Wayfarer

Well, after Christmas with my family, Lance and I headed up to Portland, Oregon where his family lives to hang out, play games and all around have a great time. But one thing that I LOVE to do (time permitting) is head out to the coast and visit the Wayfarer.



Its located east of Portland, near Canon Beach in a town called Seaside. And it's awesome!! So I took lots of pictures. :)

The Wayfarer is open breakfast, lunch and dinner and is right on the beach itself. The dining area has just been remodeled and uses a lot of dark woods and natural lighting.



Since we chose to wait a few minutes for a good table by the window which overlooks the beach, I went to the bathroom - maybe a bit of an over share, but their bathroom is even beautiful and surprisingly smelled really good. :)

(that's my sister-in-law appreciating things with me)

Now, one of the reasons why I try to insist we make the journey to the coast is so that I can get a bowl of their clam chowder. And oh my goodness it's amazing!!! I've tried clam chowder everywhere, down south, Midwest, east coast, everywhere; and this place has the BEST EVER!!! Their Wayfarer Clam Chowder is thick, creamy and full of sweet, tender Pacific clams. It's a classic Northwest chowder made with bacon (yes!), potatoes, and sauteed vegetables. A cup (definitely not enough I'm warning you) is $5.49, and the bowl (maybe still not even enough :) ) is $7.99.

this is what heaven tastes like.....



It's.... divine. My only complaint is that while the bowl looks humongous, its really shallow. I prefer mine with crackers, but the fresh bread they serve there is also a good companion. Out of the five of us that went there, three of us ordered the clam chowder. But I realize this soup isn't everybody's favorite (it will be once you've had it), so the rather big menu includes loads of other tasty things.

We started our meal out with garlic fries. They are shoe-string cut, and come in a small kettle. Crispy, salty, garlic-y and so good. They didn't last long.

see, we are already going for them....

My sister-in-law got a modern take on a grilled cheese. (Tillamook cheese of course, this is Oregon) with the cheese and thick cut bacon gooey and melted on the inside and then cheese on the outside of the bread as well.

And my husband got a good old-fashioned huge burger. :) The bun is a little over seasamed, but still really good.

The service was great, the location amazing, and the food... well.... insanely good. Prices are pretty good, and they had a lunch special while we were there. We didn't take advantage of it, but they do offer really good combinations off their menu (and yes, the clam chowder was one of them).

After we were pleasantly full, we went down to the beach and just enjoyed the nice day. It was overcast, but not rainy, but I would recommend a hoodie or a jacket as it's always been windy there.

view looking out to the ocean



view looking back to the condos and restaurants

The point is: if you are heading to Portland, or just in the mood for amazing tasty food and a great scene to enjoy it next to, GO TO THE WAYFARER!!!

You'll thank me. :)  It's so so good.

Happy eating!

Station 22

Ah, Station 22, my favorite hipster-y sandwich/soup/salad place. Located on Center St in Provo and University Avenue, it's right next to where Los Hermanos used to be.



While Lance and I have seen several places come and go in that same spot (RIP Angels of Philly), Station 22 is doing really well. Their menu is always changing and is very tasty and inventive. There are always some people there eating, but we have never really had to wait to order food. Be careful going there exactly around 12:00 though, since the Nu Skin building is barely a block away and they definitely frequent local eateries.

The layout of the place is kinda "hipster-y". (Best word I can think of). They have specials practically every day - today when I went it was sides were only $1.00 (so worth it). The specials are generally located outside on the street written in chalk.

They usually have outdoor seating (not now since it's getting colder) and plenty of room inside. The table are kinda small, perfect for two people, but you might want to put a few together for bigger groups. The chairs look really flimsy, but surprisingly will hold your weight. Its all brick floors and brick up one wall and the other starts out red then suddenly gives way to plants, and modern photography.

The Menu: not badly priced at all. I ordered the Memphis Chicken, which was only $7.50. It's a Memphis-style house fried chicken tossed in a spicy butter glaze, topped with fresh slaw and served on a ciabatta roll.

I ordered mine with a side of fries which is usually $2.50 and fry sauce ($.25) which is totally worth it. My sandwich rocked! I love this one. The ciabatta bread is fresh, fluffy and a good mild taste when paired with the chicken and slaw. The chicken is done is small bites (which makes it easy to eat) and the sauce/glaze they put on it has a bit of a kick. And the slaw... well, it's wonderful. Its just cabbage in a sweet sauce. It does make the bottom slice of ciabatta a little wet, but the bread always holds up. The sweet slaw helps to calm down the kick of the chicken and vice versa. Its simple and fantastic.

The fries are AWESOME! They are thick cut and battered and are so good with the fry sauce. While most fry sauce is pretty mild and tame, this fry sauce tastes like it has BBQ sauce mixed in, which is divine. I love the fries - and apparently so do other people because you can order just a basket of fries to share.

Lance almost always gets the The Mighty Meatloaf - which is bacon wrapped meatloaf topped with sharp cheddar cheese, homemade ketchup, fresh lettuce and tomato, and also served on a ciabatta roll.

The other really great thing about this place is that if you aren't feeling like a sandwich they have a great salad bar, and fresh soup - you can even get it in a sour dough bread bowl. The salad is located in the second part of the restaurant near a huge chalk board.

