The Bluff At Friday Harbor House

What an amazing experience to end a beautiful weekend getaway. The service, view and food were all top notch. While my first selection for dinner wasn’t available, given the end of a busy weekend, I still enjoyed my fish & chips. These cod fish & chips, with their beer batter and house made tartar were deliciously crisp and better than the Halibut fish & chips at Cask & Schooner, which were about $ 10 more. The ambience was intimate and our server and manager were really friendly and down to earth. Tried the ricotta lemon cake, which was the perfect end to a wonderful experience and island visit. Huge remodel planned which will close the restaurant for a few mos, so those visiting during this time will have to find another alternative. None will rival The Bluff experience that we were able to enjoy!

We came here after sitting accross the street at Vinny’s waiting for a table for 20+ minutes where it was very loud and busy. The Bluff was a nice quiet, intimate dinner with my husband. The servers were lovely and great. The lighting was low with a candle in the middle of the table. The food was delicious! And they got us in right away. We loved it.

Had an amazing birthday dinner for my girlfriend here. Quiet, intimate, amazing food and extraordinary service! Definately will be coming back. The baked chicken was superb!

Not only is this the best view in Friday Harbor, but it also is the best restaurant in my opinion! We came for a late lunch and were fairly hungry, so I had the Manilla Clams as an appetizer and we both had one of their burgers. I had the bluff burger, which was delicious, and my girlfriend had the Shrimp and Avocado salad. The salad was excellent as well (as I was lucky to be given a few bites). We sat outside on the terrace and service was very friendly with no rush, even though this is a popular (and rightfully so) spot!!!

Service is absolutely amazing. The menu looked as if it was some very premium food. At this point my hopes were high and my stomach was growling with anticipation. Our appetizer came and it was decent. Not the best but just good enough to get me roaring for the main course. My burger came and it looked stellar. Took a bite and it was good. Just good. Then I took another bite and I received a mouthful of burger seasoning. I am distributed. This was a major disappointment. My girlfriends kale salad look fantastic. Had all the toppings and potential to be a A+ salad. But yet her hopes and dreams met crushing disappointment when she heard the kale screaming because it was drowning in a pool of dressing. I must say I won’t be back because I was physically unable to stomach my burger and I can simply just buy my girlfriend a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette at Safeway for her to drink.

We ate here twice for the continental breakfast and once for dinner. The food was good, staff was great. It is a small restaurant, so I can understand some of the reviews that had issues when they didn’t have reservations — but that can happen at a small and packed location. We headed to dinner early, and our waitress was extremely attentive and even helpful with her suggestions. Chicken sandwich was excellent, burger was standard, apple pie with ice cream was yum. It was more like an apple cake.

we had the fish and chips. the chips were very good and the fish ok! Salad and salmon was a very good option as well.
You can sit outside on a summery day and enjoy a great view.
We had a good time!

Great view and good food. Never understood why they made most of us eat outside when there was plenty of room inside. The next few couples were seated outside as well. We were freezing so rushed through our meals. The dessert looked great but I wanted to go back to hotel and warm up. Heat lamps would be great. A little fox came through the bushes to say hello. I thought that was awesome.

Great view. Hotel also brilliant location. Parking a little hard but staff will find you a place. Great, large breakfast! Resteraunt ok.

Amazing! Perfect view, great food and the service was outstanding. I can’t wait to come back next time I’m in Friday Harbor.

My husband and I had dinner here tonight. We didn’t have reservations but they were able to accommodate us by seating us on mesh metal chairs at a mesh metal table. There were no extras, like salt and pepper, candle, umbrella. Just a table and chairs.
I ordered the special, described in part as halibut with risotto and brussels sprouts. My plate had no brussels sprouts but did have two small pieces of cauliflower mixed in with the blah risotto. When I questioned our waitress about it, she apologized saying she had changed her description from cauliflower to brussels sprouts because she thought the chef was out of cauliflower. The halibut was overcooked. I asked for a glass of wine but she forgot about it. When I reminded her, she brought it at the end of my meal and again apologized. After I signed the bill she appeared at our table and said she had forgotten to charge us for the $ 38 special and ran a second bill.
My husband ordered steak that arrived with a disc of butter on top. The steak was too cold to melt the butter.
The view was nice. The seating was not comfortable. The waitress was incompetent. The food was mediocre at best.
There are too many good places to eat to ever return here.

My wife and are staying at the Friday Harbor House for our 10^th wedding anniversary. We have a Queen room that overlooks the harbor that is just amazing regarding décor and view.
We went to their «continental» breakfast only to find a gourmet feast awaiting. Chefs Odie and Natalie prepared sautéed leeks and tomato scrambled eggs with goat cheese that evidenced an amazing attention to balance of ingredients and detail. The eggs were perfect — not dry or soupy, but moist and most flavorful. Their homemade smoked salmon and cream cheese spread was fabulous and complimented the bagels perfectly.
The chefs spent some time with each table discussing the menu and were great representatives for the hotel. The Friday Harbor House is lucky to have these two talented chefs!
Oh, I forgot the homemade jams, prepared at the hotel, we’re just tremendous.
My wife and I are foodies and are eating all of our breakfasts here, something we never do at a hotel. The quality of the breakfast exceeded our wildest expectations!
Breakfast at The Bluffs is a hidden jewel.
D & M

The service was great and the view is beautiful.
Food: happy hour tacos and fritters were great. Potato bisque was not good. Bread service was great and pork belly carbonara was delicious. The dungeonous crab ravioli: dry ravioli, lemon flavor was overwhelming, portion was small. Caesar salad: croutons were large and dangerous for someone who doesn’t chew enough.

