A trim, 103-year-old, red brick house in downtown Pacific Grove is the deceptively modest setting for some of the most adroit cooking on the Monterey Peninsula. It offers a handful of humble-sounding dishes at breakfast and lunch—items such as Irish oatmeal, Belgian waffles, pastries, a mixed green salad, roast beef on sourdough, a BLT, and eggs any way you like them as long as they’re scrambled. Sit in one of the snug, country cottage-style dining rooms or enjoy the ocean breezes on the porch with its smattering of wicker chairs and tables for two. Often local salmon or other Monterey Bay seafood is on the menu, and the crab cakes are to die for, full of succulent crab and not much else. Locals love it here and often have a favorite menu item they always order. Perfectly cooked, every dish demonstrates the kitchen’s insistence on first-rate ingredients—heck, even the toast and jam tastes like a gourmet treat. On the sidewalk outside there is a large, round embedded stone engraved with the word JOY. When you take your first bite you will see why. Cash only; breakfast Sat-Sun, lunch, dinner Tues-Sun; beer and wine; reservations recommended; at 19th St.