Nehalem River Inn (and the River)

This is the time of year, before the HUGE fall cooking season, when I’m always in a bit of a posting slump. This means it’s a perfect time to post pictures of a meal out!

Nehalam River Inn
34910 Highway 53
Nehalem, OR 97131
Closed: 8/12

We finally (finally!) went to the Nehalem River Inn for dinner. The occasion? To celebrate jwa’s 38th birthday! We had a very nice meal and, although we didn’t stay there (they had a 2-night minimum, even on a Sunday night), we found a very nice room at the Wheeler on the Bay Lodge & Marina which was about a mile away.

The Garden Room at the Lodge

But first, back to the food.

We got there a few minutes early for our reservation (we were hungry!) but got seated right away. After perusing the menu for a few minutes, we had a plan. To start, I had the Arugula Salad with Israeli Couscous, Currants, Pepitas, Cherry Tomatoes and Tarragon Aioli. It was very good!

For his first course, jwa decided to have a tasting of both the White Corn Soup with Truffle Oil and the Heirloom Tomato Salad with Organic Greens, Fresh Mozzarella, Chopped Marcona Almonds and Basil Pesto. See, this way, he could get two things, as the ‘tasting’ sizes of the first courses were a bit smaller.

Salad

Soup

For my main dish, I got duck. I get duck a lot when we go out, because I hardly ever cook it at home. Mmmm duck! In this case, it was Roasted Muscovy Duck Breast with Polenta Cake, Haricot Vert, and Pomegranate Sauce. Delicious!

And, because it was his birthday, jwa got steak. But not just any steak — Filet Mignon with Truffled Potato Gratin, Swiss Chard, Hon Shimeji Mushrooms and Balsamic Reduction. Wow, it was so good. An amazing crust on the steak.

We finished with desserts — he got an apricot brioche bread pudding and I got a flourless chocolate cake with strawberries and pecans.

Bread Pudding

Chocolate Cake

The restaurant’s back porch, after dinner

After dinner, we went back to our room in Wheeler, were the lodge cat Zoro was entertaining himself outside our room. jwa spent a bit of time playing with the cat.

Assorted Images from the Next Day and the Drive Home

Apple tree growing along the river bank.

Our room had a balcony that had a great view of the river.

Deck at the Lodge

Oswald State Park Beach, off 101. Lots of surfers…(although, not in this picture…)

Why do all trips to the coast begin or end with Pacific Way Cafe? Oh yeah, because we love it there! We stopped and had lunch on the way home. I forgot to take any pictures of the food…

Bad cats at home. I don’t know what they did while we we’re gone, but I am sure they did something.