockfish with a black pepper rum sauce served with coconut rice and ponzu cucumbers. fish was cooked perfectly and the rum sauce gave it a really unique and quite yummy taste. we finished the meal with crème brulee which was perfect and a great way to finish a perfect meal.

ellissa was our server and did a great job of not only describing our wine to us, but she was extremely knowledgeable on every menu item including how it was prepared, ingredients and how it tasted. my props to the chef and manager for level of preparation for the front-of-house. love it when a restaurant delivers on the hype!

a sustainable seafood restaurant focused on saving our oceans, passionfish is also the first officially green restaurant in monterey county. owned and operated by chef ted walter and his wife cindy walter, the daily-changing menu features outstandingly prepared seafood, slow cooked meats, farm fresh organic greens and delectable house-made desserts. all are complimented with an award-winning wine list which is lovingly curated and well-priced. if you bring your own wine, half of the corkage fee goes to the tag-a-giant foundation whose mission is to support scientific research and conservation of bluefin tuna.

not only am i happy to say that passionfish exceeded my expectations – it actually blew me away. the food was fantastic. the service was very helpful and knowledgeable. and the prices were reasonable. highly recommended.