Downtown Bend’s Home of Seafood

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 11, 2016

With the Pacific Ocean a four-hour drive away, Bend isn’t a city famous for seafood restaurants. Anthony’s, in the Old Mill District, and McGrath’s, on North Highway 97, are the most obvious choices. On the west side, Baltazar’s is a fine seafood house disguised as a Mexican restaurant. And then there’s High Tides.

As the most intimate of the group, located in the heart of downtown, High Tides Seafood Grill offers outstanding quality for a reasonable price. And while other restaurants may come and may go, High Tides has lasting power: Chef Mike Rushing and his wife, Staci, bought the restaurant in 2005 from its original owners, who established High Tides in its present location 19 years ago.

Since applying their particular stamp — one that clearly worked for Central Oregonians hungry for good seafood — the Rushings settled into a routine that continues to please regular patrons today. This is a casual café where the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” seems especially appropriate.

As it has been for years, one wall of this 49-seat restaurant is covered by a mural of an undersea garden. Easy-listening music provides background, and large windows on Bond Street let the urban scene gently enter the restaurant.

The clientele, which tends to be of an older demographic, especially in the early evening, expresses appreciation for prompt and efficient service, which included making sure that our water glasses were always properly filled, even with wine on the table.

Fresh fish and chowder

If you’re not a seafood lover, though, this is probably not the place for you. Other than chicken linguine and a steak-and-prawns “surf and turf” combination plate, everything on the menu (with the exception of basic salads) features fish or shellfish.

Mike Rushing is certainly creative in his preparations. He commonly breads fish with Japanese panko or crusts it with Asiago cheese, and his Southeast Asian-style green curry, offered with prawns and steamed peanut rice, is some of the best in town. Salmon, cod and halibut are mainstays of the regular menu, along with scallops and prawns, oysters and clams; but fresh fish specials — such as swordfish, sturgeon and Hawaiian mahimahi — often find their way onto the café’s menu of blackboard specials.

On recent visits with my dining companion, I enjoyed two of the chef’s seafood chowders. Neither was extraordinary, but both were highly satisfying. Rushing’s creamy New England clam chowder rewarded me with a generous portion of tiny shellfish, along with diced potatoes and spices. And the spinach oyster bisque was a delicious blend of protein and greens in a rich cream broth.

The High Tides menu also features smoked salmon chowder, a vegetarian black-bean soup, and a classic cioppino. And a list of five salads is highlighted by a crab and shrimp louie with fruit and vegetable garnish.

Entrée choices

The selection of main courses is divided into simpler fare (for lighter appetites) and traditional entrées for $5 more. Other than inclusion of soup or salad with the larger entrée, I didn’t find a lot of difference between the two. In fact, I don’t recall which category our choices fell into.

I enjoy fresh sole whenever I can find it on a menu. But it’s such a delicate white fish, its flavor was overpowered by even a light crusting of Asiago cheese. A pair of accompanying scallops were overcooked, and a side serving of cheesy polenta cake was redundant: Rice pilaf might have been more appropriate.

My companion felt her order of tail-on tiger shrimp, sautéed with mushrooms in sherry and garlic butter and served on basmati rice, was similarly heavy-handed. While the portion of shrimp was generous, she felt (even as a garlic lover) that she should not have continued to taste her dinner for hours afterward.

This followed the pattern of recent previous visits to High Tides. There’s an element of “comfort food” cooking here. I feel the chef may be trying to do too much; sometimes it’s best to just give the fish a simple preparation and let the flavors speak for themselves.

Both entrées were served with a medley of vegetables: green beans, carrots, zucchini and tomato with fresh basil leaves.

There’s only one dessert choice at High Tides. I’m sure the key lime pie is delicious, but we left the restaurant feeling satisfied if not entirely inspired.

— Reporter: janderson@bendbulletin.com.