(831) 659-4444
Parking: parking lot
Hours: Tues-Sun 11am - 2:15, 5pm until closing
http://www.caferusticacarmel.com/
Last Visited: 2007
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
At first, I thought I had passed the restaurant. Located in Carmel Valley Village, you drive through the gravel parking lot (at least that's how it was during my visit) and drive past the pottery stores and other shops. Then you see a sign above a patio area and umbrellas that says Cafe Rustica. The patio is divided from the parking lot by trellis work.
The atmosphere is very warm and inviting with lots of wood in the decor. This morning, the sun had just started to stream into the windows creating comfortable lighting.- Butter Lettuce Salad - Butter lettuce is lightly dressed with a champagne and extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette. The salad is served with cherry tomatoes and garnished with chopped chives. The vegetables were very fresh and nicely dressed. The flavors were just right - not too tart. The portion was small for the price, but the quality of the vegetables were good. $6.75
- Housemade Country Soup - Mushroom soup was the special for the day. As you can see, it comes in a cup. The soup was rich and delicious - you only wish you could have more. Again, slightly expensive for the quantity, but see the note on the bottom about pricing. $6.75- Flammekueche - Alsatian -Diced prosciutto, onions, fresh thyme, creme fraiche top a thin crust pizza dough that is baked in a wood oven. The combination of ingredients are very good together and the pizza is fine. It wasn't the best pizza I've ever had, but it was good. $12.75
Overall, the food was pretty good although the portions were small for the price. Lowering the price by $1 to $2 would be more reasonable. The place was getting fairly busy throughout the lunch period, and service was not particularly attentive. The pizza took a while to arrive at the table after the first courses and I noticed that some tables got better service than we did.
I would go to Cafe Rustica if I was in the area, but probably wouldn't make a special trip . Based on this visit, there were opportunities for improvement that if addressed, could make this a really terrific place to go for comforting food.
A look at the menu posted on their website shows that pricing has changed. The soup costs less now in 2011 than in 2007. The salad and pizza are slightly more, but still very reasonable increases (less than a dollar over several years).
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