Passionfish

Everything was absolutely delicious and fresh. Service excellent. Wine paired superbly and dessert did not disappoint. I give this restaurant a five star without hesitation.

Thought I would try the sturgeon, it tasted alright going down… but not when I puked it all back up 3 hours later.

We came here because of a recommendation from a friend who used to live in Pacific Grove and holy heaven, we’re so glad that we did.
If you are a foodie and in the mood for very fresh seafood prepared with unique flavors, this is absolutely your spot. Their dishes are all different and unlike anything that i’ve ever seen!
To start, I ordered the cucumber salad with fried kalamata olives {Yes, fried olives!}, feta, and a kalamata olive vinaigrette. It was absolutely delicious and nutritious.
For my entrée, I ordered the grilled chile marinated shrimp that was served on top of pork pozole and avocado. There were SO many shrimps on this dish! I think that I counted 12!!! They definitely are not skimpy on the portion sizes and you are sure to leave with a full tummy and happy heart. Unfortunately we were too full for dessert, but the night that we were there they were offering homemade peach cobbler! YUM!
They have a great wine list as well. I highly recommend Passionfish to anyone who is in the area!

This restaurant is one of a kind! I feel that Passionfish operates like a small family business but yet provides upscale service and experience! I love that the staff all look like they have a wonderful bond with one another.
If there was one reason why you should come visit this place, it’s gotta be for their impeccable service. Our server, Holly, totally took care of us. I have never had a server who was so courteous and attentive with such a warm personality. For example we ordered a bottle of beer; although we did not even wait too long for it to arrive, it seemed to have slipped her mind. Not only did she politely apologize but she put it on the house. It wasn’t a big deal but she sure went above and beyond!
The ambience is intimate. This would make great for groups of people who want to celebrate a special occasion or for a nice date out.
**FOOD**
The quality and cooking skills really really bring out extraordinary flavors in their dishes! I need to emphasize that you really taste the quality in their food. Only downside is that the portions are a bit small for what you’re paying and although all dishes are yummy, there are some that makes yearning for something more.
POACHED MORRO BAY OYSTER $ 13:
It’s cooked in lemon broth, smoked potatoes, and pickled cabbage. We had this as an appetizer. The stand out of this dish is oddly the potatoes. The way that it’s cooked through with the broth without being starchy was nice. There were 4 small pieces of oysters which explains why I can’t say the oysters are the stand-​out of its own dish. Being poached gave it less texture and didn’t marry very well with the sauce. ³⁄₅ star
NANCY’S BUTTERY BUTTERMILK BISCUIT $ 1.50 ea:
Oohh this was good biscuit alright! Semi-​doughy center, buttermilk flavor. What is there to complain about! It is above par. ⁴⁄₅ stars
WAGYU ULTRA PRIME BEEF SHORT RIB $ 36:
The way they cook this dish is really delectable. The charred asparagus had burnt marks but boy did it taste awesome for a vegetable. Smoked potato also didn’t disappoint. The wagyu beef on the other had, although cooked super perfectly, it didn’t have that *oomph* of what you’d expect when ordering wagyu. Maybe there wasn’t enough fat? (in ratio to the meat) 4.5÷5 star
STURGEON $ 25:
A lot of other Unilocalers like this dish. I on the other hand am on the fence a bit. If you’re looking for a light flavored dish then this could be an option. The preserved white bean salad mixed with sturgeon was pretty good. I don’t hate it but also am not in love with it. But I do gotta say the balance and cooking skill used to make this dish was great. ³⁄₅ star
BREAD PUDDING $ 8:
I need to put it out that I do NOT usually like bread pudding… but omfg this dessert totally knocked my socks off. The savory sweetness was just divine. It completed the end of the meal wonderfully. Yum yum yum! ⁵⁄₅ stars.
Overall this restaurant is definitely a 4.5 star (rated up to 5). If the portions were a little bigger then I would probably have nothing else to complain about. Even after eating ALL that food I was still yearning for more. Ohh the gluttony. Will totally be back again one day!

