Pasta Moon - Half Moon Bay

When I was planning our trip to Half Moon Bay, it became quickly apparent that this was not the culinary capital of California. No Gourmet rated restaurants here. It was a matter of finding the best the area offered and lowering expectations a bit.

Everywhere I turned, TripAdvisor, Frommers, Chowhound and "best of" Internet searches, led me to Pasta Moon. And so that is were we dined our one and only night in Half Moon Bay.

It was good but not great. If I had to go back I would, but I would try other places first. It is in a building called "Tin City, " and occupies the end of a one-story plaza on Main Street. It looks like the owners just kept expanding or taking over rooms that probably used to house other stores. So the bar is in one former store-front. The dining rooms (I think there were three) are also in separate rooms connected by brightly-lit hallways. There was seating in the hallways themselves, and also out on the side-walk. The place was packed. Every table and chair was occupied with a mix of tourists and locals. Clearly this is THE place to dine in Half Moon Bay.

The service was efficient. We were offered sparkling water, and served bread and olive oil quickly after being seated. Each member of the waitstaff had definite opinions about the lighting. When were were seated we mentioned to each other how bright the lights were. Ten minutes later one of the waitstaff dimmed the lights creating a much more intimate ambiance. Not more than two or three minutes later another waitstaff cranked the dimmer back up, flooding us with light. Another waiter then dimmed them. This went on all night and probably would have been annoying if we hadn't had some wine. Instead we found it highly entertaining. Yes, we are amused by small things.

We asked the waiter to pair wines with our courses. He clearly knew his wines but rather than considering how the wine would pair with the food, he locked into what we described we liked for wine. So we ended up with wine that we loved (I didn't get any of the names) but it did not do anything for the food.

We started with Bruschetta, four slices of grilled baguette topped with home-made mozzarella and fresh, extremely ripe and luscious tomatoes. The tomatoes were topped with slivers of toasted basil and good quality olive oil. I've had better - namely at Bresca in Portland, Maine, where a touch of balsamic adds exquisite flavor to the concoction.

I then had the Iacopi Farms Fresh Peas & Fava Beans mixed with Feta Cheese, Lemon Olive Oil and Mint. This was a large course and while the flavors were excellent, the presentation lacked thought. The ingredients were probably mixed together in a large bowl and simply scooped onto a plate. No garnishment, no fresh herbs decorating the perimeter of the plate. It just looked unfinished.

My husband had the Caesar Salad with Imported White Anchovy and Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. It's a good thing he doesn't mind anchovy because it dominated the dressing and the taste of the salad. I couldn't have more than one bite and would have sent it back if I had ordered it.

I should note here that the chef at Pasta Moon, like many Italian chefs, loves to cook with Olive Oil. In this case, however, it was used in over-abundance. Even the plate of my fava bean salad was covered in oil when I finished. While good at first, with the bread and on the bruschetta, it was not necessary to coat every dish with it. It seems like a quick and easy way to add flavor, but the finer chefs understand the use of herbs, vinegars and other accoutrementsto create more interesting dishes.

The highlight of our meals were the entrees. I had fresh, home-made Tagliatelle with jumbo Gulf prawns, sweet corn, cilantro, roasted Piquillo peppers, garlic and lemon ($19). It was fantastic. I love corn and cilantro together and the peppers added the perfect hint of heat to the dish. It was light and delicious. I ate every bite.

My husband was debating the Butternut Squash & Mascarpone Ravioli with brown butter sage and crushed amaretti ($18) but ultimately settled on the Pappardelle with garlic, mushrooms, tomato cream, parmesan, pine nuts and Mascarpone. The pasta was fresh and homemade, cremini mushrooms were sauted and added in place of the Proscuttio that my husband asked to be removed. The sauce was creamy and flavorful. This dish should be reserved for the ulta-hungry as it was very heavy and extremely filling. He could only finish half.

Other entrees included Linguine with Manila clams, pancetta, leeks, garlic, red pepper flakes and clam broth, Risotto with Dayboat Scallops, locally foraged morel mushrooms, spring English peas and parmesan guazzetto and Italian Fish Stew with prawns, scallops, clams, mussels, calamari, tomato-saffron broth, Italian Couscous, parsley and red garlic.

We had hoped to save room for dessert. The tiramisu is supposed to be excellent and the chocolate cheesecake that passed by looked divine. But we were just too full.