Poor Performance at Ports O' Call Waterfront Dining - San Pedro

The food during restaurant week is rarely reflective of the actual quality of the restaurant. I usually only hope it's edible, and I don't even expect it to be good. But the camaraderie of a night out with friends and the irresistible spread of almost-affordable meals is a recipe even I can't resist. So when my friend suggested Ports O' Call, I couldn't help but take the plunge.

We sat and I started thinking that maybe I was exceedingly cynical, overly skeptical, or even just too critical. Okay, fine, maybe I am...but even in the pitch dark of 8 pm the waterfront view went over swimmingly, and the table settings gave it a hint of outdated class. And the meal started out with a pretty strong selection at the unlimited Salad Bar. Sure the lettuce sunk my ship (it was iceberg...GROAN) but how combative can you be when there's caviar at the end?

The Tuna Poke was probably the best thing on the menu. And who can object to fresh fish interspersed with bites of avocado? A little heavy on the sauce, but the fried chips were awesome even if they did override the more delicate taste of tuna.

I'm Asian so the Asian-Roasted King Salmon was an obvious choice, but if this is in any way representative of the continent of my birth, I'm either embarrassed or insulted. The salmon itself was a little dry but definitely a decent cut. I once quoted Tom Colichio from Top Chef, "I don't like seafood swimming in liquid because that's where it came from." Turns out the land isn't so great either. The so-called soy-miso-tamarind reduction suffered an over-reduction of all liquid content, which resulted in that muddy brown mess under the salmon, and the slimy chunks of shitake mushrooms really didn't help.

I've never been one to complain about portion size, but it's worth noting Ports O' Call portions are exceptionally generous. Each entree swims on an ocean-size plate, and the Ports O' Call Cioppino was no exception. The thick tomato-y soup had a nice kick of spice and was nicely swamped with all sorts of shellfish, but I stewed a little over the fact that the seafood flavor was undetectable in the stew. It wasn't half  bad but whoever gave it an award has probably gone fishing.

With a promising starter and a miserable main, I could only hope that the company wouldn't be the only enjoyable part of my night. Luckily the Bread Pudding didn't leave me without a paddle, but it wasn't enough to keep me from jumping ship when the check came. It was fine really, but bread pudding buffs beware, it's a step down from special and only a step up from cafeteria.

Sloppy salmon aside, this place might almost have potential. Then again, if you still wanted to try anything other than appetizers at after reading this review, I would probably think you'd gone off the deep end.