Harpoon Henry's
34555 Golden Lantern
Dana Point, CA 92629
I just got back from vacation and had the weekend off to get back into the groove of things. So what was on the agenda for a rare weekend off? We were meeting our families at Harpoon Henry's for food, drinks, and Phil Shane.
Phil Shane has been around for as long as I can remember. He has played almost everywhere in the OC. He has played the House of Blues, La Cave, The Fling, and Original Mike's, among countless others. He performs covers of Roy Orbison, Elvis, Tom Jones, and Neil Diamond. His audience ranges in age from 21 to 81, and his vibrant energy and great personality keep people coming back for more. This night he is at Harpoon Henry's, so I took this opportunity to blog about the food. Let's see if it will be music to our ears, or create a sour note.
We were sitting in the bar, so we ordered all of the following items off of the bar menu. First up we had the Nachos Grande. This was a big mound of tortilla chips, with guacamole, cheese, refried beans, sour cream, and salsa. They were your basic nachos, but they tasted pretty good. I wish they had the option of adding meat to these because that would have made these better. The $9.95 price tag for this seems a little steep at first, but this could easily feed three to four adults, (or one of me).
Sorry I did not get a picture of this plate before we started digging into it. This is the Calamari Strips. I thought that this was a different way of preparing calamari, it almost did not seem like calamari. Pounded thin, and rolled out in strips. The taste? Nothing to write home about.
Crab and Shrimp Wontons were next up for us. These were also filled with cream cheese, green onion, and ginger. I liked the sweet sauce that was served with this. The wontons themselves were kind of tasteless. I would think with all of the big flavors included in this dish, it would burst with flavor, but it was more of a flavor dud.
Dennis, the health nut among us, chose to get the Seafood Salad. This salad featured shrimp, calamari, scallops, tomatoes, and avocados. I did not get a chance to try this salad, but it got no complaints from Dennis. It was a fresh-looking salad, but the $16.95 price tag for this seemed a bit excessive.
Lynn went the soup route for her choice, she had a cup of Clam Chowder. It was a cold night out, and the soup tasted fine. I thought that it was a little saltier than I would have liked, and the clams were not in abundance here.
I ordered the Coconut Shrimp. This came with five very big shrimp. They were heavily breaded, and that detracted from the shrimp flavor. The orange mango sauce was very sweet and helped counteract the breading. These reminded me of the mediocre coconut shrimp that I had at the Jolly Roger awhile back, not too impressed.
Harpoon Henry's has an old school feel to it. It is a restaurant that has seen better days. The decor seems dated, and the clientele is heavily populated by gray hairs. The food was okay, but nothing really stood out as fantastic. Phil was his usual energetic self. He started his show at seven and was not done yet as we headed for the door at 11:30, (all this with no break mind you). If you get a chance to see him play, you will not be disappointed. To see where he is playing next, click here to get to his website: http://www.philshane.com/
For more information on Harpoon Henry's, click here: http://harpoonhenrys.com/
