Oyhut Bay Grill — Restaurant in Ocean Shores

Oyhut Bay Grill

I have to do this as a multiple part review. First, the food:

I went for dinner on a Saturday night. Earlier in the afternoon, I chatted with the host and he recommended a time to return saying that they really were a reservation only place tonight, but said return after 6:45 and he could likely seat me at the bar. I went at about 7:30 and he was super gracious and seated me at the bar immediately. This gave him great brownie points.

The server who later told me that she was a front of the house manager (after I asked her if she was in charge of the upstairs section) was truly lovely. The service was amazing. She made me a great Manhattan on the rocks and took my food order shortly afterward. I was torn between the smoked salmon cakes and the smoked salmon rolls, which were both specials. She had had the smoked salmon roll and recommended it. My food was out in a flash despite the obvious dinner rush; I was quite surprised.

I had the smoked salmon roll and the flavors were a delight in my mouth. It had smoked salmon slices on the outside and was stuffed with surimi, cream cheese, green onion, and cucumber; it reminded me of sushi without nori, rice, wasabi, or soy sauce. Drizzled over the top was a chipotle aioli. It was on a bed of undressed arugula. The combination was fantastic. The three rolls was likely one too many for one, but I almost finished it all off because it was that good. Hats off to the chef! The arugula added a bit of crunch, but I wanted a bit more. Maybe a rolled and fried wonton wrapper in the middle? Or fried shallot on top? I wonder if a bit of soy sauce would add the umami that the roll might benefit from.

The other dish was a kale Caesar salad. It was perfectly dressed, but the wedges of lemon on the side were necessary to bring a brightness to the dish. There was about twice as much cheese on top as needed and scraping off half gave it the right balance. There were just the right amount of croutons.

The next part of my review has to do with observing the staff. A seat at the bar lets you see them in action. When I first arrived, it was all a bit frantic. They were working well together, but seemed overwhelmed. A party of four in front of me at the host stand was exceptionally rude when told they couldn’t be seated right away despite seeing empty tables. The host was super polite explaining that there were reservations that had priority and that the kitchen needed time to catch up. I felt very sorry for the host; he was trying very hard. But, it was wonderful to see such great teamwork.

I went back for brunch on Easter Sunday. Surprisingly, the place was mostly empty. I was the only one in the bar. My red-bearded server was quite hospitable, as I had observed the night before; he even hugged some customers as they left. Brunch is a new service as of a few months ago, so I guess it hasn’t caught on yet. I don’t see why it shouldn’t. They had traditional brunch dishes such as eggs Benedict, but I wanted something a bit healthier. Happily, avocado toast was on the menu. There was a very generous amount of avocado (maybe a whole avocado) tossed with sweet drop peppers and green and red onion. The egg was a perfect sunny side up (or maybe quickly fried on the second side over easy). There was a generous grind of black pepper on the top and perfectly crispy toasted bread on the bottom. If I was to recreate this at home, I would have added some arugula under the egg and a few rings of pickled red onion on top to make it more piquant.

The staff knew many of the patrons and treated them warmly. I was very surprised to find this hidden gem in Ocean Shores. This...

Short version: The kitchen was 1.5 hours behind, out of several meals & drinks, no soap in the bathrooms, but the servers were trying real hard given the circumstances.

Long version: I called in the afternoon and made a reservation for a party of 8 at 715pm. When we arrived (on time), no one was at the hostess stand. Someone came after 5 minutes and struggled to locate our table, but we were seated by 723pm. Weird vibe as the first thing you see walking in the door is the kitchen, and the staff were arguing. Another staff member was sitting at a table rolling napkins/silverware. It seemed like we walked into the "back of house" part of a restaurant. Upon seating, the server informed us that there was a 1 hour wait for food. They were out of several dinner items and drinks. It ultimately took 1.5 hours to get food. There was no bartender where we were seated (there might have been one upstairs). It took 15 minutes to get our drinks as the server made our cocktails and got all our beverages themselves, while also bussing tables, and taking orders. The brussel sprouts were burnt, 2 burgers were ordered as medium & medium rare, but both came out burnt to a crisp. The pizzas were fine, but since it was a thin crust, it would have been better if they were wood fired or not a thin crust. The pretzel & chop salad were good, except the blue cheese dressing was 75% blue cheese chunks versus actual dressing (I liked it, though). The gorgonzola Truffle fries should be renamed to gorgonzola lite fries as there was no Truffle flavor at all and barely any cheese on them. On the search for the mens restroom (it's upstairs), there were only 8 other tables with people at them in the whole place. Also, there was no soap in the men's or women's restrooms, and the paper towel dispenser was not working in the women's. We didn't complain as it was clear that the servers were trying really hard. One even said they were "embarrassed to work there" to another server. Our server apologized for the wait on the food. I expected to get some kind of comp or discount, but we did not. For a table of 8, it was $330 (including alcoholic beverages for 4 people, 2 apps, & dinner for 8). I would never recommend this restaurant. I was considering renting a house in the Oyhut community next summer, but if the management runs the restaurant this way, I'm concerned about how they run their rentals and will be...

It is obvious that there is work that needs to be done on this promising restaurant. There were definite management issues. The waitress struggled managing her time and her steps, and left us neglected in the process. The kitchen continued the theme of mismanagement as we waited over an hour for our entrees, while watching people seated after us be served, and leave. We did not order anything that was challenging or that took a lengthy time to cook, in fact the scallops that were ordered were slightly overcooked, the outer crust on our lobster and bacon pizza was burnt. My friends scallops were served with a ramekin of mystery sauce. No one stepped up to show her the sauce's intention, and the menus were gone, taking away potential clues. The seats in the dining room were uncomfortable and after watching a booth with a couch seat sit open for an hour and a half, we requested to switch seating to that. The Front of the House manager told us that it was unavailable. We watched the table remain unused and uncleaned for an additional 40 minutes while we continued to be uncomfortable and watch an active youngster grow more and more fatigued. The host had been informed several times that there was no hand soap in the ladies' room, with no response provided. It is necessary to point out that we arrived at the beginning of their opening, so this means they started business unprepared for customers to wash their hands.

Loved the vibe of the place, found the menu interesting, and in spite of the issues, the food when served was good. Would have loved to try some dessert, but the length of time spent waiting made it not possible. I'm hoping for this...