Friday Harbor located on San Juan Island is a primary port on the Washington State Ferry system connecting mainland Washington to Vancouver Island, BC. The quaint town with good accommodations and restaurants makes an excellent base for exploring the region.
Friday Harbor House
Friday Harbor House, a boutique hotel, is centrally located with views overlooking the harbor from the communal terrace and a lounging lawn complete with fire pits. Our upgraded room also had great views overlooking the lawn and the harbor beyond. The sizable room had a modern, comfortable vibe with an open concept bathroom. The tub acts as a divider between the sink area and the main room with the shower and toilet in a separate room. Room amenities included – hair dryer, safe, refrigerator, iron and ironing board, good wifi, black out shades, etc. Since the room overlooks the lawn privacy can be an issue as people hanging out at the fire pits can see into the room if the shades are not drawn. There is also a laundromat nearby.
Dinner at Friday Harbor House
Open and light, the dining room has harbor views beyond the terrace. In warmer months the terrace would be the dining spot of choice. Beware, however, that the small dining room can get loud with a few boisterous guests as the causal décor is all hard surfaces.
We started with the duck wings, a crispy version of chicken wings, with a choice of a Berber dry rub or a Vietnamese dipping sauce or both. Sounds like a weird combination but the flavors marry quite well. For mains we ordered the sable fish accompanied by rhubarb and Japanese turnips and the surf and turf accompanied by roasted vegetables – pork belly and squid with sharp citrus flavors that went surprisingly well together. Dessert was a brioche donut with whipped cream and a bacon and caramel sauce. Unfortunately it was heavy on the sweet caramel with little to no bacon flavor.
Service was attentive and friendly.
Breakfast
We ordered both a classic breakfast – breakfast meats, twice-cooked potatoes, eggs cooked to order and toast – and the more exotic Korean bibimbap – a hot selections of veggies, house made kimchi, pork belly (a tad too dry) and a soft fried egg over rice, spicy but not too hot. Both were well executed.
Cask & Schooner Public House & Restaurant
The quaint, nautical themed Cask & Schooner with a rustic brick bar, a high wood-beamed ceiling and a ship mast overhead has an extensive menu of both bar foods and more refined dishes. Both the fish taco platter with whole trout, beans, rice and guacamole and the seafood brodetto were nicely done.
For links to all the posts in this series see the Pacific Northwest page.
May 16 and 19, 2019