The Sea by Alexanders @ Palo Alto

It’s date night – Darling wanted seafood and I wanted steak, so we picked a place that can do both.

We pulled up to The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse as we got off El Camino Real to a nice, huge parking lot. This is the surf and turf concept of the steakhouse chain, and the higher-end of its five restaurants in the Bay Area.

The holding area is a well-appointed bar with the bartender ready to make your drink. As it was not a packed evening, we were shown to the table right away without having a chance for a cocktail.

The Sea by Alexanders Steakhouse is located in a beautiful venue. First class decor and design. Soft pastel colours, lite jazz music. The seats were uncomfortable though, as the space between the box seat and table is quite tight.

The bread service came promptly right after we placed our orders. And we were quite satisfied with the selection of warm breads on parade. The croissants were on point, buttery and flaky. Personally I loved the sesame crackers, kind of reminded me of papadum, and Darling was pinching away on the warm onion soft rolls.

Amuse Bouche

Amuse bouche was a quenelle of crab meat spiced with curry on the same sesame cracker from the bread service. Executive Chef Parthik Mungre‘s India heritage on display here with the amuse bouche.

Appetisers

We ordered two seafood appetisers to kick of dinner. How can I resist fresh oysters from Washington.

Today’s Oysters

I was quite disappointed by the oyster (one of them was off); they were quite puny, and not as creamy as I wished they were. A couple of them have seen better days.

Bluefin Tuna Tataki

watermelon radish, crispy garlic, avocado, sesame 

This was a really messy plating, the tuna tataki downing in a slurry of unappetising liquid and topped with a bed of salad that looked like me on a bad hair day. So after two misses in the appetisers, we were hoping the main courses were better.

Seared Scallops (Wild Maine)

kabocha-ginger velouté, confit chestnuts, cappuccino

Thankfully the seared scallops pulled on back with succulent wild Maine scallops nicely pan seared on both sides. The veloute (a creamy, gingery soup) went well with the well-salted scallops. The chestnuts looked out of place though.

Cab Prime New York

wasabi-spinach, black garlic, green beans

Cab Prime New York was the only ‘reasonably’ priced steak on the menu. The full name is “Certified Angus Beef USDA Prime New York Strip”; it is a steakhouse classic, known for its marbling, tenderness and flavour. Awesome rich flavours and perfect doneness at medium rare. The black garlic sauce was underwhelming, I was expecting something that would deter any vampire, but instead got a chocolaty sauce that tasted like burnt au jus.

Luckily they had the classic grated horseradish and sea salt, and they were sufficient to lift the juicy and flavoursome steak.

Brussels Sprouts

yuzu cilantro, garlic, roasted bacon

The first of two sides to share for the main courses was an oven roasted Brussels sprouts. I don’t know how they made the outside of the sprouts crispy, but it was really tasty. The bacon strips were unnecessary as the sprouts themselves were smoky and well flavoured on their own.

Lobster Fried Rice

bacon, egg, garlic, green onions 

The second side was a lobster fried rice, again loaded with bacon bits, Not quite the Chinese fried rice, but close enough. Again the bacon was overpowering, and we could not have two sides that were all bacon. (PS: we packed it home and microwaved it for breakfast, which turned out delicious.)

Complimentary cotton candy (pineapple flavour) rounded out the evening on a fun note. We did not even need to order a dessert as the meal portions were huge (as usual in USA). On the way to washroom, we showed how many accolades they have won, and I wondered how deserving were they.

The prices at The Sea are expensive, making this a special occasion place. Do not come here trying to skimp, as the service is top notch. Wine list is mainly Californian, with some really expensive choices from Opus One and Duckhorn. Plenty of parking space, but not quite the high end fine dining worthy of Michelin for that price range.

The Sea By Alexander’s Steakhouse
4269 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Tel : +1 (650) 213-1111

Visited Aug 2024