Across this great nation, diners and cafes provide pockets of comfort and familiarity by way of hot, affordable coffee and home-style meals. They serve Denver omelets in Atlanta and plates of Southern-style biscuits and gravy in San Diego. I love these places, but their menus seldom reflect the unique ingredients that make each region of our country special.
Housed in a distinctive red-and-white building located within spitting distance from Highway 1 in Moss Landing, the Moss Landing Cafe is a true comfort-food cafe – and does serve Denver omelets and BLTs. But many of its breakfast, lunch and dinner items are devoted to highlighting the produce growing on the nearby land or the seafood swimming in the nearby Pacific.
On the trip that prompted me to pitch a write-up on the cafe, I ordered the crab and shrimp huevos rancheros ($14.25), one of a half dozen breakfast specials. Though I didn’t take notes then, the item was tasty, fresh, filling and inspiring enough to garner a return visit (along with a plea to my editor to write about MLC). In addition to the superb breakfast, the cafe charmed with its coast-inspired decor that included framed photos of locals surfing, old images of the Monterey Harbor and maritime items like a metal diving helmet.
I returned with a friend, and we seated ourselves for breakfast at one of the few open tables. I opted for the artichoke scramble special ($12.25), in which artichoke hearts from neighboring Castroville mixed in with mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, bacon and salsa. Unfortunately, the giant slabs of mushy artichoke hearts dominated the scramble. The crab and shrimp huevos rancheros proved to be a better showcase for the cafe’s execution and use of local ingredients. That said, the artichoke-scramble special turned out to be the lone misstep I encountered across no fewer than four visits to the cafe.
My friend fared better with the sausage, potato pancake and eggs special ($9.95). The large sausage was an Italian sausage patty rather than a typical breakfast patty. The potato pancake was perfectly crispy on the outside with a creamy, flavorful interior.
I returned a week later for lunch, which was less crowded than breakfast. The lunch patrons were all grey haired, a testament to the café’s generous portions and fair pricing. While the fried oyster tacos and fries ($12.95) were seriously considered, the no-nonsense but knowledgeable waitress steered me towards the Cajun fish sandwich with avocado salsa ($13.50). The seasoned slab of mahi-mahi played off perfectly against the salsa and a smear of tartar sauce. This is a special sandwich, one I will return to over and over again when in the area. Other lunch options include burgers and items like the tempting squid sandwich ($9.95) and fried oyster sandwich ($8.95), which come with a choice of pasta salad, green salad, potato salad, coleslaw or French fries.
At dinner, which is only served on Friday and Saturdays from 5pm to 8:30pm, the Moss Landing Cafe noticeably steps things up. The tables are draped with white and red tablecloths, a nice nod to the building’s exterior colors. The servers wear Oxford shirts, and the wines being served for the evening are displayed on a table. In addition, the cafe’s owner/chef Mark Couts wanders around the establishment and strikes up conversations with his customers.
The bulk of the menu is a choice of seasonal fish served in one of four styles or a grilled New York steak done one of six ways. The fish selections included Hawaiian sea bass and escolar (butterfish) along with local offerings of sand dabs and petrale sole. I went with the sand dabs sautéed with lemon butter and white wine ($21.95) along with a warm Caesar salad rather than the usual garden variety. The lightly grilled romaine was topped with a spot-on dressing and Parmesan cheese along with small cubes of melon and tomato.
The fish came out in a light, browned breading on top of a mound of rice and beside a pile of vegetables. The veggies, which included artichokes, deserve mention for flavor better than most restaurant side items. The sand dabs, meanwhile, give any of the those served in the Peninsula’s more hyped-up seafood establishments a run for their lunch money.
I don’t always get dessert, but the cafe’s cinnamon bun bread pudding ($5.50) proved too tempting to ignore. While some bread puddings can be a bit bland, the use of cinnamon buns in this take on the classic dessert resulted in the best I have ever tasted. The drizzled raspberry sauce and caramel helped too.
After finishing as much of the bread pudding as I could, I asked Couts, who was enjoying a glass of wine, a few questions. He’s owned the Moss Landing Cafe for 28 years and says he buys produce directly from local farmers and seafood from local fishermen.
“It didn’t even go to the cooler,” he says of the ingredients in my salad. “It went directly from the field to here.”
MOSS LANDING CAFE 421 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing • 6:30am-3pm Sun-Thu; 6:30am-3pm and 5pm-8:30pm Fri-Sat. • 633-3355, www.mosslandingcafe.com