Tree House Cafe

I don’t write reviews often, this establishment had 3 excellent things going for it. Great seafood for the price, superb atmosphere on the patio, and great wine selection. We stopped by at 2 in the afternoon on a Sunday, had a nice full filled glass of wine and enjoyed the atmosphere. When our food came, I got the sea bass in lemon caper, my wife got Caesar salad with prawns, both tasted better than what you would get at a chain like the bonefish Grill and for somewhat less.
Only negative I could notice was a unisex bathroom. Great place in Carmel.

I came here twice. Both experiences were completely different. Let me explain… (You have to read through this all. I know it’s long…)
My first experience was great. My bachelorette party was in Carmel and we came here for dinner. We were lucky to have one of the owners as our server. He was FANTASTIC. He was very friendly and treated us just like he treated every other party at the restaurant. He spent the time to answer all of our questions regarding the menu. When we were deciding between two dishes, he immediately said that the restaurant could give us half of the two dishes that we were deciding between. This was AWESOME. I loved it so much. My party had such a great time and we loved trying the food. Seriously the best service I have ever experienced.
Table bread– AMAZING. The bread is pretty good but the olive oil is AMAZING. Tastiest dip ever.
Beef Stroganoff– delicious! A little on the heavy side but a great dish. One of my girls said it was a little on the bland side but I personally like something that’s not overly salty.
Pasta Bolognese– One of the better pasta bolognese I’ve had before. Once again, not overly salty like it usually is and great flavor.
My second experience was not very good… I came with my husband on our way up from San Diego. I raved to my husband about this place saying the service was amazing and the food was great too. To my dismay, the service was embarrassingly horrible. I got the impression that the server thought we were very young people who wouldn’t give him a good tip. We both felt like he brushed us aside and gave other tables more attention and spoke to them with more respect. The young lady in the front was very sweet but our server was very… different from what I expected. Yes, my husband and I have been told on many occasions that we look very young, but we were very surprised to be treated like this at this establishment. When I asked if he could split the entrees like I had done during my last visit, the server looked at me like I’m crazy for suggesting that and laughed and said he would ask if that was possible. A few minutes later, he came back and gave me this wtf look and said no that’s not possible because it’s just not possible. RUDE. RUDE. RUDE. RUDE. That just ruined my appetite for the evening. After that, the food was alright.
Table bread– still great regardless of our sour taste after our experience with the server.
Beef stroganoff– good flavor as previously described
Seafood pasta– bland. Lots of seafood in the pasta but the noodle flavor was a little on the bland side.
Overall, I don’t know if I would go out of my way to come back. I was really excited to return after my great first experience. But no thanks. If it takes a giant rock on my hand to get great service (I had forgotten my engagement ring at home the second visit), then no thank you. I do not want to be treated like a child while I’m eating dinner.

Friday night, from out of town, no reservations, 4 previous restaurants were packed and the food gods meant for us to find a table here. The menu far outshines the seemingly casual name. We’re not «foodies» but know a fine meal and were very pleasantly surprised. Service, food and atmosphere were all 4+ stars.

This place is adorable and the food is delicious. Sitting on the balcony with a glass of prosseco enjoying a plate of sandabs is as good as it gets. Great service, wonderful background music and ridiculously tasty chocolate cake to top it off. Best anniversary meal yet. We felt like we were somewhere in Italy or Spain soaking in the sights and ambiance.

Wonderful Experience from beginning to end!!! I live in Monterey and was looking for a quaint spot in Carmel to take my mom for her birthday. This place gave me the best dining experience I have had anywhere in this area! The outdoor patio seating was beautiful, great ambiance. Service was genuine, friendly, and prompt. Every bite of food was awesome, start to finish. We ate every bit of every dish!! The complimentary bread with dip was outstanding. We shared the coconut shrimp soup to start and it was super yummy. My mother and I shared the chicken pesto pasta for our dinner which was fantastic! And I stole a bite of my husband’s sand dabs and it was also delicious! Then, we were surprised to be given a complimentary dessert, a mango cheesecake that was a complete delight. We hadn’t even mentioned to them that it was her birthday. They definitely value their customers here and put great care into giving exemplary service. And all of this was given at very reasonable prices, especially for Carmel. Don’t miss this place!

Probably the best customer service and food I’ve had in a long time. We didn’t make dinner reservations but they sat us ASAP even on a busy Saturday night. Loy (our waiter) was very quick and friendly. Took our orders, brought out the wine, and overheard that it was my birthday and brought out a complimentary chocolate cake with baklava. The pasta was fresh & the clam chowder is to die for. If you’re in Carmel, most definitely check this place out. They will not disappoint.

