Which is apt, since the largest cut of meat you can order is
gargantuan.
From the comparably tiny 8-ounce tenderloin to a 16-ounce
T-bone, there's something for every appetite size at Pacific
Prime Rib. The 20-ounce California cut still not enough for you?
For each additional 4 ounces you require, simply add $3.
Prime rib and steak selections can be topped with mushrooms
and onions; herbs and spices; a brandy demi-glaze; or Dungeness
crab, shrimp and béarnaise.
And you don't have to be strictly a meat lover to find
yourself enthralled with the menu. With prawns, oysters, crab
legs and lobster available, if you're a seafood fan, you'll be
pleased. Inventive pasta dishes and chicken entrees round out
the extensive menu.
The lengthy list of appetizers was tempting indeed. Two kinds of
shrimp cocktail, crab cakes, oyster shooters, "drunken
mushroom sauté," Pacific cheese loaf, crab cocktail and a
seafood sampler of an array of these served with a Cajun aioli.
It was difficult to choose.
We began with an appetizer of crab-stuffed mushrooms, six
large mushroom caps stuffed with a rich Dungeness crab and cream
cheese mixture, peppered with the finest mince of garlic and red
and green pepper. Topped with a layer of Parmesan cheese baked
to just the slightest crust, each bite yielded scrumptiously to
the velvety mixture underneath.
I chose the garden salad with my entree, topped with a tangy
Italian dressing — made onsite, like all of their many
choices, from raspberry vinaigrette to French. The homemade
croutons crowning the crisp greens were sublime and made the
simple salad something special.
Asked if he preferred his Caesar salad with or without
anchovies, my husband chose the latter, and still enjoyed the
flavorful, well-coated romaine lettuce, topped with freshly
shaved Parmesan and the slightest lemon flavor.
My Pacific stroganoff offered curls of al dente fettuccine
covered with a rich Dijon brandy cream sauce and layered with
the balancing flavors of shallots, mushrooms and garlic. The
liberal slices of beef were melt-in-your-mouth tender.
My husband's tenderloin was as fine as any I've ever enjoyed.
The USDA choice beef was cooked exactly to his specification of
medium rare, lightly seasoned and simply divine. Easily worthy
of the Iowa State Fair.
For dessert, we made the difficult choice between chocolate
decadence torte, crème brûlée, carrot cake and cheesecake. We
settled on the rich, dense, delectable torte, complete with
fresh whipped cream and a swirl of raspberry and blueberry
sauce.
The atmosphere was charming, the service during the first
half of our meal friendly to a fault and attentive to boot. And
the food? Fabulous.
But as Pacific Prime Rib in Ferndale began to fill up,
service slowed to a crawl, and we were left waiting more than 25
minutes from the time our shared dessert plate was bare until
the check was placed in front of us. Our moods darkened somewhat
with the decline in service.
I can't really blame our server. He was doing the best he
could — teamed with only one other server and
a bustling busperson — to take care of a growing crowd of
patrons in the large dining room. Before he became overextended,
he had been informative and friendly. He even handled the
problem of a filthy knife on the freshly set table with aplomb,
whisking it away and replacing it in a flash and with a
contagious laugh.
But the annoyances didn't end with the exceptionally long
wait for the check. A special "twilight" menu had been
given to us at the beginning of the meal, denoting my Pacific
stroganoff at a special price, but we were charged the regular
$14.99. Our crab-stuffed mushrooms also came to a higher price
than had been stated on the regular menu.
I didn't catch the error before we paid because, after about
20 minutes of looking into our empty coffee cups, we had
resorted to setting our credit card on the edge of the table as
a hint that we were more than ready to settle up. When our
waiter finally brought the bill, I simply handed the card over
without looking at the check. Unfortunately, I didn't realize
the mistakes until after we paid.
On our way out, I stopped our server to ask about the
inconsistencies. He was harried and didn't seem to believe that
we had been overcharged. I explained the problem in more detail
until he was able to see the errors.
He finally offered to fix it, but again in a very rushed
manner, explaining that he would have to void our first
transaction, then re-ring the entire order.
Remembering the length of time it took to pay the bill the
first time, I declined and we beat a quick retreat. A $4 mistake
just wasn't worth the mounting frustration. Next time — and there will be a next time, because
the food was just too good not to return — I'll examine the bill closely before
handing over my credit card.
