Michael's on Main

Ah, Valentine's Day. Candy, flowers and romantic dinners.
Let's see how Michael's on Main does on the last one.

Located in Soquel, we had been wanting to try Michael's for awhile now. We've heard good things and they had a special Valentine's menu, so we had no reservations about making reservations. It was a prix fixe menu. The place was packed, which was a good sign. A band was playing in the bar area. We were seated in the wine cellar, which I felt was a bit cramped. But we had a late seating, so there wasn't much choice.

Our table had the menu and two glasses of bubbly were brought over first thing. Cheers! After going through the list, My guest chose the asparagus and I got the artichokes for starters. The asparagus were tender and wrapped in slightly salty prosciutto. What a treat! My artichokes were also tender, but the creamy crab dip was not that creamy. I didn't get much crab flavor from the chunky dip. It may have been better served warm. On to the salads...

So they didn't look like much - no big pieces of vegetables peeking through the greens, but the taste was wonderful. The salty bites of cheese, the tang of the dressing, the sweet cranberries. Manifique!

For our main courses, she got the Petite Filet and I tried the Eggplant Napoleon. She said her steak was cooked just right and was very good. She's not a fan of mashed potatoes, so she asked to have rice instead, which they were good to exchange. She also said the pomegranate sauce complimented the steak very well.

My eggplant was breaded, fried and stacked with melted cheese and rich tomato sauce. All of which was delicious. This is the dish to get if you aren't feeling like meat and still want to be full. I felt like I was eating a fancy lasagna, but didn't miss the pasta part at all.

Next up was a small cheese plate before dessert. It had three different cheeses and apricots soaked in port. Stop the presses - these apricots were fabulous! We both decided to stop at BevMo soon and pick up some port to soak our own. A bite of the fruit plus some of the cheese was a very nice flavor indeed.

Now to what you've all been waiting for... at least, the two of us were... the chocolate mousse! Does anyone else get the satisfying feeling from cracking the container of your treat? This one delivered. A crunch from the crack, the smooth and creamy mousse inside and the tart raspberry inside. I carefully cracked my cup into scoops to use on the mousse. Who doesn't love playing with their food?

So this was a special holiday menu, but we figured the food would still be a good indication of what it's like. Great food, service and a good value for the prix fixe price. Michael's on Main will be a place we come back to and try their normal service. They do Valentine's right!

Scores out of 10:
Food: 8
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Price: 8
Overall: 7.5