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November 2024 by Olivier Chalouhi
Harbor House has been one of the best meals that both my wife and I have had, if not possibly the best. We've both been to multiple 3 Michelin star restaurants, and we definitely felt that the harbor house was up there. In addition the setting is amazing and truly unique.
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November 2024 by Solidor Sharp
Highly recommended ??
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October 2024 by Jake Paterson
I’ve eaten at a lot of Michelin restaurants, in fact when I ate here I was on my way down the coast trying a bunch of them.
This was by far the most disappointing $500+ lunch for two that I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t have even paid $50 in hindsight. The service was fantastic, but nothing could make up for kale salad with generic green goddess sauce. Sausage was the main course and it was cooked so….mildly?
I ate here back in August of 2024, and recently I found myself back on the coast line, and was reminded of how disappointing this meal was.
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October 2024 by Yufei Chen
Went there for dinner experience. Worst Michelin experience ever.
1. My friend and I went there for dinner on Sept 8 and we both had bad food poisoning like symptoms for next 2 days. My symptom even included fever.
Not sure why it used to have so many good reviews thus our expectation were high.
2. My palm was pierced with a wooden piece from their table top just by sliding my hand. I told them my palm was pierced by their table and they just said sorry but we are unable to find you a tweezer. I asked if they can get me any tools I can use they refused to provide me any. Then I asked how I can get it out, they responded why don't you go to the restroom and try to pull it out by urself? I was pretty upset by how they handle this event which is definitely they fault. The only help I got is alcoholic wipe.
Please be careful for their food quality & table quality...
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September 2024 by Richard W
Fantastic meal. One of my favorite dining experiences ever. Harbor House is a remote destination dining worth the special journey. Both the tasting menu and the wine pairing delivered everything expected of that price point. It felt better than the majority of two stars. I dined at Singlethread the following day and found the meal at Harbor House to be so much better. The cliffside location and views are just the cherry on top.
The cooking style. Harbor House achieves a resounding clarity of flavors that defies reason. Many restaurants are Japanese-influenced in a performative and aesthetic way, but Harbor House fully embodies the “subtractive” cooking philosophy of Japanese fine dining. Remove distractions. Make high-quality ingredients taste more like themselves. It culminated in the chicken dish, which sat relatively unadorned but tasted like the essence of ten chickens. That’s all it needed to do. It’s the kind of dish I’ll remember for a lifetime.
Harbor House believes true luxury comes from ingredients you can’t get elsewhere, as well as the time and effort poured wholeheartedly into each dish. Their dishes celebrate the local terroir: incredibly fresh seafood and seasonings foraged from the cove below the inn. The kohlrabi took over eight hours of cooking time to pack that much flavor into it. This is true cuisine. Many places cop out by hiding behind “luxury ingredients”. A wagyu tartare topped with uni, truffle, and caviar would elicit an eye roll from me. You are safe from such uninspired cooking here at Harbor House.
The wine pairing was extremely well thought-out and full of personality. I’m wary of wine pairings because they’re often so lazy, cookie-cutter, and overpriced. Here, I felt I got my money’s worth. I got to try so many interesting wines (and a sake) with non-standard flavor profiles.
The service and atmosphere were welcoming and elegant. I felt so well taken care of. It was beyond the service of a restaurant. It was the hospitality of a lodging that strives to be one of the best.
Overall, one of the strongest recommends I can give. If you’re a tourist visiting California, make Harbor House part of your itinerary and follow it up with Mendocino, one of the most beautiful towns in existence.
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September 2024 by LIGHT night
The menu is way overpriced, the food is stuffy and snobby. There are times when you leave the overly dramatic trendy
menu/presentation in the place you wanted to escape from. This is one of those times.
To the Chef, This is not a place for seeking stars, this is a place far greater than that and your interpretation of this has failed. I am not impressed nor will I make a return. What a disappointment. 3 stars only because of the Chefs ideas and execution.
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September 2024 by Sadie LoGerfo-Olsen
Stunning views, beautiful room, friendly and helpful staff, and delicious dinner. As Michelin would say, this is worth a detour. But anyone who visits knows this is actually worth a special journey.
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September 2024 by R H
Stayed and dined in April 2024. I don't write many reviews, but the experience still disappoints and haunts me.
