Tom Douglas

Cannon Beach, Oregon/ by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor

Frank and I spent the weekend in beautiful Cannon Beach, Oregon (Haystack Rock, photo right).   Before we left, Amy Richardson (Catering) mentioned that the last time she visited Cannon Beach, she conducted a personal fish and chips tasting, determined to find the best fish and chips in the area. I wanted to follow Amy’s lead, but as a middle-aged person, I only ate fish and chips at two places (that’s a lot of fried food!)

The Driftwood Inn has the old fashioned ambiance of a seaside town’s “fancy” restaurant, with a dark cocktail lounge and a pleasant outdoor patio with plastic chairs and tables where we were seated for lunch.  The menu held several inviting options, like pan fried oyster sandwich or sauteed Dungeness crab on an English muffin with melted cheddar.  But with my mission in mind, I chose the fish and chips, plus a cup of clam chowder.  I ordered the $14.95 version “for small appetites.”  This was a pretty big plateful with 3 big pieces of fried halibut plus french fries.  (The $18.95 dinner version may have had more fish; it also came with more sides including soup and salad and garlic bread.)

The clam chowder, which came with a packet of oyster crackers, was very good- not too thick and with a nice clammy flavor.  The halibut was beautifully moist, not at all overcooked.  The fried batter coating however, got a big soggy after a few minutes.  The fries were just ok. The tartar sauce was excellent- well balanced flavor with bits of pickle.  All in all, pretty good.

The next fish and chips meal was at Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill for dinner. Lumberyard has more of a modern, upscale feel to it than Driftwood Inn, though it’s very casual.  Fish and Chips cost $18.95 here and you have a choice of halibut or salmon.  I chose halibut and got 4 large chunks plus a mountain of fries and a side of coleslaw.  (I know $18.95 is a lot for fish and chips- Cannon Beach isn’t cheap.  But I must say given the quality and quantity of the fish, I didn’t think it was unfair.)  Again, the fish was very moist and tasty.  The coating was thin and very crisp- and stayed miraculously crisp throughout the meal.  The fries were also crisp and good.  The tartar sauce was too sweet and didn’t seem to have any diced pickle or onions.  The coleslaw was exactly the kind that I grew up with in Chicagoland delis- the cabbage cut not too thick and not too thin and flecked with carrot.  The coleslaw dressing was creamy, white, slightly sweet, not too thick, pooling in a white puddle in the bottom of the dish. The slaw was nostalgically familiar and therefore completely satisfying to me.  So, overall, I have to give Lumberyard the edge on fish and chips.

If we’re just talking about the French fries though, the best were the ones I ate with a cheeseburger at the Spar in Olympia on the way to Oregon.  The Spar, now owned by McMenamins,  is a classic Olympia institution with no atmosphere except the display of antique cigar boxes.  My burger was tasty and about what I expected but the fries- spectacular!  Skin-on, hot and crisp, fried in clean oil, they tasted like potatoes.  The McMenamins’ beer was really good too.

September 28th, 2009