Ok, I've been pulling my punches.
I have a bit of a love/hate sentiment towards the infamous Blue Goat restaurant, located in Amity.
I wanted to like it because they have a really cool oven, they are locals who work hard, really good restaurants are hard to find outside of Portland, they seem to be nice people, weird funky stuff is really cool when no one else is being weird and funky.
I hated the Blue Goat because they represent the death of the old ways. There is no Amity Cafe. There is no hardware store. There is no Meeker's Warehouse. Just wineries and pictures of grapes and people who have more money than I and I hate them all.
But I digress..
This is not about my objection to "progress" but rather about my recent happiness at the Blue Goat.
Back to my complaints from the early days at the Goat.
Here is the problem, I've been mildly annoyed by their tendency to run out of food. They ruin a perfectly good pizza with pear sauce. Voices echo off the bare brick walls and prevents me from hearing most conversations when there are more than five other people in the building.
I also have never had the urge to eat dead goat.
The food has been ok. Not really great. It is more novelty food. In my opinion it is from things put together for contrast and effect rather than from a love of good food. Clever and interesting food rather than a good satisfying meal. And when I say satisfying meal I mean a big good steak and a baked potato.
So, in my previous reviews I tried to be nice. I looked for something positive in what was kind of a laughably poor dining experience which was basically decor and "coolness" over really good food.
My wife and I had planned to treat my brother and his wife to dinner. In the end he turned out to be the one with the hundred dollar bill and I was the one with the tens and twenties and somehow I think he ended up paying.
Perhaps that is why I enjoyed the food.
It was a Saturday evening and the Blue Goat was fairly busy. We did stand at the door for a little while but soon a place was cleared.
The menu was pretty simple which is good.
I avoided the Jersey beef. I've had that before and I would say I was disappointed but how can you blame the cook when you are the one that ordered the "Jersey" beef. Jersey is a milk cow. It may be more lean, but it also tends to be a little tough and stringy and with less flavor than Angus, or Herford, or an actual beef type animal. Of course my experience comes from raising feeders purchased at the local auction or bull calves from local dairies and should have some merit.
I ordered the Blackened Pacific Rock Fish (I think, my mind is starting to fail).
It was very good.
I've never like the Blue Goat tendency to pair contrasting tastes. I do not like pear sauce and cheese on a pizza. However, the blackened fish with little squares of yams and crunchy greens really went well together. The sweet yams contrasted well with the blackened fish the spices set off the flavor nicely.
I am enough of a Philistine to not remember terms now that I don't have the menu in front of me but then again, if you were high culture you would probably not be reading this blog.
The portion was not huge but it was not small. I would say just right.
Last week I had fish and chips at the Hotel Oregon and it was much more expensive and much less tasty.
My wife had a Jersey Burger and was quite happy. It had Blu Cheese on it and came with sliced potatoe fries, like the old Captain Neon burgers of the above mentioned chain of brewpubs. But, unlike the modern incarnation it was $10 and the waitstaff were happy and helpful and competent.
My brother had the Rockfish and enjoyed it. My sister-in-law had the Hungarian Stew. It was a little too loud for me to hear how she felt about it. But, that is a problem with my ears.
I've gone to the Blue Goat several times a year since it has opened. I've been a bit frustrated.
This is the first time I've been able to say that I would go back for the food rather than just to be amused by the clever wine crowd, or to look a the cool oven, or because I just don't want to drive to the city.
So....
If you have tired of reading my drivel and just scanned to the bottom of the page...
It was good, I liked it, I will return sooner than later, and....
I didn't like the Jersey Beef because I have a freezer full of fat Black Baldy Beef and it kind of ruins you. If you've been buying your beef in town then you will think it is great, so peddle your bicycle or pop in your Prius, put on your short pants or perhaps those trendy back ones with the narrow legs and the ironic shoes, and if you are really a ma-roon, wear your kilt (cause everyone cares to know you think you are Scottish) and swill some wine at the Blue Goat. Tell them I recommended it ask to see the oven!
Also, please mention that you think the people that run Amity are a bunch of idiots for screwing up the parking and putting a bench directly in the way of being able to see South on 99W.
I swear, Amity is run by door-knobs. What the world needs are more wine tasting rooms with no parking and five handicapped parking spots per block. Oh, not to mention the 5 crosswalks per block, except for where the kids from the elementary school cross every day.
I'm sure they hired traffic engineers.
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