Dear readers and fellow foodies,
Welcome to the first restaurant review on Just One Cookbook. Nami has asked me to contribute to her blog from time to time with reviews on restaurants that we feel strongly about. As Nami mentioned in the previous post, we went on a stay-cation in Half Moon Bay this past weekend and we chose to dine at mostly local restaurants during our short trip. When we go on trips, I tend to seek and support local restaurants for several reasons. The most important reason is to truly taste the local flavor and understand why the spot is popular, and secondly to avoid tourists. On this particular trip, we had two very satisfying meals at a few local restaurants but today I will talk about our Sunday brunch at Navio Ritz Carlton. I spent a few days prior to the trip studying the menu before committing to making a reservation for the brunch.
We actually debated on the brunch since it was $88 per person, and if you include tip and CA tax it’s over $100 per person. For comparison, a full course dinner at Wakuriya (Michelin 1 star Japanese restaurant that we’ve been eyeing on) is $90. Navio typically only do two seatings for their Sunday brunch, one at 11 AM and the second at 1:30 pm. Reservation is required. We made a reservation for the 11 AM spot. We got to the restaurant at 10:50 AM and there were at least 70 people waiting in line in front of us. And before 11 AM there were at already another 20 people behind us. The seating preference is first-come, first-served and we were lucky enough to get a window seat. As we passed the dessert section walking through the restaurant to our seats, it caught my eye how each individual dessert plate is perfectly placed.
Navigating my way through the different food stations, I realized that the food layout is extremely well done, brilliant actually. There was almost no wait at any of the food line except for the raw bar, and even that was only 15 – 20 seconds at most. The food were presented in multiple sections, and they are: pastries, sushi/sashimi, cheese, raw bar, cold cuts, dim sum, salad, single serving, traditional brunch, and desserts. Instead of going into details on what is served in each section, I will briefly describe the highlights of the each section.
For my children’s, most of their food came from the American brunch section, eggs, bacon, and mini pancakes waffles. For the pancakes and waffles, I topped them with fruit compote instead of syrup. Very delicious! The presentation of the food was done quite nicely. Instead of serving all the food in large dish, Navio offered several delicate dish in their own mini serving dish. The seared scallop not only looked great, each piece was seared to perfection and the taste was very elegant.
From the sushi/sashimi section, the Mrs. loves salmon so I got some salmon sushi as well as slices of salmon sashimi for her. For us it’s the true test of quality by tasting the raw food and it passed with flying colors. We were both surprised by how fresh the salmon was. Since Nami and I both don’t eat wasabi, the sushi chef was able to make the sushi without wasabi for us on the spot.
For me personally, the highlight was the raw bar. Navio served raw oyster, littleneck clams, and caviar. All the seafood from raw bar were spectacular and I am getting hungry again while writing up this post and looking at pictures.
Last but not least, the desserts section. The attention to detail was amazing, from the silver cappuccino bean on top of tiramisu to delicate strawberry and banana chocolate truffles, we were in sugar heaven. In addition to the individual dessert offering, there were also 4 flavors of artisan ice cream, 8 types of cookies and truffles each.
We managed to taste 75% of the food choices with multiple runs to the raw bar. As far as the food goes, it’s definitely not your average Sunday brunch quality. Starting from the sushi which Nami and I absolutely agree are top grade to the gold flakes on lychee shots, we agreed that Navio strived to achieve perfection on each and every dish that was served. The service was amazing (I think they replaced my silverware 6 times during my meal) and the atmosphere is fantastic. We had a perfect view of the ocean and the golf course. Despite it’s very expensive price tag, I believe it was reasonable for the quality of service and food that was provided. Will I go back there anytime soon, probably not, but it’s definitely somewhere I would want to go at least once a year to celebrate special occasions. Next time when you visit San Francisco and want that amazing brunch experience, don’t forget Navio on your list.
Thank you for the yummy write-up.
