Buster's Beach House opened nine months ago in a beautiful waterfront location at Seaport Village. The freestanding restaurant, formerly occupied by Jolly Roger, is owned by Aloha Restaurants out of Irvine, operators of The Cannery Restaurants and Jolly Roger Restaurants. Buster's Beach House is the company’s first of a new, beachy concept.
    The atmosphere is very casual. It is sorta like TGI Fridays goes to Gilligan's Island. Cane and rattan furniture, wooden floors and a palapa-style bar gave me the feeling of being on a vacation with Thurston Howell III. Authentic wooden surfboards and other items from the genuine, non-Beach Boys surf scene era are everywhere. The Seaport Village location, along with the "Hurricane" rum drink I sipped while waiting for my table, did wonders to help me forget that I do actually live in San Diego.
    We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and had to wait just a few minutes as the place was packed. We adults enjoyed choosing from quite a selection of house-flavored rum drinks while the kids were thrilled with the great big umbrella-ed smoothies.
    The menu is large, with playful versions of easy-to-order, easy-to-eat items. It would be hard to find anyone who could not find something that excited them. Choices like "Baja Lobster Quesadilla," "Kilauea Onion Rings with Volcanic BBQ Hot Sauce" and "Barbados Crab Cakes" made ordering an appetizer a problem only because they all sounded so good.
    In addition to the "Barbados Crab Cakes"($8.95), we had an order of the "Fried Calamari"($8.95). It is dusted in corn meal and sesame seeds (which gives it a nice nutty little crunch) and is presented in a bamboo steamer along with a trio of dipping sauces; a citrus tartar, a cilantro scallion mayo and what they call Bloody Mary cocktail sauce. The cilantro-scallion mayo was my favorite, of course.
    Two items I had a hard time not ordering were the "Corn and Clam Chowder" ($4.95), because I am a fool for anything with corn, and the "Molokai Pizza" ($8.95). It is made with fresh pineapple, luau pork (sweet and tender) along with sweet Maui onions.
    I recommend the "Macadamia Nut Crusted Chicken" ($14.95). It is finished with a ginger-soy glaze, garnished with what they call Hawaiian chutney (a spicy mango-pineapple relish) and served over garlic mashed potatoes. It is a well thought-out dish, capably prepared and nicely presented.
    My dining partner, Sam, chose one of the fresh fish specials, "Sesame-Crusted Ono" ($16.95). It was served with a sweet soy-ginger sauce over jasmine coconut rice with sautéed vegetables. It was a tad overcooked, but had a good flavor and again the presentation was wonderful.
    The kids (who were already full from their smoothies and appetizers) each ordered from the children's menu. Samuel ordered the "Pasta Swirls" and Rachel had the "Buster's Burger." When I asked them to score their dinner on a scale of 1 to 10 Rachel quickly blurted out 8. Samuel, who has been learning to multiply and divide fractions this quarter, after much calculation, gave it a 10 and 13/15ths.
    Myself, for a great family dinner out, I give it somewhere in between.

— Terryl Gavre