14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Seafood specials: sushi and surprise sturgeon
Story and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
I
’m tied up just about every Mon-
day. It’s the one night I almost
never eat out.
So when I wriggled from my reg-
ular commitment one recent Monday
I knew exactly where I was headed:
Astoria Coffeehouse & Bistro’s
weekly sushi special.
It was a no-brainer. There isn’t
enough good sushi on the coast.
There are a few serviceable joints
that will scratch the itch, but only in
the most basic of ways that stop far
short of compelling.
The lack of good sushi can be
frustrating. We live on the coast.
Astoria is a fishing town. Certainly
there’s no shortage of restaurants
offering fresh, quality seafood.
It’s just that they’re so intent on
cooking it.
But during spring salmon season,
for instance, when a luscious, fat-rib-
boned springer can’t be exalted in its
most elemental preparation — de-
boned, sliced and raw — it’s hard
not to be left wanting.
For a couple of years in the early
2010s, Fishes Sushi, led by chef
John Newman, took a shot toward
that higher end in Cannon Beach. It
didn’t last.
So perhaps Astoria Coffeehouse’s
Monday night sushi special is a way
of threading that needle, between
potential and demand.
There certainly was demand.
I arrived to a waiting list. While
it was hardly onerous, I wouldn’t
have minded the opportunity to sip a
cocktail as I milled about. Or, rather,
a “sakétini” — sushi night has drink
specials to match.
Both the Yuzu Kamikaze and the
Classic Sakétini ($12 each) seam-
lessly incorporated Japanese rice
wine. Alongside lime in the Kamika-
ze, a yuzu sake broadened the spec-
trum of citrus. Shaken with gin, the
Sakétini began a traditional martini
and finished with saké’s vapor.
Seared sturgeon at the Wayfarer Restaurant & Lounge.
Clockwise from bottom: ‘EEL’ Electric Love Roll, Sashimi Plate, Dungeness
crab Temaki at Astoria Coffeehouse & Bistro.
The Sunomono salad ($5) arrived
first, looking lovely: a vivid palette
of greens, pinks (pickled red onions)
and purples (shaved beets) with a cit-
rusy, gingered Asian vinaigrette — a
reminder that Japanese cuisine, as
much as any other, relishes composi-
tion, balance and order.
The majority of the Monday
menu revolved around a few proteins
— yellowtail, tuna, salmon, scallops,
eel and Dungeness crab — available
in a handful of configurations: rolls,
bowls, nigiri and sashimi.
The Sashimi Plate ($15) — head-
lined by yellowtail, tuna, salmon and
scallops — lacked exquisite knife
work, but proved nonetheless that
the seafood at the Coffeehouse’s
special is of superior quality when
compared to the region’s regular
sushi joints.
Against the essential sashimi, the
“EEL” Electric Love Roll ($24) —
with sweet-sauced freshwater eel,
avocado and cucumber blanked by
smoked salmon and ginger aioli —
swirled eccentrically.
The Temaki hand roll with
Dungeness crab was a steal for $5.
Lean and clean. The only thing I
wouldn’t order again was the dainty,
basic Tekka Maki roll. Why pay $6
for tuna when you could pay $5 for
Dungeness crab?
The only real bummer, though, is
that for the foreseeable future I don’t
have any more free Mondays. That’s
a shame, because Astoria Coffee-
house’s special is the best semi-regu-
lar option for sushi in the region.
However, the Coffeehouse’s
wasn’t the only seafood special I
happened upon last week.
Indeed, this one was even rarer:
sturgeon. This once-in-a-blue-moon
catch was found at the Wayfarer
Restaurant & Lounge in Cannon
Beach.
I ended up there because old
friends were vacationing in South
County and they wanted oysters.
Raw oysters. Not fried. Not in shot
glasses. Freshly shucked.
Surprisingly, there are few raw
oyster options in Cannon Beach, and
the Wayfarer seemed the best. (As
I mentioned in a recent column, the
Wayfarer, along with sister restaurant
the Stephanie Inn Dining Room, is
among the region’s premier ingredi-
ent shoppers.)
The oysters were delightful.
And though we weren’t particularly
hungry — this was just drinks and
a snack — the sturgeon special was
too captivating. If we didn’t try it
here, we might be left wondering,
perhaps forever.
Credit goes in part to our server,
who sold it well. (At $51 a plate,
that’s no easy task.) He told us the
sturgeon only shows up on the menu
every few years, and then for only a
few days.
That’s due to a declining popu-
lation, thanks in part to a growing
cadre of hungry sea lions. As such,
commercial fishing for sturgeon
in the Lower Columbia has been
closed since 2014. The Wayfarer got
theirs from Native American tribes
who retain fishing rights along the
Columbia.
The air of decadence didn’t end
with the sizable slab of grilled white-
fish: It was bejeweled with a crown
of early season “button” chanterelles
and accompanied by fingerling pota-
toes, beets and Romano beans from
a nearby farm.
But we were here, now, for the
sturgeon. It was flaky but substantial,
sturdier than any whitefish I can
recall. But the brawn was entic-
ing, almost steak-like. Sturgeon is
high-octane food.
Whether it justifies a $51 price
tag is another matter. Indeed, we
were paying as much for the story
and the exclusivity as we were for
the protein, if not more so.
Money and access aside, it’s hard
not to imagine I’d be happier and
healthier if seafood specials like
these suddenly became the norm. CW