Robin's Restaurant — Restaurant in Cambria

ROBIN'S RESTAURANT provides exquisite service, a delicious, eclectic menu, served in an inviting, restored adobe, California bungalow. *

The partially covered, English style garden, is a beautiful green space, colorfully punctuated with flowering plants.

Inside, our favorite table is "number four," in front of the welcoming fireplace. Outside, anyplace in the garden.

Live music enhances the romantic garden. (Check Robin's website for the schedule.) On cool nights, heaters keep you toasty. A covered patio is located at the rear of the garden.

Since serving its first meal in 1985, this quality eatery is described by locals as, "One of Cambria's best." Shanny Covey, Robin's owner, offers an international menu for most everyone, and that includes vegans and the gluten-free. Robins moved to its present location in 1990. This is a middle range restaurant, dinner meals are priced $20 to $40.

The staff is friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. A glass or cup never stays empty for long. Robin's Chef, Shaun Behrens, will do everything possible to meet your dietary requirements. The menu is refreshed a few times a year.

The extensive wine and beer selections contain many locally produced beverages.

The menu usually emulates the flavors of Mexico, Thailand, and/or India. Their entrees includes: beef, lamb, fish, and fowl. Tell the waiter the way you like your meal cooked. And, yes, you can still get a good, honest, American steak. According to our friends and my wife the flavors are wonderful.

Chris, our waiter, is charming and knowledgeable.

Anthony kept our glasses full, covered when Chris was serving other tables, and asked permission before clearing the table.

Jasper, Robbins' barista, created a deliciously dry cappuccino and a wonderfully flavorful, double espresso. He delivered both to our table.

Fine service and a delicious eclectic menu make Robin's a great eatery.

From the viewpoint of this vegan --

Appetizers: I usually order the crispy Vietnamese spring rolls with kimchi, and a spicy chili sauce. The spring rolls are mild, but covered with kimchi, and dipped into the chili sauce - you'll feel the burn. Then again, the amazingly crispy, shaved brussel sprouts, stir-fried with walnuts and raisins, then topped with radishes and vinegarette dressing is an excellent alternative. For vegans, the chef leaves off the cheese. There is usually a vegan soup on the menu.

The vegan entrees include: Cauliflower Tempura, Enchilada plate, and Robin's Chow. All are skillfully presented, delicious, and for vegan dishes, quite filling. The vegan meals tend to be on the spicy side, but can usually be prepared as mild as you like.

Desserts: There's an excellent house-baked carrot cake. The ample serving can be split. But, don't miss the vegan sundae, with house-made "ice cream" and a chocolate sauce that is not to be believed. ²

STUFF: RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST. A children's menu is available. Park in the free lot, on the east (right) side of the building, just across the street. The eatery is mostly wheelchair accessible. Robin's garden is dog friendly.

My wife, myself, and our friends, will visit Robin's again, in September.

After 27 years, because of quality and consistency, Robin's is my favorite restaurant.

Frank and Mabel Wittenberg Souza built their home in 1935, at a cost of $2,625.81. Frank, worked on "Hearst Castle," as a concrete construction foreman. The couple lived here until 1965. (Source: Cambria Museum)

² In case you wondered, Evanston, Illinois, in 1890, creating the word "sundae" to bypass the "Blue Laws" that outlawed selling flavored soda water on Sundays. (Evanston...

