14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
CAPRICORN
PUB & FINE FOODS
Capricorn should
double down on
Romanian fare — but
would diners like it?
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
I
can’t tell you how many times
I lingered on the sidewalk in
front of Capricorn Pub & Fine
Foods, waiting for something to
pull me in.
The entrance, you see, is a bit
awkward. And so is what you can
see from the street: a pool table
and long bar but no tables to eat
at. Often it looked empty. Only
after I finally went inside did I
discover the booths tucked deep
in the rear of the restaurant and,
lo and behold, there were actually
a few people eating at them.
Clearly, though, Capricorn
hopes to be more than just a
restaurant. Wanting to be many
things at once — a pub, cafe,
restaurant and club — it’s a bit of
a jumble. Underneath the spa-
cious ceilings there’s a jukebox
pumping foreign language techno
pop, a karaoke machine, dance
floor, TVs, a foosball table and
yet plenty of room to spare.
I was seated by the charming
and gregarious co-owner Elana
Shern, who runs Capricorn with
her husband, Tom. She highlight-
ed a few menu items drawing
from her Romanian heritage —
her grandmothers recipes, she
said.
Against the alternative —
fried dive-bar standbys — it
wasn’t even a choice: Romanian
all the way.
A cross between a soup and
a stew, the Romanian Stuffed
Pepper ($11.95) was a grandma
recipe in the best way: whole
foods, hearty and warming. In a
bowl of thin, oily tomato broth
a green bell pepper peaked out.
It was stuffed with a meaty-rice-
mix — of pork, beef, onions
and white rice — that recalled
a terrifically seasoned meatball.
Among the many spices grandma
used: Greek basil, cayenne, dill,
paprika, thyme, bay leaf. The
long-cooked pepper melted in my
mouth.
The dish comes with a side of
sour cream, meant to be stirred
into the broth for creamy tang
and slices of puffy toast for sop-
ping up the broth. It’s a comfort
food I’d put up against grilled
cheese and tomato soup any day.
Incorporating the same meaty-
rice-mix and tomato broth, the
Traditional Romanian Cabbage
Rolls were extraordinarily similar
to the stuffed pepper. If not
identical, the cabbage rolls and
stuffed pepper are fraternal twins.
I devoured the Beef Gyro
($12.95) with nostalgia, for not
only my trip to Greece in the
early 2000s, but for my favor-
ite Greek deli in Portland (RIP
Foti’s). The gyro’s beef crumbles
were elevated, compellingly
seasoned. The pillowy pita was
overflowing with a carefully
chopped and tossed mix of red
onions, lettuce, Kalamata olives,
feta cheese and cooling tzatziki.
It overflowed from the pita as if
to make a slight side salad.
That familiar Mediterranean
mix too becomes the base of My
Big Fat Greek Salad ($12).
And that’s most all of Cap-
ricorn’s Romanian/European fare.
From there the menu falls off
a cliff into a deep fryer — cheap
Rating:
1040 Commercial St.
Astoria, Ore. 97103
503-741-3788
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.
Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.
to 2:30 a.m. Saturday
and Sunday
Price: $ – Most dishes around
$12
Service: Charming but
occasionally absentminded
Vegetarian / Vegan Options:
I’d recommend the
Mediterranean salad
Drinks: Full bar
Beef Gyro
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Poor
Below average
Worth returning
Very good
Excellent, best in region
Crispy Chicken Sandwich
dive-bar food like fish and chips,
mozzarella sticks, jalapeño pop-
pers and other forms of ennui.
After the regional treats, I had
little interest in greasy, bready
bar snacks. But, to be sure I
wasn’t sleeping on some hidden
gem, I tried the Crispy Chicken
Sandwich ($11.95). It was sadder
and blander than I feared. You
can get a vastly superior, sub-
stantial and enjoyable chicken
sandwich at Wendy’s. Plus the
chicken sandwiches at Wendy’s
don’t come with rubberized
squares of half-melted, off-brand
Kraft American cheese. And they
don’t cost $12.
In a town brimming with pub
food, Astoria doesn’t need any
that’s half-hearted.
Now I bet you can see where
this is going … I thought I could.
I figured that in an ideal world
Capricorn Pub would be all the
better if they doubled down on
the Romanian and European spe-
cialties, dishes that share Elana’s
proud European culture.
I asked Elana if she’d con-
sidered that route. She said she
had, and that she hopes to add
more in the future. She said she
also dabbles regularly with daily
specials like a traditional “gypsy
stew,” another grandma-approved
recipe, slow cooked with pota-
toes and onions. Elana added that
in Romania she grew up eating a
lot lamb.
And here comes the twist.
When Capricorn opened in
the summer of 2016, they made
gyros as they often are in Eu-
rope: with lamb. Nobody in
Astoria wanted them, she said.
Six months later, when Elana
replaced the lamb with beef, the
gyros started selling.
So I’m at a bit of a loss.
I mean, I have my feelings
about Capricorn: that the tables
should be up front, pool table
in back, and that homemade
Romanian fare should crowd
out the crummy bar snacks. But
then again, who knows how the
market might react?
What I can suggest with
absolute certainty: Astoria, you
needn’t fear lamb. Lamb is deli-
cious. Especially in a gyro. CW