Cafe Gibraltar in El Granada, CA
I had a somewhat difficult time making reservations at Cafe Gibraltar. One would think that a restaurant far off the beaten path would be less popular (it is located in sleepy El Granada just north of Half Moon Bay), but not this one! After trying to make reservations three times to no avail (Dinner at 10pm? Thanks, but no.), I got a friend to call. There's a trick: Cafe Gibraltar takes reservations starting at midnight for the next day, and you can call to leave a message on their answering machine. That's exactly what she did, and it worked (finally)!
The decor is an interesting mix of modern and old-school. A warm color scheme and middle-eastern touches make the restaurant feel exotic. You can choose to sit at a sturdy wooden table in the center of the restaurant, or to sit in a more private booth, Moroccan-style sans chairs, along the back wall. Regardless of where you sit, I would recommend sitting away from the front door. Temperatures in the evening on the coast are cool, and during autumn and winter months, a brisk breeze blows inside, chilling the hostess and whomever is unlucky enough to be seated at the tables closest to the door.
Cafe Gibraltar touts itself as Mediterranean, but the menu's span was much greater, encompassing European and Northern African selections. That being said, the food was truly outstanding. We started with the Mezza Platter, which included tyrosalata, hummus, tzatziky, savory tomato jam, nazuktan, rapanak-ya salatsi, roasted garlic cloves, esaladilla de piquillos and house-marinated olives, served with flatbread. The menu stated that this dish served "2 or more," but with 4 people in our party, we were hard pressed to finish, especially after eating a bottomless basket of delicious flatbread with olive oil and balsamic to start.
For my entree, I chose the Kaskasu Bi'l-Lahm, an Algerian dish of spring lamb, slow-braised with fresh local fava beans, tomatoes, artichokes, pearl onions, garlic, saffron and dried apricots, served atop a pearl cous cous and black lentil mélange. The lamb was richly-flavored and tender, falling apart in the tines of my fork. The fava beans were plump and tasty, and they, combined with the pearl cous cous, made a wonderful foil for the lamb. The Carne di Costata Di Bue, a dish of Italian origin that included beef short rib meat, slow-braised (this technique is big here) with red wine, root vegetables, and roasted yellow fin potatoes was excellent, although after consuming all that bread, the potatoes were a bit much to stomach. I also sampled the fresh local halibut pan-roasted with a crispy cous cous (not as good as the pearl cous cous) and herb crust. The halibut was served over braised chard and a potato puree, finished with a ground mustard seed glaze and garnished with roasted marinated asparagus. Again, the potato puree (read: mashed potatoes) were nothing special, but the roasted vegetables here, as in all the other dishes, were superb.
We were too stuffed to eat dessert. If I went back, I would skip the appetizer. Honestly, if you indulge in the flatbread, you really don't need it. Or simply get a side order of marinated olives. They were excellent.
The one drawback to the evening was our waiter. He was quite scattered, forgetting drink orders, menu orders, and was sometimes neglectful of our table. He was a lovely, young guy, though, so our party took pity on him and let him scramble around without getting angry. That being said, the evening was so enjoyable, and the food was so good, that we just let it go.
Cafe Gibraltar
9.5/10
The decor is an interesting mix of modern and old-school. A warm color scheme and middle-eastern touches make the restaurant feel exotic. You can choose to sit at a sturdy wooden table in the center of the restaurant, or to sit in a more private booth, Moroccan-style sans chairs, along the back wall. Regardless of where you sit, I would recommend sitting away from the front door. Temperatures in the evening on the coast are cool, and during autumn and winter months, a brisk breeze blows inside, chilling the hostess and whomever is unlucky enough to be seated at the tables closest to the door.
Cafe Gibraltar touts itself as Mediterranean, but the menu's span was much greater, encompassing European and Northern African selections. That being said, the food was truly outstanding. We started with the Mezza Platter, which included tyrosalata, hummus, tzatziky, savory tomato jam, nazuktan, rapanak-ya salatsi, roasted garlic cloves, esaladilla de piquillos and house-marinated olives, served with flatbread. The menu stated that this dish served "2 or more," but with 4 people in our party, we were hard pressed to finish, especially after eating a bottomless basket of delicious flatbread with olive oil and balsamic to start.
For my entree, I chose the Kaskasu Bi'l-Lahm, an Algerian dish of spring lamb, slow-braised with fresh local fava beans, tomatoes, artichokes, pearl onions, garlic, saffron and dried apricots, served atop a pearl cous cous and black lentil mélange. The lamb was richly-flavored and tender, falling apart in the tines of my fork. The fava beans were plump and tasty, and they, combined with the pearl cous cous, made a wonderful foil for the lamb. The Carne di Costata Di Bue, a dish of Italian origin that included beef short rib meat, slow-braised (this technique is big here) with red wine, root vegetables, and roasted yellow fin potatoes was excellent, although after consuming all that bread, the potatoes were a bit much to stomach. I also sampled the fresh local halibut pan-roasted with a crispy cous cous (not as good as the pearl cous cous) and herb crust. The halibut was served over braised chard and a potato puree, finished with a ground mustard seed glaze and garnished with roasted marinated asparagus. Again, the potato puree (read: mashed potatoes) were nothing special, but the roasted vegetables here, as in all the other dishes, were superb.
We were too stuffed to eat dessert. If I went back, I would skip the appetizer. Honestly, if you indulge in the flatbread, you really don't need it. Or simply get a side order of marinated olives. They were excellent.
The one drawback to the evening was our waiter. He was quite scattered, forgetting drink orders, menu orders, and was sometimes neglectful of our table. He was a lovely, young guy, though, so our party took pity on him and let him scramble around without getting angry. That being said, the evening was so enjoyable, and the food was so good, that we just let it go.
Cafe Gibraltar
9.5/10
posted by epicure | 3:07 PM
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