Baked Alaska

We visited Baked Alaska on a Monday evening. I was surprised to see so many vacant seats. The server sat us quickly and explained the special dish for the evening. I decided to go with the special which was prawn pasta. I liked the choices of three breads prior to appetizers. I chose the Focaccia bread and was given one slice. I looked at the server and said thanks, she responded, did you want another slice? Just felt cheep when paying 20+ per plate and had to ask for a second small slice of bread. The salad was crisp and fresh served on a cold plate, excellent. My pasta special and the clam chowder were served in bowls which had not been heated. This caused both dishes to cool quickly. The service and food were both decent but were both missing the extra edge needed for the price. Although Monday evenings are not typically busy for restaurants I think my complaints would equate to the possible lack of business. Just a couple small changes and this place can be great! Pros: Great view Cons: Missing the small things more

Sat out on the pier and ordered the calamari. The calamari was cooked perfect but tasted mediocre. The New York steak was ordered rare and was cooked medium. Sent back the medium and then was served a rare with cold spots that were raw. This new (supposed New York steak) was very gristly and also had a lot of fat. I ended up leaving a third of it to be discarded. However, I will say that they have the best garlic smashed potatoes I ever tasted. My friend ordered the halibut and that was good too. \r Other than my food, the service was great. The staff was pleasant and very attentitive. It was fun watching the sea birds diving for food and the occassional seal swimming by. \r For the price, I will not return. Pros: Great service. View of river, with outdoor - dock seating. Cons: The food. more

My husband and I stopped here on our coast trip recently because of all the grea reviews it had received on here. When we walked into the resturant, a group of about 7 people was standing there waiting. There was no host to be scene and the group said they had been standing there for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes of waiting, a member of the group finally walked into the resturant and flagged someone down. We continued to stand there for a total of about 15 minutes before we final got seated.\r \r Once seated, the waitess came and took our order. I ordered the crab and mushroom pasta and my husband ordered the chicken potpie. He loved the potpie, but I was less than impressed by my pasta. There were no mushrooms to be scene anywhere in the dish and I spent most of my time picking out all the varrying sized chunks of garlic and strips of onion out of my pasta.\r \r Our server was ok. Friendly enough, but very slow and I think she may have been the only server for all 10+ tables. The food took FOREVER. We must have sat there for over 30 minutes before we received our food. more

I took my wife to Baked Alaska for her birthday and we were promptly seated by a fairly goodwaitress. I ordered the Fried Calamari which was pretty tasty. The batter was light and the sauce was okay, although I doubt its made in house. I ordered the wild mushroom and crab fettucini with saffron cream sauce and my wife got the open faced crab melt. Both of the words 'sauce' and 'wild' in this dish are incredibly misleading. First of all the mushrooms were mostly button and the other mushrooms were portabello, which in my opinion is not 'wild', try black trumpets, chanterelles, hedgehogs... The 'sauce' was soupy, and was border line broken (cream and fat seperate).My pasta was swimming in liquid cream. It seems as if the crab in the dish seemed to have mostly crawled out before arriving at my plate! Skimpin on the portions of poorly made dishes, good combo! My wifes dish was good, but it was an open face sandwich, I'm not impressed. Denny's can do that. Then for dessert we got the baked alaska, which was nice. The bill was 45 dollars which for what we got is outrageously expensive. \r \r However what I should say is that 'in theory' the food ideas on the menu are lovely. The food was not prepared right. I cannot reccomend this place. Pros: Nice view, decent service, fish is fresh, good menu ideas Cons: improper cooking techniques more

Astoria has become a great culinary town, and chef Chris Holen is a big reason why. My wife and I stopped here for lunch after our trolley ride. The food was excellent- my dish was a perfectly cooked salmon filet turned into a club sandwich on focaccia bread. The chowder is great, as expected- chowder is how Baked Alaska got it's start. The lunch prices were fair, especially considering the quality of ingredients. The service was spectacular. The view of the river is nice. The dessert looked good, but I was too full to order any. \r \r I ran into Chef Holen at his new store next door called Mise en Place- a kitchenware store that sells very high quality products. Chef Holen is so down to earth I would have never known he was the owner of this fine restaurant until I started talking to him. I plan to go back to Baked Alaska next time I'm in Astoria, but first I have to go check out Chef Holen's other restaurant up the street called The Schooner. Go to Baked Alaska, you won't be disappointed. more

best clam chowder ever eaten! salads were also wonderful try the mixed spring greens with walnuts. a very conveinient place to stop and warm up after the sunday astoria market Pros: bar, lounge, dining room more

We were seated immediately but went early for the dinner hour and on a week-day. If you want to splurge on decadence - try the 1/2 Baked Alaska. Plenty rich enough to satisfy 2 appetites. more