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
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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
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