A lot of times, I think food tastes better when you find it in unexpected places. Like, last October, we went to the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington. It’s a couple of small coastal towns with, presumably, good seafood. I say presumably because I only got to try clam chowder once, and I was so busy trying to keep Sydney from making too much noise that I didn’t really taste it. It’s a good reason to go back though, don’t you think?
Anyways, the other reason I didn’t get to really try any seafood is because on the one full night we had there, Xang was craving a Thai iced tea (which I still don’t understand why?) But, his craving led us to a place called Long Beach Thai Cuisine. I was pretty concerned when we walked in – Mexican music was playing. Not a good sign!
But, nonetheless, once we sat down, I decided that if I couldn’t have a “real” seafood dish like linguine with clams or cioppino, I was going to get something as seafoody as possible. So, I forget what the dish was called, but it had sea scallops (my favorite!), prawns, clams, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots in a garlicky shoyu-y type sauce. It was *so* good.
The other plate we ordered was Garlic Duck Bok Choy. I actually took a picture of the description so I would remember it, I’m so glad I did! Marinated deep fried duck breast with fresh garlic, black pepper, satay bok choy topped with a garlic wine sauce. Again, I was practically drooling as I ate!
Sometimes, I’m not sure if food is good because it’s good, or it’s good because I’m so hungry at that moment that anything would taste good, or if it’s just so unexpected that it’s good. But there was no question about this food. It was good. Really good. I wasn’t all that hungry by the time we sat down, but then the food came and I scarfed most of the plates – I couldn’t seem to get enough of the flavor in my mouth!
Our waitress was just as interesting as the food. Turns out she and her twin sister came from Thailand 3 years ago to join their mom. They attend the local high school. Their mom had settled in Astoria after marrying a Mexican guy (which explained the Mexican music). I didn’t take a picture of the sisters, but I wish I did. Now that I’m blogging about my food adventures, I’ll be sure to think of it next time!
Later, as we were leaving town, I had to stop by a (sort of) famous café in Astoria. Coffee Girl is a cute little café at the end of Pier 39 (http://thecoffeegirl.net/). According to a sign at the café, it’s the same place that served coffee to the sailors when the ships came in wa-ay back when. You have to drive down this rather…rustic…pier that seems to only fit one car at a time to get there! Anyways, the coffee is good, but they’re more famous for the pictures they draw in the latte foam. It was just before Halloween when we visited, so I got a jack o’lantern. I just found this on YouTube of the café http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwUOPW74ce4 The drawings in the video are simples ones, but I saw some as complicated as a fisherman – an actual person casting a fishing pole!
There were other non-food attractions that we didn’t get to see/do out there, so I hope to return some day. I will definitely return to eat!
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