McMillin's Dining Room — Restaurant in San Juan Island

I want to love McMillin's, I really do... but the fact remains the food is entirely mediocre and in even simply bad in some cases. Before I get there - we've dined here now 5 times. We keep coming back because 1) We were married close by, and there is tremendous nostalgia; 2)View is fantastic; 3) Service is still fairly top notch every time.

All this said - the food just does not match the atmosphere or the price. This last meal we started with Crab cakes - full of filler/panko.. Disappointment. My wife ordered Scallop and Risotto. Literally the Risotto was some type of brown rice with stringy cheese. I'm not even joking. I'm Italian, and this was as far from Risotto as one can even get.. Really, it wasn't even tasty or actually edible. Can't even believe they served it. I ordered the $45 Rib Eye Filet Cap, medium rare. It was served medium well.. and it is served sliced - meaning, everyone in the kitchen could clearly see it was grey in color with some light pink center.. How did this get past and served to me? From a price value perspective, its a very small amount - and to have the temperature of the meat so clearly botched and not caught is just astonishing. Yes, I could have sent it back and didn't, but that's not the point. Who is in the kitchen doing any sort of quality control? They need to be fired, and so does the chef.

Let's move to the wine list -- upon entering, you see a beautiful wine cellar on display giving impression there will be some great selections. Unfortunately, you would be sadly mistaken. The wine list is localized to California and Washington, low to middle of the road selections (read - most wines have scoring of mid 80 points in Wine Advocate and others, if they have even been reviewed), and for the pleasure you will literally be spending 2.5-3x retail price. The only selection worthwhile was a $88 bottle of 2018 Rombauer Chardonnay which can be had for $32 in store. I wouldn't even start with the reds.

Go to McCmillin's for the view and convenience, set yourself an incredibly low bar for food. If food is important, do yourself favor and...

THE BEST vegetarian pasta I have had in my life. And that says a lot given I a foodine and (I think) a good cook and who likes to discover new foods a lot. Especially vegetarian options. And they did that on the spot made up based on what I wanted in the pasta and at my server's suggestion let the chef decide what sauce tomake up with it. And boy that sauce was good! Very sublime lemon based awith a lot of depth and perfect smooth creamy texture. Yet very light not heavy. Getting a sauce to have depth and be light at the same time is very difficult. And the mushrooms. Boy incredible mix of mushrooms ! I believe they are locally grown some may be foraged. Given the focus on this restaurant trying to avoid local fish to preserve the environment and Orcas, especially Salmon, I think they should make this pasta the permanent fixture on menu. And the other vegetables in my pasta were, you can tell, all eventually cooked and then layed out. As anyone trying to cook gourmet food knows not all vegetables cook at the same rate. So if you really want go over the top do them separately and then arrange on your pasta at the end. I do that when I cook but boy the broccoli was impeccable. Crisp and not overcooked yer melts in your mouth will all the flavors and just the right texture. The butternut squash wes creamy not overcooked and just the right amount of texture and has that roast finish in each piece that was perfectly laid out in the sauce. And this is perhaps the first time I was finger licking the sauce from my pasta at rthe end (the portion was perfect) too).!

And the red wine pairing. Oh boy. They have a lot of expensive wine. But I took the 86$ bottle of Cabernet franc Tamarack 2019 from Columbia valley. It was excellent !

Highly recommend that one on a budget that still wants a 5 star wine with the 5 star food.

And all their other disshrea were really good my family told me. And then after eating go for a walk around. And if you happened to be here during sunset I am sure the view is incredible. We came when it was dark. But you can still walk...

We celebrated my friend's birthday on June 22nd. After we arrived, we were seated promptly and received a table with a nice view at the window. Jose was our server that evening. We ordered cocktails; unfortunately, I had to send back mine, as it wasn’t what I expected. We ordered different appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Our evening was pleasant until we finished dinner and left the restaurant. Halfway to the car, I had to turn back to the restaurant because my stomach wasn’t feeling good at all. I stopped in the restroom with a terrible case of diarrhea for a while. Shortly after arriving home, I started vomiting, so I had food poisoning. This ruined our evening. We celebrated my friend's birthday on June 22nd. After we arrived, we were seated promptly at a table by the window with a nice view. Jose was our server that evening. We ordered cocktails, but unfortunately, I had to send mine back because it wasn't what I expected. We also ordered a variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Our evening was pleasant until we finished dinner and left the restaurant.

Halfway to the car, I had to turn back to the restaurant because my stomach wasn't feeling good. I ended up stuck in the restroom for a while with severe diarrhea. Shortly after I got home, I started vomiting, so I had food poisoning. This completely ruined...