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When you travel to any destination, near or far, you never know what to expect. Something I find is that very often the places tourists go most often have either the worst or the most expensive food or worse, both. As a foodie, I am often disappointed. When people are traveling they want to have the best time possible. We don’t often get to escape the hard work and stress of our lives. The last thing we need is to be disappointed in a meal or feel like we have to skip something that sounds good because the prices are just ridiculous. We recently took what started as a scouting trip for the site and ended as just a great trip to Mendocino and the surrounding areas. Here are some of the places we stumbled into that we would be happy to recommend.
First, pictured above, the village of Mendocino is a lovely place to spend a day. You can wonder up and down the lanes of little shops and eateries. There is a big variety of things to see, do, explore and taste. The best part is its proximity to the ocean. Walking down the main front you have a wide-open view of the bluffs and the ocean crashing over the rocks. You can continue past the village and walk out onto the headlands. It truly is a beautiful place. Anyone not familiar with the coast of Northern California will be in love. It is a whole different coast line than the south. But, back to the shopping!
As you would expect, there are lots of touristy stores selling shirts and things, but there are also some artisan shops and a lot of art galleries. You can wine taste and then wander through bookstores and jewelry shops. But first, you have to start your day off right. There are several bakeries in the village. We went to the Mendocino bakery and had a pastry and coffee. It was a great way to start the day. http://www.themendocinobakery.com/index.html
As we wandered around town we stopped and looked at menu’s. We were somewhat surprised to see restaurants offereing predominately beef dishes. If I can hear the ocean I kind of expect to see a good selection of seafood dishes. And I’m afraid I was not so surprised to see some clearly overpriced places as well. Ultimately we settled on a place called, The Moosse Cafe. 
We chose it because the menu was frankly lovely. The dishes were very California Bistro style and on that chilly day, things like roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, vegetable terrine sounded really good. We were lucky to get a seat near the window so we could drink our hot tea and warm up while enjoying a view of the ocean. I ordered a roasted chicken sandwich on foccacia with melted brie and fig Jam. It came with a celery root salad. It was very good. The chicken was perfectly roasted, tender and moist. The cheese was melted and soaked into the bread, which was perfectly toasted. The fig Jam added a nice touch of sweetness to balance with the arugula. The celery root salad had capers and a tart briney dressing. I have never had raw celery root. I’m not sure if it wasn’t perhaps blanched a bit, but left crisp. It was very good. We discussed trying something like it at home. Mark had a vegetable terrine, which was really nice. The veggies and mushrooms were layered with a tomato sauce and ricotta cheese and baked. It was great on a chilly coastal day. Overall, I would definitely recommend Moose’s and would visit again. The food was very good, the menu was well done with some unique and intriguing selections and the prices were reasonable. Late lunch with an ocean view was less than $30. I can live with that. http://www.theblueheron.com/panorama.shtml
We chose it because the menu was frankly lovely. The dishes were very California Bistro style and on that chilly day, things like roasted chicken, macaroni and cheese, vegetable terrine sounded really good. We were lucky to get a seat near the window so we could drink our hot tea and warm up while enjoying a view of the ocean. I ordered a roasted chicken sandwich on foccacia with melted brie and fig Jam. It came with a celery root salad. It was very good. The chicken was perfectly roasted, tender and moist. The cheese was melted and soaked into the bread, which was perfectly toasted. The fig Jam added a nice touch of sweetness to balance with the arugula. The celery root salad had capers and a tart briney dressing. I have never had raw celery root. I’m not sure if it wasn’t perhaps blanched a bit, but left crisp. It was very good. We discussed trying something like it at home. Mark had a vegetable terrine, which was really nice. The veggies and mushrooms were layered with a tomato sauce and ricotta cheese and baked. It was great on a chilly coastal day. Overall, I would definitely recommend Moose’s and would visit again. The food was very good, the menu was well done with some unique and intriguing selections and the prices were reasonable. Late lunch with an ocean view was less than $30. I can live with that. http://www.theblueheron.com/panorama.shtmlWe skipped dessert at The Moosse Café because I had seen a chocolate store, a candy shop, an ice cream shop etc. I wanted to spread myself out a bit, do a little sharing.
On trips to Mendocino from years past I remembered an ice cream shop that was on the main street facing the ocean. They were always packed and had the very best Black Forest ice cream EVER!! I must say I was disappointed when I didn’t see it there. They must have moved or gone out of business. But, since Frankie’s Ice Cream had come so highly recommended, I figured we should go find it. 
