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Washougal wins with new Shelby’s

The Columbian
Published: November 6, 2009, 12:00am

Why: Owners Greg and Roxanne Shelby opened Shelby’s with a dedication to American fare, featuring such dishes as a Pear & Blue Cheese Salad, Salmon Penne, Flat Iron Steak and Chicken Picatta.

Before opening Shelby’s in mid-October, the owners ran Gringos Mexican Restaurant at the same spot in Washougal for 17 years. They decided to make a change because several other Mexican restaurants had opened in the area, and they believed diners would respond to having an alternative.

When the Shelbys met chefs Morris Fenton and Gwyn Manney, they believed they’d found the perfect team to carry out the change. Fenton and Manney both worked at the Hilton Restaurant Group, the now-defunct Vesta restaurant of Vancouver as well as the View Point Inn in Corbett, Ore.

Atmosphere: Shelby’s casual dining room has been only slightly modified since it operated as Gringos. A pool table, which previously sat in the middle of the dining room, has been removed and attractive paintings have been added to the walls as well as some new seating. But the interior still looks like a Mexican restaurant, with its heavily textured walls, arched doorways and bold patterned upholstery in the booths.

The owners say they plan to remodel eventually, but for now the decor reflects the restaurant’s history.

What I tried: I had the Braised Beef in Guinness with vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes after starting my meal with the cream of mushroom soup. My dining companion decided on the daily fish special, which was Coho salmon drizzled with blackberry sauce. The fish came with grilled asparagus, fingerling potatoes and a salad. For dessert we sampled the Orange Cinnamon Crème Brulée and a piece of Two Berry Pound Cake, which sat atop a blueberry-blackberry sauce and had a nutty streusel topping.

My cream of mushroom soup had a browned quality, which took the rich edge off of the cream and made it easy to finish. It got the meal off to a good start.

The braised beef was stewlike, served in a bowl with carrots, celery, mushrooms and onion pieces. The meat was appetizingly tender, and the extraordinary flavor reached to the very center of each piece.

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You don’t have to be a beer fan to appreciate what Guinness does to the braised beef. Neither do you have to know Chef Fenton to admire his skill at finding just the right ingredients to transform this classic. The Guinness, which to me typically leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste, gave the beef a smooth, rich flavor. The garlic mashed potatoes were true to their name, though the garlic was not overpowering. They were mostly fluffy with small potato bits intact. Finally the vegetables — sautéed zucchini and yellow squash slices — were the perfect complement. They gave my meal a touch of garden freshness and provided a balance of flavor that merged the beef and potatoes into a meal.

My dining companion referred to her dinner as “magic on a plate.” The salmon was cooked perfectly through to the center, flaking apart easily, and I thought the berry sauce was as impeccably suited to the salmon as maple syrup is to pancakes. The asparagus was grilled just enough to enhance its flavor with a bit of crunch intact. The fingerling potatoes were soft without being mushy and had a surprising glazed-doughnut flavor.

Dessert was nothing short of amazing. Every bite of the crème brulée melted away, leaving a silky orange essence. It was the best crème brulée I’ve had. The streusel topping on the pound cake contained sunflower seeds, oats and brown sugar. The result was a crisp crust that was browned, but didn’t taste overdone. The berry sauce added a nice touch of additional moistness to the cake.

Menu highlights beyond what I tried: Among the entrees that looked intriguing was the Mediterranean Fettuccini, which is made with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, olives, feta cheese and a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce. Burgers are bumped up a notch with the inclusion of spiced beef patties, toppings such as chipotle cream cheese and seeded brioche buns. If you crave comfort food, the Braised Beef in Guinness certainly qualifies, but Shelby’s also offers Shepherd’s Pie.

Breakfast options are slightly outside of the normal range with a variety of Benedicts, pancakes and hashes included along with omelets and other egg dishes.

Cost: A cup of soup is $3.25 and a bowl is $5. Salads range from $5.50 to $12.50. Entrees — most of which come with vegetables and a choice of garlic mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, rice pilaf or roasted sweet potato, as well as a salad or cup of soup — start at $12.75 and go as high as $15.85. The cost of the daily fish special varies according to the market price. Pasta dishes come with a side salad and grilled bread for $12.50 to $14.75. Sandwiches are $10.75 to $11.75. Burgers and the Fish and Chips start at $7.75 and top out at $12. Breakfast choices are all less than $10, except the Crab Benedict which is $16.99.

Other observations: While fine food is the main course here, there are options for budget-conscious diners. There’s a three-course dinner option for $14 that is a relative bargain, and dishes on Shelby’s Shareable Plates menu range from $4.75 to $8.50.

And while the main menu dishes are geared for adult tastes, the kids’ menu is well-stocked with items such as Chicken Fingers and Tater Tots and a Mini Burger Trio.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Breakfast is served 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The lounge is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. The restaurant is closed on Monday.

Telephone: 360-835-1103.

Where: 419 E St., Washougal.

Health score: Shelby’s has not been inspected since the owners converted the establishment from Gringos Mexican Restaurant. For restaurants that have been inspected, zero is a perfect score. Clark County Public Health closes restaurants that score 100 or higher.

Information: 360-397-8428 or shelbyswashougal.com.

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