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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2018)
14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Coast Weekend’s local restaurant review SAN DUNE PUB San Dune Pub a solid stop for picky burger-eaters Rating: 127 Laneda Ave., Manzanita, Ore. 97130 503-368-5080 Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday Price: $$ – a bill can creep up quickly Service: Can be stretched when it’s busy Vegetarian / Vegan Options: Reasonable, if uncompelling Drinks: Full bar, 21+ Review and photos by THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA A riend of mine is a conscious eater who shops mindfully at co-ops for whole foods and organic ingredients. During the summer you’ll find him at most every farmers market. On his own farm he raises goats for milk. My friend isn’t a vegetarian, exactly, but when he eats meat he does so selectively. And when the craving for a burger comes on he heads for Manzanita’s San Dune Pub. My friend chooses the Dune because their Piedmontese beef Chicken Cobb Wrap is raised free of hormones and cost extra. I imagine my friend antibiotics. (Piedmontese cattle prefers a stock model, sans pig. also carry a genetic characteristic To be sure: Dune burgers don’t making them less fatty and lower belong to the fancier, richer “bis- in cholesterol.) Ethical and health concerns tro” family. No coffee-bacon jams, aside, though, the Dune burger is pork belly or black garlic aioli here pretty darn good. — just plain ol’, crave-satisfying Though it bar burgers. stops short of With hard- ly any bold or overwhelm- THE ing, the patty is creative reaches PIEDMONTESE plump, well-sea- to speak of, BEEF HAS soned and, while the rest of the lean, plenty Dune menu A DISTINCT flavorful. It’s not follows suit. This CHARACTER: IT too greasy, but woodsy, dark, TASTES CLEAN. occasionally it cabin-like bar is cooked longer is comfortably than it needs to familiar, and it be. Regardless, that Piedmontese makes time and room for blue-col- lar locals, which collide regularly beef has a distinct character: It with beach house-renting bache- tastes clean. With steak knives pinning them lorette parties and other similarly together, Dune burgers come in a overwhelming tourist stereotypes. variety of models, from BBQ sauce More often, though, the groups and an onion ring to slathered in coexist in relative harmony. One to chili. My favorite is the Bacon party vicariously, my friend might Blue: $13 with potato chips; fries even buy them a drink. KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM Poor Below average Worth returning Very good Excellent, best in region Bacon Blue Cheeseburger Prawn Po’Boy Certainly my friend would slurp up the Prawn Po’Boy ($16). On a toasted hoagie roll cradling grilled prawns and coleslaw, both dripping with the Dune’s slightly spicy chipotle mayo, it’s most everything you want in a Po’Boy: messy, tangy, creamy, supple and comfy. It’s not huge, though. And my friend might feel like it’s pretty expensive. He’d find it more satisfying than a wrap, though. Essentially chicken sandwiches in tortillas, the wraps might remind him of airport food: slim, dim and overpriced ($13 to $14). My friend would eat the House Salad ($13), but he might feel as if, for that price, he should’ve gotten more — more care, body and balance. While he might be used to receiving loads of out-of-season tomatoes, he’d wonder why every forkful seemed to include an entire cross section of white onion. My friend would appreciate that the dressings at the Dune are all house-made. That would go a long way toward his feelings on the salad. (The Mouth is not quite as forgiving.) He would likely enjoy a bite or two of the rich, salty Smoked Salmon Chowder ($4 cup/$8 bowl) while agreeing that it earns repute simply by trading clams for salm- on. He might dabble in many of the fried things — an oyster, calamari, some fries or tots — but it’s hard to imagine him ever ordering them for himself. My friend wouldn’t, howev- er, dare eat but a smidgen of the delightfully gluttonous hunk of Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie ($6). Even in the name of duty, the oft-unhinged Mouth would require a few friends to share it with. And, in a location that’s so near to the beach, so susceptible to becoming an all-out tourist trap, that the Dune provides not only space for me to share a piece of that absurd chocolate pie (and then dance it off), or for my friend to use it as a burger beacon, is saying something. CW
