My husband and I have spent the last few days on the central Oregon coast, and whenever we’re in the area, there are a couple of restaurants that we always try to visit. One has been operating for several years, but the other has only come on the scene in the last two.

We stumbled upon Andaman Thai Cuisine in Lincoln City quite by accident about a year ago. It’s in an unprepossessing strip mall right off of Highway 101 in town. At the time we were just looking for a quick dinner; and considering the location, we expected no more than your typical fast, pedestrian Thai food. We were more than pleasantly surprised at the tasteful, soothing decor inside, the gracious warmth of the owner/chef and sometime server, and were really blown away by the beautifully presented and fantastic food.

Considering the state of the economy this past year and the difficult time eateries located on the tourist-dependent coast can have adjusting to the boom-and-bust flow of business there, we weren’t sure we would find Andaman still operating when we next returned to the area. But it seems that others have found their way there and are equally impressed, and we were pleased to drop in Thursday night for more delicious dining. Patay Kaplan greeted us warmly, brought us a fragrant pot of black tea with lichi and sweetened lightly with agave, and added a few crisp rolls of a coconut-flavored cookie. We enjoyed a couple of appetizers before digging in to our entrees. Every dish is artfully arranged, the flavors are unique and delicately balanced, and the food is piping hot (temperature-wise). Harry likes his dishes fairly spicey while I prefer to go more mild. I’ve found that can often equate to “bland” in many restaurants, but not here. One doesn’t sacrifice satisfyingly complex flavor when toning down the heat. We chose to take home a dessert from the adjoining Tigerlily Tea and Dessert Bar and were equally impressed with the beautifully constructed, layered confection. If only we could relocate this fabulous restaurant to our home town!

Located in Depoe Bay, a smaller community a dozen miles south of Lincoln City, Tidal Raves serves up fantastic seafood and an assortment of other dishes, many exhibiting a pan-Asian influence. Perched on a cliff just above the waves crashing against the rocks below, the restaurant’s bland, compact street side face belies the great views and warm, elegant dining room inside. We’ve always found the service to be friendly and efficient and the prices ($10 to $25 for entrees which include a choice of soup or salad) beyond reasonable, especially considering the quality and compared to the prices of other high-end restaurants in the area. Last night Harry returned to two of his favorite dishes: a bowl of smoked salmon chowder followed by green curry with halibut. He kindly shared a bit of each with me, and I can attest to the amazing flavors and rich textures of each. I chose the house salad with shrimp and wild grilled salmon with crab risotto — heavenly! We shared a dessert of a warm apple-pecan cake with a creamy caramel sauce and drove back to our room through the misty night completely warmed and satisfied.

While we are always up for trying new places in some of our old haunts, it’s always nice to know that we can also return to our tried-and-true favorites for a reliably great meal. 

— Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader