The Westsound Cafe

We made reservations at the Westsound Café for 8:15pm (they close at 9). Not only was the food delicious, but the service was impeccable. We’re here for the second to last day before they close for the season, and I’m sitting in my booth writing this review at 9:36pm. I’m sure our waiter was ready to go home and ready to get out of here for the season, but he was attentive, kind and accommodating. We even had root beer floats for dessert.
Ok…now on to the food. We had the Caesar salad, a MUST! And the amazing ground nut soup, which on this chilly night, hit the spot. Next we had the shrimp in butter sauce which you have to sop up all the amazing ju is with bread. And lastly, we finished with the mushroom pasta. I don’t know how to describe it except for that I used my finger to dip the remaining sauce from the bowl. Finishing with a root beer float brought me back to being a kid.
What a beautiful meal at an affordable price in a gorgeous location. Mark my words, I will be back.

Let me start by saying this place is great. We had spent the day hiking Mount Constitution and wanted to get something substantial for dinner after grabbing a drink at the local brewery. We didn’t have reservations and the hostess was gnashing her teeth over whether she would be able to seat us. We showed up a little after 8 and I think they close at 9. Luckily, something opened up. The restaurant had a nice view and the service was very good. You can read on if you want more details.
Given that we had visited the brewery, I didn’t partake in any adult beverages. My wife tried a Riesling which she enjoyed.
For an appetizer, we ordered the shrimp cocktail. It was a little different in that the shrimp is pickled. This was a first for me and I really enjoyed it. The pickling brine added a nice flavor. In addition, the dish came with some pickled veggies which added an additional flavor and crunch.
My wife wanted to order fish tacos. However, they’re no longer on the menu. I found that odd as other than tortillas they would have had most of the ingredients to make a fish taco from the fish and chips platter.
Earlier in the day, I had said I don’t care where we eat as long as I can get fish and chips. What can I say, I was in the mood for fish and chips. In the end, we both ordered the fish and chips.
The fries were perfectly cooked — crispy on the outside and an almost creamy texture on the inside. The fish was great as well. The batter is not the normal batter that I think of when I think fish and chips. I usually assume it will have more of a beer batter. The fish came out rocket hot. The exterior was nice and crunchy and the fish was perfectly cooked. It was served with this awesome remoulade. They also provided hot sauce and malt vinegar if you so desire. In addition, the meal was served with a side of coleslaw. I’m not a big fan of coleslaw. However, I prefer this style of coleslaw over others — theirs was not as sweet and with more vinegar. I could easily imagine making a taco out of the fried fish, remoulade, and slaw.
We skipped dessert. I don’t think there were many options and nothing struck our fancy.

West sound café is amazing! I highly recommend you to try it. The food is great. Reservation are highly recommended Joe Cain is an amazing cook! Service is great, deck with a view of west sound marina. It was a great experience !! I would most definitely go back!!! Thumbs up!

Uncaring server, bad food with a nice view!
My hubby and I live on Orcas island. We don’t often go out for dinner so when we do we try to choose wisely.
Last Friday night we were quite excited to try out WS café since we hadn’t been there in over a year.
It wasn’t very busy, it was early about 5:45pm.
The server was pleasant but cool and got colder after the food arrived.
Hubby ordered a flat iron steak and I their signature burger without the bun since I have a wheat allergy and I alerted the server of this.
The meals came and their look was simply underwhelming. A small pile of under cooked shoestring fries with a very over cooked steak placed across the top. No veggies or garnish. Hubby had ordered a $ 24 steak medium rare and it came well done and dry. I could see this even before he cut into it. The server stopped by and hubby asked for a knife. When she returned with a knife he had already cut into it to find out that it was overdone. I made eye contact with server and then Looked at hubby and said you should yell the server that your steak is very overdone and she simply ignored me dropped off the knife and walked away.
My simple burger was horrible. I don’t know where they get their beef but it clearly has wheat or fillers as I was bloated and I’ll before leaving. That night hubby had food poisoning. An expensive way to get food poisoning. I did try once again to mention my dismay but you would have thought the server didn’t understand English unless you were ordering or paying.
The only reason I gave 1 star is for the lovely view. So sad to be writing this as I love to support a local business.

