The Brass Kraken Pub — Restaurant in Poulsbo

Having read the great reviews on "The Brass Kraken Pub," we decided to try this little pub for lunch yesterday 1/29/22. While looking this pub up on google maps, I noticed it was on the waterfront; today was a perfect day to view the water, chilly but no rain and, believe it or not, no wind! Poulsbo was crazy busy; I suppose everyone was getting spring fever, and the day was the perfect day to get out and shop around. We found a parking spot at the free parking lot in front of Liberty Bay Waterfront Park; it was a matter of minutes to get there on foot. Walking in, the first thing we noticed was how cold this little pub was, cute and quaint but frigid inside, the hostess seated us near the window, and we had an excellent view of the boats and yachts that plagued the waterfront. The menu offered several appetizers, signature hamburgers, a few choices of salads and fish entrees, and the ability to build your own burger and mac and cheese. We asked for water and lemons, and our server Zach was right on top of it. A few minutes later, we attempted to order Fish and Tots; to our dismay, they had no fish prepared, and it would be later before they would be serving any. Hubby attempted to get a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich that was a no-go; so his third runner-up was The Cuban sandwich.

Hubby had The Cuban, and I had the Garden Burger. His Cuban had ham, pulled pork, yellow mustard, and swiss on a french baguette. He chose fries as his side and asked for them to be extra crispy.

*My Garden Burger was made out of beans and lentils, topped with spring mix lettuce, honey mustard, and tomato; I asked to hold the honey mustard and add pickle, onion, yellow mustard, and ketchup. I chose house soup as my side, Rhode Island Clam Chowder, which was not creamy but broth-based, I was intrigued and willing to step out of my comfort zone and try something new! The food came and we dove right in. My Garden Burger was acceptable in taste but eye-catching in appearance, however, I cut my burger in half and the very first bite led to everything crumbling, to say the least I ended up using my fork to pick up the pieces, even then I would fork a piece of the patty and that piece would crumble into several other pieces, that was a little disappointing. *About the Rhode Island Clam Chowder, that was a love hate relationship, I loved that there was pieces of bacon, small bits of potato and clams, I think there was onion but I honestly couldn't tell you for sure, I hated that the broth had a very mild taste, no distinctive flavors, no depthness like I would of thought a brothy clam chowder would have, I also thought parsley and thyme would have been a nice add in and if they were added in, I could not tell, a lot of the items were heavily minced together.

*My hubby's Cuban, it was suitable in taste, but we both felt the sandwich would have benefited from using smoked pork, that's our preferences. The french fries were good and crunchy, nothing earth shattering though. After tax but before a tip, it was shy of $40.00, I had to pay additional for the soup, I sort of regret that decision. Overall, your paying for location, at least that is the way I feel!

As far as the actual bar goes, they have a full service bar and a slew of draft beers! I cannot express my opinion about the restrooms, but the pub was cute, uncluttered and clean in appearance, we were there about thirty minutes after opening, which probably had something to do with it. I can't stress enough just how cold it was inside, it was 40 degrees out side and much warmer feeling. *Our server Zach, was light-hearted, prompt, and friendly.

The Brass Kraken Pubs location is 18779 Front Street NE #7407, Poulsbo, Washington. Directly next to the large free parking lot by the park and water. I believe the Brass Kraken is behind "The Loft Restaurant and Bar", and the "Slipper Pig Brewery" also adjacent to Liberty Bay Waterfront Park and parking lot.

As always, thank you for supporting our locally owned small businesses like The Brass Kraken and PLEASE be kind to ALL...

I rarely leave reviews, but beware of this place. You will likely be sick when you get home. We went in the evening of 11/30/2023. We wanted nice burgers for a special dinner, figured $20 burgers at the Brass Kraken would surely be good burgers… Wrong. Who serves ground beef raw in the middle... The western burger uses stale sourdough. Middle of the night the sickness hit, only food ate since lunch was here, and seeing this place and the questionable beef that should have been sent back, it was surely here.

They are oddly stingy too… We did not want the sauce that came with the burgers, asked for a side of mayo, of course that costs extra on top of an already overpriced meal. If you are narrowing down between trying two different beers, beware, they only do two tasters… That’s per table… So when Amanda came back to take our drink order, she seemed off put that I was sticking with water because I wasn’t going to branch out not knowing what the ciders I was considering tastes like… She gave some attitude and came back with a taster, I did buy one, and not the one I was leaning toward, so I’m glad I was able to try. She said the owner is strict.

The only good things I have to say are that the fries were good, and the Cheese Curds were very good.

Men’s restroom was trashed, maybe they had a hard night of bad guests, or that’s just how it is here. TVs are way too loud, but maybe that’s just because it was a game night.

Hopefully the owner actually reads these and makes improvements. I try to be understanding; I still tipped her even being unhappy with the attitude, the stinginess, the overinflated cost for low quality burgers, and the...

The food used to be better. My understanding is that this is due to a new cook.

We visited on Taco Tuesday, and tried the shrimp tacos. We were disappointed, because they were heavily breaded and fried. It didn't say that in the menu, and is not the standard (according to all of us). The taste was ok, and there were plenty of shrimp in each taco. However, all three of us felt queasy over the next day. We likely won't be back for taco tuesday.

The portobello burger has always been good (if it's still on the menu).

The poutine is only ok. In all the times we've had it there have never been enough cheese curds on it, and the gravy is sufficiently thick, but not remarkable.

We were very excited to try the "build your own Mac & cheese", but were disappointed at its bland flavor, even with our own choice of add-ons. It could be improved with some smoked (or even regular) gouda or fontina.

The best thing we've had there is the fried pickles. They're usually well-fried, and the dipping sauce is tasty.

Another highlight is the bloody mary. It's nicely garnished with cheese, a chunk of a Slim Jim, slice of pickle, pepperoncini, pickled green bean and an olive. It also comes with a sidecar of beer (Miller, iirc). That makes it somewhat unique, and gives it better value. Their bloody mary mix is good, but is sometimes diluted with too much ice.

We'll be back, because we generally like the vibe and the bloody marys, but we will not have as high of expectations...