[Photographs: Erin Jackson]

After a full day at sea, I emerged in the cozy seaside town of Astoria, Oregon, eager to be on solid ground and jonesing for a burger. (Don't get me wrong—the food on board proved to be excellent, and eating what amounted to an entire pineapple over the course of the day was immensely satisfying—but the steam-table burgers by the pool just weren't going to cut it.) Luckily, Bridgewater Bistro was a quick walk from the pier and in addition to bistro fare like steak frites and pan-fried oysters, there were five different burgers on the menu.

Burger options include a pesto-meunster burger, a gorgonzola burger, and a seafood cake "burger"—which I will put in quotations for all of the burger purists reading. Plenty of the options sounded good, but the concept of cranberry-blueberry mustard intrigued me, so I opted for the Shoalwater Cougar Burger with Cougar Gold white cheddar, pepper bacon, mayo, and house-made berry mustard.

Peeling back the toasted kaiser bun revealed a swirl of mayo and a swirl of purple cranberry-blueberry mustard. On its own, the mustard was sweet and fruity—more berry than mustard seed. It would be great on a salad, which initially worried me, but when I got a bite of the assembled burger—beef, bacon, and cheese—it all became clear. The (relative) sweetness of the berry mustard is counterbalanced by the salty, smoky bacon, giving the burger an unexpected sweet and savory flavor profile. It's pretty brilliant.

Better yet, the other elements in the burger were all on point. The melted slab of Cougar Gold white cheddar was sharp and creamy, the thick-cut pepper bacon was smoky and perfectly cooked, and the flame-grilled Piedmontese beef patty was moist and juicy, despite being cooked past my requested medium rare. The patty was the perfect size and shape—just over 1/3 pound—and not too thick or too thin. It was bursting with so much robust, beefy flavor, that my reaction after biting into it was, "Mmm-oo."

Burgers are served with house fries, but after three days of training my stomach that mealtime comes five times a day, it felt only right to try one of the "over-the-top" options—in this case, gorgonzola-bacon fries topped with melted gorgonzola and pepper bacon crumbles.

I knew we'd be paying an upgrade charge for them, but $6 was a bit steep for fries topped with a scattering of blue cheese and bacon, heated up in the oven. While the oven did a good job melting the cheese, it also did too good a job heating up the dish (ouch!), drying out the bacon, and burning the ends of the fries. Conceptually, the dish sounds good, but the triple-hit of salt from the fries, cheese, and bacon was ultimately overpowering and too dry. With a splash of chicken gravy or velouté sauce on top to add some moisture, it would be seriously tasty. But as it stands, the fries were good enough on their own. Skip the upgrade.

Initially, I chose Bridgewater Bistro for my burger fix because it was within walking distance of the ship, but after sampling their burgers, I would go out of my way to eat there again.

About the author: Erin Jackson is a freelance food writer and photographer who is obsessed with discovering the best cheap and tasty eats in San Diego, including all things sweet and sugary, for her dessert blog San Diego Sugar.