A Unique Seafood Menu

 Samish Bay Oyster - broiled on the half shell with garlic butter & white wine 

and served with rice pilaf & roasted vegetables

When I go to out-of-town adventures with the family, besides looking forward to the trip, I am excited by where and what we would be eating. But, don't we all? I can't own that characteristic, we all know you only get the full experience of a place by eating their food. So when we went to the Annual Tulip Festival in Skagit County and had our share of tulip-viewing, we were more than ready for food. Lunch time clocked in and with hungry stomachs, we went about our search. We weren't really craving for a certain cuisine, the only demand is for us to eat already, and anywhere will be fine. And we all know the dreaded "anywhere" when asked where to eat only makes it all the more difficult to decide. So our solution was to just drive and stop at the first restaurant we see.

It just so happens that the area we're in is the seaside and so the first decent restaurant we saw, the Chuckanut Manor Seafood & Grill, served mostly seafood. I'm a big seafood fan and hungry at that so I was ready to race in there and order right away. But the place seems to be a countryside (or seaside) fine dining and so I immediately put on my most lady-like decorum and waited to be seated. Haha! Our server was a nice old lady who seemed to be more so a mother serving her children than a server. She handed out the menu and since there are only a few entrees, we all immediately knew what we're going to have - Seafood Sauté for most, Samish Bay Oysters for me, and Halibut & Chips for the kids. With that settled, we patiently waited and munched on the crackers and dips they served to appease our hunger.

 Seafood Sauté - clams, mussels, prawn, sea scallop, fish, bell pepper & onion
sautéed in tomato saffron broth, served with rice pilaf

The beauties came in (yes, when hungry you'd describe food that way! Haha) and we started digging in (in the most proper manner, of course!). To be truthful, I was disappointed with my Samish Bay Oysters. I love love oysters and love eating them raw or in motoyaki so my hopes for this dish was pretty high up. It was just too bland for my taste. It looked really good too! On the other hand, the Seafood Sauté was delicious! The sauce was so well-put together which gave it a taste all their own. This would be my order next time should we find ourselves here again - not unlikely, but would definitely be by chance.