Hmmm. When you dine alone restaurants seem to think putting you at the counter is a valid option. This isn’t a bar counter… More of a server station… so you get to enjoy the staff panicking over wrong orders, misprints in the menu, and frustration when the dishwasher delivers spotted silverware.
The staff was nice. But the priority was on tables. My dessert never came. Water refills happened when I reached over to help myself. Had to catch the ferry so I just asked for the check.
My hamburger was just meh. Nothing special. Fifteen fries came on the side. Looked cheap but really who needs more than that? Right? They line every plate with waxed paper. Why? It’s gross.
The cook is sexy as all get out. He has a crazy deep voice and killer smile. Other than that… never let them seat you at the counter. Plus your back is to the view of the water. Why else would I go to this place?
Hope you guys get off the island now and again. Even three stars is a stretch.

My hubby and I dined here twice within the six nights that we spent on the island. This is the only place we visited more than once in Orcas. The dishes were superb! I ordered prawn the first night and salmon the second. Both were good, but the salmon was definitely one of a kind. My. The sauce itself is worth every penny. The hubby ordered the fish and chips both times because he liked it so much. Who can blame him? The fish was so moist and chewy (which I like) and the coleslaw was fresh. In terms of the view, the quaintness of the area (compared to East Sound), as well as the picturesque sail and motor boats in the harbor, all contributed to this place receiving five stars. Wish we could dine here every month or so!

The best place I ate at on the island! The menu from 3 – 5 is limited, but the choices are delicious. Good food for a fair price. This is the place to eat while you’re on Orcas!

We got takeout since we had just checked in a little late at a B&B nearby and wanted to eat and get to bed. Decent fish tacos and cheeseburger, but the mac and cheese on the kid’s menu was straight up out of a blue box, and the grilled cheese was your standard American so-​greasy-​you-​could wring-​the-​grease-​out-​like-​a-​wet-​rag chunk of rubber. Definitely will try something else the next time we’re on the island.

Had a wonderful Salmon dinner and the price was reasonable for being on an island. Great Service too and a View! My only complaint is that they arent always open until 9pm so call ahead!

Wonderful food! We came in at 5:15 on a Saturday night with a preschooler and a toddler, and no reservation! They accommodated us and we were not made to feel bad because we came in with little ones.
Great wine, amazing food, and comfortable setting. Highly recommended!

They let us in shortly after they closed and still served us!!! They said their full menu was not available, but their frier and grill were still up and running, and asked if sandwiches and fries would suffice…
…best burger ever!
There were several locals or B&B guest lingering so we lingered too. A very good experience.

This café is spectacular! It’s a charming restaurant with views of the west sound.
We had the fish tacos and the prawn puttanesca. Boy were they delicious. A must try! It was also reasonably priced and good sized portions. Gotta love that.
As far as the wait staff and the décor, I have no idea what the other reviewer is talking about?!?
The waitstaff were friendly and offered great suggestions. They also were very attentive to our table with all smiles.
The décor, as I later found out, are hand made ceramics and definitely not something that could be found at a store. There is also a beautiful hand made quilt above the doorway that leads to the deck dining! Again, what was this reviewer talking about?
I loved this little spot and will absolutely visit again.

The food is amazing with a view and ambience to match. You can’t go wrong here. A favorite of locals with a very loyal clientele.
Always consider the specials strongly — particularly the short ribs.

Beautiful Setting for dinner! We did not have reservations, however we were able to get a great window table which overlooks the sound. There were binoculars in the window so you could view wildlife, which I thought was a nice touch. We ate fish and chips which were good. They only serve Manhattan Style Clam Chowder which I did not care for.
Over all, I thought this place was a little overpriced, but this was my first experience here and I will probably try it again the next time on the Island.

