Welcome To The Sardine Factory!
That’s my wife Alex standing next to me at the entrance to one of the California’s most unique restaurants – made even more iconic by being part of a classic Clint Eastwood film!
The Sardine Factory is located in Monterey California, about 90 minutes south of San Francisco and just north of Carmel…it’s an amazingly beautiful place – here’s proof:
This is the view of Monterey Bay from our hotel room window, and right down the street is the legendary “Cannery Row” as written about by John Steinbeck:
It is home to the one of the world’s greatest Aquariums, and I will take you in there in a moment, but first, back to the unique entrance to the restaurant:
Yep, you walk past this full size fishing trawler to head inside, where you will find this classic bar to the left:
Now why am I showing you a vintage bar?
Well, because it’s a movie star!
This is one of several scenes filmed inside The Sardine Factory for the 1971 thriller “Play Misty For Me”…Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut – they filmed it right there so we had to sit in the same spot as Clint! I’ll have more on this terrific film later…
OK a bit out of focus – but now let’s head inside the restaurant and try some of their food!
The main part of the restaurant sits under a glass dome with a large chandelier, and since we are near the ocean, of course the menu is seafood themed!
Of course we had to start with fresh sardines over a nice salad of arugula, red onion and diced egg…with a drizzle of lemon, they were delicious!
They were smoky, and the olive oil and lemon made a perfect salad dressing as well…and of course, I love clam chowder so there was some of that as well:
Their clam chowder was thick and full of fresh clams – a favorite of mine.
Sesame crust Tuna was next, with a rich orange beurre blanc sauce, and Alex got a very unique dish not seen many places:
Pacific Coast Sand Dabs!
This unique fish has both eyes on top of it small head, and a long, flat body…it is cooked and served as filets, with mixed vegetables, asparagus and mushrooms:
It’s a beautiful dish with a rich, delicious sauce – and the fish has a nutty, meaty flavor:
We were joined by Alex’s Uncle Francis, who bears a strong resembling to Clint Eastwood, and her Aunt Hilary. We had a blast! They live in Carmel, where yes, Eastwood was once Mayor!
Time To Explore “Cannery Row!”
Monterey’s legendary “cannery row” was the setting for John Steinbeck’s novel about workers who canned fish on the docks of Monterey…
At the entrance to the famous Aquarium, you can see classic cans of tinned fish, which were manufactured here for decades…
One of the Aquarium’s signature areas is the Jellyfish exhibit, where they are brilliantly backlit for maximum effect – take a look:
Stunning…Jellyfish are truly magical creatures….but did you know they are also a sustainable, healthy food source?
This is a food blog folks, so while the Jellyfish are cool to look at, they are also a food of the future!
This is a sesame seed jellyfish salad…would you eat it? I have eaten jellyfish and if you click here you can find out why they could help solve our future of food on this planet:
Of course, no Aquarium is complete without fish, and it this case, lots and lots of fish…check this video out!
Alex and I had a blast inside, and you can see more pictures and videos here:
Now, back to The Sardine Factory: this 1971 thriller stars Eastwood as a DJ who picks up a woman at the Sardine Factory bar, and let’s just say it goes downhill for him from there…check out my in-depth look at the film here:
And if you are in Monterey to see The Sardine Factory, why not drive another two hours to see this?
This is the stunning view you get after driving over the bridge to the north side and looking back at the city…then you go have dinner with America’s first ever 3 Michelin Star female Chef!
And yes, my wife Alex and I met her and got this photo! See our incredible night of dining with Dominique Crenn here:
If you like these stories, PLEASE CLICK THE “LIKE” BUTTON BELOW!
Better still, why not sign up to receive emails whenever I post? It’s easy to do, I DO NOT collect any information about you at all, there are absolutely NO ads of any kind, just stories about food, restaurants, food travel and lots of recipes!
You can sign up by clicking on my blog here and see the note on the right!
If you like this story please share on social media – thanks!
Categories: Alcohol And Bars, Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Pictures, Food Travel, Movies, Restaurants, Wacky Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
Oh, I love Monterrey and the Aquarium! Sorry I missed the Sardine Factory, it looks amazing. (On a side note, I did try eating jellyfish once at an authentic Chinese restaurant and was surprised by the texture, not at all what I expected! 🙂
Perhaps we will never see jellyfish on our menus, but like seaweed, it’s a healthy, nutritious and sustainable food source and we are running out of some of those! Thanks for reading!
That jellyfish video is amazing. How cool to eat at the Sardine Factory!
Yes, that is a gorgeous area to visit: Monterey and Carmel just south, the ocean there is truly stunning! Thanks for commenting!
Very cool!
I live the unique theme and it makes sense based
How fun! Great photos!!! I was born in Carmel ! We’d only go into Monterey to the wharf. My mother fished and I talked to seals. Once my French grandmother visited us and we went to the wharf, and she kept yelling, “Oh, voila les phoques!”
HA! Thanks for sharing that!
Wow what an experience the food looked lovely..heading over to read the jelly fish as food post 🙂
Alex’s dish looks really good, John. A fabulous looking restaurant.
Thanks Robbie!
The Steinbeck novel is a classic, Eastwood’s film is great, and grilled sardines are one of my favourite fish meals. I would definitely love to join you on that experience, John!
Best wishes, Pete.
Pete, we’d have a blast! Cheers!