It was dead and the staff would not even Acknowledge us. we stood at the front door waiting to be seated after about 15min I had to get their Attention
To be seated the food and drinks were not the best wish I had gone somewhere else.

Ate here last night for Valentine’s Day. Not only was the set meal unique, delicious and had excellent presentation but the wine pairing that went with the meal was life changing! The wine pulled all the best flavors from the meal and left me instantly wanting to return. The staff was very pleasant and the service was spectacular. There were a lot of people who complained about the set meal for Valentine’s Day so maybe the restaurant should have mentioned it when reservations were made-​but the set meal was by far the best choice in town last night and was in my top 10 best meals of my life. Great chef who is also a wine pairing expert. I wish I could give this restaurant more than 5 stars! I will be back!!!

Great waiter, Thanks J! Good view of the harbor. Horrible food! the menu may be designed by a Chef but not prepared by one.
I ordered the new York steak $ 30. The shallot jam was cold and flavor-​less, the pad of garlic butter on top was cold and hard. Worst of all is that it wasn’t even a new york steak. Instead I was served what appeared to be a ten oz. Sirloin full of grissel and a pile of fries.
My wife had two small plates, crab ravioli and pork carbonara. Both dishes had under cooked pasta. The ravioli filling was dry and cold. The sauce had an odd flavor like an ingredient overdose. The pork dish components were overly mushy. The focasia bread was beyond stale and salads were just as poorly prepared.
No dessert for us thanks.

Understaffed and a rude and inattentive bartender.
We arrived in Friday Harbor on a Saturday afternoon and understandably this restaurant was fairly busy. The tables outside were all full and one couple was sitting at the bar. However, there were no other patrons inside the restaurant. From what I could tell, there were two people staffing the front end of the restaurant and one cook.
When we entered the bartender, without making eye contact says under his breath, «it will be 15 minutes» and the other woman standing next to the bar approached and asked if we were there for lunch. She repeats that it will be 15 minutes, leads us half way into the restaurant, says we can get you a drink while you wait and nothing else (like «pick a table» or «you can sit at the bar») and walks away. So we turn around and sit at the bar.
No water was provided, no menus, no drink menus, no greeting, no nothing. Not even an acknowledgment. When another group came in, the bartender rudely interrupted them to tell them, «sorry, we can’t take anyone else for lunch, it’s almost 2 and the kitchen is running out of food»
Then the lady who had spoken to us, tried to perform damage control, which resulted in her being scolded by the bartender.
After about 10 minutes he finally acknowledged the couple who had been sitting at the bar before us. When the woman took the food order back we could hear, the chef’s voice yelling out from the kitchen that they were out if an item and «how many times do I have to tell him we’re out of this!»
And it was time to go.

Had the 5 course tasting menu and dinner was fantastic!
Our meal consisted of:
Cauliflower Bisque
Grilled Romaine Northwest Caesar Salad
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Steak Frites served with truffle ketchup… unreal!
Rhubarb Crisp à la Mode
Chocolate Coffee Cake– the only thing that didn’t really wow us. Good but not great.
All portions were perfect and we felt just right when leaving. This place has their food down and we would return again anytime!
The small downsides at The Bluff, service and indoor ambiance. If you sit outside the view is beautiful, inside is pretty plain & non dis-​script, very café like. Service, it’s not terrible but nearly every server we encountered was quite cold & not friendly.

Our party of four come here for our first meal on the island on a Friday night. Our server– Stewart met us at the door and from that moment things set off on the wrong foot. His attitude was sour and not friendly. It felt as though we were not supposed to be there. He was friendly and laughing with the people sitting at the next table close to the bar. Whenever he came to our table, his attitude changed– he appeared rushed and irritated. We decided to order bread after our entrees from another server. We didn’t know it was table service but that was fine with us. We overhead him telling the other server, «so now they want bread?» He had his arms up in air as though we were in the wrong for wanting bread. After that account, our goal was to eat and leave and never come back. The food was good but the customer service was beyond poor.

Holy smokes, this restaurant killed it. We started with a sweet potato bisque that was table-​prepared, poured over some baked broccolini flowers. It was a perfectly balanced dish that set the stage for what was to follow.
Do NOT miss the Choke and Beet salad — bits of fried artichoke paired with delicious beets artfully arranged with an aioli and blue cheese mousse. It’s a dish that could easily come from the French Laundry’s kitchen. Incredibly delicious.
The pan-​seared Northwest snapper (market fish) we had was cooked medium rare and was as fresh as it had just jumped out of the harbor and onto our plate. Paired with some Ghost Chili bratwurst, the entrees finalized the deal — this place has kitchen chops as good as you’d find in any top rated major metro restaurant.
If you’re in Friday Harbor and only have one dinner, eat here. We tried every place in town.