Beautiful service, even though we had to wait a bit, our hostess was gracious & helpful. When seated our server Chad was knowledgeable and definitely created a lovely experience for us. I shared many dishes and the Wagyu Short Rib was a standout! The grilled shrimp on pork pozole was also amazing. They ran out of the peach cobbler so we had to settle for the maple banana bread pudding and the lemon panna cotta… my mind was blown.

This place is perfect for a nice meal. Quiet and delightful ambiance. I ordered many appetizers for my meals… Just couldn’t pick one. All beautiful dishes and delicious. Our waiter was very knowledgable.

Went here last around July 2015. Food was delicious and service was awesome. I recommended going here if you want a date night with your significant other.
We ordered the «Fried oysters/​kimchee salad/​ham & mint» as our starter/​appetizer, which was fried to perfection that we wanted another one but waNted to save room for our entrée. Our two entrees were the «Rockfish/​jicama-​citrus salad /​miso-​carrot vinaigrette/​rice crisps/​cashew dust» and «Duck confit/​honey reduction/​smoked chile-​potato cake/​charred broccolini». We both loved it and the presentation was pretty!
The only minor issue that I had here, which is NOT the fault of the restaurant, is my boyfriend and I noticed there was a lot of stares and quick glances from other customers especially this one much older couple right next to us kept looking at our direction a lot from what I’ve noticed from the corner of my eye so the ambience didn’t feel all that comfortable for us first-​timers. Either because we were the only two minority or we look too young to be even dining here (we look like a couple of high schoolers but we’re actually much older than that so we stood out in our table in the corner) but I WOULD come here again.

This is one of our family favorite restaurants. It’s hard to find a good chef who knows how to cook fish right, but you will find him here.
I never regret to drive an hour just to try different dishes again. It’s worth the experience!

First off, this place is a gem. Corner place what looks like and old house before.
Everything we had here was delicious. Older couple next to us was having lamb. Came to Monterey with the intent to eat seafood only. After watching the older lady eat the lamb and hearing her telling her husband how good it was, made me want to get it. She cleaned her plate.
So, we ordered ceviche and scallops for appetizers. The blend of flavors was perfect. For entrees we had Sturgeon and Scallops and OMG what a disco In our mouths.
This married couple definitely know what they are doing. Compliments to the chef for the perfect marriage of fruits, nuts and other seasonings. Innovative and yummy.
Be right back…
#SOLitFood

