The Crab Cakes at Monterey Bay Are Worth the Elevator Ride

Mount Washington restaurants have a problem, and everybody who lives here knows it: the view is so good that the kitchen doesn't have to be. You can serve a mediocre piece of salmon to somebody looking at the Point and they will still tell their friends they had a lovely evening.

Monterey Bay is up there with the rest of them, on the ninth floor of an apartment building on Grandview, reached by an elevator that feels like it's taking you somewhere private. And it's the one where I'd argue the food actually holds its own against the window.

Order the crab cakes

That's the article, really. The signature crab cakes come as a pair with a house rémoulade, and they're the reason to make the drive.

What makes them work is what isn't in them. There's very little filler. It's lump crab held together by the minimum required, seared so the outside goes properly brown while the inside stays loose and sweet. Most kitchens use breadcrumb as insurance. This one doesn't, and it takes actual confidence to plate something that could fall apart if you got the sear wrong.

The rémoulade is doing supporting work, not covering anything up. That's the tell.

Know what you're paying

They are not cheap. The signature preparation runs $50, and you can pair a single cake with shrimp, scallops or lobster if you'd rather spread the money around. It is priced like a special-occasion plate because that's what it is.

I'd rather pay it here than pay slightly less somewhere else on Grandview and spend the meal wishing I'd stayed home. If you're going up the hill anyway, go where the kitchen is trying.

The view, briefly

Yes, it's the best skyline in America and yes you should ask for a window when you book. Sunset is the move — the city switches on underneath you over the course of a first course.

But here's the thing I actually want to say: you can get that view from a dozen places up here, several of them for half the money. What you can't get elsewhere on this street is a crab cake that would still be good if you ate it in a windowless basement.

Practical notes

Dinner only — doors at 4:30, later close on Friday and Saturday. Book ahead for a window table, and go earlier in the week if you want the room to be quiet enough to talk in.

The verdict

Go for the crab cakes, stay for the sunset, and be clear-eyed that you're paying for both. It's the rare Mount Washington room where the food isn't just an accessory to the glass.