The Oak Table Cafe — Restaurant in Washington

(Due to the length of this review, all other reviews have been erased)

It's been a very long time since we dined at the Oak Table Restaurant in Silverdale. We've wanted to eat lunch at The Oak Table for some time now, and over the past month, we have attempted to but opted out due to the long wait times or no parking at all. Today after making the rounds in the parking lot, we finally got a space! I mentioned in an earlier post that it's nearly impossible finding parking at the Oak Table, weekends or weekdays; it makes no difference unless you show up at 7:30 am. And if, by chance, you score a parking space, be prepared to stand in line for quite some time. The line inside was doable, only four people ahead of us, making a mental note that noon is the best time to come on weekdays for lunch; last week, we tried 11 am, and there was a thirty-minute wait time. A few minutes later, we were seated with menus and water. I applaud The Oak Table Cafe for not overwhelming their customers with an Encyclopedia to read; instead, a nice menu with enough lunch choices to make you question yourself, should I go with this or that???? (breakfast is another story =D ) After ordering coffee and larger waters, it did take some time to get those; in fact, we ordered our food and reminded our server about the coffee, larger waters, straws, and lemons. Also, it took twenty minutes to get our food, but that's ok; she was a great server and a very busy one! Now to the food. I ordered a Greek Pita, and my husband chose Le Cordon Blue Chicken Sandwich.

My Greek Pita included grilled julienned chicken, feta cheese, tomato, and lettuce with a homemade cucumber sauce (I asked for light sauce) laying in the warm little pita. I had a choice of waffle fries or garden salad; I chose a garden salad with a side of apple cider vinaigrette. My only complaint was I had one tiny little slice of chicken that was about the thickness of a number two pencil and half that in length. Even though the chicken was sparse, the cucumber sauce was wonderful; the taste was totally there (this is coming from someone who doesn't care for cucumbers); unfortunately, the chicken was not! The side salad, small and cute, and dressing extremely tasty, greens fresh!

My hubby's sandwich had marinated grilled chicken, ham, and swiss topped with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and dijon mustard, and he picked waffle fries, he loved everything, but his preference was to go a little lighter on dijon mustard. And we both agreed those waffle fries were the bomb!

I was a little concerned about how busy the Oak Table was, and the tables were fairly close to each other; I personally would have preferred the tables a little further from each other, not just during this pandemic but post-pandemic as well, it's a little difficult trying to have a conversation when everyone is trying to talk above everyone else lol. The plus side is on each table there is a bottle of hand sanitizer, which is something I wish all restaurants and cafes would do.

The floors were a little messy, and there were dirty tables waiting to be cleaned, but as I have mentioned many times before, The Oak Table is a very popular place to eat in Silverdale, and it's possible they lack the staff to "keep up" just like many other places.

Overall, Dezirae (our server) was friendly, personable, had a wonderful attitude, plus she gave me a five dollars off coupon for the next visit (because of the lack of chicken in my sandwich). I can't complain, all of our prior servers have been awesome!

If anyone is interested in Trying The Oak Table Cafe, their location is 3290 NW Mt. Vintage Way, Silverdale, Washington. They are behind and up from Bloodworks Northwest in Silverdale.

Parking is sparse, once top parking near the restaurant fills up, what's left is parking down a very steep hill and making the walk up, which is not ideal for everyone, especially the elderly and disabled people.

Eating here is another great way to support local jobs and a locally owned business and please be kind to all...

A hidden gem that looks like it is in a residential area (apartments) but is actually on the hillside. The view was amazing and it was peaceful and quiet on the deck outside.

The register and reception area are in the same location and you cannot tell if you are standing in a like to leave or get in. When I asked the young girl she apologized and got me right to a table with a great view outside.

Coffee was great and I love the cream pitcher instead of the little creamers in plastic- so much quicker and more sustainable.

As this was my first time here I asked about specials or oft requested dishes. The Apple Pancake was suggested and it sounded good so I went for it expecting to bring half home.

My dish arrived soon (with several coffee fill ups 😀 in between, and it looked larger than I thought it would be. Since it was a soufflé it was quite tall, but it slowly shrunk down as I watched it. It was as hot as the surface of the sun and on the first bite I scalded the roof of my mouth. I put my fork down and let it sit for a good 5 minutes.

On my second attempt to eat it, the temperature had gone down considerably, but my first 3 bites were just the egg custard base, no bread. The brown sugar glaze, apples, and apple syrup were very, very sweet, and by the time I got a bite of the pancake part, I was pretty sugared out. I ate less than 1/4 and asked for a box to take home to my family.

Although I did not enjoy the pancake as much as I had hoped, there were other dishes that came from the kitchen that looked good and I would like to try.

Service was quick and efficient, however the people working had some loud personal conversations that I found to be inappropriate with guests around. A large party had left and they were dismantling a large table having some quite loud and somewhat flirty conversations. Not related to the service, just the...

★☆☆☆☆ 1 Star Absolutely unacceptable service, deeply disappointed, especially as a Gordon Ramsay fan.

I visited The Oak Table Café with my pregnant daughter, her husband (an active duty military service member), and their three children (ages 1, 3, and 9). We waited patiently for over an hour*, only to find out that our server, **Gavin, never even put in our order. Not only did he fail to communicate or take accountability, but when questioned, he was dismissive and unprofessional, telling us we could “handle it one of two ways”: either he’d comp our drinks and rush the food out in 10 minutes, or we could “call the whole thing a wash.” His tone was indifferent, and there was no apology or sense of urgency.

When we requested to speak to the manager, Gavin conveniently disappeared and made no effort to get her. We had to get up and find her ourselves.

To make matters worse, we were the only Black patrons in the establishment and couldn’t help but notice how differently other tables were being treated. As someone who was excited to dine here based on Gordon Ramsay’s endorsement, I was embarrassed, disappointed, and hurt by the experience. This wasn’t just poor service, it was dismissive, discourteous, and lacking in basic decency.

To her credit, the manager Jessica was kind, professional, and sincerely apologetic. She offered to comp our meal if we returned but I was only visiting the area. My daughter and her husband brought me here specifically because they knew I’m a huge Gordon Ramsay fan.

This experience tainted what should have been a special outing with my family. To treat any customer this way, let alone a pregnant woman, a military family, and young children, is beyond unacceptable. I expected far better from a restaurant that carries Gordon Ramsay’s endorsement.

Do better. This is not...