The C Restaurant + Bar — Restaurant in Monterey

Excellent all the way around. The staff were very attentive without being overly so. The meal was timed out perfectly. Very rare for most restaurants who seem to want your money and praise just to get you in and push you out. Not this place. We had several courses and everything was paced correctly. I enjoyed the decor which surprised me. It was pretty modern. It had a light airy feeling to it, but still was able to remain welcoming and comfortable. It sits on the water so the views are gorgeous. We didn't have a window seat, but were faced in such a way that we could still enjoy the view. There was live music playing. The staff said that they have live music on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The musician that we had played accustic guitar and sang. Not generally my favorite, but this guy was really good and I enjoyed it. We didn't have any drinks other then water and soda. Not for the lack of options with their full bar and wine menu. But more or less due to a whale watching tour with very ruff seas earlier in the day. So it was not due to the restaurants fault or lack of offerings. We started with the prawn cocktail that came on a little salad with lemon peel and a house made cocktail sauce. They did something with the peel so that it was edible. It was totally delicious. Shrimp was cooked to perfection and the cocktail sauce was flavorful with just the right amout of kick. We then had the buratta and heirloom tomato salad with watermelon and honey chili dressing. The tomatoes were bursting with flavor. They tasted like the tomatoes used to taste when my grandparents grew them. Very fresh and were picked when they were ripe. The staff said that they were sourced from a local farmer and are delivered daily. No wonder they were so good. When the waiter was telling us about the salad, I wasn't completely listening. So I was surprised by the honey with chili sauce/dressing. I was concerned as I don't eat spicy food. But there was nothing to worry about. I didn't even know the chili was there. I've never put honey on cheese before and was surprised of how much I liked it. The salad was a total hit. Will be making this at home when I get back! My friend ordered the Chicken and risotto. I ordered the house signature scallops dish. Both entrees were cooked to perfection. The chicked was juicy with a great crust. The risotto was made with a different kind of rice, not aborrio. But it was delicious and creamy. My scallops were the best I've ever had. Cooked to perfection, seasoned correctly. Awesome. My dish came with crab mashed potatoes. I don't know who thought that one up, but can I please have some more. Oh my God! They were out of this world. My dish also had roasted fennel (umm yes!) and mushrooms. But not boring white mushrooms. I'm not exactly sure what they were, except delicious. It was also garnished with mandarin orange slices and foam. Honestly the dish looked small but it was the perfect amout of food. This is definitely a entrée to go to. Everything on that plate worked together and tasted out of the world, I'm on cloud 9 delicious. We followed with an ice cream dessert that had fresh cream and strawberries. A perfect ending to a perfect meal. I do also want to mention that they had a what I believe to be house made bread and butter. Yes, total perfection in every way. The tab without tip was $125 which I felt was very affordable for all the food we got and the amazing service. This is a fine dining experience without all the fuss. We wore casual clothes as did most of the patrons. We were treated very well and will definitely come back to dine. By the way, this restaurant is located inside the Intercontinental Hotel and they do have valet parking. The restaurant does validate parking for 3 hours. Also, if you go to the Aquarium first, the restaurant will give you a 25% discount on your meal. This is definitely a place to check out in Monterey....

Great experience! Devin our server was super kind and knowledgeable. They let us know about seeing whales 🐳 and in doing so we also got some great pics 🌅. Calamari was great, lovely savory flavor (with some lemon) and texture, not tough to chew! (the accompanying sauce was good too) Crab cakes were good and maybe it’s just me personally but i think i’ve had better and the biggest thing was the bell peppers were chopped a bit too big/could’ve been finer? maybeee it’s nitpicky and yeah i was a bit under the weather my appetite was less and a bit nauseous BUT i don’t think id ever noticed that in other crab cakes and again think ive had slightly better 🤷‍♀️ but STILL pretty good haha. The chicken entree was very good too. And the milk and honey toast dessert- UGH amazing. They really popped off with that guava jam 💅 great texture on the toast and both the milk and vanilla ice cream SO good, subtle sweetness, creamy, milky. AND OMG THE MOCKTAIL- honestly one of the best i’ve had. Not too sweet, not too sour, not too watery/bland! It was the southwest breeze or something?? can’t remember at all lmfao but raspberry, pear, citrus and we asked them to add cranberry juice (slight tmi, the insistence on cranberry juice was to help w the UTI i was suffering from today 😂😭). Anyways 10/10 mocktail hehe. Lovely very kind server. Inside the music was nice and overall ambiance and seating and really nice view of the water AND you could go outside, so twas great for pics. Thank you for a great evening on a...

Worst service but excellent food.

My fiancé made dinner reservations ahead of time and requested a table at the window. The staff asked if we were celebrating anything and my fiancé told them it was my birthday. The restaurant staff called us the day of to confirm our reservation, confirm our request for a window table, and said they looked forward to celebrating my birthday with us. We arrived at the restaurant and the host politely welcomed us and even knew my name and said happy birthday to me. Nice touch! Except, the host walked us over to a booth table next to the kitchen at the back of the restaurant. We asked about our reservation request and he said they couldn’t accommodate such requests. We had to wait at the bar for a table to open up..... once at a table our server forgot to place our drink order and we waited 20 minutes for him to come back to the table and he then asked us if we would like to order a cocktail. We reminded him of our drink order. Our food arrived and it was excellent, the fish was well done. Kudos to the kitchen. However, not once during our meal did the staff come by and see if we needed anything else. At the end of dinner there wasn’t even a pice of bread with a candle in it to help us celebrate.

This restaurant is fine if you’re coming off of the street. Don’t come here if you are looking for a special evening. We would have gotten better service next door at Bubba Gump Shrimp or...