Where to Eat in Newport, Oregon

Oregon landscapes have been taking center stage and now I'm excited to share some terrific food and drink finds from our third road trip destination, Newport!

We arrived to our hotel Hallmark Resort around 7:30 pm on a Wednesday evening and quickly headed out to dinner; no longer strangers to the early restaurant closing times in these parts! After a fulfilling but long day hiking, beach combing and driving I was craving comfort food. Noodle Café in the well known Newport Bayfront turned out to be a perfect choice. A no-frills space serving affordable Pan-Asian fare with local seafood, hand tossed noodles and made from scratch soup stocks, I felt like we tapped into a local haunt.

 Crab Wontons made with local Dungeness crab meat + cream cheese were an excellent prelude to Ramen Noodle Soup featuring a miso Japanese broth with shrimp tempura. This bowl offered just the comfort and warmth I craved. The House Special Wok Tossed Udon showcased the bounty of Newport Bay with shrimp and scallops, plus calamari and vegetables in a garlic soy sauce.

While at Noodle Café Bob and I were discussing our plans for breakfast. At my mention of heading to La Maison the woman next to us chimed in to sing its praises. She turned out to be Celeste of the family that owns local Mo's Seafood restaurants. We got to talking about the blog and before she left, Celeste slipped me a note to text her if we wanted to visit Mo's for a bowl of their famous Clam Chowder and Marionberry Cobbler on her. How sweet!

With her glowing recommendation we headed to La Maison Bakery & Café the next morning where superb three egg omelets come with giant flaky croissants, creamy butter and sticky-sweet jams from France. This was an absolutely phenomenal breakfast and one we won't soon forget. No matter what dish you choose, the Bananas & Cream to start are a must. La Maison also serves lunch. 

Fresh Bananas and Cream ($5) with toasted hazelnuts and brown sugar / Loire Valley Omelet ($10.25) grilled artichokes, mushrooms, Gruyere cheese and artichoke sauce / Paris Omelet ($10) French brie wrapped in prosciutto dusted with fresh chives.

Our second night in the beautiful Bayfront community brought us to Local Ocean Seafoods, a casual yet sophisticated fish market and grill. The bright industrial space is defined by an open kitchen and large windows with garage style glass doors. This was the first restaurant we visited that was truly bustling with clientele. We spent our half-hour wait admiring the massive fishing boats docked in the harbor across the street. 

We started with a creamy Roasted Garlic & Dungeness Crab Soup. I sipped on a local red wine Rubio Syrah-Pinot Noir from Penner Ash Vineyards in Willamette Valley. For our entrees, the Grilled Halibut comes over a heaping portion of swiss chard, edamame and bacon mingling with Udon noodles in a ponzu sauce. Pan Fried Yaquina Bay Oysters are panko buttermilk crusted, served with fennel slaw and fries. For creatively prepared, super fresh dock-to-table seafood, I would highly recommend Local Ocean. 

Consecutive nights after dinner we hit up the only bar and only spot open late (until midnight) on Bay Boulevard The Rogue Bayfront Public House. We were happy campers here, mingling with the upbeat bartenders and making friends with like minded travelers. 

We met a couple from Chicago who was staying at the same hotel, in the room directly above us. What are the chances? We got bottles of beer to-go and continued the party on their balcony! For some reason I always remember this conversation with them when comparing notes on where we ate in town. "Why would you come all the way here and go to a noodle joint?!" 

Because person I just met who is calling me out: they have comforting Asian cuisine (score) with LOCAL SEAFOOD (win) overlooking the Bayfront and no one knows about it. Sometimes the goal is to follow your instincts/cravings and eat where the locals do. After all, this is where the owner of Mo's Seafood eats on her night off!

And speaking of. Finally, Mo's. These family owned seafood restaurants are a local institution, so I knew we had to take Celeste up on her offer. We headed to the original Bayfront location for an early lunch before departing to Willamette Valley. Our cheerful waitress Debbie was in-the-know and promptly served us our chowder and cobbler at no charge. The New England style chowder offered smooth, velvety, medium-thick broth loaded with small chunks of potatoes, bits of bacon, and briny clams, dusted with paprika and parsley. Mo's has truly perfected NE Clam chowder out here on the Oregon Coast. It was THAT GOOD. And I can easily see why the cobbler is a must order. Vanilla ice cream pools into plump, sweet, tart and juicy berries overflowing from a homemade flaky crust. Heaven!

 Mo's Claim Chowder ($5.50) - what made them famous! / Fried Calamari ($9.95)
lightly breaded tubes and tentacles served with cocktail and tartar sauce / Rogue "Mo" Ale Hefeweizen ($5.25) / Marion Berry Cobbler ($5.25) - Mo's signature homemade dessert.

[Recap - all are fondly recommended!]

Breakfast: La Maison / 315 SW 9th St 

Carl's Coffee @ Nye Beach / 715 NW Beach Drive

Lunch: Mo's Seafood / The Original Mo's: 622 SW Bay Blvd

Dinner: Noodle Café / 837 SW Bay Blvd 

Local Ocean Seafoods / 213 SE Bay Blvd

Drinks: Rogue Bayfront Public House / 784 SW Bay Blvd 

Rogue Brewer's on The Bay / 2320 OSU Drive

second beer photo source

itadaki izakaya

Honestly. When is the last time I wrote about a restaurant in Boston? Where have I been eating lately?!? 

