Voyager — Restaurant in Ferndale

I usually don't write reviews, but felt compelled because, unfortunately, Voyager is the #1 worst value restaurant that I have had the privilege to visit in the last couple years. After spending about $250 for the four of us last Saturday, we left feeling hungry and alienated. Service was humorless and cold. And, to top it off, we all needed showers afterward as oily fish smell had permeated our clothes and hair.

There were 4 in our party and we made a reservation a day in advance. As previous reviewers have noted, you must provide your credit card to make a reservation and you are told at least three times in advance that you will not be seated until your entire party arrives. You are also gently but firmly warned you should arrive promptly. A couple texts from the restaurant arrive regarding your reservation. All these pre-visit reminders of Voyager norms and expectations creates a little anxiety, and makes you wonder if you're going to dine with some insecure celebrity rather than creating a welcoming, accommodating, or inviting atmosphere of service to guests.

I arrived promptly for the reservation, as instructed, and was again, and firstly, verbally reminded I would not be seated until other guests arrived. There were a couple other tables open. When my party all arrived, we were seated next to the kitchen, which meant a fairly ragged, harsh working light was shining down on us from the east. We were then instructed that plates would arrive when ready and were encouraged to share. Of course the throw-the-small-plate-at-the-guest when ready "concept" is typical of many marketed-as-hip places around town, but essentially is designed for the restaurant's convenience. It does not make for a balanced, satisfying, guest-centered, dining experience in my opinion.

Then the food. I ordered the "catch of the day", which consisted of 4 small scallops swimming in a half inch of brown butter and tiny, fine shreds of brussels sprouts, served in a CB2 single-serving bowl. The price was $36 or $12 per one-inch diameter scallop. For this price, I might expect scallops to be served whole, with roe, and in their shells. While the scallops were not bad, $36 felt like a fraud, and there was no balance to the plate. And what to do with all that sauce since there is no potato, bread, nothing to sop it up? Other plates also arrived with various seafood, none of them had any balance or real garnish. You are presented with cooked or raw, seasoned shellfish and fish. Basically a lot of protein and no legumes, veg, starch, on any plate, which does not meet my (personal) expectation for a harmonious meal. The portions are quite small and the one piece of bread on offer would serve, maybe, one. We asked for more and were up-charged without warning--the rejoinder (probably standard) on receiving the bill, is that it is "hand-made". The server did nothing to describe dishes when ordered or otherwise soften our mood, which, I assume, was written on our faces by the end of our visit. We went home and had to make some popcorn to quiet our still-hungry bellies.

Cute-ish place and parking is not a problem, but needless to say we will...

We walked in about 6PM on Saturday. The music was surprisingly loud. This place is a restaurant and bar, but they think they are a club. While waiting for a table we watched for 10 minutes as an inept employee attempted to put some tables together and place silverware. Once that project was complete people waiting at the bar went to their tables and we grabbed the open seats. By now we had noticed it was way too hot inside, and the place was filling up with smoke from the kitchen. Their fans must not be working. I asked the manger to open the front door (it's a garage door type) a bit. Another customer asked for the same thing just as I was asking. The manager said he would open it, but it never happened while we were there.

My girlfriend liked the oysters (that made her sick later that night), but nothing else was good or reasonable priced. My seafood chowder had that starchy-out-of-a-box taste. They tried to spruce it up with some scraps of fish, but this didn't work at all, and I found a fish bone in there. The carnitas and mussels tasted pretty good, but the portion size was so tiny. The mussels were the smallest I've ever seen. My girlfriend ordered the marrow and mussels. She wasn't thrilled. The mussels were soaked in vinegar, and the toast thoroughly blackened. Maybe that's where the smoke in here was coming from.

We left still hungry and very disappointed. Later that evening my girlfriend suddenly became quite ill. She ate two meals that day, one at Voyager, and lamb she cooked that day for lunch. She ate the lamb again the next day with no issue. This means that one of the oysters she ate gave her food poisoning. I understand there are risks associated with eating raw seafood, but this is not the first review to mention food poisoning at Voyager. Another reviewer got food poisoning here less than a week ago. This place is very poorly managed, they need to get their environment, food, staff, and prices...

Seafood place is a massive hit. I am a huge seafood fanatic so I am always looking forward to visit this place.

Raw Oysters from the West were great. East are slightly salty. Boiled oysters are okayish and can be skipped. Lobster dip is really great and calorie dense. If you are ready to get hands messy, get Dungeness Crab. Eating with butter after you have used crab cutters makes it worth it. Will also recommend Crab croquettes.

Previous visits- Catch of the day - New Zealand fish was the highlight of the dinner. It was cooked perfectly and the aroma had us right from get go! I had oysters after almost 6 years and I was surprised with the variety. I forgot what it tasted like. Olympus was my favorite. Beach point felt like I had oysters straight out of sea, extra salty. Chelsea were also good. Popcorn shrimps were nice, liked the sauces that it came with. Crab spaghetti was tasty but portion size was small, not sufficient for 1 person so I would suggest getting at least 3 dishes from the menu if you are going with someone. Portion size aren’t that great in general. Our host Miranda was super nice and very knowledgeable. Each and everyone on that staff was friendly. Since it was our first time, talking with her really helped us grasp the newness of menu which changes every 2 weeks. Reservation is not mandatory but I would suggest you do one. Place is really not that big it they are accommodating. Bar can sit around 10-15 people. It’s not easy to locate this place from street. Parking facility for 12 cars, street parking is available or there’s a CVs parking across the street. It’s definitely...