One of the pleasant, positive externalities about making visits to properties in my work portfolio is their proximity to places to find tasty eats.
My day trip to Monterey and Santa Cruz meant that a lunch stop in Moss Landing would be totally doable. Since Moss Landing is smack between the two and a minute off the highway, I was happy to follow Cindy's recommendation to grab lunch here.
I didn't do much research except the customer ratings linked to Phil's Fish Market on the Google Map search. Had I done my homework I probably would have chosen Phil's Throwdown-worthy Cioppino. Instead, I just went with my gut - I had the steamed mussels & garlic bread. I even had my choice of green or black mussels. For fun, I went with the green.
On portion size I was not disappointed. My appetizer-sized bowl would have been totally adequate to share, but I plowed through two-thirds of it on my own. The mussels were some of the freshest, plumpest I've had, but they weren't the cleanest. I had to de-beard most of them on my own, and I got a bit of grit in the beginning that made me more cautious than I had hoped. I totally loved the clean, just-right flavors of the broth... the fresh chopped garlic, tomatoes, and green onions had me till the very end. Had I carried clean, empty Ziploc Twist 'n Loc containers in my purse, I would've taken my leftover broth for the car ride home.
My co-worker who accompanied me was determined to choose something from the artichoke section of the menu. Yes. We were in artichoke country. She had the stuffed artichoke with bay shrimp, lettuce and cilantro dressing. She was pretty thrilled with her choice and liked the heady cilantro flavor.
I was pretty impressed with how busy the place was even at 2:00 PM. I would like to go back on a lazy day and take my next bite there at the wine bar or walk out back to see their view of the ocean.
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