Before I get into the details here, Id like to once again posit the subjectivity of what I do.

As much as I report truthfully upon my experiences in the various restaurants I review for the benefit of Coast Weekend readers, a good deal of this column is the opinion of an educated career chef with an adventurous palate.

Why do I feel the need to preface this article with such a reminder? Because Im about to disagree with other food writers on the importance of Normas.

I generally ignore any press about our local restaurants. This is because its either promotional and therefore not to be trusted, its trustworthy (written by one of my predecessors and published here) but outdated, or the work of amateurs a la Urbanspoon.com and generally absolute in how amazing or horrible the experience was. But sometimes opinions are impossible to ignore. Normas has various quotes of past shining reviews everywhere. Their website, the menu, the front of the to-go menu, and written on the outside of the building approaching the front door are accolades from the past decade. It would be quite difficult to not read the blurbs and even get a little excited about a local place thats garnered the attention of major national food magazines.

And this is where it gets complicated. If I were a food writer based in a landlocked city in the Midwest and on vacation in this neck of the woods, Normas might be the type of traditional seafood place that Id find comforting and new. Besides all the best chowder, best beach fare, best road food little quotes, the one that stuck in my craw the most was the following, from NPRs The Splendid Table in 2007: Unpretentious … If James Beard were here today, this is the place he would be dining. Theyre half right. It is unpretentious. But James Beard? No, I dont believe a forward-thinking culinary educator, a personality obsessed with the evolution of American cuisine who truly loved to challenge and be challenged in the kitchen, would hang out at Normas. I think the food would bore him.

I understand the statement somewhat, as Normas serves fresh and local ingredients, something that was very important to Beard. I also think hed send elderly tourists there because it would be the kind of seafood dinner theyd expect from a beach town like Seaside. But to my foodies out there, its definitely not for you.

Normas was originally opened in 1976, and I dont imagine the menu has changed much since. Just about every simple seafood dish you can think of is on the massive menu. Calamari is an appetizer available in both the strips style from larger squid ($9) and the rings and tentacles of their smaller counterparts ($8). Ive always preferred the latter, but was pleasantly surprised at the tenderness of the former. Both are excellently prepared, but the lemon wedge/tartar sauce/garlic bread accompaniment made me yawn. Crab cakes ($13.95 a pair) are bready and a touch mushy, lacking the crisp exterior I look for in the dish. The roasted red pepper and ginger aioli, while better than another ramekin of tartar sauce, is played safe: mayonnaise-heavy and light on those punctuating flavors in the name. Oyster shooters (6 for $6.95), one thing Im fine with not modernizing in any way, are served elegantly in tall, narrow shot glasses. The award-winning chowder ($3.50 cup, $5.50 bowl) is fine not much different from all the other chowders which claim to sweep the competitions. Its an average density, a little pasty, with potato more as a thickener than in cubes. We all found it pleasant yet pedestrian.

Dinner entrees at Normas come with either a cup of chowder or a bay shrimp salad (and more bread) to start. Its rather antiquated in these a la carte times, but worth noting, as we were caught off guard with more appetizers than we should have ordered on our first visit. Local razor clams ($22, tartar for free) are thankfully pan-fried with a light touch no rubbery ones. I tried all of the sides, and found the coleslaw to be quite odd. I like a fresh shred with crunch. Ive had plenty of soft, pre-made coleslaw, and even recently had a confetti-cut slaw. But Normas can only be described as pureed. Mushy, leaky, bland, and topped with paprika, Im told this is a type of old-school slaw, but it really isnt for me.

I opted one night for the broiled salmon, and for $27 I could upgrade to a fresh local chinook. I highly recommend paying the extra when offered. The salmon a steak cut was cooked perfectly medium-rare, displaying the deep orange color of the wild fish. I asked my server about the horseradish-spiked aioli on the side, but salmon sauce is all she knew of it. Local Petrale sole ($18) was well seasoned and also properly cooked (but again, tartar). I had this with the rice pilaf, a package mix doctored with fresh vegetables. Fish and chips are popular at Normas, and I sampled the albacore, cod, halibut and salmon. All very good, but salmon will never be a battering fish in my book. I enjoyed a large shrimp Louis ($16) with greens, spinach, lettuce, tomato, black and green olives, hard-boiled egg and plenty of bay shrimp. Dressings are made in-house and delicious.

In addition to all things piscatorial that we tried, Normas offers sandwiches, burgers, pastas, steaks, stews and more. On the whole, Normas does what it does if thats for you. Décor is a bore, noise level can intrude, service is somewhat uninformed and hurried, and they arent trying to reinvent the wheel food-wise. Its just that Normas, Mos and other such museums to American seafood dont do anything for me, and when the prices are equal to what Id pay a more exciting chef for flashier fare, it irks me. You should be able to discern from the text here whether youre a Normas person or not.