Another one of the reasons for us returning to Cambria was to dine at Madeline's once again. We first dined here back in 2020 and enjoyed it so much that we returned a year later. I big plus is that the wine shop by day, restaurant by night has several outdoor tables and allowed dogs. I made sure to request our favorite, known as "patio 1".
After shopping and lunch, we drove over to El Colibri, it was before the published check in time, but our dog friendly room was ready! Lucky us. So we managed a short nap. When JJ woke, while the Missus relaxed and read, I took him for a stroll along the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk which I've posted on before. The boardwalk is basically right out the hotel's doors!
JJ enjoyed the walk and made some new "friends" and the view is just a lovely as I remembered.
And I don't recall seeing deer around here before!
I think that it is a "seasonal" thing?
After returning and freshening up; we were ready to head out for dinner a bit early.
Also close to the hotel, right down the road is Shamel Park. We love walking along the beach and the sunsets here are lovely, though on this evening we had to get to dinner.
We headed on back up Windsor Road and crossed over Highway One onto main street. West Main was very sedate on this evening.
As we passed Mushrooms on Main, this friendly gal popped up!
We gave her a treat and the friendly owner invited JJ in for a "play date". Unfortunately, we had to get to dinner, so we took a rain check. We'll definitely return here on our next trip.
We arrived at Madeline's and were directed to our table. The Server was quite friendly to JJ. The Missus looked over the wine list and immediately ordered a Sauvignon Blanc.
We looked over the menu which is seasonal and ever changing. It did have several items that we'd enjoyed on our previous visits.
And there seemed to be so many mushroom based dishes....it was our lucky day! We placed our order and then bread service arrived.
Sadly, the bread, while nice and warm was not ready for prime time. It had been smushed down and the middle was still wet. It was probably pulled out before it was ready.
In keeping with our usual ordering at Madeline's we went with all appetizers and a salad. This way we get a nice variety of dishes that tend to be more interesting.
The only real "clunker" of the meal arrived with the first three dishes; the Bruschetta ($20).
With the sweet balsamic glaze, the sour tower of goat cheese, this was a bit too much for this dish. You really couldn't make out the eggplant which had been breaded and fried, but got soggy quite quickly.
The ship was quickly "righted" as the Baby Spinach Salad ($13) arrived.
As I mentioned before, we love the Bacon Vinaigrette here! It adds a wonderful smoky-savory component to a salad.
Another item we've always enjoyed have been the scallop dishes, and the Scallops Saint Jacques ($20) was no exception.
I had thought that the duxelles would be a bit too much for this dish; but as usual, the scallops were perfectly cooked, perfectly rare the way we like it. The lemon buerre blanc added a nice refreshing note to the dish.
We ordered two additional mushroom appetizers, both of which were quite hearty.
The Duck and Wild Mushroom ($20) featured two of our favorite ingredients. But man, combined with the cream sauce it edged on being a bit too much!
And the Tartine Forestiere ($20), featuring both local and smoked mushrooms was a study in umami.
Even the goat cheese and balsamic glaze could not temper the wonderful flavors of the mushrooms!
I finished as always with a Tawny Port.
Overall, this was yet another wonderful meal at Madeline's. And since we can always bring JJ....and get "Patio 1", I'm sure we'll return again, Hopefully soon.
Madeline's Restaurant & Wine Tasting Room
788 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428
The next morning, the Missus decided to sleep in, so I took JJ for a walk to Cambria Coffee which I've posted on a couple of times before and had a cold brew and just relaxed.
Cambria Coffee Roasting Company
761 Main St.
Cambria, CA 93428
And soon enough we headed back home.
This short road trip was a test to see how JJ would handle things. He always seemed to enjoy riding in the car. And he did enjoy Morro Bay and our stops in Ojai and Cayucos. He did well in Cambria and on the drive home. So, you could say he passed with flying colors. And since we can't really travel Internationally....we want to wait until JJ is a bit older before leaving him with his Aunty, this meant more road trips were in store!
Thanks for stopping by!
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