Finch & Fork — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

Gluten-Free Banana Bread is amazing! It's gluten-free but certainly does not taste like it. It has a sweet banana nut flavor. The texture is good just not quite as moist or sticky like regular banana bread. Ask for a side of cream cheese; it makes it even more decadent. Rating: 5/5

Deviled Eggs are topped with smoked trout, pickled shallot, and olive relish. The deviled eggs are beautifully presented on a wooden plank. The eggs are pickled resulting in a beautiful purple halo on the edge reminiscent of kamaboko (Japanese fish cake). The yolk mixture is smooth and luxurious. The smoked trout adds a smoky and salty flavor like bacon. The olive relish and pickled shallots add a nice balance of acidity. Rating: 4.8/5

Roasted Pork Belly & Egg is toasted bread topped with smashed avocado, roasted pork belly, poached eggs, chipotle hollandaise, and served with home fries. This is a rustic version of eggs benedict. The toasted bread catches the juices from the pork and the avocado adds a nice creamy texture without being overbearing. The eggs are perfectly poached and burst with beautiful bright orange-yellow goodness. The chipotle hollandaise is smoky, spicy, and sweet. Rating: 4.5/5

Short Rib & Sweet Potato Hash is topped with sunny side eggs, fresh horseradish, and chimichurri. (Home fries were substituted for the sweet potato hash.) The presentation is reminiscent of a loco moco through the layered effect of the potatoes, short rib, and sunny side egg. The short rib is extremely tender and exudes flavors from the braising liquid like red wine and vegetables. The egg yolk provides a natural sauce adding a velvety richness to the dish....

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Finch & Fork restaurant yesterday and I must say it exceeded all my expectations. Despite making a last-minute reservation for a party of 10, they were able to accommodate us without any hassle. The hostess was incredibly friendly and made us feel welcome from the moment we walked in.

Now let's talk about the food. It was absolutely outstanding! We started with the Black Garlic Caesar salad, which had the perfect combination of flavors with the little gem lettuce, parmigiano-reggiano, and brioche croutons (grilled chicken was a bonus!). The King Salmon with gigante beans and piquillo peppers was cooked to perfection and the marbled peewee potatoes added a delightful texture to the dish.

One of the highlights of the meal was the Short Rib Pappardelle Pasta. The combination of the tender short rib, wild mushroom soffritto, and crème fraîche created a rich and flavorful dish that left us wanting more. And let's not forget about the 12oz Creekstone Prime New York Steak, which was cooked to perfection and served with delicious weiser farms potato, baby carrots, cipollini onion, and a mouthwatering red wine demi-glace.

Side dish: Lemon Herb Broccolini was a delightful surprise. The flavors of preserved lemon, calabrian chili, and garlic elevated this side dish to a whole new level. It was truly amazing!

To top it all off, Finch & Fork offers free valet parking, which was a huge plus for our group. Overall, I can't recommend Finch & Fork enough. From the accommodating staff to the exceptional food, this restaurant has it all. It's the perfect place for a memorable...

Finch and Fork is a restaurant in a high-end hotel serving expensive food. I am definitely not "in" on its 4.6/5.0 Google rating, as I found it to be merely average, especially at its price point.

The "Potato & Leek Soup" was competently-prepared, delivering the basic earthy and salty flavors you want in a potato-based cream soup - and I enjoyed the vinegary poblano relish topping they put on it as a nice foil for its heavy cream broth. However, I want any cup of soup I spend more than $10 for to be more refined and fancy, and to have some special rare ingredient if no meat or seafood.

If I'm paying nearly eleven bucks for a vegetarian soup made of cream, leeks, and potatoes, the restaurant is making a killing off of me. So surely the service must be appropriately fussy and proactive? Nope, not really. This isn't the type of place that's going to fold your serviette when you excuse yourself to the washroom.

The "Sea Scallops," again were well-prepared with a decent sear though not exactly filling - a miniscule entrée for $33. Also, the scallops themselves were not as clean-tasting as I'd expect, they were at the "stew scallops" stage in my opinion. Nonetheless, I felt this dish could have been improved with a greater presence of the chorizo vinaigrette and less relish. Admittedly, I was weary of the relish from eating something very similar on my soup appetizer.

Overall, I wasn't very impressed. As a hotel restaurant, I'd eat here if I were staying on the property, but this is not destination dining. There are superior options in downtown Santa Barbara for this...