I love love love checking a restaurant off my ‘Someday!’ list that ends up being as wonderful as I hoped and dreamed! I’d heard nothing but glowing reviews about Passionfish from Unilocalers and normies alike, so I couldn’t wait to finally give it a shot. I was able to score a reservation for 6:15 on a Sunday night an hour ahead of time (thank you OpenTable!), which maybe wasn’t needed at 6:15 but it sure was needed by 7. I like a late dinner crowd, good to know even on a Sunday night cozy, Pacific Grove likes to keep it metro chic. I approve.
My friend and I were both very excited to try this cozy and quaint restaurant with the focus on seafood, and though the outside isn’t overly eyecatching, the inside is demure in its elegance. It’s a perfect blend of neighborhood lowkey with the refinement the food of this quality holds up against. Lots of light pours in from large windows all around, and the bright white walls and natural wood tabletops let you focus completely on the gorgeous colors of the food you’re about to scarf. Trust me, you’ll be scarfing — don’t even try to keep it sophisticated, it’s way too tasty to be ladylike.
We both started with rose — I went with their featured sparkling rose and she went with their single by-​the-​glass rose option — hello girls night! We shared their incredible baked gorgonzola starter, which when first set before us was odd because I was expecting something that would visually more resemble brie en croute, but it really was a salad with a luscious chunk of gorgonzola wrapped in puff pastry to top it off. Though cheese is the star, this salad’s supporting cast is award-​worthy: super fresh greens tossed in a curry-​esque dressing, mixed with chutney, candied nuts and beautiful radishes. Who knew gorgonzola would pair so gorgonzolusciously with Indian inspired flavors? I was expecting wine country flair, and instead got exotic umami. Do not skip this one!
For dinner I got the special artic char, pan-​seared with the skin on and cooked to juicy perfection, alongside… you guys, I honestly don’t know what the side was, but it was like a cheesy fruity risotto-​y polenta type thing? I dropped the ball on that one, but it was delicious and so rich and heavenly, and it all sat atop a sexy buttery lemony sauce. It was such a perfect and well-​portioned dinner on a warm sunny evening. I also stole bites of my friend’s ricotta gnocchi and ceviche tostaditas — those gnocchi were cheesy pillows of love, though maybe just a smidge gluey in the aftertaste. Those tostaditas though! Spicy, light and fresh, just heavenly bites of Mexican delight! I would order those again in a heartbeat, and I wouldn’t want to share them!
Save room for dessert, y’all! We ended our meal with the strawberries, topped with a scoop of strawberry & kefir lime ice cream. We both thought when it was set in front of us that it visually was lacking something (despite being gorgeously pink and fresh) — like where’s the mint leaf, where’s the little squiff of whipped cream on top? Pfffft color us brainwashed — with one bite, this dessert proved us wrong. So fresh and fruity, every bite was just that refreshing summer flavor of perfectly sun-​ripened strawberries. It may seem like a simple dessert but if you want to end your meal with something sweet that isn’t heavy like we did, this dessert is a knockout. I know it won’t be around all year, so make sure to pounce on this one when the mercury is high!
Our server Manuel took great care of us throughout our whole meal, and though of course this area is loaded with so many glamorous restaurants, Passionfish is clearly now at the top of that list. This is how food should be — simple, refined, overwhelmingly fresh and layered with flavor, sustainable, seasonal, and elegant without being offputting.
MAKE YOUR RESERVATION RIGHT NOW!

Though we’ve been here several times since my last review I haven’t written an update until tonight. We came a little early for our 7:15 reservation and were seated immediately and given menus. On the daily special menu were Nancy’s Biscuits, $ 3 for 3 biscuits. We ordered them and a beet salad to split. Our server, Ellissa, was extremely knowledgeable about the menu, both food and wine. She was very helpful answering our questions. Alan decided on the halibut special and I decided on a breast of lamb dish after considering the duck confit and the wagyu beef shortribs. I ordered a glass of a Mendocino red blend and Alan ordered a dark beer.
The salad arrived split. It was a mélange of spicy greens which tasted like arugula, red and gold beets, goat cheese, almonds and apple slices in a tasty, well balanced vinaigrette. We agreed it was one of the best beet salads we’d ever had. The biscuits were served on a plate w/​soft butter on the side in a ramekin. They were warm and flaky, unquestionably the best I’ve had. I wanted another order, but refrained. The mains arrived and were delicious. Alan’s halibut was nicely plated w/​green beans and asparagus. The taste I had of it was moist and flavorful. My lamb was succulent and tender, served over eggplant and garbanzos and chopped peppers, w/​what looked like a bit of yogurt. It was very tasty and I was glad I ordered it. The desserts looked tempting but we were too full to consider ordering any of them. No question that we will return.

Great food, prepared perfectly, full of flavor all in a semi-​casual friendly atmosphere. I had the beet salad followed by the 12 hour lamb and the lemon ricotta desert.
The other person in my party started with the warm Brussel sprout salad followed by the shrimp laid on top of pozole and the bread pudding to finish. It was all delicious and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Definitely will try to come back in future.

I thought I had booked Fishwife (where we have been before and is always very friendly and easy with kids) and realized later that I had made reservations for Passionfish for my family on Valentine’s Day. I was a little worried that bringing our kids wouldn’t be welcomed at Passionfish, but bit the bullet since it’s hard enough trying to get a table on Valentine’s Day.
Anyway, it turned out really well. Staff were so kind and helpful. The food was great — kids enjoyed the kids’ portion of fish (yes, they do have a menu and it included cod, which they both liked). I had the sea scallop appetizer (delish!) and the cod, which had an Asian treatment. Really fresh and light. My husband had the sea scallop main course and thought it was just okay. We shared the pear bread pudding (really nice wintery dessert we all liked) and kids had the trio of sorbets. Wine was also very good. We will definitely be back.

