14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Big new eatery off ers thoughtful fl avors
Rating:
1371 S. Hemlock St., Can-
non Beach
PHONE: 503-908-3377 or
503-908-3647
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Monday through Friday; 11 a.m.
to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
PRICE: $$ – Particularly spen-
dy for pub-fare.
SERVICE: Friendly, still work-
ing out the kinks.
VEGETARIAN / VEGAN OP-
TIONS: Vegetarians will do
alright.
DRINKS: Full bar, coff ee,
house-made root beer.
Review and photos by
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
T
To set foot in the brand new Pel-
ican Pub & Brewery is to bask in its
arresting scale. Stare up at the peaked
ceilings, the magnifi cent beams, the
shiny brewing tanks, the enormous
tide clock, and the industrial-sized,
The beer tasting tray somehow
stainless steel line kitchen. Try not to
lacked variety with four IPAs, two
think about how much it all cost.
As part of the craft brewing
ales and a lone stout.
revolution, Pelican’s shiny, outsized
was ... fi ne. What puzzled me, though,
digs are no surprise. The 20-year-old
was why Pelican didn’t go with a
brewery, with origins in Pacifi c City,
is a growing regional player along the beer batter_? The restaurant does the
French fries that way, and just about
lines of a Buoy or Fort George. Such
expansion makes perfect sense — Or- everything else on the menu shoehorns
egonians’ thirst for brewpubs serving in beer as an ingredient at every turn.
More importantly, when it comes to
fancier burgers and IPAs seems
fi sh and chips, beer battering is far, far
practically unquenchable.
But as viewed through the lens
superior to breading.
of Cannon Beach, a community that
The Smoked Oyster Bruschetta
regards quaintness as near-dogma,
($16.99) was also a bit spendy but
Pelican is an outlier. While sleek and
much tastier. The fi ve smoky, almost
anything but gaudy, Pelican’s scope is barbecue-styled oysters, daintily
transporting. It feels almost like being styled with Cream Ale aioli, roast-
in Portland. How you react to that
ed tomato and arugula on crostini,
bustling modernity — and the future
offered a deep, fresh pick-me-up. I
it suggests — will
also enjoyed the Sun-
greatly color your
Dried Tomato Spin-
VIEWED
opinion of Pelican.
ach Dip. On a chilly
THROUGH
So will the prices.
day it was hot and
THE LENS OF
It ain’t cheap.
comforting, with an
Among the more CANNON BEACH, understated, smooth
egregious asks is
A COMMUNITY goat cheese. (The
Pelican’s Famous
THAT REGARDS fl atbread, though,
Tower of Rings,
overcooked
QUAINTNESS AS was
a vertical stack of
and, in places, nearly
NEAR-DOGMA, burnt.)
onion rings that
PELICAN IS AN
costs a sky-scraping
Every dish on the
$13.99. Presentation
OUTLIER.
menu, even the ap-
aside, these are seven
petizers and salads,
hearty, bangle-sized, plain ol’ onion
suggests a beer pairing. I tried it with
rings. They’ll sooth that craving, but
the Spicy Burger ($14.99), which
won’t have you re-thinking the dish.
may have been wishful thinking. A
It’s like a construction project gone
handsomely assembled stack, the
two or three times over budget.
burger stood up to its name, making
The Fish and Chips ($17.99) were
me sweat; but I couldn’t really taste
another tough sell. The three fl at, wide, the Umbrella IPA beer paired with
wallet-sized fi llets were especially
it. The burger patty was afforded
bread-y. The fi sh-to-bread ratio was
full coverage by a peppy poblano
something like two-or-three to one.
pepper, fresh mozzarella, fi eld greens,
The peppery, Panko breading envel-
a chipotle aioli, tomato and chili
oping the Alaskan cod was crisp, but
seasoning on a brioche bun. Strings
it lacked a real crunch. The fi sh itself
of fried onion added crispy texture. I
PELICAN PUB &
BREWERY
The Spicy Burger stood up to its name.
too tried the Bleu Cheese Burger, also
on a brioche bun. There were three
chunks of supple pork belly, along
with a light cheese spread. A fi ne pub
burger, it lacked the magic required of
a $16.99 price tag.
From the entrées I tried the 14-
Hour Slow Smoked Tri-Tip ($23.99).
The mound of meat was appropri-
ately pink-centered and smoky, with
an excellent, salty, well-seasoned
outer crust. With the accompanying
mashed potatoes and slaw, it’s a seri-
ous plate of food. On the leaner end
was the Pale Malt Salmon ($23.99).
The simply prepared, salty fi sh was
buttressed by a hearty quinoa patty
and buttery asparagus.
There are also an array of person-
ally sized pizzas, dubbed fl atbreads,
cooked in an oven with an open
fl ame. I particularly enjoyed the
MacPelican’s Ale Sausage ($14.99),
with balsamic-marinated red onions,
fresh, stretchy mozzarella, basil toma-
to sauce and thick slices of an Italian
sausage that was just fatty enough.
It had a little of everything — salty,
sweet, bitter, fatty — as well as a per-
fectly crisp, thin crust. The Smoked
Tri-Tip ($14.99) fl atbread, I thought,
could’ve used some kind of sauce or
oil with the bleu cheese spread. As is,
it was a little dry.
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Poor
Below average
Good
Excellent
Best in region
The Sun-Dried Tomato Spinach Dip
was comforting, though the fl at-
bread was a tad overcooked.
Then, of course, there’s the beer.
Unlike many in craft brewing’s IPA
arms race, Pelican’s standout is the
Kiwanda Cream Ale, which manages
to somehow be both creamy and
light. I tried a tasting tray ($7) and
yet, somehow, was left wanting by
lack of variety. Of the seven tasting
cups, four contained IPAs and two
were ales. The last was a stout, and by
simple virtue of comparison the deep,
molasses fl avor was so welcome.
Of the similar IPAs, I preferred the
Imperial, which had a bite befi tting an
8 percent alcohol content. What the
taster tray left out was the Pilsner and
Lagers, which would’ve provided a
more complete spectrum of Pelican’s
offerings.
Of course, that could be easily
remedied. And, indeed, this grand
undertaking is sure to be tweaked
in the weeks and months to come.
(I’m giving a pass on service snafus
for the moment.) Some aspects,
though, were set with the foundation.
A restaurant this large is only so
capable of providing a personalized,
intimate or refi ned experience. But,
on the other hand, it brings capacity,
and a lively experience — as I said,
at times, you might as well be in
Portland. That might come in handy
in the dark winter months.
As for the food, of the many dish-
es I tried the majority were wholly
adequate, safe and often pointed in
the neighborhood of, if not greatness,
thoughtfulness. In the end, though,
the dishes left more indelible marks
on my wallet than my palate.
Writing for the New York Times,
critic Pete Wells recently encountered
an enormous eatery. He wrote of
the “pleasures and pitfalls of a big
restaurant.” The same could be said
of Pelican.