The Westsound Café — Kingfisher Inn with its perfect idyllic location, elegant and classic décor, simple but well though menu is guaranteed to leave you with a content «Wow! I just had a wonderful dinner» feeling.
The café was where I took some friends over the weekend and I ended up here on a recommendation from some friends I made on the ferry ride to the Orcas Islands. After a day of driving around in the Orcas when we were deciding on where to go for dinner I gave the place a call and was lucky enough to get a reservation to the restaurant for the same evening, though I had to come in a little early around 5:30 PM for dinner as the next availability after that was for 8:30 PM.
The restaurant is around 2 miles west from the main road on Orcas Island.
There is parking for around 6 cars outside the restaurant and there is plenty of additional street parking available.
The food is a mix of contemporary American, fresh Sea Food, with a dash of Mexican. They have a decent wine selection and the open bar also gets par for the course marks.
This night we started with some really well made lemonade and iced tea which was really refreshing after a long day in the sun. Next came shrimp piri piri from the appetizer menu. We had started of well as the shrimp was tender and the sauce and bread were great accompaniment. Next for our entrees we had the fish tacos, and the portabello mushroom burger (the one option for vegetarians). The fish tacos came with 3 tacos and were really scrumptious, delicious and light. The portabello mushroom again tasted as good as it did because they had a whole mushroom well cooked and some great seasoning with it. Then for dessert came the bread pudding which was one of the best bread puddings I have ever had.
The great staff, the setting sun, classic small hammock ambiance and all wood décor all did add to the positive experience we had.
At the end of it all I feel that it is the fact that they did the simple things right that left me with such a great dining experience. Kudos!

I get it, you take your mom here, everything seems so nice, but really, is it? No, look around, all these decorations are cheesy and unoriginal, I think you can order them at TJMAX. The waitstaff looks nice, but are they? NO. No introduction, no smiles, they might even talk down to you your entire meal. Listen, I work hard, and when I’m out no a date the last thing I want to feel is like I am being judged by my waitress, especially when she is the one delivering incorrect information (told me the wrong veggie of the day and didn’t know portion sizes of anything).
The food: steak portion was small, but tasty, burger and fries were great (and a steal at $ 11), the sockeye salmon ($ 21) was TASTELESS and lukewarm-​COLD, the cous-​cous was overcooked, and overall the dish was lame — its hard to screw up salmon, but they achieved it. I admit, she casually offered the kitchen could remake it, while also mentioning they were incredibly busy (it wasn’t that croweded – why are you so «busy»?? waitress also wasn’t patient with ordering, acted/​stated that she had things to do), like I would be putting them out bc they can’t make the food right the first time.
Definitely not a one-​star, but I wouldn’t go back. I am sure other people have a fine time, but too bad I caught them on an off night.
C’mon island, you can do better.

I recently dropped by this nice little café in the quiet nook of Westsound, looking for some breakfast and findin some great comfort food. Although it’s often hard to judge a restaurant by its breakfast, the eggs on my hobo hash were poached perfectly. The biscuits on the side were incredible as well, and the hash itself was put together nicely. Service is friendly, basically your informal diner-​style, with unlimited coffee refills, although the restaurant is a bit nicer than your typical diner. I can’t speak for the other meals here (having not tried them), but I can heartily recommend breakfast! Side note: look for parking on Deer Harbor road.

First night was wonderful! Great food, great view, great service. What more can you ask for?

Busy Busy Busy, one of 2 West Island eateries (deer harbor being the other only real viability) so make reservations and make them early.
Great dining room, with great atmosphere, we were seated at a group table with an older couple and had a blast sharing stories. I had their Sausage plate that came with some great cheese and the sausage was pretty good. My wife had the clam chowder… which was a little light on the clam but still pretty good.
Great by the glass wine list, and all of the other diners dishes looked excellent.
Remember, get reservations.

We had a killer lunch here. Beer-​Tempura-​Battered fish sandwich was awesome. The wife had a great salad. Top notch ingredients.
not cheap but the view is worth it. (The Kingfish Inn /​Westsound Café overlooks the harbor. It has a wrap around deck covered in flowers.)
Family owned/​operated. We will be back.