FREELAND, Whidbey Island – Trendy. Upscale. Cutting edge. None of these apply to the Bush Point Restaurant. Instead, this popular eatery clings to a laid-back, “natural” approach reminiscent of the ’70s.
The restaurant sits at water’s edge and the second-floor dining room offers an unbroken view of the island’s beauty plus the constant flow of ships in the shipping lane and local boating action.
The Saturday night I visited, a couple rowed out to their crab pots and retrieved that night’s dinner. Then, three ships followed each other in rapid succession. Sometimes, I was told, submarines pass through the shipping lane and you can feel their engines as they slowly move through.
A breeze off the water wasn’t anywhere to be found and the cool dining room was a relief. My server indicated that she was fighting the heat by periodically standing in the walk-in cooler.
Because I wasn’t invited to the cooler, I requested a wine spritzer made with the house merlot ($4.50) to counter the heat. The house wines by Cutler Creek and Woodbridge are $3.50 to $4.50 a glass with Fleixenet from Spain as the sparking one ($6.25 a glass). The short wine list focuses on California wines and range in price from $17 to $24 a bottle.
The spacious dining room, like the food, takes guests back to the origins of natural with its earth tones, tweed and leather. The background music reminded me of stylings by Ferrani and Tycher, a popular piano duo of the ’60s. And the menu’s much the same with its steak and seafood offerings.
The owner of my favorite antique shop in Langley comes to Bush Point Restaurant for the liver and onions ($12.95), which she describes as “simply delicious.” She’s planning to visit soon since the restaurant’s only open in the summer.
We all have something we do not eat under any circumstances, and liver and onions is mine. Fortunately, there’s an abundant list of seafood dishes. Appetizers include steamed mussels or clams ($8.75 and $9.95), shrimp or crab cocktail ($6.75 and $9.25) plus deep-fried prawns ($9.25) and bacon-wrapped lobster chunks ($9.95). The seafood main dishes are Pacific Northwest favorites including fresh salmon ($16.95) or halibut ($17.95) fish and chips ($14.95), pan-fried oysters ($15.95) and Dungeness crab cakes ($18.95).
The night I visited the specials were crab and shrimp Caesar salad ($17.95), prime rib ($16.95) for eight ounces and a bacon-wrapped tenderloin steak with prawns ($20.95). It had been a very long time since I had enjoyed a surf-and-turf kind of meal so the steak and prawns became my dinner. The restaurant offers other land-and-sand combos of steak with oysters or lobster ($18.95 and $25.95).
My dinner, complete with a small salad and handmade bread, let the natural flavors of the food dominate. The sweetness of my Dungeness crab dominated my appetizer, although the house cocktail sauce is excellent. The bacon infused my tender steak with its smokiness. The baked potato wasn’t twice mashed or anything else. It was a baked potato with butter and sour cream on the side. The steamed broccoli and cauliflower, cooked perfectly, were served without added flavorings or sauces.
Bush Point Restaurant has been an island favorite for many years. If the large groups of extended families that filled the dining room the night of my visit is an indication, natural is an intergenerational favorite.
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
E-mail Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
Bush Point Restaurant
229 Spyglass Drive, Freeland; 360-331-2626
Specialty: American favorites
Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday
Price range: Expensive
Liquor: Beer and wine
Smoking: Non-smoking
Reservations: Highly recommended
Disabled accessibility: Barriers
Credit cards: American Express, Diners Club, Discover, Master Card, Visa
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