This restaurant reminds me of Singapore. Singapore is the land of Buffets! This should be shared with all visiting Singaporeans coming to visit SFO. They would definitely find this restaurant up to expectations and may even remind them of home. The price is similar to what you would pay for a similar meal in Singapore.
I will definitely keep this in my bucket list to visit when I ever venture out to Half Moon Bay.
Thank you again.
Thank you for your kind comment Maria! I’d love to visit Singapore in the near future. It’s a wonderful place to visit for food! 🙂
Half Moon Bay is such a beautiful place. We have a friend who owns a surf shop down there – and it’s always pleasant visiting all the local stores and restaurants. There’s one little Mexican restaurant we love to go to. I can’t remember it’s name right now though!
This restaurant, you reviewed though, looks simply divine.
Excellent review. Our small city doesn’t have anything close to what you experienced at brunch. And most people around here wouldn’t pay that price for brunch or a meal. Things for now we can only dream of. Good idea to introduce the kids to more grown up food. They’ll get to appreciate it longer.
Hi Sandra, thank you for your comment! We really appreciate living around SF because of the great variety of food that are offered here. Within a 30 min drive there are amazing food from almost all corners of the world.
Wonderful wonderful review. The photos are just beautiful. Is it weird that I want to look up flights just so I can go to this place for brunch? The seafood looks to die for! The scallop, ahhh yummy. There are no scallops in Israel, such a shame, I miss them. Great post. And, gold flakes on the lychee shots? what?! Amazing. It seems definitely worth the price! I look forward to more reviews!
Hi Beth, your photography is amazing and I loved your post on Negev Culinary Tour. The desert and the ruins are beautiful and do you know we actually have a cactus that produces sabra in our backyard?
Wow, beautiful food nami with lovely snaps Thanks for sharing.
Hi Daksha, your site is really beautiful and since summer is just around the corner we are definitely going to try your special Lemonade recipe.
Wow this entire spread look amazing and your photos are beautiful!!! What a great place to have brunch!
Navio was a great experience but I rather go bowling at the White House any day!! LOL
Hi Alisha, your tuna salad sandwich looks delicious. We happen to have some tuna in the freezer so I’ll try making it this weekend. I am also looking forward to adding “herbs de Provence” to our spice collection. cheers!
Shen I loved reading your review 🙂 and I love this kind of food and restaurant. The pictures are amazing, wish I lived near this place I think I would love their sushi-sashimi section 😀 I don’t think I’ve come across better restaurant review in a while 🙂 Awesome 🙂
Hi Suzana, your words are too kind. I am definitely not a strong writer but tried giving it my best shot Your Amaretto cake looks so delish… going to bug Nami to make it for me. http://fireflyblog.org/amaretto-cake/
Wow…I’ve always wondered about this brunch, but have never gone. It looks like the food was amazing, down to the very smallest details. Beautiful photos and excellent review. Like you say, it’s probably not a monthly kind of place, but great for special occasions. And it looks like you hit some pretty good weather too….not totally fogged in!
Hi Karen, definitely do try this brunch on a special occasion. Btw I’ve seen the winery you mentioned numerous times driving on 92 but never stopped by. Based on your recommendation it’ll definitely be one of our stops on the way to HMB. 🙂
Hi Lin Ann, thank you for your comments. I love your artwork (especially the sandals) and your garden. Nami and I tried planting some flowers in our backyard but deers would come by and eat everything.
Thanks Jill! Nami’s recipes are great, the only problem is my weight gain 😛 My favorite thing to do after dinner each day is packing leftover for my lunch the next day. LOL
i stay in bay area and have been to half moon bay but never heard of this restaurant. Next time I am going to give a try. Beautiful review .. gorgeous clicks and mouthwatering dishes !
Hi Kankana, the restaurant is inside the Ritz Carlton. When you enter the hotel go straight and then make a right. Please let us know your dining experience after you go.