Montrio - Monterey (CA)

4 /5 Porschephilia: Decent experience overall. Highlights would include the crab cakes appetizer, which were almost entirely crab and not diluted too much breading. The fish sticks, which are presented as fun fish stick popsicles, or equally good. And although it may read a little oddly, the almond butter pork belly was probably my favorite of the appetizers. How far is mains go, the Kurobata pork chop was quite good, as well the Wagyu ribeye. A little less impressed with the scallop dish; although the scallops themselves were quite good, it was basically a large portion of risotto with four scallops on top; would’ve been better in my opinion with a smaller amount of risotto and added a vegetable or something along those lines.

5 /5 Nick Jize: I ordered the scallops. They were perfectly cooked and delicious. My wife ordered the lobster bisque. It was okay. Not very flavorful. Service was attractive except for serving the bisque without a spoon. Had to flag a waiter to get the spoon. Overall however, I would go back.

5 /5 Pauline Jue: I looooved this restaurant. Its not cheap but is well worth the money if you want excellent and interesting food. We shared the house salad (so many stars), crab cakes and the duck confit (which was 2 thighs and drumsticks). I cant wait to come back.

5 /5 Steve Pak: Wow, this place has very good food. I believe most of the other review says that all their menu itme is great. I had the pork belly with apple cinnamon and almond butter, the pork chop and bread pudding. All 3 were excellent! Their sauce is amazing and I can see why this place has such good reviews. Ill be back here again for sure next time Im in the area!

4 /5 Ying Zhang: Visited Monterey over the weekend to celebrate my birthday, and my partner chose Montrio for my birthday dinner. We experienced an excellent dinner service with great cocktails to pair. Ambiance felt intimate and the staff made us feel special. Tip for those who don’t know, they provide complimentary bread upon request, so be sure to ask or they will not tell you about it. The corn creme brûlée was too sweet. The duck prosciutto combined with the creme brûlée tasted delicious, but it felt weird eating that as our appetizer when it tasted like dessert. Our mains were the pork chop and the scallops. The seared scallops were divine! Perfectly cooked and had a nice meaty bite to them. I thought the pork chop was also prepared very nicely. It tasted very similar to chinese siu yuk actually. Both of these large plates came with risotto, and maybe it’s personal preference but we found the risotto to be underwhelming. A bit too heavy, and did not hit the mark for us. The risotto with the pork chop had a sweet sauce on top that was a bit too sweet for our tastes. For dessert, we had a very decadent chocolate cake that came with pop rocks sprinkled on top. The pop rocks were fun because I have not had them in years, but too much since the cake itself was already heavy. We received complimentary sorbet for my birthday, and I enjoyed the sorbet over the cake. Thank you for the great service.