CHEAP EATS
At the Hatch, great view and an element of excitement
There’s an element of danger to eating at the Hatch. Signs everywhere warn that the seagulls that swoop and scream around the outdoor dining area are “extremely aggressive this season,” and “will help themselves to your food.” Tragically, “it is not our policy to replace food stolen by the birds.” “Watch the sky!” the signs suggest.
Thus warned, and feeling a bit like Rod Taylor or Tippi Hedren in “The Birds,” we carefully crept out of the doorway to the waterside area and chose a picnic table near the railing with a nice view of China Light. When John went back in for a forgotten utensil, I spread my arms around the food tray and kept a sharp eye out.
A gray-haired woman at the next picnic table wasn’t so vigilant. She set down a tray and took one step away from the table. Immediately, a silent seagull swooped and grabbed a hot dog as long as its entire body, flying just past the railing to enjoy its mustard-, ketchup-and relish-slathered prize. Seconds later, a larger bird landed with a cry and muscled the thief off the hot dog.
Between the brazen daylight theft, the cries of the robbed woman, the seagull scuffle that followed, and the lull afterward in which we admired the lighthouse, a sailboat and a glimpse of the grain elevators through the trees, it was lunch and a show.
We found the food slightly above average in selection and preparation, and costing a bit more than necessary, it seems – $7.25 for chicken tenders? But the ambience is enough to draw thousands of people to the Hatch each season, and we’re not discouraging that.
You place your order at one end of a short counter that stands at the front of the grill, and the meat is thrown on the grill as you watch. We tried a bacon burger ($3.90), which had cheese applied when we weren’t looking and had to be removed later; an Italian sausage ($4.25) with peppers and onions (60 cents); onion rings ($2.75); and potato and macaroni salad ($2 each).
The burger was a plain beef patty, fairly flavorless except for its charcoal searing. The bacon helped. The Italian sausage was good. Although the pepper-and-onion mixture was cooked through, it was not soft and had no carmelized flavor.
The cold salads were very cold, but somewhat over-mayonnaised; the potato bits seemed undercooked. The onion rings were fresh-cooked and tasty.
Enjoy the view, and watch out for those thieving birds! –
The Hatch is open from 8 a. m. to 8:30 p. m. Monday through Thursday; from 8 a. m. to 9:30 p. m. Friday; from 7:30 a. m. to 9:30 p. m. Saturday; and 7:30 a. m. to 8:30 p. m. Sunday.
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