Barnacle Bistro — Restaurant in Gold Beach

While staying at Gold Beach, My wife and I went to Barnacle Bistro for dinner. It was our 10th year wedding anniversary.The server wanted to seat us at a two top table along side a window where the sun was beating down on the table. We asked to be seated else where because of the sun beating down on the table. The server protested stating he wanted to keep the other tables open for the dinner rush. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. My wife was insistant so we were seated at a table away from the sun. The server took our order and brought us our drinks...so far so good. We were plenty hungry as all we ate was a small breakfast this morning. My wife ordered the roasted beet salad and the steamer clams and I order a cup of clam chowder, crab cakes and fish & chips. The clam chowder arrived first. The server brought two spoons so we could share. The chowder was made with potato and celery. Not one clam!. My wife and I took our spoons and spooned thru the cup to see who could find a clam first. Neither one of us were successful. Next the roasted beet salad. Why they called this a roasted beet salad I will never know, what I would estimate as a 1/4 of an sliced unroasted beet (more of a garnish) on top of an onion heavy pile of mixed green is not a beet salad. At $18 ? Come on man! It gets better... next the crab cakes. By no means house made, two thin dollar pancake size cakes with no garnish . These cakes were burnt on the outside and mealey on the inside. These premade frozen cakes were burnt on the flat top not cooked in the fryer. At $15...WTF!! Wait there's more... The steamer clams were in a broth the was water and way to garlicly. We still have the fish & chips. 3 small fish nuggets not filets served with a cole slaw that was the driest I have ever seen. This was a huge disappointment, our annviresary celebration ruined. Maybe we should have taken the window seat with the sun beating down on...

We've been extremely impressed by several different fish & chip entrees along the coast this week from other restaurants and unfortunately, this was not one of them. We trusted the reviews previously written and realized this was an $18.85 mistake this evening with one serving of the fish, garlic fries, and coleslaw. We are disappointed in both the smell and taste and want others to know that this may not be your cup of tea.

*Edited to add more details as requested by owner:

I agree that a fish & chips entree is expected to be around this price, as I previously mentioned we have had several fish & chips entrees from other restaurants on the Oregon coast. They ranged from $14-$17.95 a plate. What I am disappointed in is that we paid the amount we did for an entree that was not remotely close to the caliber of the other fish & chips dishes we have tried this week. I am willing to pay a higher price when a meal's value and taste, in my opinion, matches it's price.

"This evening" in my first review, when written on 8/4/21, refers to the evening of Wednesday, August 4, around 6:15pm. We ordered online and it was takeout.

I am sure you are a kind owner who is doing their best to run a delicious restaurant. However, the meal ordered wasn't for us. I ate leftovers from a local restaurant we ate at the night before and my fiance ate what he could of the meal I bought for him. He didn't want me to feel bad if he only ate a few bites of it, so he ate 80% of it and ended up having a stomach ache and diarrhea a couple hours after eating dinner. It is unusual for him to experience these things after eating out. I tried a bite of it as well and didn't enjoy the taste or smell.

I hope these additional details are helpful to you and answer your questions. I hope others can have a more pleasant experience with this dish. Have a...

If you like to wait an hour for double price fish n chips...go here.. over cooked calamari ... that is rubbery and the breading slips off...flavorless.. 99% of my reviews are five-star positive but this is one time I have to be brutally honest

Wasn't even Cod or halibut at 25 bucks for a four-piece fish and chip it was Rockfish which is about $6 per pound about the cheapest fish you can get locally (fresh) Plus it was mushy fish was not crispy and firm like it should be. Don't waste your time unless you want to wear a beanie and sit around drinking local beers while you wait for slow service.. the waiter took 45 minutes to refill our waters & the kids lemonades

I am 50 years old and these were the worst fries ever ...shoe string fries.. that were burnt to a crisp ( double cooked I believe ) unedible.. rock hard... not just cooked well.. rock-hard mind you My family is not picky eaters ...but this place had the worst fries ever in the history of fries... there was only 2 tables with people in there when we arrived One table had their food already ...a group of four ordered just before us... mind you this place only seats about 15 people total Well the group of four that ordered before us by like 1 minute ....got their food and finished eating 25 to 30 minutes before we even got our food. Perhaps it was break time and the bartender decided to cook our meal I have no clue but I will say I would never ever recommend this place ...overpriced and horrible experience...

You're looking for fish and chips go to the jet boat area there's two restaurants over there that serve it try them Best fish and chips in town? Goldbeach needs to work on its fish and chips

Yes my picture makes the fish and chips looks good but trust me it was not ...and the fries like I said were the absolute worst cr@p we ate 5%...