Gorge Recreation Central

Nora’s Table has a blog, and the blog is a great read. Nora’s also serves food, and the food is an awesome eat. Can I say that, or is it improper English?

It doesn’t really matter. What you need to know is that the food at Nora’s is far beyond edible. It’s quirky. It mixes influences. The food may not be French-inspired finery like Celilo’s or Sophie’s, but it’s downright delicious and well worth at least one visit while you’re in town.

Gone are the days when Nora’s was a fish house specializing in, you guessed it, fish. Chef Christiaan Erasmus doesn’t play that game. He can cook fish, sure, but his specialty is meat. Meat of any kind. Christiaan thinks playing with meat is fun. He turns raw flesh and piles of fat into sausages, chorizo and a variety of cured meat. He’s also a pickle master. Everything ends up pickled. For a taste of both the meats and pickles, order a pickle and cured meat appetizer platter.

For a taste of a good chef, or at least a good view of a couple of good chefs, sit at the bar. From here, you can watch the magic happen in the kitchen, or watch the people in the dining room.

I prefer the bar, but the dining room is fine too. A bit austere when not filled with diners, the dining room comes alive when packed. There’s just enough noise and laughter from neighboring tables to remind you you’re in a restaurant, but not enough to drown out your dining partner’s murmurs of happiness with the food.

You have a couple of menu options at Nora’s. There’s the top of the menu, small plates, averaging $10, maybe less, and the bottom, the entrees, averaging around $18. A hearty eater will be pleased with the portions of either. The entree portions can be over-the-top large, not a bad thing if you’ve been playing in the Gorge all day. The “small plates” really aren’t small; order the fish tacos off the “small plate” menu and you’ll head for home with a very full belly.

Don’t miss Nora’s. It’s good. I like it, and you will too.