Been there multiple times before and it always had a nice cozy feel. Not this time. As others have noted, the staff has taken over the property. They were right outside our Redwood room having meetings on multiple occasions. Then, as we were trying to enjoy the incredible view right after our arrival, the entire arrogant staff was outside eating. I thought it would be impossible to tarnish the beauty, but they even succeeded at that.
We were yelled at for walking through the restaurant to get to the deck while just two guests were having lunch. Excuse me? This is still a small inn with very few guests who did not care about us.
The food was terrible. We have been to a lot of truly great restaurants. The star is because it is an oddity of seaweed and things not normally on a menu. None of what we had was delicious or satisfying in any way. Oh, the bread was good, but certainly not worth the trip for that. Again, great shock value and use of ingredients not suitable for human consumption, but great for social media. Horrific textures/smells and I can still recall choking on lichen while sitting in a room filled with soot from nasty "sustainable" home-made candles.
The chef seemed to enjoy the nightly stalking from the shadows of the living room and watching guests on the screen in the kitchen showing images from the numerous cameras in the dining room.
We waited for years to return while the property was being renovated. You ruined a gem and you all are the rudest, most inconsiderate staff or any place I have been in the world. The managers seem to have forgotten they are there for us, not the other way around. Stay and dine anywhere else.
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September 2024 by Joshua Crumpton
The food was amazing, the service was stellar and the atmosphere was perfect! Even the music was top notch. I was worried that a lunch tasting menu would leave me feeling short changed but it was beyond expectations. I hope to make it back for dinner some day to get the full experience. Thank you for everything!
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August 2024 by Matt Repicky
Just had a very lovely overnight stay at Harbor House, including eating lunch in their restaurant. The inn staff were all very nice + helpful, although a little stiff and formal. My room (Seaview) had incredible views and was very spacious. Fire pits on the property were a great way to unwind with a glass of wine and breakfast served in the room was fantastic. Overall recommend checking out Harbor House for both a weekend stay and a meal!
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August 2024 by A M
We recently stayed in a room located in the lobby, where we expected to hear lobby / restaurant traffic, as well as street noise until a certain hour. What we did not expect was for a group of people, including the executive chef, to sit in the lobby conversing well beyond the published "quiet hours" with no regard for guests staying in adjacent rooms. It wasn't until we approached the group that they finally disbanded and took their conversation elsewhere. We attempted to contact the after hours number to report the issue, but no one answered. It felt like we were staying in a dormitory, rather than an inn or hotel touting any level of service.
If you are considering a visit here, please be aware of the disconnect between the gaps in hospitality versus what should be expected at this price point, so you will not be disappointed.
Note: the four stars for service were primarily for the meal servers.
Rooms: We stayed in the Greenwood room, which was typical of one that you would find at a moderate bed and breakfast - nothing special.
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August 2024 by Dominic Ginder
We felt the courses could have benefited from more of a variety of flavors over the culinary journey. The execution of the dishes was top notch however, and the service was exemplary; absolutely exceptional. Our sommelier, Jason, was extraordinary helpful. Leave the beverage decisions in his hands and you will not be disappointed.
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August 2024 by Phyllis Z
Had dinner here for birthday celebration. Thoughtfully locally sourced ingredients, impeccable presentation, friendly and professional staff. The garden is beautiful and you can take a walk outside even during your meal service. Two stars well deserved!
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August 2024 by bfrymire
We ate at the restaurant and it was excellent. As it should be, being a Michelin star restaurant. Food was superb. Service above par and great grounds. Can't praise it enough.
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July 2024 by Tom Pocock
The location is stunning, the property boasts a fabulous dining room overlooking the ocean. The staff were very friendly and made us feel most welcome.
The only thing that was slightly disappointing was the food (admittedly we stopped for a lunch and not a full dinner). On a positive note the ingredients were fresh and the dishes well crafted. However the menu choice was underwhelming, especially considering the restaurants 2 star rating. The first course was a large green salad, probably the least interesting tasting course I've ever had, and didn't really match the fine dining experience.
I would also warn that the vegetarian option was the meat option with the meat replaced with a mushroom, not overly creative and a bit of a letdown for an establishment with this reputation. This made the vegetarian in our party feel like an afterthought. We had notified the restaurant of this dietary requirement well in advance so it wasn't sprung on them last minute.
Overall we enjoyed the experience but feel like it didn't quite add up to the expectations we had from the reviews and the ratings.
