… and the One Eyed Crab in Westport, WA has restored my faith in it!

Here is the deal, folks. I grew up landlocked, far way from any serious watersource. Seafood was essentially fish-fingers and other previously frozen, cut into weird shaped, white pieces of flakey something. Then there was Nordsee, and I still dream about it, but this is for another column, because my wife makes fun of me for liking Nordsee.

So anyway. Seafood is something fairly new to me. Fresh, just-caught fish and shellfish is terrific, and the Pacific Northwest is a premier spot in the world to have some excellent seafood, or is it?

There sure are terrific places in the area for seafood. Expensive restaurants serving it the way it should be served. But seafood is so close, why should it be expensive? There are the vacation spots, Ocean Shores, Port Townsend, places we go to enjoy the weekend and eat out, overlooking the water, expecting spectacular seafood. But far from it. Deepfried sameness, oversized boredom. I rather take a picnic then eat out along any of the typical vacation spots along the Pacific Northwest Coast.

But! Yesterday we went to the One Eyed Crab in Westport, WA. Along the main stretch at the harbor where all the carter boats dock, is a newish, smaller place that is fantastic. Amazing chowders, great calamari, which I truly enjoyed after Paul predicted Spain over Germany in the semifinals, and other great seafood dishes. We got takeout, but the place looked upbeat and fun.

Definitely worth a trip and a destination when heading to the coast.

And it certainly restored my faith in good seafood on the Pacific Coast.