With the dawn of the Internet and the popularity of social media, these days everyone is a restaurant critic. Sites like Urban Spoon and Yelp provide a mouthpiece for the people of the world to voice their opinions on their dining experiences and even rate them with stars. The Internet gives us wings, doesnt it? When I review restaurants, I sometimes glance at sites such as these, out of curiosity, to see what other diners have to say.

A brief Internet search of the rustic Hunters Inn in Naselle, Wash., turned up one overwhelming fact: The broasted chicken they serve is amazing, and I set out recently to discover for myself if the claim could hold water.

Broasting, which is a combination of broiling and roasting, is a method of cooking that involves coating chicken in breading, then cooking it in a special piece of culinary equipment that is both a pressure cooker and a deep-fat fryer. The result is chicken with golden, crispy skin and moist, tender meat inside. The broasted chicken at Hunters Inn can be ordered as a two-piece dinner, and then in increasing sizes up to a 30-piece bucket. Its served with a choice of cole slaw or potato salad and French fries, curly fries or jo-jos. The menu cutely asserts that the restaurants chicken will make the Colonel look like a private and I wholeheartedly concur. The only other occasions Ive eaten chicken so tasty were in the South; this is the best fried (broasted) chicken in the area.

In addition to the chicken, I also sampled a club sandwich. The sandwich was very large and assembled well, with turkey, ham and bacon, plus American and Swiss cheeses and lettuce and tomato. I have a strange aversion to lunch meats unless they have clearly just been sliced; I do not know if the meats used on the sandwich had been recently sliced on site, but they seemed like the kind that could be purchased in a supermarket and not of gourmet quality. Still, the flavors of the sandwich were spot on, and it was above average.

Another diner at my table ordered a chefs salad, which was also enormous. The traditional salad featured ham, turkey, hard-boiled egg and a blend of cheeses, plus a generous portion of veggies, including mushrooms. The meats seemed to be the same as those featured on the club sandwich, and were served in long, thin strips rather than in chunks. Mixed well with ranch dressing, the salad was palatable enough, and the garlic bread served alongside was hearty, crisp and well-spiced.

Any diner worth its salt should have a good burger on its menu, and Hunters Inn has several, including a mushroom burger and a chipotle ranch burger. We selected the logger burger, a traditional burger with ham on top. The burger, unfortunately, was a little bland. The patty itself was thin and gray-ish, well-done throughout and without any discernible flavors. The rest of the toppings and the sesame seed bun were ample and tasty; in order to save this burger, a thicker and more flavorful meat patty is necessary.

A bowl of the soup du jour, chicken noodle, was redemptive with a pleasant broth, large chunks of vegetables, egg noodles, and moist, tender chicken. Again, the portion was very large, and it was a pleasing finish to the meal.

As you know, each time I review a restaurant I assign it a rating of stars. Apart from just the quality of the food, I also consider the price, the service, the range of options on the menu, and the atmosphere. Sometimes I visit beautiful dining spaces with mediocre food, and other times I visit complete dives that have exceptional food. The overall rating is a sum, or I suppose an average, of all of those factors.

The food at Hunters Inn is average to above average bar or diner food, and the broasted chicken is exceptional. Unfortunately, the restaurants atmosphere detracted from my overall experience. Though clean on the inside, the restaurant is rather run-down and dark; the seats of the booths are cracking and taped in spots, and the wood paneling is dark and in need of an update. Still though, I would imagine it is locally popular, with two pool tables and a full bar.

At any rate, my experience at Hunters Inn was pleasant on the whole, and I will most certainly be back for the chicken.