After Josh played in Hillsboro we headed to the beach for a night. We drove along the Oregon Coast first to the town of Tillamook and then on to Cannon Beach, famous for Haystack Rock. At Tillamook we stopped at a small restaurant, The Pacific House, that I had read some reviews about online. I had read “don't judge a book by its cover,” and “you must try their fish tacos with their special guacamole sauce.” So we did just that…stopped at what looked to be an old unkept building for what ended up being some of the best fish tacos we've tried.

The old restaurant has been recently bought by a lady and she'd hired her friend from Seattle, trained in french cuisine, to be the chef. Though the fish tacos were excellent, don't let the casual lunch cuisine fool you, their dinner menu includes some of the chefs prouder items like fois gras and duck confit.

The restaurant was filled with remnants of the past, old green twisty diner chairs and black and white photos of the Oregon Coast framed on the walls. We talked with the chef for a while, asking him about the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory in town. He recommended we skip Tillamook and go to a cheese and wine tasting at another local cheese factory, Blue Heron. So we took the recommendation and headed to Blue Heron, which we found to be a small gold mine of tasting opportunities: varieties of brie, mustard, jams, syrpus, cheese, hot sauce, barbecue sauce, and local wines.

The wine tasting was only $2/person and we loved many of the local wines many with hints of berry.
We did stop by the Tillamook factory and saw all of the people hard at work, much like viewing a fish tank, as the chef commented. We overlooked all of the people hard at work, doing seemingly mindless tasks. Still full from the fish tacos and several cheese samples we vowed that we'd pick up some Tillamook ice cream later in our trip. You can buy the famous Tillamook cheese and ice cream and most local grocery stores.

Pacific House, Tillamook OR

Blue Heron Cheese Factory, Tillamook OR