The food here is very good. I always have the gyro meat and it’s perfect. The staff and owners are extremely attentive and willing to do whatever it takes to make you happy. They take pleasure in helping you through the menu and seeing to it get you are satisfied. Consider trying the hummus which is quite tasty and is a special family recipe from their home country! Normally I limit bread intake but I couldn’t help myself from eating the bread with the dipping olive oil, and the pitas!
The rooftop ambiance is very beautiful and comfy. You sit up amongst the trees and it feels exotic compared to most other rooftops I have encountered.
I’m amazed at some of the mediocre reviews, well, not really (some people expect perfection without communication). If you have something you want more of, or less of in a dish, ask. They are so accommodating for a few of my modifications to the dishes.
Someone said «needed salt». REALLY!!! Grab the salt shaker, for Pete’s sake… unbelievable people
:)

The Tree House Café was recommended on half a dozen travel sites, so I figured it had to be spectacular. I came here for a late lunch after doing the 17 Mile Drive and immediately fell in love with the ambiance. I even chose to sit outside despite the cold (thank goodness for space heaters) because the patio was just SO cute.
Ambiance-​wise, this place gets 5 stars. The décor is really cute, the background music was delightful, and the patio was incredibly comfy.
Service was good as well. The waitress checked on me multiple times and made sure to seat me neither the heater as requested.
Now, the food. The menu here can only be described as a smogasboard. Thai, American, Mediterranean… there clearly wasn’t a whole lot of cohesiveness in the options. I ended up choosing a Mediterranean burger. It was fine but pretty bland overall — surprising since it had some sort of sharp cheese (feta or bleu? can’t remember). It was just a tad mediocre and overpriced.
That being said, maybe I ordered the wrong thing. Or maybe this is a place to come for dessert or coffee. I don’t know. I’d be willing to come back and hangout with a coffee here, although I’m not sure I’d be enticed by the food again persay.

Everything we order was amazing! We got the gryo as appetizer, the chicken pesto pasta, and prawn pad thai. So good!

This place is owned by the cousin of the owner of Demetria. Many of the same recipes. I only rated it a four because the entertainment at Demetria kicks it up a notch. The dipping oil for the bread is out of this world! We had a few apps and dessert. The chocolate cake was awesome, but needed a little salt to cut down the richness. Really fun treetop patio made for a great atmosphere.

Best service!!! Love the outdoor seating area, and the food was so delicious, I had to go downstairs and buy the noodles and pesto sauce after. Will be returning to this café when I’m in the area next time.

Wow… some of the bet service I have gotten in a restaurant.
It was early in the evening and not quite dinner time. We were looking for a place to have a couple appetizers and cocktails. From the moment we entered to the moment we left the service was great. Granted, it was early and not too busy. None the less, everyone who worked there made sure we always had everything we needed. if our server was not available another sever or bus-​staff was on top of it.
* Thai Pork Sausage appetizer — There are only two small sausages but they are perfect. Not only delicious but presentation is equally as good.
* Grilled Calamari appetizer — This is a breaded and grilled calamari steak. Not your traditional tentacle and ring appetizer, but just as good as any I have had.
* Table Bread — Worth mentioning because the olive oil that is served with it was some of the best I have had.
They could use a better selection of beer, but that is nit picking. I will definitely come back to try more of their menu.

This was great. Reasonably priced and extremely fast service. Flavorful and beautiful food. So happy with the experience and would like to bring friends and family back.

I never write reviews and this is my first, what I ordered was pretty simple but very good just a chicken Cesar salad, but the aroma of the food being prepared drew me in as well as the variety on the menu. It intrigued me in the best way possible. What really drew me to write the review were the people. Zate (I hope I didn’t Bucher the spelling) was my server and his cousin was also very friendly and helpful. I enjoyed the conversations I had with them and allison I believe her name was. She was also very friendly and helpful. I left wanting to keep in touch with them all as if I had just made new friends! Thank you all for the yummy food and warm hospitality! I look forward to seeing you again! Such great, happy, positive energy I felt like smiling constantly. Thank you! thank you!

