In a quest to eat al all 3000 San Francisco restaurants (500 plus and counting), Linda and Mike L.
Mc Colgan's culinary journey recently took them to Navio at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay. Recently completing a 1 million dollar renovation, Navio, meaning ship, is elegantly decorated with spectacular views overlooking the deep blue sea and 18th hole of the famous Old Course. This Ritz property is a very special experience for anyone who wants to enjoy a time of pure luxury and elegance. The staff throughout the entire resort is friendly and anxious to make your time an “experience” to remember. Five stars for the Service.*****
The Castle on the coast is conveniently located between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. It has received many awards for excellence and has two world class golf courses. The experience of playing golf at either the Ocean or Old Course and having a treatment at the world class spa is a taste of heaven. At sunset the special part of any day at the Ritz is the piper playing bagpipes coming up from the hills overlooking the water. The piper playing at sunset is better than “Mass at the Vatican" which I have had the privilege of experiencing both.
Sitting by the outdoor fireplace in your room patio, the hotel also offers an over the top golf cart dressed up as a wine and fire caddy. The knowledgeable wine and fire chap drives his golf cart stocked with wine, cheese cigars and smores kits that you can purchase from the convenience of your outdoor room patio. It is another touch of class to the elegant Ritz experience.
Before dinner at Navio, you can stop at the Eno wine bar and sample various flights of wines. The wine bar is a beautiful room cover with rich dark wood and soft lighting that adds to the wine tasting experience. The extensive wine cellar is stocked with wines from around the world including several bottles of the French Petrus Pomeral Wine which sells for $7500 per bottle for those with a discriminating taste for wine.
The new renovation of the Navio Restaurant offers an elegant ship like feeling with large windows overlooking the ocean. Our server was very attentive and helpful in choosing our dinner items. For appetizers we started with the PEI mussels with shallots, garlic, savignon blanc, creme fraiche and parsley. We also tried the ahi tuna, with yuzu aioli, padron peppers, asian pears, pickled carrots, green beans and puffed barley. The Sea scallops with sweet pea and wild mushrooms risotto shaved parmesan and balsamic syrup and Brentwood sweet corn soup warmed up our appetites for the main courses.
For dinner Linda order the local black cod and Berkshire pork belly with grilled Monterey calamari, chorizo and chick peas which was prepared to perfection and heavenly to eat. Our National Champion Special Olympics golfer and son Mj ordered the New York steak with grilled Yukon potatos, mushroom conserva, glazed cipolin onions and red wine jus that according to him was "the best he has ever eaten."
I ordered the 48 hour Navio braised short rib, with Yukon gold potato puree, port wine glaze royal trumpet mushrooms and asparagus that was tender and seasoned to perfection.
Desert was highlighted by the Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee and French pressed hot coffee that completed a dinner to always be remembered
We look forward to our return to this special Coastal Castle on the Sea. For more information call 650-712-7000.
