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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1981)
joe cone tip of the tongue On Sunday mornings after we've devoured the color Pay less insert and the funnies and have begun desperately picking the bones of the Register-Guard looking for a little nourishing print, we usually wind up at the entertainment ads, hoping for salvation And in recent weeks, with all the restaurant ads, we haven't been denied Now, cheek to jowl with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie ad may not be the most appetizing place to consider one's Sunday dining options But one thing you can say about the eatery marquees — they're not pulling any punches either Notice the number of reastau rant coupons and special dinner discounts recently7 The reason isn’t hard to find The restaurant business — especially non-fast foods — has been in a slight decline on a national basis, and based on recent local advertis ing. Eugene-area restaurants are feeling inflation's pinch as well So there we were Sunday morning, bundled in our bath robes, hulking over our tea cups, once again noticing the special dinner deal at the North Bank restaurant Two snapper dinners tor $10 95 I spent the rest of the after noon agonizing about not hav ing Topsiders to wear for the occasion But along about 7 p m sartorial inhibitions as well as any memories of breakfast had vanished, and we mate rialized at the door of the fashionable North Bank The North Bank certainly aims to please Inside, the year-old restaurant s open dining room is arranged on several levels, all of them offering a view of the Willamette River |ust down stream from the Ferry Street Bridge Even though it wasn't Friday night and I'm not a junior ex ecutive, I still appreciated the expensive view of cottonwoods, hickory and other green Oregomana along the river bank World Trade Center diners, eat your hearts out Inside the North Bank, hang ing plants bamboo lighting fix tures, wood and glass attempt to create that ' natural posh" look so in vogue in restaurant decor in recent years Here, one I I I I I I HIS AL> Good lor | ' iicJmi&sionSi HOUND! RACING | MAY 8TH| THRU* AUG I posttimgS 7:30 PMl i.», " i' l IV | No HtH.'ng ',»■ ii idays | I or I 11 it 11 Nl .VJrd and Hal >ny Si Al f .fifvutw iii.M' Gfu'.h.iml ^ °l O | HH .1 u* f jb‘ < ''f I . I I ■ w ui w iyi m ImuitnomahI |MENNBXUJB| may have a sense of "informali ty" or of hype, depending on one's orientation Something similar can be said of the food, as it turns out Din ner generously includes both salad bar and soup, entree ac companied by a rice pilaf, vegetable side dish and french bread - all good, but a little unexciting Beginning at the top, the salad bar was what Eugeneans expect and Eugene restaurants now flub at their peril: fresh vegetables were available in variety and abundance The chicken soup, as the first cooked item of the evening, set up a pattern that was not departed from The ingredients here also were obviously fresh, and the cream and wine under pinning of the stock still had legs — but the overall creation came off a bit flatfooted My personal analysis, aided by a glass of house Chablis (Robert Mondavi, $2 75 the half-liter) and omniscient pock et calculator, recommends less caution with spices Less caution with spices could have been the motto for the snapper entree as well It's certainly preferable to "non mi tangere,” or "nolo conten dere" We tried each other’s dishes — yes, I knew this was not a Chinese restaurant; the man in the madras sportcoat wiped his mouth with considerable emphasis when he saw us — but both the snapper “creole" and the batter-fried-with-shallots version had flavor without any flair The rice pilaf was fine, but the spongy French bread should have been cooked hot ter The menu's other entrees in clude several fresh fish prepar ations, a variety of steaks, and shellfish The average price is about $8 A decent wine list and an extensive selection of coffee drinks and desserts allows one to savor, as the evenings con tinue to favor us, the relaxed atmosphere at the North Bank CASH For Textbooks Mon.-Fri. Smith Family Bookstore 768 E. 13th 1 Bl From Campus Ph 345-1651 Hawkeye s is moving to the Fifth Street Public Market. Fantastic savings on every item in our 13th and Oak store. All new, brand name merchandise — we just don't have room for everything at our new store. Bicycles 20% Off Miyata, IMishiki, Centurion Bicycle Accessories 25% Off racks, bags, locks, lights Bicycle Parts 40% Off brakes, hubs, cable sets Packs 25% Off Jansport, Eagle Creek, Madden, and more Sleeping Bags 25% Off Bristlecone, Slumberjack Jansport M% „ Wool Shirts 50% Off Canoes 250/0 Lincoln, Wenonah Boating 0/ Qff Accessories 2 pTeTe-ers. padd.es pumps, cartop carriers, patch k Cross Country Eauipment 50 /o Oft S3 boSfs. poles, bindings Shop early for best selection, quantities are limited. Be sure to visit our new Fifth Street Public Market Store hawkeye’s sss @®@t® mins On the corner of 13th & Oak in Eugene, 343-5722 Recycle This Paper — Please