Where do I start? We had just finished watching the sun set on Moonstone Beach. We parked and were looking up restaurants that would still be open. Robin's kept popping up but we settled on pizza. As we started the 2 or 3 block walk to Lombardis we passed Robin's. We had to take a look. It seemed cozy and the menu was quite interesting. So made an executive decision and we changed to Robin's. And I'm so glad we did. Here's how it happened: We asked the lady in the front if we could get a table for 4. She said of course. She came out of the restaurant and started guiding us through a little flower filled path in front of the restaurant toward the side. I said, they must be putting us out next to the restroom. The lady said not at all, that we would be pleased. When we rounded that corner to the side courtyard an amazing view held our eyes. It was like having walked into a groomed garden of Eden. Beautiful outdoor dining. There were blooming flowers everywhere. The beautiful blooms ringed the courtyard end even the giant gazebo with lots of heaters. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. There was a waitress assistant that immediately took our drink order. Our waitress came by and had an amazing personality. As we asked about the dishes she reviewed them with great detail. So we decided. We started with the salmon bisque, vietnamese spring rolls and a peach and burrata Brule. The spring rolls were good. Fried. Basically egg rolls. Nothing unusual yet. The salmon bisque was incredible. It wasn't bisque-like. Usually a bisque is creamy but not too much flavor. No meat or chunks. Not so here. It was packed full of chunks of salmon that were somehow still juicy. And the flavor was a giant punch. It was do delicious we all raved about it. The only thing missing would be to serve it with a small piece of bread to sop up the dregs in the bowl. The peach and burrata brule was very fresh. Very pretty. But...it was a great light appetizer. The problem Is following the salmon there wasn't enough flavor if you try this have it first so you don't drown out the flavor with something else. Now the main courses: We tried lamb curry dish. It was excellent. The meat was perfectly cooked. The lamb was delicious. We rated it a 10. Not something we do often. We also got a seafood stew that we couldn't pronounce. This was excellent. Another 10 there was so much seafood. It was cooked perfectly. We raved about this dish. The scallops will melt in your mouth. Again being brothy a piece of bread would have been nice. We got the sobiyaki butterfish (black cod) based on the description she gave of silk in our mouths. If you order this that's exactly what you'll experience. Because the bisque, lamb, and seafood stew were all 10s (unheard of) it was hard to rate this dish. It was better than those 10s. It was silk in my mouth. The only regret was sharing the dish like we did all of them. This is something magical in your mouth in a magical setting. The service was excellent and friendly and the setting was gorgeous. I can't say enough about this. In my top 3 dining experiences ever. Up with mastros steakhouse but a fraction...

TREAD. CAREFULLY. My experience dining here was truly bipolar. There were both moments of excellence and moments that made me wish I'd picked another restaurant.

I saw such great reviews for Robin's Restaurant that I booked a reservation a month in advance. Shortly before our visit, I got a text that read, "We have our live music in the garden on Monday evenings. Did you want to participate in that or be seated in the upper patio or inside?" I called the restaurant and asked about the live music. It sounded fun (and free) so I confirmed that we wanted to be in the garden. The day arrives and we go to be seated. We are put in the back corner of the garden. That was fine... at first. Turns out, they messed up and were short a table. So, they shoved another table next to ours, forcing us even further into the corner. One of our party was at the base of the busy stairs, another was almost in the laps of the elderly couple seated next to us, and I got to have my hair combed by a potted plant in the corner. Major bummer.

BE AWARE: THEY CHARGE YOU A COVER FOR SITTING IN THE GARDEN. PER PERSON. If the woman who had taken my reservation had mentioned that, I would have asked for another section. Thankfully, our server was very accommodating and agreed to take the charge out. Just be aware, if you go during Live Music, they will charge a cover of seven dollars per person if you sit in the garden section. Honestly, you can hear the music throughout the restaurant so unless you want to watch the band play, skip it.

The food was really good, although if you order the Flat Iron Steak get the chimchurri sauce on the side. The steak is so delicious but the sauce overpowers the flavor of the meat. It's gilding the peacock.

BE AWARE: THEY RECOMMEND GRATUITY ON THE TAXED AMOUNT. Etiquette says that tipping should be calculated on the pre-tax total. Obviously, you should be tipping according to the service you receive, but it really aggravated me that on top of trying to charge me for a shitty seat for a performance I didn't know I'd be charged for they are trying to siphon MORE money on an already expensive meal.

The restaurant has a cool history and nice vibe. The food and beverages were all good. Our main server was lovely, but the miscommunication and disregard for our comfort as diners just left a sour taste in my mouth.

If you do decide to go to Robin's, just be aware of what I've mentioned and make SURE you double-check your receipt. You never know what you might...