After a few days in Vegas, Brett and I finally arrived in California! Are final destination was Pasadena, but we decided to make a slight detour and visit my old home of Santa Barbara. On our way to Santa Barbara we had to stop at Brett’s favorite California restaurant, and what I think is one of the coolest sea food restaurants in the world ( yes not just the country but the world).

If you can’t tell from the picture, I am talking about Neptune’s Net. Neptune’s is located in Malibu on Highway 1 aka the Pacific Coast Highway or the PCH for short.

Pretty awesome view! Where else can you go surf cross 2 lanes of traffic and eat some great seafood! ( I am sure there are other places where you can do this, this was just a rhetorical question). Usually you can see the ocean clearly, but that day the marine layer was pretty heavy. In the summer, Southern California’s coast can have a very dense and think marine fog layer in the mornings. This can last until the afternoon, but it usually burns off by mid day. Enough with the location now onto the food.

Neptune’s Net is known for their fresh seafood. The question is to steam or to fry? Neptune’s does both with one side of the restaurant dedicated to each. I went to the grilled side, while Brett visited the steamed. Neptune’s is known for their New England Clam chowder, so naturally I had to get a cup. The chowder was quite tasty. Large chunks of potatoes and clam in a savory and creamy soup. After a long surfing session in the cold pacific this would be exactly what you need to warm up. Plus it is right across the street!

For my main entree I went with Neptune’s Fish tacos topped with pineapple slaw, avocado, cilantro and cream sauce.

After the first bite, I was asking “Taylor, why did you leave California ?”. I had forgotten how amazing the combination of fresh fish and fresh California avocado are! There is nothing like a California Avocado when in California. The Avocados you find in North Carolina fail in comparison. It is really hard to explain unless you have tried it. Fish tacos across from the Pacific Ocean, I could not think a a more perfect first meal in California. The only way to fully understand this experience is to come out to Cali and try it for yourself.

Now onto the steamed side.

Brett went with his favorite. 1lb of King Crab Legs.

Those are some big claws! Watching Brett eat these was quite the process.

Brett was quite a pro at taking apart the claws.

After wrestling the meat out of the crab, a little dip into clarified butter is necessary before eating!

About 25 minutes later, this is all that was left. Don’t like King Crab? no problem, Neptune’s also has Dungeness crab, oysters, shrimp, and clams!

Bottom line is that if you are a seafood fan, or just food fan in general, you have to make a trip to Neptune’s Net. Since 1958 it has been serving awesome fresh seafood with an amazing view! The atmosphere is unlike any other restaurant I have ever seen. It is not just eating a meal it is an experience in itself.

Next stop for Brett and I on our western road trip is my old home of Santa Barbara! Look for those posts sporadically over the next few weeks. Tomorrow I am headed to Oxford,MS. Saturday I will be at the Grove on the Campus of Ole Miss for the first stop in the tailgate tour! Next week I will be bringing you what I find while in Oxford! Have a great Labor Day weekend.