Beach Store Cafe — Restaurant in Washington

I alway try a restaurant several times.. And this one has been surprising me more often than not.

09/12/24 visit. I have been ordering out before this and don't update this then. Today however I looked at the menu and specials and ate in. The regular menu often has seasonal items and I have been waiting for the Island grown heirloom tomatoes. They are as always so good. Started with the Shititake Mushroom Tempora (I always order it when offered), then Heirloom Tomato Panaanella, followed by the Handmade Rotolo pasta dish. Finished off with Plum Brown Butter Crisp with Ice Cream. The plums actually are from a tree on the property which has historic significance. As always, I encourage you to try the specials.. (photos included)

11/25/23 visit. I have never had a birthday party, but I always treat myself to a restaurant that I know will make me purr. So of course I came here again.

Had the Lummi Island Seafood Chowder which was brimming with smoked salmon & with Cod.. Added in were all the rest of the fresh ingredients making a great start to the meal. It was accompanied by herb butter and Gluten free French bread..

The pasta special had fennel in it, and again I trusted his culinary skills (I generally dislike fennel) and it was Perfect . . Just the right flavor balance, and portion size. So I was a very happy man with a clean plate. Finishing off with Desert that is, as always, excellent. So I had the meal and great time there I desired!

9/17/23 visit. I don't like fennel, but I trust the Chef totally so I ordered the daily special Pasta dish which included fennel sausage.. And it was wonderful. He has an excellent balance to his dishes, and this one was as well. I actually had planned to take half of it home, but oops it was all gone. Couldn't stop eating it, as it's so rare that I enjoy a dish with fennel. Bravo.

4th visit: I really love their Arugula and Citrus Salad and now get it with each meal (when it is available).

For the main I ordered one of the specials, Pan Seared New York Strip Steak with Asparagus, Haystack Potatoes (not my favorite type, but well executed), Bearnaise Sauce on the steak and Jus. on the Asparagus. Steak was perfect medium rare, Asparagus perfect and large portion.

I then wanted the local Hillcrest farms Rhubarb & Strawberry's as a Crisp, but it was already sold out (good sign).. So I considered my other options and With Hesitation ordered the Flourless Mint Chocolate Torte w/whipped cream and a Candied Mint Leaf. For decades, every Flourless torte I have had was a disaster.

HOWEVER, this one was spot on texture, good size and very good flavor.. Not overly minty, just a hint. It was so good that I ordered a 2nd to go. My compliments to the chef.

3rd visit: Arugula and Citrus Salad, with the Lamb and Pasta special. I don't often run into places that have a Lamb special, so will alway try it. This was very well prepared and I was purring.

2nd visit: The burgers looked good, so I ordered one with "greens" instead of the fries. The "greens" and dressing were excellent and the burger was delicious, blue cheese on it was very good and all the rest of the fixings were as well. It had a nice grill flavor and was served piping hot.

They also had a special that I would have gotten, but I saw no signage for it (I'll look / ask next time). So ask immediately so you can get it. It was a steak and looked great.

There was also a very nice little group of musicians playing that evening.

1st visit: The cod (fish&chips) was good and moist. Portions of fish were good sized. Way too many fries (especially since they were limp). The place is popular though, and has a great view. Service was flawless...

We had the Mediterranean Sea Bream special and the burger. They were our favorite meal on the island. I never had sea bream so tasty. My only recommendation is smaller pieces of kale in the salad. The burger was an excellent smash burger with a mountain of fries.

It was kind of busy the Saturday evening we went. To be honest, it didn’t bother us in the slightest because the view from the deck was lovely and we were happy to sit there a little longer.

As far as service/atmosphere, there was a specific instance that made my time here a little less enjoyable. They seated a couple with a baby carrier on the deck. They placed the baby carrier in a chair in the walkway. I couldn’t get to the bathroom because the walkway was blocked. I was asking the parents if I could get to the bathroom, but there were so many people ooh-ing and ah-ing over seeing a baby that they didn’t move the carrier. I felt like I was being rude to ask but at the same time, I don’t think the walkway should be blocked like that, especially if the party was not amenable to adjusting to allow for people to walk. I can understand if it’s a party of 3 and the person seated in the walkway could move if someone was walking through. Please consider sitting a similar party (with a baby in a carrier on a chair) in a...

We stopped in for a quick bite off-season here (meaning they're open from 4-6PM). The crab cakes had great flavor and tasted like they came fresh from the ocean. I had a raspberry Italian soda with cream to drink, which was my first Italian soda. Very delicious! Finally, we split the (gluten free) fish and chips. They had no issue accommodating the split meal, and the GF part seems to be by default rather than special ordered. The fish were like the crab cakes in that they also tasted fresh, however the fries tasted a little off. They looked like sweet potato fries, but didn't taste like it... Perhaps they were burnt? We didn't complain though, and between the other stellar food and excellent service throughout the meal, I can't knock a star off for it.

The special gas oven they had looked like it could cook some mean pizzas, which is definitely what I'll be trying the next...