On Christmas Day, we went to downtown San Jose to catch a movie. Coming out, we were a bit hungry. But there weren’t many restaurants open on Christmas Day down there. The only two we found within a couple of blocks of the theater was McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood, and The Grill. Both are on the $$$ side but we weren’t feeling like meat so we chose M&S.

The place was busy but we were seated right away. Their menu was simple – a large page of mostly seafood. Annie went for the skewer of grilled shrimp and scallop while I went for the cedar plank salmon.

Annie’s seafood came to her quite underdone. The scallops were almost like sushi and the shrimp were nearly inedible. The mashed potatoes were over-mashed and gummy, and the blueberry sauce didn’t work with the dish.

My cedar plank salmon came out okay but it needed salt. I also did not care for the blueberry sauce.

We complained to the waiter about the shrimp and scallop dish but we declined to have them take it and cook it some more. Afraid it might come back with some “spitial sauce”. Fortunately, the manager comped us that dish.

For a fine restaurant like this, I would expect better dishes. But the past two times we’ve been there, I was underwhelmed. To pay so much for unspectacular food is discouraging. We may go back, but I’m not in any hurry.

Aloha, Nate