Harbor Grill is a Great Seafood Treat, Especially on Oyster Night

This week, our tour of local restaurants took us to in Dana Point. It is located at 34499 Golden Lantern at the far end of the harbor. Because of where it is situated, it does not have a full view of the water as some of the harbor restaurants do, but the outdoor dining area does have a partial view of the boats and it is covered with a cute green awning. It looked like a great place to have our dinner, but it was full when we arrived so we chose a booth inside. As we entered, we noticed a small cheerful bar area and headed into the dining room. The décor is sea-themed and simple, with a slight Polynesian feel.

Jim checked out the wine list and was impressed with the selection. He chose two glasses of Carmel Road Chardonnay for us. As we looked over the regular menu, our friendly waitress pointed out the oyster menu to us. She let us know that Thursday night is oyster night. This meant that oyster items cost $5 less than usual. Of course, we were intrigued.

They offer oysters Rockefeller and oysters casino, which are both baked, fried oysters, a basket of Thai steamed oysters, and Louisiana-style barbequed oysters, in addition to raw oysters on the half -shell served with a trio of sauces. At the bottom of the oyster menu are some wine and sparkling wine selections that pair well with oysters, which was a nice idea.

We selected the raw version and could not have been happier. The oysters are fresh and are shucked in the kitchen. We could see the staff preparing them through a large viewing window that looks into the kitchen. The oysters we had were absolutely delicious. They were served with three little cups of sauce, which my husband loved, but I just ate mine straight up. It was a great start to the meal.

If you aren’t an oyster fan, there are many other great appetizer options including Hawaiian Ahi Poke, crab cocktail, prawn cocktail, steamed clams, white sea bass ceviche with avocado, shredded pork tacos and lobster ravioli, among others.

If you love seafood salads for an entrée, Harbor Grill offers a lot of choices, such as an ahi salad, crab Louie, prawn Louis, and bay shrimp Louie, Caesar salad with grilled shrimp and a smoked halibut salad. There are numerous fresh fish preparations including shrimp, scallops, Chilean sea bass, Alaskan halibut, ahi and salmon. Featured “specialty items” are crawfish etouffee, seafood gumbo, Australian lobster tail and Bouillabaisse. In addition, there is a three course prix-fixe menu, which looked very interesting. For those who don’t like their dinner from under the sea, there are also a variety of burgers and steaks.

I chose the sautéed sea scallops with citrus soy glaze and Jim selected swordfish with basil tarragon butter. The entrees come with sautéed vegetables and French fries, garlic-mashed potatoes or rice pilaf. Our entrees came fairly quickly after our oyster plate was cleared. They were served on dishes with little fish and waves painted on the rims of the plates and both looked great. My four scallops were served with fresh spinach. The glaze was sweet and citrus-y and was balanced by the salt in the soy sauce. The mashed potatoes were tasty and just garlicky enough. Jim’s fish was beautifully prepared, delicious and was served with broccoli and carrots, along with French fries.

This was our first visit to the Harbor Grill. We were very impressed with the food and its preparation. The atmosphere is casual and the staff was friendly and efficient, and we enjoyed the live music. The Harbor Grill is open daily for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and for dinner from 4:30-9:30 p.m. and champagne breakfast is offered on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

I give Harbor Grill 4 Patches out of 5