John Pisto's Whaling Station

we had a crab cake, filet mingon, stuffed salmon and tira misu. the food was nicely cooked, but I think the flavors/seasoning were very mild

Short and to the point is what I'm going to be. 2nd worst restaurant experience in 4 months. I'm mean if you like atmosphere and service go here. If you like food to taste good you might want to skip this joint.

We went in for appetizers and wine. Everything sounded good on the menu so we ordered the Fire Roasted Gilroy Garlic, Table Side Caesar Salad, Crab Cakes, Bacon Wrapped Scallops and French Onion Soup.

Garlic heads were steamed after roasting?  Actually wasn't to bad but not great and came with garlic bread?

Table side caesar was gross. Way to much dressing and had packaged croutons with powdered parmaesan. Not to mention wasn't a creamy dressing.

French onion soup was tasteless with to much beef stalk and no bubbling cheese and a nasty soaked piece of bread in the soup.

Crabcakes weren't even crab I don't think. They were mixed with crepe batter or something. Underneath the cakes were a medley of nasty old tasting tomatoes. All around distgusting, not even edible.

Bacon wrapped scallops barely had bacon wrapped around them. Scallops were grilled and over cooked and presentation was non-existant. The grilled corn purée? was decent however but.........I would hate to have ordered an entree.

I can't say I'll ever go back.

I really enjoyed my experience at the Whaling Station.

We started off with the grilled sardines- they are served blackened in a visually appealing "stack" with a tomato-cream base.  I've never had sardines before and these were quite tasty- the bones peeled out easily and they were very flavorful and not too fishy.  Hard to avoid all the bones though!

We got served a complimentary appetizer of artichoke hearts- these were okay but I'm not sure I loved the mayonnaise base of the sauce.  Still, it was a pleasant surprise to be offered these.

We had the heirloom tomato salad with mozzarella (the tomatoes are in peak season, apparently) that was fantastic.  Tomatoes were perfectly ripe, the mozzarella tasted very fresh, with just enough salt.

I had the grilled scallops, wrapped in bacon and served over fettucine.  The scallops were cooked perfectly- they were soooo good.  The bacon-wrap was a bit weak, but since the scallops were so good alone it didn't matter too much.  I wish I had been given 4 scallops rather than 3 and less pasta, but I was so full at that point it didn't matter too much.

My other dining companions had the swordfish- which he said was very flavorful but somewhat overcooked- and the lobster fettucine, which I didn't try but my friend seemed to like.  Overall though, I was pleased with my choice of the scallops.

The prices, though a bit expensive, were reasonable for what we were served- portions are just right, and they don't skimp.