The restaurant lived up to the reputation for the best seafood on the peninsula. I had the tuna which was pepper crusted and seared rare… amazing. Wasn’t too crazy about the greens which came a bit cold and slimy over the warm potatoes, but the fish made up for the difference. We enjoyed a very affordable white wine that was memorable only by price ($ 16 for a half bottle) as it was recommended as the pairing with our food.
The staff was very friendly and accommodating as we had our baby in tow. We were able to park his stroller at the table after they removed a chair. Service was very prompt and professional. The dinner went well and we went in for dessert. The mud pie is highly recommended.
The tab came out to just over $ 100, so due the expense it’s a highly recommended once and while thing. We had a wonderful time and are happy we chose this restaurant for Valentine’s Day.

Meh. Passionfish is rated as one of the top seafood restaurants bla bla but I’m really not sure what the hype is? Service is great, the atmosphere is nice, but I came here on a Saturday night with the SO and we found the food to be fairly meh relative to the restaurants that we’ve been to. That being said, we’re pretty pretentious about our food, so maybe this place is objectively good on average, but we thought it could be a little better.
We got the tostaditas, buttermilk biscuits, and fried oysters as entrees, and then the seared ahi tuna and rainbow trout. I think my primarily quip with this place as a fine dining place is that the presentation is a bit lacking given what it’s aiming for. Presentation could be a little better for the dishes. In terms of taste, everything was okay, but nothing was particularly memorable. The sear on the ahi tuna was a little cooked for my liking. It relied heavily on the sauce to give it flavor, which is fine, but again, not memorable. The rainbow trout was fairly decent, they actually de-​bone the entire fish which was great, but there was nothing particularly exceptional about the flavoring. The fried oysters were quite good, but the kimchee salad was too much fusion to taste good, the tostaditas were quite good, but the ceviche was a little too mashed up for my liking.
That being said, the place is cheap. We’re fairly used to dining in SF prices and were expecting the bill to be pretty high… but even after tip and tax, the total was only around $ 85 which is a pretty good bargain. Portions don’t see large because there were only three tostaditas and three oysters, but they were pretty large portions and I felt really full after eating that and the seared ahi tuna.
All in all, we were very impressed with how fast everything was — the food came out in less than 15 minutes per interval despite an extremely packed restaurant, so that was definitely quite impressive.
tldr; decent seafood restaurant. maybe it’s amazing in the monterey area, but if you compare it to SF standards, it pales in comparison. food is decent, but nothing particularly memorable or spectacular

Passion fish came highly recommended by a few foodie friends of mine. I had a decent meal there but left feeling underwhelmed.
Farm to table concept is no stranger to Californians. The fish here is as fresh as expected from a coastal town. Cooking style is modern but conservative. Plating is mediocre. The side vegetable could really use some creativity. Food was enjoyable but nothing too memorable.

I came here twice to passionfish — the first time was phenomenal and wanted to go back. And the second time falls into the solid not exceptional category.
However, the wine by the glass list and the half bottle list are both fantastic — glad that this part didn’t change. We had the Gruner veitliner and Sauvignon blanc (by the glass) to start. Both are great. And Mary Edward Pinot noir from Russian River 2012 (half bottle) was fantastic.
Out of the dishes we tried,
Duck confit was the best one, tender, not dry, good balsamic reduction to accompany the duck confit
Fried oyster with kimchi, mint and ham: the kimchi tasted like sauerkraut and the amount of kimchi is just too big comparing to the 3 oysters.
Smoked trout ceviche tostadias — again the spicy salsa brava was too overwhelming for the trout, kind of reminded me the flavor in the kimchi for fried oysters.
I think that I had the sturgeon entrée and the scallop appetizer the first time I was here — maybe better choices.

