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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2016)
14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Coast Weekend’s local restaurant review Island-inspired eatery delivers new fl avors to Seaside Review and photos by MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM L Let the parade of new restaurants continue! This week it’s the Lilikoi Grill, a Hawaiian-inspired joint in down- town Seaside. It’s in the middle of a block of Broadway that might as well be known as McKeown’s Ave — the family owns four eateries on the block, including the neighboring Irish Pub, Firehouse Grill and Non- ni’s Italian Bistro. The Lilikoi, which opened in May, inhabits the back-half of what used to be McKeowen’s. The fami- ly’s former namesake restaurant was paired down, and by simple virtue of offering a different culinary inspira- tion — colorful, fruity and loosely island-based — the Lilikoi is a wel- come change. It’s smaller than the former fl agship with high ceilings and a beach-y, if a tad cheesy, island decor. There’s thatch, seashells and green leaves in a building whose seeming original inspiration was the French Quarter. In design, Lilikoi doesn’t go full tiki, but the bar does offer a smattering of cocktails featur- ing fruity nectars. I began with the Rum Punch, a pre-mixed, syrupy sweetener with an umbrella skewering a cherry and slice of pineapple. With hints of or- ange, banana and pineapple, I found it a fi ne value for only $5. The Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Papaya Mango Chutney ($13) arrived shortly thereafter — four of them, breaded with fried coconut, butterfl ied and enormous, sprinkled with green onions and a few more fl ecks of raw coconut. These were serious-sized crustaceans, but there was quite a bit of breading too. The fried coconut tempura batter had a nice crunch and wasn’t too oily, but I could’ve done with less. And without the butterfl ying. The accom- panying mango chutney was overly sweet, smacking of corn syrup or simple sugar. I wanted more pep. But still: The shrimp and their coco- nut crust hit the requisite marks. The entrée, though, went beyond. It was, in the end, the star of my multiple trips to Lilikoi. I speak, of course, of the Braised Glazed Pork Shank ($17). It came standing up, planted in a pile of whipped red potatoes, bones in, with a little crown of micro greens. It was massive, the diameter of a softball, full of meat, well-cleaned and covered in a lightly sweet veal demi-glacé. The fl esh pulled easily from the bone, hardly resisting, no knife required. It was salty, tender, succulent and multi-faceted. The outer-layer had a crispy char while the center was oh-so soft — braised, then seared. The whipped red potatoes, with skin, were light and fl uffy, buttery and dotted with cloves of roasted gar- lic. The Brussels sprouts too were well-roasted. Sopping up the demi-glacé, both melded with the meat. Which, again, there was so much of. I peeled away the front half and was satiated, but kept going back. One more bite. Another. One more. As I fi nally put the fork down, the shank was still stand- ing, still with a reasonable amount of meat on the bone. I sipped at the Rum Punch, whose fruity sweet- ness roller-coasted against the salty, fatty, buttery main course. There, in one of the thatch-covered booths, I marinated, fully content — on both the fl avor and presentation of that delicious, still-standing pork shank, and that it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. My second trip failed and didn’t engender that same sense of peace and serenity. It was a Saturday night, and while the Lilikoi wasn’t at capacity, it was close. I took a seat at the bar and wasn’t acknowledged again for the next 10 minutes. As I sat beside a pair of couples celebrating birthdays and buzzed on fruity drinks, I felt like the staff was short a server. The bartender, who would regularly LILIKOI GRILL Rating: 714 Broadway, Seaside lilikoigrill.com 503-738-5232 HOURS: 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Monday. PRICE: $$ – Entrees mostly in the teens SERVICE: Over-stretched on a busy weekend VEGETARIAN/VEGAN OP- TIONS: A few odds and ends for vegetarians DRINKS: Full bar, soda, coff ee Above: The Braised Glazed Pork Shank, bone-in, came sanding up with a crown of micro greens ac- companied by whipped red pota- toes and roasted Brussels sprouts. Left: The Salmon with White Bean Chorizo and Langostino Ragu was an OK entree, but the ragu’s lack of synergy fell fl at. be called on to make complicated, multi-ingredient, shaken cocktails, also had to serve and buss numerous tables, some on the other side of the restaurant. While effi cient and ca- pable, a few concurrent drink orders could — and did — short circuit the whole thing. As such, my Lilikoi Margarita ($8) was made by a server instead of the overburdened bartender, and it suffered dramatically. What I got was over-salted to the point of being undrinkable. It was like a salt-lick — and not just on the rim, but in the glass. I couldn’t fi nish. I ordered Clams “to start with,” and even drew out the selection of my entrée. But by the time I’d eaten about four clams my main course — Salmon with White Bean Chorizo and Lan- gostino Ragu ($21) — had arrived. The server made note of the pile up but didn’t offer to keep it warm. I tried sticking with the heaping serving of clams, which weren’t too gummy, and the buttery, white-wine, garlic and coconut-tinged sauce. But I couldn’t help thinking that my entrée was just getting cold, so I dove in. The fi sh’s outside was but- tery and just the lightest bit crusted, which I liked, but the center was less inspired. Good and well-cooked salmon should be irresistible, like a buttery, lean-fat, hi-octane gold. This wasn’t quite that. It was either a tad over-cooked, of not the highest qual- ity, or somewhere in the middle. The white bean melange, with carrots and onions, while hearty, was very much the sum of its parts. Needing more spice, the chorizo remarked: “bacon.” A few shrimp were tossed in too, but from the bowl a greater synergy never arose. I probably enjoyed the clams more and dunking the crusty, white, bleached garlic bread into the buttery sauce. I took another sip of my salt- KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM Poor Below average Good Excellent Best in region a-rita, and set the half-full cup back down and wondered: Was Lilikoi a high-variance restaurant? Or I had I ordered the best thing on the menu my fi rst trip? I returned a few days later during Happy Hour. I found a few good deals and couldn’t help it if they were less island-y. (Lilikoi does fi sh and chips, after all.) The Kobe Burger ($6.50) is, well, extra beefy — hand-pressed and seasoned, a whopping half-pound of it. Calling the bun “brioche,” however, was a stretch. With it I had a “baby” Caesar salad ($4) that was robustly adult-sized. And, with the bartender securely at the helm, I gave the Li- likoi Margarita ($1 off, 3 to 6 p.m.) another shot. This time it was on point, tart and stiff. I left feeling... fi ne. Not marinating in the afterglow like that fi rst trip, nor questioning as I had the second. I felt simply: that Lilikoi is an improve- ment to McKeown’s Ave. And that you should try the pork shank.
