Restaurant review: Train Wreck stays on track with tasty, creative fare
Published 1:32 pm Thursday, September 10, 2009
BURLINGTON — When your establishment’s name is a synonym for a disaster, you’d better be good.
And the bar and grill called Train Wreck in this Skagit County town is very good indeed.
Housed in an old wedge-shaped brick building by the train tracks, Train Wreck at first might be mistaken for an ordinary small-town tavern where the food consists of those pickled eggs in a jar and maybe some microwaved pizza slices.
The impression vanishes once you sink your chops into something like a sandwich of Alaskan cod marinated in chili, lime and soy and placed on a bed of marinated cabbage and peanut dressing ($10.95).
Or you might try the “Derailed burger,” one of Train Wreck’s five burger preparations, combining bacon, pepper jack, salsa, guacamole and a red onion sauce ($9.95).
Owner Nick Crandall opened Train Wreck in November 2008 after a six-month remodeling. The kitchen, led by chef Mike Miller, emphasizes local products, such as bread from Breadfarm in nearby Bow, and creative, made-in-house preparations.
House-made fries come with most everything, including a fried oyster dinner with lemon-garlic mayonnaise and a spicy tomato jam ($9.95). You can substitute sweet potato fries, soup or a salad instead.
Train Wreck’s main seating area is tavern-humble, with what appear to be conference-room tables pushed together for large parties. There’s a pleasant beer garden out back.
On a recent Saturday evening, my wife and I tucked into a plate of coconut prawns, sweet potato fries and a mango mojo dipping sauce ($7.95), listed on that day’s fresh sheet. Our server told us the prawns won an award at the recent Taste of Skagit event. The prize seemed justified to us.
We sipped margaritas from Train Wreck’s full bar. The bartender muddled the drinks instead of blending them and served them in salt-rimmed pint glasses. I greatly preferred these margaritas to the shocking-green, ice-cream-headache-inducing concoctions usually served at Mexican restaurants.
Next, we tried another daily sheet selection, crab macaroni and cheese ($14.95). It arrived in a piping-hot 4-by-6-inch Pyrex dish. A quick stir with a fork revealed a creamy sauce and a generous portion of fresh-tasting crab meat along with the elbow macaroni — in other words, a treat for lovers of white and brown food.
We also ordered fish tacos, in which warmed corn tortillas embraced grilled cod, cabbage, salsa, lime, sour cream and guacamole ($7.95). In judging fish tacos, I’ll defer to folks from lower latitudes. But I can report that Train Wreck’s rendition was orders of magnitude better than those fish stick tacos sold by a chain that will remain nameless but whose mascot is a fish wearing a sombrero.
We shared an apple and pecan salad ($5.95, or $8.95 for a large salad). The greens and apple were crisp, the pecans delightfully candied.
If you’re not in the mood for a burger or tacos, Train Wreck offers a half-dozen dinner-size salads, and a crab-Caesar wrap with sweet potato fries ($9.95).
As we finished dinner, a rockabilly band began setting up for its 8 p.m.-to-midnight set. Train Wreck features live music Friday and Saturday evenings, and karaoke on Thursdays.
If you’re heading home from a day in the North Cascades or on a weekend bike ride, you’re in the mood for quality pub grub and everyone in your party is at least 21, you’ll be hard-pressed to do better than Train Wreck. The place lives down to its name.
Mark Carlson: 425-339-3457; carlson@heraldnet.com.
