HUGE Portions in Laguna Beach

This past weekend I went down to Orange County for a wedding and to see my dad. On Friday we went to lunch at the Montage Resort, this super fancy place on the beach right off PCH (Pacific Coast Highway-1). We sat outside on the patio at their restaurant Mosaic and enjoyed a lovely, and pricey, lunch.

I ordered the gazpacho with crab and my dad and I shared the fish tacos. The most incredible part of this meal was the huge and completely bizarre, in my opinion, choice of dishes the restaurant used. My gazpacho came in a bowl that was nestled in another larger bowl filled with ice.
The gazpacho was good but missing something. Perhaps a little acid, or a little zing. My dad on the other hand made the right order. He got their clam chowder which was absolutely incredible. I mean, the best clam chowder I've ever had.
It was full of chunks and not too heavy or fake cream tasting. I think that there is so much bad clam chowder out there that I don't even consider ordering it anymore. I figure it's not worth the calories, and the prospective belly ache for the lactose intolerant me. But I changed my mind with one, or ten, sorry Dad, bites of this.
We also shared fish tacos.

One for each of us. These were delicious as well, I thought I would miss out on the salsa, but the flavors of the beans and guacamole really made the taco. The meal was a success I would say, but I cannot imagine ever spending $75 on lunch again. Yes, the restaurant's lunch options were more expensive than most places' dinner entrees. Welcome to touristville. And the bowls were ridiculous. You can't see the size vey well in the pictures, but I do not enjoy eating at a restaurant where I am embarrassed by my portion size. Chevy's always does this as well, they lay out this huge platter and you feel a bit sheepish at the amount of food that you might consume. I suppose this is the American way though.
Another photo of Laguna.