14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
THE OLD FISHTRAP
SEAFOOD & SPIRITS
The Old Fishtrap is a
hearty dive bar with
handmade character
dyed-in-the-wool dive bar almost
three years ago.
From the dressings and sauces,
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
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to the hand-cut fries, to the soups,
Harley makes just about everything
here’s no iceberg in it,”
from scratch besides the breads.
she said of the salad.
There are fried things, sandwiches,
The description had
a few specials and odds-and-ends,
me swooning. It said everything
with an emphasis on seafood. The
I needed to know. It was as if the
oysters come from nearby Willapa
server were reading not only my
Bay, and the fish, I’m told, comes
mind, but my column.
from what’s available in the region.
You see, I’ve had it with dull
Harley knows some of the fisher-
iceberg lettuce salads. More than
men personally. Some veggies —
had it. You know the ones I mean.
like the salad greens — come from
They come from
farms on the
a bag with a few
Peninsula.
inconsequential
Such speci-
ficity of vision
carrot shavings.
THANKS
sets the Fishtrap
They’re essen-
TO CAROLE
tially crisp water
from the
HARLEY’S ETHIC, apart
— a flavorless,
average dive, so
THE FISHTRAP
nutrition-free
many of which
KNOWS
EXACTLY cater to locals in
vehicle for salad
dressing. And the
atmosphere while
WHAT IT WANTS
dressing usually
homogenizing
TO BE.
sucks, too.
the food by
Besides being
relying on bland,
crummy, vapid
same-y national
voids, these retrograde iceberg
providers. The Fishtrap avoids
“salads” hint at darker impulses:
that trap — it’s a refuge for the
a lowest common denominator
neighborhood to drink, where
approach to dining.
eating is of equal local concern and
So with the “no iceberg” decla-
character.
ration, I felt like I suddenly knew
Which is why, I imagine, the
a lot about not only the salad,
Fishtrap remains competitive
but The Old Fishtrap Seafood &
against the glossier but purvey-
or-centric newcomer across the
Spirits itself.
A few more proud declarations
street. Folks regularly pop in, not
from the server fill in the rest:
for drinks but to pick up boxes
“If we can’t make it from
of takeout. (Locals use the side
scratch, we don’t serve it.” “All
door.)
the salad dressings are made in-
With little else around be-
fore Long Beach, Chinook feels
house.” “There’s no food service
like a hard-working, big-eating,
stuff.” “We get the fish from the
big-drinking, blue-collar neigh-
fisherman and cut it here.” “The
borhood, and the Fishtrap’s menu
beef is never frozen.”
The ethic and cooking come
is stacked accordingly.
from owner Carole Harley, who
I began with the Oyster Po’
took over Chinook’s decades-old,
Boy ($11.95), and I’m so happy
Rating:
779 U.S. Highway 101
Chinook, Washington 98614
360-777-8296
Hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every-
day
Price: $ – Most entrées hover
around $10
Service: Local-centric, saucy,
proud
Vegetarian / Vegan Options:
A portobello burger, fries, salad
Drinks: Full bar
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
‘T
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Poor
Below average
Worth returning
Very good
Excellent, best in region
Dungeness crab cakes
Trap burger
Oyster Po’ Boy
I did. You see, the last Oyster Po’
Boy I had (I was away from the
coast) left a funky taste in my
mouth that needed erasing. Those
oysters were dubious, overcooked
and rubbery.
Not at the Fishtrap. Here they
were cooked exquisitely. The
breading was thin and crispy,
the oysters inside had a melty,
luscious body. With tomatoes and
a lightly sweet, dijon-winking
cabbage slaw, the hoagie was
teeming yet carefully assembled;
most everything remained within
the confines of the perfectly
toasted bread. It was slurpy to the
last bite, just messy enough. And,
really, if you’re not licking your
fingers with a po’ boy, some-
thing’s gone wrong.
As advertised, the Trap Burger
($10.95) was indeed a “monster,”
with a hand-pressed patty some-
where around a 1/3 pound, maybe
heavier. On a square ciabatta bun
it had the accoutrements to match.
It’s big, stout and meaty. As they
say: You are what you eat. And
the Trap Burger matches the guys
around Chinook who order it.
A bit more refined, the Dunge-
ness Crab Cakes ($18.95) were
hardly dainty. They were filled
with sinewy strings of our abun-
dant crustacean and a few green
onions, light on bready filler. The
house-made tartar — like the rest
of the salad dressings and sauces
— was a bit livelier than the stuff
you normally get out of a bottle.
The soup, a Cream of Broccoli,
wasn’t shy about incorporating
actually broccoli flavor, though I
could’ve gone for more chunks of
stems and heads.
Fish at the Fishtrap changes
based on availability. During my
trips it was cod. (I’m guessing that
when the season is on, tuna joins
the fray.) It’s regularly available
in fish and chips, though I opted
for the Fish Sandwich special. The
three panko’d, almost wallet-sized
filets were perhaps the dullest dish
I had at the Fishtrap. This was,
however, totally in line with the
value. This wasn’t some over-
priced hoodwink, just plain ol’
cod, priced as such.
Finally, there’s that salad, the
one without iceberg. Built on a
bed of mixed greens from a near-
by farm, the dish turned heads on
the way to my table. Two people
asked about it. They were taken,
no doubt by the vivid colors:
slashes of red and yellow bell
peppers against the deep greens,
topped with long, spaghetti-like
shreds of cucumber. It was fresh,
wholesome and thoughtful.
Now, the salad wasn’t real-
ly the star — that would be the
oysters or crab cakes — and it
wasn’t reinventing the wheel. But,
then again, it wasn’t supposed to.
Thanks to Harley’s ethic, the Fish-
trap knows exactly what it wants
to be: a hearty, comforting local
bar where the food has an equally
distinct, handmade character. A
home away from home. CW