My entree choice was the cast iron-seared veal tenderloin with marble potatoes, California blue lake beans, and morel-vegetable vinaigrette. I asked for it cooked medium, and I assume this must be medium for veal.
I can't say I loved this dish. It all kind of tasted the same to me, like hearty vegetables. It was fine, but I felt the dish was missing something. I thought back to AP's buffalo, which had the sweet, tangy gastrique in contrast with the buffalo and vegetables. Something like that would've really made the dish more interesting.
My mom chose the Pacific halibut with house-made shrimp dumpling, stir-fry vegetables, Chinese long beans, and shiso broth.
Halibut is a pretty mild, delicate fish, and it's something that my mom almost always loves. She didn't love this dish. I asked her why, and she said: "It reminds me of Flying Fish."
For the record, we don't have some inexplicable grudge against Flying Fish Cafe. In fact, we both really enjoyed our dinner there later in the week. However, I think she had a point. At Flying Fish, a lot of the dishes feature a mild piece of fish that's practically swimming in sauce/broth and served with some vegetables. Sometimes, the fish is overpowered, and she felt that was the case here. The halibut was nicely cooked, but it seemed to be overwhelmed by the broth and the flavorful shrimp dumpling. I understand that a lot of this is personal taste, and everyone has different preferences, but CG missed the mark for us. Mine should've had a contrasting element, and my mom's should've placed emphasis on the halibut's nice flavor.
Finally, dessert. Here's the menu:
I chose the buckwheat crêpes (a no sugar added option) with cardamom mascarpone, Florida peach compote, and vanilla frozen yogurt. I actually loved the crêpe with the vanilla frozen yogurt and biscuit on top. The filling was nice and creamy, and there was a warm, nutty, exotic flavor from the cardamom and pistachio. However, I hated the peach compote. It wasn't sweet at all, and the peaches were crunchy. I actually think the crêpes would've tasted better without the compote on the plate.
My mom chose the summer strawberry rhubarb cobbler with Tahitian vanilla ice cream. My mom took a bite and took a while to swallow it. I asked her why. "It's doughy," she replied. So I took a bite to try it out.
Immediately I was shocked at the bitterness of it. I've had strawberry rhubarb pies before, and I know that the rhubarb usually adds a really nice flavor if it's cooked and soft enough. But it was just so bitter. Pretty soon, the bitterness faded, but I agreed about the doughiness. It was chewy, almost like eating a mouthful of raw pizza dough. This dish sounded so good, but once again we wished we were at Artist Point enjoying their incredible rendition of a berry cobbler.
Soon after we were done with our dessert choices, we received a special surprise for my mom's birthday.
This was a really nice piece of chocolate cake. The sauces on the plate included a tart raspberry and a sweet, milky chocolate sauce. This was easily the highlight of the second half of our meal.
So California Grill wasn't what we were expecting. Just to provide some background info, California Grill was easily our favorite signature restaurant in 2008. At the beginning of 2011, it was our second favorite, only behind Artist Point. But now, from a food standpoint, it's dropped close to the bottom of our list. In fact, my most recent Brown Derby lunch and all of our Le Cellier signature dinners were better than this meal, meaning California Grill is currently our least favorite signature. Maybe our tastes have just changed, and the restaurant is as good as ever. I can't really explain why we liked the food much less than in the past.
We still enjoyed the evening. Service wasn't rushed at all, the appetizers were nice, and the chocolate cake was a very satisfying finale. But we're not in a rush to return here. Out of all the signature meals, this was the low point in terms of food, and for us, a third dinner at Artist Point would've been more enjoyable. It's hard enough to fit in all of our favorite restaurants as it is, so on the bright side, we now have one less restaurant to worry about.
Wish I could've tried more of everything, but the scallops really were calling my name. A lot of food does that to me 