Excellent salads. There are not many places where I start my review to rave about the salads but the goat cheese salad and the baked Gorgonzola salad were both superb. The different flavors from not only the cheeses but the nuts, the fruit, and the chutney made for a real taste treat. An excellent start to the meal.
I liked this restaurant’s ambience — it was very laid back with some great black & white photos of fish. Our waitress was friendly and professional.
The trout entrée was excellent — moist and flavorful. And despite served whole there were no bones to contend with, which was nice. The rockfish was a bit bland but the side salad with it was great.
Overall we would return if we were back in this area.

Excellent rapport qualité prix ! Je le recommande à tous les amateurs de poissons et fruit de mer ! Cuisson parfaite ! Il manquait juste d une pincée de fleur de sel sur mon plat mais rien de catastrophique

We made a reservation for 5:15, so there was no crowd.
The scallop and risotto cake appetizer was not worth it. Although the scallop was very good, you only get one, which sits on top of a circular risotto cake. I wish they gave you more scallop.
the goat cheese salad my dining partner ordered was very good. The goat cheese was served as a dollop on top of the salad, so if you find goat cheese disgusting (like I do), you can easily avoid any taste of it and eat around it. The fruit and bacon in there gave it a great taste.
For entrees, I had the halibut (a special that night) and my dining partner had the tuna. I thought my halibut was very tasty! Big portion, cooked to perfection, flaky on top, tender in the middle, and the sauce went very well with it.
My partner’s tuna wasn’t that great. It was cooked like seared tuna — raw-​ish in the middle, cooked on the edges. One part of the end piece was a bit overcooked (just a tad), and while the dish had an interesting taste to me, my partner didn’t like it much and said he wouldn’t go back (it was his first time at Passionfish).
The service was good. Friendly and attentive.

Every once in a while I’ll find a restaurant where I do not mind being on my best behavior. Ok, it doesn’t happen often but then the other night I dined at Passion Fish. Passion Fish is an upscale restaurant with a fresh feel to it. Even though the place was hopping and almost all the tables were filled, the ambiance was serene and not claustrophobic. Our server was friendly, personable and absolutely knew the menu as well as the wine list — always quite refreshing!
Passion Fish’s innovative menu offered some very creative dining choices. However, we decided to start with 2 appetizer selections that edged closer to traditional rather than Nuevo — Crab Avocado Salad and Spicy Mussel Stew. Both were just adorable. The creamy avocados and fresh crab just went so well with the greens; this salad sets the bar extremely high for the remainder of the meal. The Spicy Mussel Stew tantalized the palate with its combination of fresh mussels and a scrumptious vat of spicy broth. I was pleasantly surprise by the spiciness of the dish. I couldn’t decide which I enjoyed more.
The Venison Meatballs entrée was an interesting mixture of various delicate spices requiring a patient palate to enjoy. Take your time if you have this dish and be sure to ask for a wine that pairs well with this. Their Whole Grain ‘Tabouli’ is listed with quotation marks around the word Tabouli. I found out this was for a reason. It is not Tabouli in the traditional sense. In fact, if I were to taste this in a blind test, I would swear it was not. However, this extremely creative pairing of whole grains with delicate and strong spices in combination with almonds and carrots works. I think this would make a great choice for a light and heathy eater, for me it was like a snack.
Overall, this is one of the most complete dining experiences that I have enjoyed in a long time. The setting was fresh and stylish. The wine selection is out of this world and priced at just slightly over retail price. If you bring your own wine the corkage fee is $ 25. I loved the service. The food was creative, well presented, and delish.
Next time? I saw Sturgeon on the menu.

Good eats. Great wine and great wine prices. Food was good, nothing special. But we did like the fact that they are very conscious of where their fish come from and won’t use many local fisheries due to their fishing techniques. =)

Excellent seafood.
Excellent service.
Excellent gewürztraminer.
Excellent crème brulée.