Terra Mar Kitchen — Restaurant in Fort Bragg

The wife and I have been coming here for years and have had many exceptional meals and experiences here (back when it was part of the Albion Inn).. Unfortunately, it appears those days are likely behind us.

We arrived at the Inn on Sunday, only to find that many of the amenities we had once enjoyed here are gone (no newspaper in the morning, no welcoming half bottle of Chardonnay, no coupon good for a glass of bubbly at the restaurant bar). Turns out the facility is now under new ownership since last April (we were not advised of this until we got to the Inn - we had made our reservation the previous January). That tipped us off that perhaps we were going to be in for a rude surprise at the restaurant.

When we arrived at 5:30 for our Monday reservation, the restaurant was virtually empty (there were two other couples). So we were able to get a good table up by the windows. Service was a bit slow, but still friendly we thought. We got a starter of mushroom toast and two entrees. The food was OK, but no better than that. When the entree prices are in the $40 plus range, I expect something a bit better than that. Portions were not generous (my $42 rockfish plate came with a small piece of fish and a few fricassee greens), and it felt like they were rationing out the bread (each table got exactly 4 pieces of bread and the plate was quickly whisked away once the bread was gone - there was no offer to bring more).

This place used to have a great wine list with many interesting and reasonably priced selections. Not any more. It's now small with high prices (we ended up bringing our own wine, something that would have been unimaginable in the past). When I asked the front desk about the wine list, they indicated they were aware it was pretty lacking at present, but wanted to push through the old remaining wines from the old list before restocking. In fact there were several white wines on the list I would have hesitated to drink given how old the vintage was.

The new owners have been running things since April so you would expect them to have overcome any initial growing pains at this point. So unfortunately, it's unlikely we'll ever eat here again. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of other good restaurants in the area, so we'll go there from now on I guess. By the way, the restaurant has a parking lot and there's no longer any musical entertainment at night.

Edit from 8/25. It's been roughly 18 months since I posted my review. A current look at the restaurant website makes no mention of wine or a wine list. Probably tells you all you need to know about the current wine...

Great Scotch list and cosy, welcoming dining room but food was unmemorable and with a couple dishes, simply not good.

We very much enjoyed the whisky flight at the bar - they have an excellent and decently priced Scotch selection. The wine list is also extensive with local options, but wish they offered more than one wine per varietal by the glass (e.g. the Pinot, great opportunity to highlight Anderson's Valley wineries, but only wine offered by the glass was Monterey County).

We shared the mixed green salad and ceviche to start. The green salad was fine, but mostly lacking flavor - not much more than some spinach and crunch. The ceviche was not good at all.. 80s style concoction of canned tomato sauce in a martini glass with limp, slightly fishy shrimp hanging off the side (I'm sure you can visualize) and a sad smattering of tortilla chips shoved on top, already getting soggy before we saved them from their uninspiring fate.

Our mains were a little better - my partner enjoyed her chicken marsala, well cooked and onion crunchies provided a nice textural contrast. The polenta cake it upon resided was a little gloopy. I had the sole, which was fine if one note texturally - tadtyy, but soft, sole on top of soft mashed potatoes. Accompanying asparagus provide some crunch, but I would have loved for a more seasonal veg than asparagus in late October.

We ordered homemade ice cream for dessert and it was a real let down - icy and pretty flavorless. It was my partner's birthday and I had noted on both the reservation and during the meal (15 mins before dessert!) that I would have appreciated if they recognize it with a candle or something. Sadly didn't happen, but our server did come out with a nice mousse and candle after learning of the oversight.

In summary, visit for the whisky and view but eat elsewhere - Ledford and Trillium are both excellent...

For Valentine’s Day, I made a reservation at Terra Mar Kitchen for myself and my husband. We had driven out to the coast to spend the long holiday weekend together. Terra Mar Kitchen was located at a hotel different than the one we were staying at so we had to drive over.

I will say, parking is extremely limited and we ended up having to park off the shoulder of Highway One. It was a little nerve-racking, but turned out to be just fine.

As for the restaurant, the interior is warm and inviting. It is open, but also somehow very intimate. I appreciated the fireplace and the small touches and attention to detail.

From start to finish, the service and the food were phenomenal. Our table wasn’t quite ready when we arrived for our reservation, but we enjoyed a beverage at the bar while we waited.

Once our table was ready, we were probably seated and given a chance to explore the menu. They had a special menu available since it was Valentine’s Day so we decided to start with the mushroom bisque and the Dungeness crab raviolo. Both dishes had tremendous flavor and balance to them. The mushroom bisque was unlike any soup I had ever tried before. They also brought out some fresh hot bread with a delicious pomegranate and basil butter.

For my meal, I decided to keep the mushroom train rolling and ordered the mushroom gnocchi. The gnocchi was perfectly pillowy soft and they provided plenty of wild mushrooms. The sauce was creamy and decadent. My husband ordered the duck breast and said it was one of the best he has ever had.

After all of our food, regrettably, we did not have enough room for dessert, but the options they had available for Valentine’s Day did sound quite amazing. So if you find yourself in the Albion area, looking for a lovely meal for a special occasion, I would definitely recommend Terra...