South Coast Dining - Bandon and Port Orford

It is a tradition already with my new husband (2 years) and me to go on trips rather than to splurge on gifts for our birthdays.  After all, we have plenty of stuff already, but very little adventure, especially with me trying to juggle both work and school.  

Fresnel lens inside of Cape Blanco Lighthouse

We made reservations for a little cabin called Hawk that overlooks the ocean and lighthouse in Cape Blanco State Park.  At only $37 a night, it was an incredible bargain, even if we had to use a public bathroom and shower.   The trail to the bathroom was a bit creepy in the dark, even holding a big Mag Lite that could theoretically be used as a weapon.  

To save a little money, I packed a box with crackers, granola bars, peanut butter, apples, plums, carrots, celery, instant coffee, tea, water, and an electric tea kettle.  I made 5-spice hummus.  (Recipe to follow.) 

On the way down, we passed a farm stand I usually never drive by:  Brosi's Sugar Tree, just outside of Winston, on Hwy. 42.  I am behind in picking my own plums and pears, and we were also in a bit of a hurry, so it did make sense for us to keep going.   However, I did have to stifle a feeling that I was missing out a little bit, because last year I bought some beautiful chanterelle mushrooms and walnuts there, both very fresh and tasty, about this time of year. 

We made a pit stop in the cute little town of Coquille, which is just east of Hwy. 101, because I just couldn't make it to Bandon.  We stopped at Frazier's, a little cafe'/bakery, thinking we might find a nice loaf of crusty bread to go with the hummus, since I hadn't had time to make any.   

Coquille has some great Victorian and Art Deco buildings, some of which have been restored, but it doesn't really have much tourist traffic yet.  When we stepped into the bakery, I noticed most of the patrons were probably born in the 30's.  I assumed most of the food would suit 1950's tastebuds - before people began to demand whole grain flours and reasonable quantities of sugar.  Sure enough, the cannoli my husband bought, although pretty, tasted like something from a Whitman's sampler.  Oh, well.  The coffee was acceptable and the bathrooms were clean, and that was all we really needed, anyway.  The cafe was jammed with people apparently enjoying the large selection of donuts, cookies and sweet rolls, though, so if you like sweets, don't take my grumblings as gospel.  Frazier's might be your idea of heaven.

On to Bandon.  We drove into Old Town and parked at the docks.  A big crab balloon waved at us.  We went into Tony's Crab-shack/Port O'Call.  Tony's not only serves great food in a casual dockside atmosphere,  but also supplies crabbers with gear and 3 day fishing licenses.  They even clean and cook crabs that people bring to them!   

We both ordered crab cakes.   David also ordered a half dozen raw oysters.  We did have to wait awhile and sit outside in the wind, but the oysters were fresh and plump and the crab cakes were delicious and not at all greasy or heavily breaded.  (In fact, since I grew to love the crab cakes I ate on the Chesapeake Bay when I lived in Virginia and Maryland, I usually don't order them anywhere else anymore, finding them disappointing.  But these were very nice.  I have had the same experience with soft shell crabs - I like them better on the East Coast.  But hard shell crabs just boiled and eaten out of the shell are far tastier here in Oregon.) 

After we left Tony's, we walked over to 2nd St. to Coastal Mist, where I assumed we would pick up a gift for my mother and maybe a small treat for later at camp.  After all, we had just finished lunch.  Internet reviews described the desserts there as spendy, but beautiful and delicious.  Since David and I spent a lot of time in big cities back East, (me in Washington, D.C., him in Tampa), we've been in some upscale patisseries.  We weren't really expecting much from a town with 3,000 people.  

The chocolates are even better than the descriptions had led me to believe - truly artisanal.  I have a picture of the two we selected below.  These are not the most flashy, but are the ones the owner selected as her favorites after being told one of us (me) needed a dairy-free dessert.  The one on the left is an almond tart.  On the right is a cake that is layered with mousse.  As you can see, these are not in to-go boxes, but are on plates.  We were piglets and ate them right after our lunches rather than waiting for later.  We decided, probably prudently, that we would purchase coffee (coffee beans ground with cocoa beans) for my mother's present because if we bought chocolate, it would probably not make it home.  

If I had been alone, I probably would have peppered the owner, who seemed like a very nice lady, with questions about her training.  Clearly she has been to a very fine school.  I wish I had taken a picture of her carrot cake, which had an exceptional mirror glaze. 

After Bandon, we drove on to Cape Blanco and checked into our adorable little cabin.  We felt quite satisfied to eat our humble meal of hummus, crackers, apples, carrots and plums after such a splurge earlier in the day.

The following day we intended to eat at the (according to the reviews) reasonably priced Crazy Norwegian's in Port Orford, but it was closed for the day, so we went into Redfish, an upscale restaurant overlooking the beach.  If it had been dinner, we might not have been let in, since we had not brought any nice clothes at all.  See my beach attire, below:

Mushrooms aren't just for eating anymore

We ordered salmon tacos, a lamb burger, chowder, coffee and a cappuccino.  The waitress brought out some nice crusty French bread and some fresh whipped butter that had just a tiny trace of salt.  The restaurant adjoins Battle Rock Park, so we had an excellent view of waves hitting an enormous rock.  Occasionally a brave (or fool-hardy) person clambered up the rock in high winds and we watched to see if he toppled off.  

David's salmon portions were small, but he was quite satisfied with the flavor.  My lamb burger was delicious, topped with a perfect aioli sauce and served on a crusty roll.  My only complaint was that I had asked that it be served as rare as they were willing to serve it to me.  I should have been more specific.  It appears they were willing to serve it to me brown all the way through.

The bill at Redfish came to $53 after tip for two of us, with no alcohol and no dessert.  I do love a good meal, but that was enough of a splurge for the day.  We had another hummus, fruit and veggie meal in our cabin.  A simple meal, but also pleasurable because we had each other and another fine view. 

The following day, our last day in the cabin, we stopped in Bandon again on our way home.  We patronized the other fish house, Bandon Fish Market and Chowder House.  David got a chowder in a bread bowl and an order of fried calamari and chips with a side of cole slaw.  I got salmon and chips with a side of cole slaw.  The salmon, cole slaw and bread were very good.  The chowder was low on clams. The calamari was yummy at first, but as it cooled, it seemed overly salty and hard.  We were just not as impressed, although the portions were large.  On the way out, I saw a broken down cardboard box for Sisco breaded clam strips!  For a fish market right on the Bandon dock.  Amazing.

We walked over to the crabbing area on the docks to check out the regulations. No dogs.  We will have to think about this.  I missed our dogs, but it was also pretty impressive to see people lug 5 gallon buckets full of Dungeness up to Tony's to be processed.  I'm sure we will return.  The question is:  with or without crabbing gear and dogs?