…The Table is Set
Enjoy the bounty of the Salish Sea
By ELLEN HIATT
I remember vividly the pungent smells of shrimp, bagged up in a non-descript paper sack, and my twin daughters loudly sucking the juices from their exoskeletons with the delight only a Filipina can muster. Their heritage shines brightly when they return today as adults with grown children of their own, stopping, as is tradition, at the Shrimp Shack near Deception Pass.
There is nothing like a meal delivered straight from the waters of Puget Sound to awaken the senses.
It keeps us on the hunt for the perfect restaurant serving local seafood, paddling across the water, or dropping lines from a dock.
Fisherman Jack’s, a new dim sum restaurant on the Everett waterfront, serves everything from pork to shrimp. Jack Yang Ng grew up in a remote village before immigrating to Whidbey Island, working in Chinese restaurants, and eventually becoming a commercial fisherman in Alaska.
Today, he hops on a boat every chance he gets to fish for salmon. There are plenty of opportunities when you live and work between the Everett marina and Whidbey, where he owns four separate restaurants. He even enjoys harvesting from the 5,000 oysters growing on a friend’s waterfront property, along with clams and geoduck.
Brian Madayag, owner of Barkada in Edmonds, also enjoys fishing off the docks in Mukilteo, made more available with the move north of the ferry landing.
“The old docks are great for crabbing. I take a paddle board out and have a couple crab pots on board,” Madayag said. “I go 100 yards out in summer crab season. Between Edmonds and Mukilteo, there’s an abandoned dock at Meadowdale. That’s an area for crabbing that’s amazing.”
Culturally, said Madayag, seafood is important. “The water is always something we look to that connects us to the Pacific, to the Philippines. The food that we cook at Barkada is all about lineage. We pull things from our lineage all the time.”
Whether you’re eating the best of salmon and tuna in a bowl of Poke, Hawaiian style at Ono Poke in Edmonds, or garlic shrimp at Barkada, lobster dumplings, dim sum style at Fisherman Jack’s, or the consummately local and delicious Ivar’s fish and chips, there are plenty of places to find seafood and community in our local restaurants.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s easy to find ways to appreciate the best of what the Salish Sea offers us. Enjoy a few suggestions here, from Samish Bay to the shores of Edmonds.
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TAYLOR SHELLFISH & SAMISH OYSTER BAR AND SHELLFISH MARKET
2182 CHUCKANUT DR., BOW
Stop in during one of their special events, like Shucks on the Beach, for live music and a bonfire, with all you can eat U-Shuck raw and grilled oysters, or for just a regular day, when seafood of all kinds is served patio side. The market and restaurant are open till the sun sets over Samish Bay.
5766 CAINS CT., EDISON
Edison feels like the town that time forgot. And maybe that’s a good thing. Capitalizing on the local grain economy, the town’s bakery produces the best in sourdough fare, and Slough Foods, aptly named for the slough the town sits on, is a hot spot for its monthly Paella days. PaellaWorks shows up with its dimpled, flat carbon steel pans, as wide as a yardstick, and makes magic with rice and ocher colored spices of saffron and turmeric. The traditional dish of southern Spain is complete with oysters and clams from Taylor Shellfish.
5545 CHUCKANUT DR., BOW
The menu at Cob + Cork, one of the newest restaurants in the Skagit Valley, is a clear celebration of the bounty of our inland seas. Look for fisherman-direct blackened salmon, crab in fried patties or in macaroni and cheese, oysters and clams.
116 1ST ST, LA CONNER
The plea to visit Nell Thorn is written by its many raving reviewers: “The best shrimp bisque on the planet.” Frutti de Mare (a spicy seafood pasta) that is “melt in your mouth, slap your mama, bring a tear to your eye amazing.” “The ambiance, the staff, and the food!!! WOOOW!! So fresh and just outstanding!”
When you’re in the heart of an agricultural community, surrounded by the rich delta farmlands and smack dab on the channel that travels between Skagit and Padilla Bays, it’s bound to be amazing. Especially when you’re Nell Thorn, sourcing from local farmers and fish purveyors, and paying attention to the finest of culinary detail. Visit for bread baked daily and pasta made in house, along with Willapa Bay and Kusshi oysters, the latter named for a Japanese term for “precious.” All manner of Pacific Northwest, from farm to sea, is on the menu. Make a reservation for the patio and take in the sunset with views of the local mariners bringing their boats home down the Swinomish Channel.
Photo Courtesy of Nell Thorn
THE OYSTER SHUCKERS OYSTER BAR & TAQUERIA
17026 ALLEN WEST RD BOW, WA 98232
You can buy their oysters and clams, grown nearby on sandy shores of Samish Bay, in the Samish Golds Seafoods market nearby on Avon Allen Road in Bow, or stop in for oysters served on the half shell, or in legit street tacos. The owner’s Mexican heritage contributes to the menu, with chamoy rimmed shooters (a Mexican condiment made of fermented fruit), and fried oyster tacos, fish, shrimp and carne asada, as well.
THE MARKET’S FISHMONGER AND EATERY
508 MAIN STREET, EDMONDS
There’s not a lot of seating in the heated streetside dining, but it’s worth it to either wait for a seat or take it to-go and head to the beach. The MARKET’s fish and chips, chowder, crab and lobster rolls and oysters are slurp-worthy. Try the cold roll, Maine style, or Connecticut style, nice and hot. Or opt for the crispy shrimp roll with sweet honey chili aioli. Or try the crispy lobster bowl with thinly sliced red onions, cucumbers and dill. If it’s seafood you want, casual style like any good seaside town offers, then this needs to be on your bucket list.
21104 70TH AVE W, SUITE B, EDMONDS
Either enjoy a poke bowl with the freshest tuna and salmon, or pick what you want from the fresh water tanks. Everything from live clams and geoduck to oysters, Dungeness crab and Maine lobsters are waiting for lifelong fishmonger Ken “Kuzma” Hewitt to prepare for you. Raised in his Croatian grandmother’s West Seattle fish market, he will clean, filet and portion your fish, clean and crack fresh crab, remove pin bones from salmon, and prep it all for airline-approved transport that will stay cold for two straight days.
1229 1ST ST, SNOHOMISH, WA 98290-2736
Sometimes the best in seafood comes from the most unassuming places. Parked on a corner lot, near the bridge that crosses the Snohomish River in the town of Snohomish’s historic district, Andy’s Fish House is the place locals recommend. Try the fish and chips for an afternoon lunch, or fresh steamer clams, oyster shooters, or a salmon taquito with cilantro sauce.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s easy to find ways to appreciate the best of what the Salish Sea offers us.
1205 CRAFTSMAN WAY #109, EVERETT
Decidedly not served in a paper bag, the meals at Bluewater Distilling are chef-created using locally sourced ingredients. Here, seafood has a starring role on the menu, alongside martinis and cocktails that will knock your socks off. If you avoid buying seafood when you dine out because it’s too often poorly cooked, then you won’t be disappointed when you dine at Bluewater. Try the wild salmon, Cajun cod tacos or a steaming bowl of brothy Puget Sound clams, perfect for dipping the corners of crusty bread in. It’s all good. It’s better than good.
