Tidal Raves has been in business since 1990 on a beautiful spot on the central Oregon coast. Whales are a regular sight out the large windows that frame the good sized dining room. They do have a tint on them that keeps the sun from being too intense but will also tint some of your outdoor photos. It is primarily a seafood restaurant but a few meat choices are there for the those not in the mood. The a la carte menu was supplemented by a fresh catch special that was on the chalkboard on both our visits. The long room has well spaced large bare wood tables along the windows and another series of tables on a second level (separated from below by a plexiglass barrier) that is just high enough to afford them a good view also. Instrumental music was in the background, carpet was on the floor, ceiling fans helped to keep it a nice temperature, additional light fixtures add to the incredible day light and the friendly, efficient staff wore masks.
Complimentary sourdough bread was served warm with softened butter. The crisp crust was perfect with the doughy interior. You could fill up on this – something simple yet so well done.
We started with a couple of the appetizers – steamed clams and crabcakes. The steamed manila clams were in a broth of dry white wine, garlic, thyme and butter and served with some buttered grilled toast. It was a nice portion of tasty, tender clams that had not a bit of grit. The salted broth had lots of garlic and was wonderful with the lovely clams. The bread was good in the broth but I think I preferred the house sourdough. I would get this one again. The Dungeness crab cakes were 2 to an order and served with pico de gallo and aioli. The pico was stuffed into a slice of zucchini and while it was tasty I preferred the aioli with the crab cake as it more enhanced the flavor than overwhelmed. The cakes were fried to a good exterior crisp and had lots of crab and not too much breading. A lemon wedge on the plate was another option for adding to this tasty option.
For a main course we had the daily special, a fresh caught local rockfish on a potato cake covered with a lobster and crab cream sauce. The large flake fish was moist and cooked perfectly. Under and on top of the potato cake were chopped zucchini and carrot. The potato cake was well cooked with a fun crisp edge and almost blended in with sauce it was so creamy inside. The sauce had a hint of curry and bits of the shellfish. It was a great combination and generous portion.
With coffee you could add hazelnut shortbreads and that was perfect for a less sweet fix finish. The buttery crisp cookies were 3 in number and seemed like slight variations on the same cookie. They were great.
For my dessert I tried the Apple-Pecan cake with caramel sauce. The server said she’d smelled it cooking that morning. It was full of nuts, raisins and apples and surrounded by a generous supply of caramel sauce and pecans. The cake was super moist, rich and sweet. The generous buttery caramel sauce was a surprise as you usually have to beg for more but this was almost more than I could eat. The only odd thing was the pecans in the sauce when the cake included walnuts. Not enough to keep me from getting it again.
