In Seafood Paradise

I love seafood, so what better place to be than on a bay? The problem is, how do I know which seafood restaurants are good and which ones overcook it so much that you can't even taste it? My solution, which is probably not the best one, was to go to a pretty expensive restaurant and hope for the best...

Last weekend I went to Sausalito, a small town on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. When it came time for lunch, I had plenty of options. Of course, most of them were Italian restaurants that served seafood items in creamy pasta dishes. However, I did find a place called Horizons that seemed different. First, the interior of the restaurant, which featured wood-paneled columns and arches, was very pretty and elegant. In addition, the restaurant was right on the bay, so it had glass walls on three sides for great views of the ocean. The tables were set on several different levels, so pretty much each table had a good view.

Apart from the atmosphere, the food menu also looked encouraging. Pretty much all of the dishes it offered contained some sort of seafood, so I was actually having a hard time deciding what I wanted to get. I followed the waiter's suggestion and ordered the Horizons Bouillabaisse. Knowing that this meal would be a treat, I also got the Cucumber Mellonball cocktail. The meal started with complementary French bread and butter, but there was nothing special about the bread. It wasn't even warm, which was a big disappointment for me :( The cocktail wasn't that great either. It was nice and strong, but it tasted a little like grapefruit, one of the few fruits I don't like at all. Well, I drank it anyway.

Thankfully, the bouillabaisse was amazing. It contained giant scallops, mussels, clams, tuna, salmon and humongous shrimp. Basically, all the types of seafood I love in one dish :D. They were all cooked well, and they were tender without being chewy. The broth was also very tasty. It reminded me a little of pho, but with tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Another good feature of the dish was the half lemon on the side that came with a little net to catch the seeds. How cute is that! Finally, the dish came with garlic herb toasted bread. Too bad I had filled up on the plain bread earlier because the garlic bread was incredible. I couldn't finish the bread, but I ate every last drop of the broth and the seafood! I knew that good seafood must exist in the San Francisco area, and I'm so glad that I found it :) Well, I ended up spending almost $40 on lunch, but it was totally worth it.