Carmel Highlands Hotel
Today was the start of our 1-year wedding anniversary weekend getaway. Jeff and I booked an ocean-view hotel room at Carmel Highlands which is right next to the pacific coastline (hwy 1) in Carmel. Chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of sparking wine were waiting for us when we checked in to our room. I gave Jeff my present (a custom made puzzle) and handmade card which he loved.
The view from the balcony, and the inside of our hotel room.
We went out to dinner at the hotel’s 4-star restaurant, Pacific Edge, which is a supposed to have fantastic views and excellent food (i.e. very expensive)! I like seeing how creative the menu items are at places like these, and took note of the fact that they had used “Garlic Granola” as a crunchy topping to a salad. It tasted pretty good, but i think i’d still prefer won ton strips or croutons. We also ordered some goat cheese croquettes which were warm, creamy, and crispy goodness.
I had butternut squash ravioli with granny smith apples, pecans and a buttery sauce. It was a little dry, but very delicious. I wished there were more apples though.
Jeff had a steak accompanied with an herbed aioli and sweet potato gratin. The steak was well seasoned and cooked, but the potatoes were not to our liking and the aioli was way to herby for his taste.
I finished off the meal with a trio of sorbets, Mango and Raspberry (I asked for double mango in lieu of banana). Jeff preferred to skip dessert and get a coffee.
The service at the resturant was pretty terrible, but the food itself was up to par i would say. The views are wonderful, though because of the service (or lack thereof) and priceyness I don’t think we’d ever go back. It was a memorable dinner for our first anniversary.
After dinner we walked back to our room and Jeff started up a fire in the wood burning fire place. It was a nice treat since we don’t have a fireplace at our house.