On one of the first bone chillingly cold evenings of the year we ducked into Itadaki on Newbury Street, a Japanese Izakaya specializing in small plates, sushi and most notably, ramen noodles. The deeply flavorful Itadaki Ramen ($14) broth is simmered for 24 hours (chose from soy or miso base), loaded with fresh noodles, sweet corn kernels, and topped with the chef's signature chashu -  a delicate pork belly, as well as a soft boiled egg, nori (dried seaweed), a dusting of negi (scallions) and moyashi (bean sprouts). This ramen was soul warming and pure comfort. 

An order of Japanese Spring Rolls ($8) were a deep fried crispy bite where minced pork mingles with cabbage, bamboo shoots and carrots. The Itadaki Spicy Tuna Roll ($9) goes above and beyond as it is topped with the chefs special spicy mayo - choose if you want it suicidal, hot, medium or mild. We went with hot and WOW. Hot it was in a very good way. The Tempura Udon ($14) are a winter special in a rich Bonito broth served with naruto (fish cake), scallions, carrots, radish, tempura bits and two shrimp tempura on the side. Itadaki offers an extensive selection of sake, Japanese whiskey and unique Japanese beers. I drank a Shirayuki ($6) sake from Hyogo, hot. Finally, the Japanese Pudding ($6) proves to be a delightful ending to this comfy, cozy, well executed and reasonably priced meal. 

Itadaki 

269 Newbury St

Boston, MA 02116

*this meal was complimentary - all opinions are my own*

The Gallows | South End Favorite

A spontaneous double date night brought Adam and I and our friends to The Gallows where between the four of us we made quite a dent in the cocktail (and beer) menu, I finally got to try the Scotch Egg, our entrees were top notch, and I completely fell in love with their signature dessert. It was one of those meals that kept making its way back into our conversations all weekend long (how good everything was, how much fun we had) and not unlike the last time we were there, left us eagerly anticipating our next visit. 

The waitress recommended a couple great cocktails; I let her favorites dictate my choices and started out with The Healer ($10) which is one of their original originals with rye, mead, bitters and lemon. Also pictured is the Fortune's Find ($10) made with kumquat, gin, lemon and simple syrup. I adore the cocktail names - where they spark intrigue, they also make sense when you think about it! The Healer was soothing and comforting, yet strong, and the Fortune's Find felt like just that, a real gem. 

We shared a number of snack plates beginning with the remarkable Scotch Egg ($6). It is soft boiled with a just-runny-enough yolk, cradled by a gentle layer of sausage, enveloped in a crispy fried breading. Still something of a novelty to me, this dish impressively captures the essence of breakfast in a neatly packaged bite. The Pulled Pork Corn Muffins ($6) have me convinced that all corn muffins should come stuffed with flavorful, meaty hunks of pulled pork and topped with perfectly ripe slices of avocado. The Fava and Soppressata Crostini ($6) layered thin strands of the dry Italian salami over a mash up of fava beans meets fava puree. This was an interesting pair, it didn't have me swooning quite as much as the pulled pork meets corn muffin, but it was a bite that honored the bright, springy fava bean and one worth ordering of you are a fan of either ingredient. 

The "Brontosaurus" Short Rib  is literally a bone the size of the quoted prehistoric dinosaur. Adam and Derek remark that it is difficult to cut off the bone, which isn't to say there's anything wrong with the meat, there's just a lot of it. As short ribs often imply fall off the bone, The Gallows version strays from that notion but still delivers tender, tasty meat. Both agreed it was very good. I tasted a bite which permeated with Asian flavors, a sweet and sour glaze and nuoc cham. Served alongside is a spicy green papaya salad.

My Udon Primavera ($25) comes with the plumpest, freshest, most vibrantly colored green peas, asparagus spears and fava beans, as well sharp radishes, beckoning from within slippery coils of Japanese noodles. Bathing in a deep earthy mushroom dashi, the cream of the primavera (in Italian, that means springtime!) crop of vegetables are simply radiant. The poached egg on top absolutely seals the deal.

We were stuffed, but I'm so glad we ordered dessert. Rum soaked bananas come buried among the smoothest, creamiest peanut butter and chocolate in the Bananas Foster Chocolate Peanut Butter Fluffernutter Brulee ($7). Enhancing the decadence is a perfectly torched layer of thick, gooey marshmallow fluff. My friend (who has had this before) still thinks that it needs something else, something crispy or crunchy, something to offset the creamy texture, but, I think it is just perfect. It swiftly joins the ranks as one of my favorite desserts in Boston, right up there with Oleana's Baked Alaska.
And same goes for The Gallows overall. I can't get enough of this place!

*Special thanks to Gretchen and Derek for their iPhone lighting skills. My pictures in the dark space would have been nothing without their efforts!*

The Gallows

1395 Washington St

Boston, MA 02118