Just these elements alone would be enough to define an agreeable meal at most outside dining venues along the Maine coast. But this Peaks Island restaurant goes the extra mile with satisfying, simple meals.
On our most recent visit for lunch on a blue-sky drenched Saturday, we hustled off the 12:15 ferry and managed to beat most of the crowd and score a coveted table at the edge of the deck. Our perky waitress came over full of smiles to take our drink orders (a Sam Adams light and an iced tea).
The lunch menu offers up traditional fare — BLTs, crab cakes, fried fish sandwiches — plus more adventurous offerings (often with an Asian flair courtesy of co-owner Chon Ya Taylor), such as Korean seaweed salads, grilled scallops with bourbon dijon and smoked salmon with cream cheese, capers and red onion.
We settled on the hummus with fresh bread and vegetables for an app ($8.50). Boy, did we make the right choice. Unlike most of the local supermarket hummus that suffers from too much tahini, this freshly-made bean dip was light and flavorful. It was paired with baguette slices, red peppers, cucumbers, carrots and steamed, then chilled, green beans.
As soon as we were done with the hummus, our meals arrived. Adam selected the grilled chicken sandwich with french fries ($8.50). Served with lettuce, tomato and red onion on a sesame seed bun, the centerpiece of this sandwich was the moist cuts of chicken breast, not adulterated by the addition of any unnecessary sauce.
My meal was the vegetable stirfry with mung bean noodles ($14). As a vegetarian who’s suffered through too many so-called veggie stirfries (can you say soggy zucchini and summer squash dripping in oil?), I’d put this dish in a class all by itself. Composed of a medley of cabbage varieties, carrots and snow peas seasoned with a zesty Korean sauce, the stirfry shouldn’t be missed.
I, for one, plan to be back to savor it again.
The Cockeyed Gull is located at 78 Island Ave. on Peaks Island, an easy walk from the ferry terminal. The restaurant is open seven days a week in the summer. Breakfast is served from 7-10 a.m., lunch is served from 11:30-3:30 p.m. and dinner is served from 4:30-9 p.m. on weeknights and until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. FMI call 766-2800 or visit www.cockeyedgull.com.