After arriving in Depoe Bay, we drove north a little bit more to do more roaming. We couldn’t help but stop at Lincoln City, which is truly a big coastal town. There’s even a big ugly casino. Trusting the yelp app again, we stopped for dinner at Blackfish Cafe. This is truly a fine dining establishment, without any of the snoot. J had been yammering on the whole trip about wanting to order calamari, so he finally did. It was cornmeal crusted and served with a horseradish aioli. I wasn’t particularly impressed, especially because I’m not a big fan of horseradish, so J ate pretty much all of it. And he loved it. There were some edible flower looking things on here, but neither of us dared to eat it. What is this, does anyone know?

I had a cup of the clam chowder, which they boasted on their menu as being the best clam chowder in the oregon coast. You know what? They were right. As far as among the three chowders I had that week, it was definitely the best one. And it might be one of the best chowders I’ve ever had. J’s entree came with a caesar salad.

So J wasn’t sure what to get as an entree. We asked our very nice server for recommendations and she gushed about the Cioppino. So he went with it. Damn, this thing was amazing. Chock full of pacific northwest seafood, it included scallops, salmon, prawns, clams, mussels, dungeness crab, and other fin and shellfish, and was braised in a red wine, tomato, and herb broth. It was served with grilled crostini. Oh this was a thing of beauty. It was absolutely delicious and stuffed with fresh seafood. And there was plenty left over for J to enjoy the next day, even though the server did not include any of the broth in the to-go box, which bugged him to no end. This really was worth every penny, and then some!

I should have gotten a bucket of that chowder, but since I wanted something small and not hearty, I went with the seafood pizza, which came with shrimp, crab, and capicola ham. This was thin on the crust, and heavy on the cheeses and the seafood. It was nice and light and did just the trick. There were those flower things on the pizza too. Again, I avoided them.

Service was excellent. The staff definitely knows what they’re doing, and obviously, so does the kitchen. There was also tons of art hanging on the walls, which was also cool. It was the entire private collection of a local and it was quite unique. The proprietors are also super nice and friendly and came by to check on us and to thank us for stopping in. It’s a great place!

While in Yachats the day before, we’d discovered this sweet coffee house across the way from Luna. On our continuing journey north on the coast to our next destination, Depoe Bay, we had to stop for some morning treats at Green Salmon Coffee and Tea House. So this place is, um, y’know, run by hippies. There’s no other way to say it. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s not a hipster coffee house. It’s a hippie coffee house. They run their shop in as green a way as possible. Among others, they buy locally, compost everything, collect rainwater for cleaning and watering, have a solar power system, heat using local wood, and have a no plastic pledge, etc. They actually practice what they preach. And there’s nothing sleep or modern about this place. It’s warm, homey, and has tons of mismatched furniture. And I like it that way.

They’re all about the fair trade and organic coffee and tea here and they have plenty you can pick up to make at home. But it’s the drinks that they make here that set this place apart. They have tons of coffee, hot chocolate, and tea concoctions, with strange combinations, that really make this place special.

Ok, no, I lied. It’s their damn pastries that make this place so special. Everything is made in-house using local ingredients, whenever possible. And look at these things! They’re huge, cheap, and oh so delicious! You can’t tell how big these things are, but trust me, they are the size of your head!

Here we have J’s Oregonian at the top – espresso with lightly sweet steamed oregon hazelnut milk. At the bottom is my Hokusai Cocoa – rice milk hot chocolate with japanese matcha green tea. Both were delicious! The day before, we’d gotten a Tsunami to-go – strong, brewed iced coffee with a sweetened float of condensed milk. And behold their blueberry scone. I’m not that well versed in scones, but this was not your average scone. It was more like a giant triangular muffin, and it was beyond delicious. It was big enough to keep both of our sweet tooths satisfied.

The service is ok. The guy with the ponytail wasn’t the most friendliest. I think he sensed that we were not hippies or locals, so he didn’t exactly warm up to us. One of the girls who works in the back actually making things was one big giggler. All she did was giggle both times we were there. Like non-stop. I wonder what was making her giggle so much? And exactly how much of it was she smoking? Another girl who waited on us was much friendlier. While I’m sure they’re happy with the tourists that stop in and the money they drop, it really does seem like a local hangout. We even overheard someone telling a customer he still had $1.77 on his account. I know that if I lived in Yachats or nearby, I’d stop by here all the time! And I’d probably gain 10 lbs from all the pastries!

We took a little drive further up the coast to visit a few more little coastal towns. Waldport turned out to be a dud, but Yachats turned out to be an adorable gem. It’s pretty teeny, but it has a little area with some restaurants. We checked out the yelp mobile app and found the Luna Sea Fish House. It’s also teeny, with maybe about 20 seats indoors. It’s all about the seafood here, duh! They have a boat, or perhaps boats, and they catch things in that big vast ocean, come back, and sell it here. That’s a brilliant business model if you ask me. Unless someone just spilled bajillion gallons of oil into your particular vast ocean.

J got the fish tacos (sense a theme yet?). These were hearty with guacamole. And they must have been particularly juicy, as the fish dripped fish juice all over the fries. J liked the fries. I did not care for them. They were too thick for my liking.

And me? I got the slumgullion. What the heck is a slumgullion? It is a big bowl of clam chowder with white cheeses and bay shrimp. And man, it is big and it is great. I ate the whole thing and could have eaten more. The chowder itself was good, and the addition of the cheeses and the shrimp just made it better. It’s served with garlic bread, which is too crunchy and too burnt. So don’t waste your time on that, and just slurp down the darn slumgullion. Slumgullion. Say that five times!

The service is nice, but not the fastest. One person does everything up front. And man, did she have gravity defying hair! It was remarkable! And there’s probably only one or two people in the back cooking. But the food is excellent, fresh, and it’s a real homey place. When in Yachats, it’s a must-do!