Photo by Tony Hertz
	The Olde Port Inn sits at the end of Harford Pier in Port San Luis, a favorite spot for families, couples, locals, and tourists from as far away as Germany and Japan.

By Teresa Mariani

It was the best time I’ve had after being stood up.

The big Kahuna set up a lunch meeting at the Olde Port Inn, just outside Avila Beach in Port San Luis, at the end of Harford Pier. He didn’t show, but called the Inn to send his apologies and say he’d pick up the tab.

What followed was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.

I remember the Inn from way back. It was a place to go for drinks after a romantic starlight walk on Harford Pier. I spent one memorable office Holiday Party there. The fish was always great, but the mood was kind of dark - sort of like an old seafaring, fish and chips place.

Not anymore. The Olde Port Inn has lightened up quite a bit. The beautiful polished hardwood bar is still there. Behind the long bar, you can see the chefs whipping up your food at a stainless-steel grill where the flames jump up and sauces and sauté’s sizzle.

Olde Port has redone the glass-walled ocean-view dining room in shades of bright white. You can sit there and gaze out on Port San Luis and the sailboats and fishing boats zipping around, and gaze across to the hills than roll down to the ocean.

Olde Port has also added a new, glass-walled patio facing the end of the pier. The view is straight into the sunset. At lunch, it was all blue sky and ocean; we sat and watched boys and their grandpas fish of the end of the pier. The patio has ample outdoor heaters to take the chill off the sea breeze; the day I was there, we asked to have them turned off and enjoyed the summer weather.

And then we had lunch, two of the underlings sans Big Kahuna. And it was a marvel.

Both of us Underlings chose one of the daily lunch specials, which ran about $14 per plate (hey, the boss was paying).

I chose the fresh sole in a lemon caper sauce with grilled vegetables and rice pilaf. The sole arrived done to perfection: flaky and light, with a delicious mild lemon caper sauce that managed to be buttery and smooth without being at all heavy.

As perfect as the sole was, my fellow underling’s dish was even better. It was Cajun blackened fresh halibut with mango salsa. I’m always leery of Cajun blackened anything, assuming it’ll wind up on my plate burned on the outside and raw on the inside.

Not at Olde Port. Since my fellow underling and I swapped a few portions, I can say his dish was awesome. The halibut was grilled to perfection: light, flaky and moist, rubbed on the outside with a black and red pepper coating. The sweet mango salsa that topped the halibut was the perfect complement to the hot pepper rub.

The grilled vegetables were also perfect: al dente - not overdone, not underdone - and lightly coated with a mild sweet glaze, again not at all heavy. The pilaf was perfect too.

Both lunches came with fresh sourdough rolls and butter and a wonderful salad of impossibly fresh greens. Two bites into the meal, and we didn’t care that we’d been stood up. We were too busy savoring lunch.

Also on the menu that day was fresh wild salmon. “Most of the salmon in restaurants around here is farm raised salmon, and it’s not quite as good as wild salmon,” our waitress told us. But it was May. Salmon season on the Central Coast. “We have wild salmon for about a month, and it’s excellent.”

Olde Port Inn also has some of the freshest catch around, year round, bought from the fishermen who work out of Port San Luis.

The new menu at the Olde Port Inn is the creation of current chef Matt Beckett, brought on after owner Leonard Cohen took over the operation of Olde Port Inn, from his dad.

Olde Port offers dinner and lunch specials daily, but the standing menu alone is worth the trip to the pier.

Like the fish tacos ($8.95): fresh fish sautéed with cilantro, oregano, olive oil, white wine and garlic, served on soft hot corn tortillas with jack cheese, guacamole and salsa. Or you can get a shrimp quesadilla ($8.95), an oversized flour tortilla filled with shrimp sautéed with onions, served with melted jack cheese and fresh cilantro. For dinner, try the Mexicali Prawn Sauté: large prawns sautéed in olive oil, basil, oregano, sherry and garlic, with tomatoes and feta cheese ($20.95)

Not in the mood for seafood? Olde Port has burgers ($5.95) and fries for those finicky anti-fish people, as well as a great grilled chicken salad, served on a bed of greens with a mustard vinaigrette dressing ($8.95).

Appetizers include giant prawns stuffed with jack cheese and wrapped in bacon ($12.95, and a meal in itself), mushrooms sautéed in butter, garlic, white wine and soy sauce ($6.95).

Traditional fish fans will be happy there too: you can get New England Style Clam Chowder (bowl $4.95, cup $2.95), Cioppino ($23.95), Fish and Chips ($8.95) and even Calamari and Chips ($9.95), Shrimp and Chips ($13.95) and Scallops and Chips ($11.95) or a combo of all of the above.

Most items also come a la carte for lower prices at lunch and dinner. Dinner specials range from $20 to $25, and usually feature either Prime Rib, salmon, swordfish, halibut, sea bass, or duck.

If you have any room for dessert, Olde Port Inn serves Chocolate Mousse, Peach Cobbler, Toffee Cheesecake with hot caramel sauce, and Butterfinger Ice Cream Pie, all homemade ($3.95 - $4.95) as well as espresso and cappuccino.

Olde Port Inn is located at the end of Avila Bay Drive on Harford Pier, Avila Bay Drive. The phone number is 805-595-2515. Restaurant hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day; Saturday night the restaurant is open until 10 p.m. Reservations are recommended, but not required. They do accept most major credit cards, except the Discover Card.

There is limited parking on the Pier next to the restaurant (yes, you can drive on the pier) and always more ample parking in the Port San Luis parking lot at the foot of the pier. It’s a nice walk out the Pier to the restaurant - even if you’re not on a romantic outing.

Olde Port Inn also has a website in development, but it’s not online yet. Check back with us at www.avilabeachca.com for a link to Olde Port when the site is up and running.

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