My boyfriend and I recently visited Monterey and Carmel for the weekend. We spent Saturday afternoon walking around downtown Carmel and looking for a nice place to enjoy lunch. We spotted the Tree House Café with its cute outside décor and immediately headed in. There was no wait and we got a big table on the outside patio underneath the trees. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. We ordered a bottle of the house cabernet, a greek burger for the boy, and a chicken pesto sandwich for me. Everything came out quickly and was delicious. My sandwich had a good pesto flavor, and not too much mozzarella (just the way I like it) and the the boy’s greek burger was cooked as he ordered with good flavor as well. We took our time and enjoyed the beautiful weather in the tree house setting. I will definitely come back whenever I am in Carmel again!

I like the ambiance and outdoor seating but I thought the food was just okay. I should have been tipped off at the variety of food offered here. Mediterranean, Italian, Russian, Thai… yeah, usually you don’t want to diversify your menu much, otherwise you just have a lot of mediocre food.
We got the bruschetta to share for the table. The bruschetta bread was quite small and you can finish one in two bites. I think I’ve had better bruschetta but it was still good. The extra bread plus oil and balsamic was nice albeit quite salty.
The Russian beef stroganoff I had was just so so. There was actually little cream sauce, and it was quite bland. The beef pieces were overcooked, so I barely ate them. I don’t really like mushrooms so I left those, but those were big enough to pick out. I was quite disappointed about the lack of taste and how dry the beef pieces were.
Someone else at my table complained about how bland his kebabs were.
A bottle of red wine was about $ 65 in case you’re wondering. I don’t remember which one they had though.
Entrees are pretty pricey, around $ 20-​$ 30 per entrée. I guess that’s standard of restaurants but I feel like I overpaid for mediocre food.

This place is a little confusing… Thai and Mediterranean and Italian? Okayyyy. Let’s go for it!
Love the outdoor seating. Perfect for dogs, and of course lots of heat lamps for the SoCal wimps like me. Adorable ambiance. Greek music in the background. I guess this helped contribute to the fact that this place is mainly Greek with accents of Thai end Italian.
What we got:
— Shrimp spring rolls: meh, I found myself adding a lot of peanut sauce to amp up the flavor. Not much shrimp either. And for 12 $ this kind of fell flat for me.
— Clam chowder: hearty, lots of «goodies» inside, I was a fan!
–Grilled salmon: Perfect. I hate when restaurants try to feature a fish and then they under season it. This dish was cooked and seasoned really well! I do think the sides could have used a little bit more seasoning but maybe they were trying to counterbalance the salt in the fish.
The best meals of the night= GREEK!
–Gyro plate and beef kebabs were probably the best I’ve ever had! Meat was well seasoned, not dry at all, kebabs were a PERFECT medium rare. The Greek rice was really good too, as was the salad. We asked for a bit more tzaziki sauce on the side too. Super impressed with this dish!
Wish they had cheaper options for wines. We are no sommeliers but a glass of house wine should be a little cheaper #amiright?
Good service, not great, but it was on a Monday night so you can’t expect too much. Also only 1 bathroom for men and women. Not crowded at all when we went but I was still in line for the bathroom –_​–
Overall I would come back for their Greek food (totally their wheelhouse) and probably try their curry. Can’t go wrong with their salmon either.

It’s a cute place with both inside and deck seating. The price is a bit high, but considering the average price range in the area it’s also acceptable.
I chose this restaurant because it’s a mix of Thai, Mediterranean and Various seafoods! The sea bass was really good, as well as the chicken curry I ordered. We had recommended chocolate cake for dessert. It’s a bit heavy and is good to share between two.
The service was great and the view under a sunny day was awesome and chilling. Good experience.

Our experience here was average.
They have a fusion style menu where you can pick from few Mediterranean, Thai or American options.
We walked in on a late Saturday afternoon & got seated right away at the patio with our dog next to us!
We stared off with Baba Ghanoush & coconut prawn soup. Both were tasty & flavored well. We asked a customized Pad Thai for my husband who is allergic to eggs. The dish came with a lot of egg & we had to again ask our servant to change it.
I had a grilled salmon with spinach. Both the entries were average. The Pad Thai was literally just noodles dipped in tamarind sauce.

Amazing prawn pasta… the rooftop is decorated and super cute. Ambiance is so comfortable. Special prawn pasta is more expensive ($ 5 more) then the pasta with all kinds of seafood muscles prawns, clams and scallops. Coffee is delicious. If you are by yourself you will receive less attention, you have to ask for refills for water but all servers are friendly. The Restuarant is also pet friendly and the menu is awesome so much to choose from. I would definitely recommend this quaint Restuarant.