The Opinionated Loudmouth: Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
Beer: We like it. So Half Moon Bay Brewing Company — a waterfront restaurant that brews its own — seemed a great choice for a foggy afternoon on the coast.
We had s**t to do that day, so we didn't get to HMB until about three p.m. The anticipated thinness of the post-lunch, pre-dinner-hour crowd didn't pan out; we approached the hostess out on the patio (which was crowded even in the fog, and must be lovely when the weather's nice), who told us the wait would be 20 minutes for a table outside. "How about inside?" our dining companion asked. She didn't know — we'd have to ask the inside hostess. Um, OK. So we went to ask the inside hostess; the wait would be 20 minutes for a table inside. Mightn't we put our name down as amenable to either one? we inquired. No — we'd have to put our name on both lists and sort of...hover there until we heard from one camp or the other. Fine, whatever, we'll wait for an inside table. So we stood there in the high-traffic entryway for awhile, until a pair of meaty young backwards-baseball-cap-wearers in shants (they ain't shorts, and they ain't pants) were called from the bar area to their table, at which point we took their vacated club chairs. Now, we are nothing if not observant, and we could see that clearly, food was being served in the bar, and clearly, there were open tables in the aforementioned bar area. We asked if there was yet a third list for these tables; turns out there wasn't, and we could sit down and be served directly. This we did, but not before making a tut-tutting little black mark beside "service" in our mental journal entry on this establishment.
SFist Lydia, contributing
Never mind — we are not one to hold a grudge. (Well, yes we are, actually, but there was beer to order, so we let this one go, especially since our hard-won table was right by the fireplace and its rather cozy fire and we were feeling generous.)
HMB Brewing Company has at any given time eight house-brewed beers on tap — the difficult question of which to order was settled easily by just getting the Beer Sampler Tray ($8), which is 4 oz. each of all eight beers. Brilliant! And frugal, too, since a single pint is $4.50, and we would of course have had to get at least two each. We did an around-the-world to taste each one, then drank off the ones we liked least first — they were all pretty good, but we're not fans of Hefeweizen, especially not this clove-heavy one, and pale ales are kinda boring, so that was two down right away. The Bootlegger's Brown, the Paddle Out Stout, and the current Brewer's Special were the top tier — three really excellent choices, and we'd have gladly had another pint of each, but we did have to drive home — the curse of the coastside!
In the midst of all this beer drinking, we shared an order of the Beer Battered Artichoke Hearts with Ranch dip, the kind of heart-attack-on-a-plate stuff we can never, ever get enough of. These golden nuggets were crispy-fried and mighty tasty, not a soggy one in the bunch — highly recommended (though our dining companion would've preferred some sort of spice in the batter).
As we noshed our delicious and nutrition-free deep-fried food products, we witnessed a conversation at the next table between a man we'll call Harley, for his T-shirt, and what had to be his second wife, a coiffed and uptight-looking churchgoing blonde of a certain age. Harley was practically ignoring the gigantic fish portion of his fish-n-chips in favor of the chips themselves. He raved about them, made her eat a few, and raved some more. He was double-fisting these suckers, cramming them like they were going out of style — and we're like, jeebus, dude, they're just french fries.
Well, that was before our entrees arrived: our Crab and Shrimp Sandwich ($14.50) and our dining companion's Blackened Snapper Sandwich ($11.95). The crab-n-shrimp was a really good blend, with tiny bits of green apple instead of celery (a nice twist), on toasted foccaccia — a great match for the filling. The snapper was made with blackened seasonings, as opposed to blackened as in charred, which our dining companion appreciated; it was a quality piece of fish, with no greasiness, bones or blucky gray spots. But the fries — ahh, the fries! No mere Russets, these had to be Yukon Gold or something similar — unbelieveably fresh-tasting, crispy and spiced on the outside, and like a baked potato on the inside — truly amazing. Ketchup, in fact, detracted from their awesomeness, and we ate them straight up. Lots and lots of them, until the eighth tiny beer was drained. Harley and wife were gone by then, but we at last Understood the magic of the HMB fry, and in appreciation we held one aloft in a gesture of respect, wherever the road may have taken them.
Rating:
Great waterfront setting, eyebrow-raising (and not in a good way) service, genial atmosphere, and one-step-above pub fare with world-class fries and a good local brew for every taste — Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is an excellent stop if you're in the neighborhood.
The particulars:
Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
390 Capistrano Ave.
Princeton-by-the-Sea, CA
650-728-BREW
Serving lunch & dinner daily; opens at 11:30 a.m.