Which fancy restaurant on Orcas Island - New Leaf vs Ship Bay

May 18, 2015 11:07 AM

I'm trying to pick a fine dining restaurant on Orcas Island for my best friend's 50th birthday. It looks like the top options are The Inn at Ship Bay Restaurant and the New Leaf restaurant at the Outlook Inn. They both get great reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, and they both have great views, and I need help choosing.

Both restaurants seem to be French-influenced with an emphasis local ingredients, so either one looks good on paper, but I need to get an idea of which one might be a better fit for us. Usually I get cues from the graphic design style on the website, but only Ship Bay has a functioning website at this time. We are, for lack of a better word, Gen-X hipster foodies with an interest in sustainable ingredients and farm-to-table. We like places with a distinctively modern feel in the physical design, not classic and stodgy (for a Seattle reference, anything by Ethan Stowell is right up our alley). BTW, I am fully aware how totally first-world-problemy and privileged this question is, and I am a bit embarrassed for myself.

posted by matildaben to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Check out the restaurant at Doe Bay Resort (but do make a reservation - they fill up fast, and I think guests at the resort may get first dibs). That will be *much* more in line with the sustainable, farm-to-table vibe you're going for.

We've eaten at both the Inn and Ship Bay and New Leaf, and they're fine but nothing super interesting IMO.

As another option if heading out to Doe Bay is too far, wander over to The Barnacle. Find a seat, order a cocktail, and then walk over to the adjacent Thai restauarant. They will deliver the food to you at Barnacle, and it's tasty enough that we ate there twice on a recent trip. Cash only (at the Thai place, not Barnacle).

Have a great time!
posted by DuckGirl at 11:59 AM on May 18, 2015

I've not been to either New Leaf or Ship Bay, but I'll add a thumbs-up for the restaurant at Doe Bay Resort. Plus you can go sit in the hot water in their soaking tubs after dinner.
posted by ShooBoo at 12:56 PM on May 18, 2015

I had without a doubt the best salmon I have ever had in my life at the inn at ship bay. It is a small restaurant and the people are great and it meets all your other requirements (modern feel, locavore, sustainable). I can't recommend it highly enough.
posted by notme at 7:48 PM on May 18, 2015

If you are willing to leave Orcas for the seriously best restaurant in the northwest, go to The Willows Inn. It's on Lummi Island, which is sort of in the San Juans, and the chef just won a James Beard Award for the fourth year in a row. He is a phenom. And they have their own organic garden, and harvest wild plants and seafood from the island, and know everything there is about local food.
posted by Capri at 6:55 PM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We went to the Inn at Ship Bay. It was awesome.
posted by matildaben at 12:59 PM on June 17, 2015