We have spent the past 3 weeks in Moss Landing CA. This is located about 15 min North of Monterey CA and 30 min South of San Jose CA. We just loved it here! It is a very small fishing village surrounded by farms, mostly artichokes. There were many farm stands as well as the catch of the day right out our door.
Phils Fish Market http://www.philsfishmarket.com/ is right down the street. This place is best known for its Cioppino, Throwdown with Bobby Flay! We ate there a couple of times and liked it overall. Nice atmosphere other than it’s a bit too "family friendly" for me. So there are tons of kids screaming and running around everywhere. There was a cool four man bluegrass band playing on heated covered patio. The food was good, casual and comforting. There is little service mostly you just order at a counter and sit down with a number on your table. On our second visit, we found it was better to sit at the bar. The famous Cioppino is a little expensive but you get a lot of bang for your buck, the portions are huge and loaded with fresh local seafood that comes in on the boats right literally across the street. Overall I think if you don’t walk in with huge unrealistic expectations because the Food Network was there you will for sure leave satisfied. Oh, and the caramel cheesecake was pretty awesome!
