Steph C.
Yelp
The Sur House is the restaurant at the Ventana, which is, as of a few years ago, an all-inclusive resort. If you're staying at the Ventana, this is where you eat, and the food is certainly not bad. But if you're not a hotel guest, you're not part of the captive audience the restaurant is designed to serve. I went with my husband Matt B. when we were staying at the Post Ranch Inn across the street. We had a nice time, but I thought the food was surprisingly mediocre, especially for the price.
We made an 8:00 reservation almost a month in advance and got on the waitlist for an earlier spot so we could enjoy the view. Nothing opened up, as far as I know, but I'm guessing tables are limited for non-guest diners. I assume the views were great, but it was pitch-dark outside when we were there. The dining room was attractive, though, with a pleasant, convivial ambiance. Service was excellent. Juan was a warm, attentive waiter.
We started our dinner with a round of cocktails, then ordered a bottle of wine. I know restaurants tend to squeeze a lot of their profits from alcohol, but I think this might be extra true for an all-inclusive place. The cocktails were mostly over $20 each, and the wine mark-ups were unusually high, even by nice restaurant standards. I liked what we got, though. I ordered A Love Letter, a refreshing whiskey drink with Rare Breed rye, Chinola passion fruit liqueur, lime, and egg white. Matt had the Respect Your Elders, with chamomile-infused Uncle Nearest whiskey, Campari, elderflower, honey shrub, and fresh chamomile flowers. We had a bottle of L'Aventure Optimus with our food.
The Sur House offers a three-course prix fixe with several options for appetizer, entree, and dessert. Everything we had was kind of fine, but generally disappointing for an exepensive restaurant. There were raw vegetables thrown on top of dishes with no particular care or preparation. Weak flavors, imprecise cooking, just a feeling of thoughtlessness that made me realize how much work it must take to run a top notch kitchen.
I started with the hen egg, a soft-poached egg with maitake mushrooms and truffle. The egg was soupy, and not in a good way, served, I think, with grits and a little ham in addition to the mushrooms, which were the best part. Matt's burrata was also just okay, served with celery root, apple, and grilled brioche. I honestly thought all burrata was fantastic, but this one didn't have the creaminess and flavor I typically associate with the cheese.
I got the dayboat market catch for my entree, a cod dish with Castroville artichoke bari joule (I think this is a weird spelling of barigoule, which is a braised artichoke dish), Cara Cara orange, and Niçoise olive sauce. The cod was good. Buried in a weird profusion of sprouts, but good. I also enjoyed a side of crispy brussels sprouts with umami caramel. Matt had the 38 North duck with risotto, pearl onion, roasted carrots and turnip, and blueberry duck jus. Cooked well enough, but not very flavorful.
Dessert was fun. We got the apple entremet and the ice cream and sorbet flight, and both came on a big tray with the apple in the middle and an upside-down mini ice cream cone on every corner. The apple entremet was a cute dessert, with whipped 32% apple ganache, apple tatin insert, sable breton, apple bourbon jelly, and bourbon caramel sauce, shaped into a candy-red apple. I liked the ice cream and sorbet flavors--Fresno chile strawberry chocolate, crème fraîche lemon, raspberry, and coffee.
We had a good time at the Sur House, but I wouldn't go back unless I was staying at the Ventan. If you're just considering a special dinner in town, Sierra Mar is several times better.