Santa Barbara: Boathouse at Hendry's Beach

The Boathouse at Hendry's Beach

Lovely atmosphere: right next to the beach!

The Boathouse at Hendry’s Beach is yet another example of how your experience at a restaurant can be completely decided by either the atmosphere or the food. We went to the Boathouse twice on our trip: the first time I was impressed by their atmosphere, the second time, by their food.

On our first trip, we were seated outside, which made all the difference in terms of atmosphere. The Boathouse is situated right next to Hendry’s Beach (surprise, surprise), its natural beauty made even more beautiful by the twinkling lights decorating the restaurant and the easy reggae music that floated through the air as we waited for our appetizers. My mom and dad and I split their Seared Ahi Tuna salad, Crab Cakes and a Chile and Lime Crab Cocktail. (If it isn’t already obvious, this place specialized in seafood). The Ahi Tuna salad was the only genuinely good meal out of the three. The Crab Cakes were decent, though a little salty and the Crab and Lime Cocktail was just mediocre. I also ordered a Blood Orange Margarita, which was delicious after I remembered to stir it; the first half of it or so was oversaturated with tequila (or maybe I’m just a lightweight). This trip, I paid more attention to my surroundings than to my food. 

Ahi Tuna.

Blood Orange Margarita.

We returned to the Boathouse, partially because we enjoyed our meal there and partially to satisfy my littlest sister’s beach cravings after spending an entire day “cooped up” at our beautiful beach house. It was a lot less fun than the last time: we were all hungry, we had a long wait, and we were eventually seated inside rather than outside. There were young guys at the table next to us making odd grunting noises, which we all thought was rather strange, especially my littlest sister, who mocked them rather loudly, causing the rest of my family to choke back our giggles and look down in embarrassment. (I could seriously start an entire blog on all the weird and funny things she does). The service was much less friendly and attentive than the first night when our waiter was super nice, likely because it was a busy night at the Boathouse. The only thing that I liked better about the second trip was the food and drink. I ordered the Mesquite Grilled Prawns, which were served on a slice of bread and infused with tons of butter and garlic, making them completely irresistible to me. My dad and I both ordered a glass of the Bridlewood Syrah, from the Central Coast, which was unbelievably good.

Mesquite Grilled Prawns were delicious! Photo Credit

            Both visits I came away enjoying the Boathouse at Hendry’s Beach, but for different reasons. Perhaps there will be one day when I return, get lucky and enjoy the atmosphere and the food simultaneously, but for now I’ll have to remember them separately.

Cioccolata Di Vino: (Little to) No Regrets

Wine, vanilla gelato and Torta al Cioccolato Liquefatto (Lava Cake) at Cioccata Di Vino

            “It’s okay to indulge yourself every once in a while.” That what I had to keep telling myself in order to enjoy North Berkeley’s Cioccolata Di Vino. For a place like this, I couldn’t worry about the money or the calories. I just had to sit back, accept the fact that I was going to be splurging and enjoy. No regrets.

            And it was well worth it. All day I had been longing for something to take me out of the ordinary, something to hit me, something to tell me that I was still alive and kicking. (Needless to say, it had been a long and dull day). At Cioccolata Di Vino, I found it: Torta al Cioccolato Liquefatto, otherwise known as molten lava cake. Ben and I ordered it with a scoop of vanilla gelato, which of course was a delightful and refreshing accompaniment to the richness and chocolatiness of the lava cake. And, because we just couldn’t help ourselves, we also shared a glass of their Nero d'Avola Feudo Principi di Butera Sicilia wine. As if this wasn’t enough, before we knew it we had also ordered chocolate chip cookies. Our damn waitress said the words “fresh out of the oven” and we were hopeless.

Close up of the Lava Cake. Too good!

            Is it even possible to describe to you how good this dessert was? The lava cake was so moist with the outside had the perfect crusty texture. And, of course, inside the lava cake was the molten chocolate, which just screamed for a bite of vanilla gelato to go with it. The chocolate chip cookies were, in all honesty, just chocolate chip cookies. They were good, but they paled in comparison to that lava cake. (Maybe it was a mistake to go for the chocolate chip cookies…but no, I must remember this dessert with no regrets.) The Nero made an elegant accompaniment to the chocolate and rounded the whole thing out nicely. Overall, it was a wonderful place to have a leisurely and scrumptious dessert experience.

            And, yes, I know I said no regrets, but there is something much bigger than chocolate chip cookies at stake here: I missed out on live music. As we were waiting for our food to come, we saw jazz musicians come in one by one and start to set up their instruments. Sadly, we finished our meal before we could get a chance to hear them play. Next time (assuming I can afford to have a next time) I am definitely arriving later, probably around 8 or 9 in order to catch the music. But, I am a perfectionist, and despite the fact that we missed out on the jazz and subsequently on a flawless evening, the delicious and rich chocolate, refreshing gelato, lovely wine, friendly service and carefree atmosphere at Cioccolata Di Vino made my experience incredibly enjoyable.