The menu changes with the season but they always have the basic staples year round. For example, right now they are featuring corn on the cob with maple/walnut butter, and The Barbarian - which is a whole turkey leg roasted in hickory and served with an orange/cranberry dipping sauce, and a scoop of smashed red potatoes. Mouth watering yet? :) Practically everything is made from scratch and is fantastic.

The only real downside to Station 22 (and it's not a downside when you think about it) is that it can take some time to get your food - and that's because they start making it when you order it. So a fresh meal isn't necessarily a bad thing - but dont' go there if you are in a rush to get somewhere. Its perfect for a nice sit down lunch, with good food and good company.

Oh, and they also have free wifi - told you it was a kind of hipster place.....

A definite recommend from me - go and enjoy it!

- The Curious Foodie





Coachman's

Alright, one of the weirdest looking but awesome places we have stumbled across is Coachman's: Dinner and Pancake House.

(obviously not a diner by the way)

Located at 1301 S. State St in Salt Lake City, it's one of those places you would probably drive by and not even realize you've passed it. But heading north up State St. it is on the right side and almost downtown with a nice view of the capital building from the street. They are open daily from 7am - 11pm.

When Lance and I went, the parking lot was surprisingly full and while it's always had a fair amount of people eating there, we have never had to wait at all because there is so much space.

The decor is um.... well, a whole lot of stuff just thrown together. The entrance way has a huge plant area in the center surrounded by a bench and there are "Christmas lights" by the glass separating the hostess area and the restaurant.

It's pretty much run by women (though I did see one guy there who looked like a manager - but all the servers were women), but there is always a table of really old guys eating and reminiscing together. Seriously, always. I have no idea how to describe the different kinds of people there other than "colorful." While I've never heard bad language or anything, I've listened to people discuss the Mormon church, wiccan religions, bills, political events and everything in between.

The dining room itself is in a word: AWESOME! Red velvet borders near the ceiling and the majority of the main eating area is dominated by a huge Gothic-esque/wagon wheel chandelier. It's fantastic. There are fake plants over every window which has red curtains of its own and covering the walls are pictures of Salt Lake City in retrospect.

The Menu: pretty inexpensive - my meal (the Breakfast Special) was only $5.75.

It was more than I could handle. That sausage link alone was the biggest one I've ever seen for a breakfast meal. Lance tried something new this time - French Dip

which he said was pretty good, but the lettuce on it was kinda weird. His favorite so far has been the "chicken" chicken fried steak (and nope, there really are two chickens in that). That meal only costs $9.95 and it's two breast fillets lightly breaded. Served with mashed potatoes and chicken gravy. Also includes soup, AND salad, potato, vegetable, bread and butter, a drink and ice cream for dessert. I kid you not. Tasty, cheap and very good!

I LOVE the breakfast menu! It's served all day and that breakfast special is fantastic. They bring out three different kinds of syrup, and while I do love a good maple, the "red" syrup (I think its cherry.....) and the "orange" syrup (peach) are divine mixed together.

Their menu is kinda big, so I've never not had options there, though it is hard sometimes to narrow it down. Most everything is around ten bucks and the most expensive meal is a 10 oz. New York steak and a lobster at $24.95, which is still cheaper than other places though I've not tried it to see if the price is just as awesome as the meal.

The Service is always pretty quick - Lance's drink stays mostly full (and he drinks fast, so that's almost always a good indicator to me that they don't ignore us.) The steaks come out sizzling and smell fantastic and overall the place is really good. While definitely a drive from Provo for a good all around menu, it's worth it to see the "atmosphere" of the place, and the prices are really hard to beat.

I love Coachman's it's weird, very old-school, and food is great and the prices are even better. They even have a really old vending machine which this time around had candy bars in it, but last time had pencils and erasers as well.....

The ONLY downside to Coachman's is that they DO NOT ACCEPT DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS!!! You must pay cash. While this is a bit of a hassle, especially when you don't know how much to bring with you, they have an ATM conveniently located by the bathroom to draw out the necessary amount. Weird, but it just adds to the awesome that is Coachman's.

I would definitely recommend this place - it's unique and you can tell it has not only been around for a while, but looks to be around for a lot longer.

 - The Curious Foodie











Welcome!

I have been asked a couple of times "Where is a good place to eat?" And I know they don't mean the same old places everyone goes, but good hole in the wall or undiscovered gem. And thankfully, I really love finding those kinds of places.

I am a foodie. A foodie is just someone who loves food, or someone who is hunting for the best (insert whatever here). Heck, you can even wikipedia the term nowadays. I just like food. There are so many different kinds of cultures, and even more different kinds of food. I love finding some odd little known place and just falling in love with it - seeing the "personality" of the place (and believe me, some of them certainly have one). :)

I've not tried everything, but I'm willing. I don't really care for vegetables but some places have managed to not only trick me, but get to me thoroughly enjoy the experience.  And even though I'm in northern Utah I've lived in a bunch of places and tried some weird and fantastic things out there. And in my opinion nothing beats Amish apple butter and sugar cookies, Georgian (the country) bread, and Russian dark chocolate. But hey, I'm up for any you may have discovered yourself!

So, goodbye for now, and good eating!