It’s a really cool place. All organic and making every attempt to be green, they do ice cream, pizza’s and salads, burritos, and wraps. They also, according to their website, spent some time in Isreal informally studying Falafel. OH, how I love Falafel. BUT, after The Moosse, I was far too full for Falafel. Promising myself I would come back and try it another time, I checked out the ice cream. WHAT, is that BLACK FOREST I see?? I must say, it’s exactly as I remember it. Chocolate ice cream with big chunks of cherries and chunks of dark chocolate. SO GOOD! Frankie’s buys the ice cream from a place called Cowlicks ice cream. I’m not sure if they are the same people or if that’s the same ice cream I remember, I am just happy it exists. It was so good. Mark, always more adventurous than I, had ginger ice cream. I’m just marginally ok with ginger, but it was actually pretty good. Not too strong or too sweet. He liked it very much. Good stuff. Next time, I’m saving room for the Falafel. http://frankiesmendocino.com/
It’s a really cool place. All organic and making every attempt to be green, they do ice cream, pizza’s and salads, burritos, and wraps. They also, according to their website, spent some time in Isreal informally studying Falafel. OH, how I love Falafel. BUT, after The Moosse, I was far too full for Falafel. Promising myself I would come back and try it another time, I checked out the ice cream. WHAT, is that BLACK FOREST I see?? I must say, it’s exactly as I remember it. Chocolate ice cream with big chunks of cherries and chunks of dark chocolate. SO GOOD! Frankie’s buys the ice cream from a place called Cowlicks ice cream. I’m not sure if they are the same people or if that’s the same ice cream I remember, I am just happy it exists. It was so good. Mark, always more adventurous than I, had ginger ice cream. I’m just marginally ok with ginger, but it was actually pretty good. Not too strong or too sweet. He liked it very much. Good stuff. Next time, I’m saving room for the Falafel. http://frankiesmendocino.com/Though not in the village of Mendocino, North Coast Brewing Company is a short drive to Ft. Bragg. There are some additional shops there to drag your beloved through. A favorite of ours was this quaint little sock shop. Yes, I said sock. It was fun to see all the styles and laugh at the funny designs. I am a tactile person so I got to touch a lot of stuff, which always makes me happy. It is a fun place to visit. http://www.longsock.com/ After choosing my fuzzy orange socks and Marks angler fish and robot socks…we headed over to the brewery.
North Coast Brewing Company was one of the original artisan brewers, having started back in 1988. Remember when all the micro-breweries were popping up, they joined the party and never looked back? Since then they have earned a very solid reputation and won many awards and accolades, namely the title ‘One of the Ten Best Breweries in the World’ by the Beverage Tasting Institute. Not bad!! They produce labels such as Scrimshaw, Blue Star, Red Seal Ale and Marks favorite, Old Rasputin. For all you Road Runner fans, they also revived the old Acme label. Each beer is very unique and I recommend you follow our lead here and do a tasting. They offer tastings in a variety of packages, 4 varieties, or 6 etc. We chose 12. This meant we got 10, 2 ounce services of 10 separate labels. They place each one on a mat over it’s label which has a short description of the type and flavors you can expect. 
It gives you a chance to try them all and see what you do and don’t like. My favorite was the Red Seal Ale. But I was amazed at the intense flavors of the Russion Imperial Stout, Old Rasputin. It’s creamy mouth feel and alternately, chocolaty, espresso, spicy flavors were very complex. You can’t go to a brewery and not have onion rings and after the beer tasting we were ready for some pub grub. I was happy to see they had stuck to traditional pub type fare. Offering things such as fish and chips, steak, BBQ pork etc., we settled on Calamari, Onion Rings and Shrimp and Garlic Chips. Romantic, I know, but we both partaked so it was all good. The garlic fries were really YUM. Fresh garlic lightly sautéed in butter poured over waffle fries…good call! We enjoyed the food, the beer and the atmosphere. http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/home.htm
It gives you a chance to try them all and see what you do and don’t like. My favorite was the Red Seal Ale. But I was amazed at the intense flavors of the Russion Imperial Stout, Old Rasputin. It’s creamy mouth feel and alternately, chocolaty, espresso, spicy flavors were very complex. You can’t go to a brewery and not have onion rings and after the beer tasting we were ready for some pub grub. I was happy to see they had stuck to traditional pub type fare. Offering things such as fish and chips, steak, BBQ pork etc., we settled on Calamari, Onion Rings and Shrimp and Garlic Chips. Romantic, I know, but we both partaked so it was all good. The garlic fries were really YUM. Fresh garlic lightly sautéed in butter poured over waffle fries…good call! We enjoyed the food, the beer and the atmosphere. http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/home.htmThe great thing about the Mendocino area is that there is something to do for everyone. Whether it’s jumping rocks to see the sealife at low tide, hiking, kayaking, shopping, eating, you will certainly enjoy yourself. We are already planning a trip back to check out a beautiful B&B, Maccallum House, and see what else we can find to share with you.
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