RESTAURANT REVIEW:

A great view does not a restaurant make, but fortunately that is only one of the many splendid accouterments Spark Woodfire Grill offers diners.

The steakhouse has been atop a building on the corner of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway since 2002 and Chef/partner Tom Shields and his wife, Kathleen, were very fortunate in the location.

There is indoor and outdoor seating and the dining alfresco is heated in the colder months. The view is great with sight lines up and down the beach, including the Huntington Beach Pier, with nothing to obscure the view.

The street noise is minimal and it is an ideal place to eat, especially in the summer at sunset.

The only negative is the lighting is sparse, so reading the menu can be a challenge.

Our waitress must have encountered this problem before because she whipped out a lighted magnifying glass, which helped immensely.

Indoors is far more elegantly decorated than outdoors. Wood floors, cherry-wood table and chairs, and soft lightning give the interior eating area a comfortable, warm atmosphere.

My friend who went with me does not drink, but I took advantage of sampling one of the about 50 martinis they serve. The only thing more extensive is the restaurant’s wine list.

I liked the variety of the wine selections. Some of the safer, more recognizable names were there, such as Coppola, Beringer and Stag’s Leap, but there some more daring choices. Justin Vineyards, a Paso Robles winery that I think is very underrated is on the list, as is Rodney Strong, one of Sonoma County’s largest wineries.

The appetizers were standard and nothing too exhilarating, though I would recommend the roasted corn chowder.

If they are serving the cream garlic soup, order that. It is a special I would lobby to add to the regular menu. It is rich, like a bisque, and filled with roasted garlic. It was a true treat.

My friend had a chopped green salad, which had a healthy amount of mixed greens, tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, onions and croutons tossed with balsamic dressing. He added the apple wood smoked bacon. It is one of three additions that can be put on salads, the others being grilled chicken breast or grilled shrimp.

Steak is not my first choice for an entrée, so I went with the restaurant’s hickory-grilled chicken breast. It is served with Sonoma goat cheese and atop a cushion of polenta and caramelized onions.

The chicken breast is moist, but the cheese was hard to find with the polenta, which I thought was good, but would have rather had on the side.

Instead of the chicken, I would recommend the baby back ribs. The Iowa ribs are slow-cooked and available in either a half or full rack. They are served with the restaurant’s special barbecue sauce and would be a great alternative to red meat.

My friend came for steak and began drooling over the rib eye. All of the meat is hand cut, prime and certified Angus beef that is aged for a minimum of 28 days.

The meat is cooked in the kitchen’s 1,600-degree steak broiler, which gives the steaks an incredibly delicious flavor.

The rib eye is one of five steaks Spark offers, the others being porterhouse, New York Strip, pepper steak and filet mignon. They also offer special steaks nightly.

A nice addition to the meat is having bleu cheese served atop the steak. That is a fantastic way to add to the already flavorful entrée.

A side dish of button mushrooms is also an option.

Though I am not a fan of separate side dishes, believing the restaurant should make them available with entrees, rather than serving it ala carte, I did find the macaroni and cheese with lobster really tasty. The bite-size lobster was plentiful and a nice mix with the cheesy dish.

Spark Woodfire Grill is one of the few upscale places in Huntington Beach and with the view and ambience, a treat that should be taken advantage of occasionally.

Address: 300 Pacific Coast Hwy., Suite 202, Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 960-0996

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Specialty dish: Porterhouse steak

Alcohol served: Full bar and extensive wine list

Dress: Dressy

Family friendly: Atmosphere is more for adults, but a child’s menu is available

Credit cards accepted: Visa, MasterCard and American Express

Rating: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants for the Independent.