Saturday, August 27, 2016

Cindy's Waterfront at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

The last weekend in July, we met our friends and former neighbors from Orlando at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.


I did some research before we went, and found out that there are two restaurants inside the aquarium - the Cafe, a counter service restaurant, and Cindy's Waterfront, a table service restaurant.  The Cafe menu says that they have gluten free options, but I thought it might be more relaxing, and safer when it comes to cross contamination, if we ate at Cindy's Waterfront.


Gluten free options are not marked on the menu at Cindy's Waterfront, but our server was extremely knowledgeable about what was safe for me to order.  Some options I remember her mentioning are the stone fruit, Caesar salad (no croutons), curry chicken salad, summer panzanella (no bread), grilled zucchini and avocado tostada, and Manila clams (no bread).


My husband and I both ordered one of the specials of the day - salmon with tomato and squash risotto.  The salmon was incredible, and we both agreed that it was better than any of the salmon we ate on our trip to Alaska and Vancouver this summer.  Because of how the salmon was presented, and because the skin looked so perfectly crispy, we decided to eat it, which we had never done before.  The skin took this already amazing salmon to the next level, and I am so glad we decided to try it.  The risotto it was served with was delicious as well.


My friend Lorraine enjoyed the grilled zucchini and avocado tostada with citrus black beans, shaved cabbage, salsa verde, crema, and feta, another gluten free option at Cindy's Waterfront.


Before we left Monterey, we had frozen yogurt at Pinkberry, which is about a block away from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.


I was excited to see that they were serving two of my favorite gluten free flavors that day, tart pear and tart pomegranate.  Pinkberry has been our favorite frozen yogurt shop for years, and we never miss an opportunity to stop in when we see one during our travels.  You can view their store locator here.  If you want to know if one of their flavors is gluten free, just click on it on their online menu.


The Monterey Bay Aquarium is definitely worth a visit.  I was probably most impressed by their incredible collection of jellyfish, and their leopard sharks.


What are your favorite spots for gluten free dining in Monterey, California?

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