Contact
Address
133 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
GPS
47.6246118, -122.5208157
Telephone
Monday
4:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Tuesday
CLOSED
Wednesday
CLOSED
Thursday
4:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Friday
4:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday
4:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sunday
4:30 pm – 9:00 pm
We finally got a reservation and I see what all the noise is about. The food and service are amazing. We had the clam dish and seaweed bread which combined together perfectly. The flavors in the clam dish are 2-3 Michelin Star level IMO. The halibut main dish was artfully prepared and the mole was out of this world. My only recommendation is to provide a wine bottle list when seated and make the beer pours a full pint.
So, the good, bad, and ugly. I’ll start with semi-bad since this is the most subjective – the atmosphere! For a more upscale place, you would think the place would have a little more class (maybe table cloths?). Bad to Good: I got the Manila clams and it came out cold and almost tasteless. Menu doesn’t mention anything about bacon type bits and this was over saturated with it. Also got the cabbage salad. It was good enough but also missing something. A plus, the wife likes it! The wife got the salmon ceviche Tatar. It was also good enough but had better off a street vendor in Norway for about 2/3 the cost. The best part? The oysters and wine selection (how hard is that?). So, although I would’ve loved to give 4 or 5 stars, I understand why the Seattle Times food critic slammed them. We had two servers – one was fantastic and the other horrible with an attitude. That alone brought it down 1-2 stars. You’d expect a place where a meal cost $2-300+ dollars per couple to have great customer service. The Ugly: you have to pay 20$ beforehand to reserve seats and they are suppose to take it off the bill. Well, shame on me for not checking this before paying. Once I got home I saw that this didn’t happen. This is just absolute lack of attention to detail! Because of the semi poor customer service, so-so food and they finding a way to nickel and dime customers, we will likely never go back but let’s see. Highly recommend anyone new to carefully consider if they want to spend 2-300 dollars here bc it will likely disappoint!
If you like seafood that tastes less of the sea and more of delicious, you’re gonna love this place! Great flavors to complement all the fruit of the ocean. Staff were THE BEST. Made a kick off to birthday month super special. Definitely bringing out of town guests back for a true PNW culinary experience!
When we arrived for our reservation, our table was still busy with the previous party. The host took care of us at the next door cocktail bar and managed the situation at the table. Dinner itself was amazing — be sure to get the black cod while ordering the rest of the menu — and the service was flawless. Chef Grant checked in before and after dinner. 👩🍳🚀
Amazing hyper local menu, seafood focused with an Asian spin.
Great dinner out! The restaurant offers a mix of small and large plates which is a great way to try a few things. Service was very prompt and everyone was very knowledgeable, warm, and friendly.
We ordered oysters, seaweed bread, ceviche, mushrooms& potatoes, and the salmon and all were amazing, had unique flavors, and were prepared to perfection!
We were celebrating a couple of life events that night and the staff surprised us with a hand signed congrats card and glass of bubbly. Such a personal nice gesture, ❤️ it!
My wife and I had an amazing time for our anniversary at Seabird. It’s “haute cuisine” that uses regional absolutely fresh fish. So ideally you’ll have the best experience as a “foodie” who loves seafood.
Everything was superb. The wait staff was fantastic, answered all of our questions and gave us opinions on recommendations when we asked. Wine and cocktails were fantastic. We have 4 drinks (3 cocktails, 1 glass of wine), 3 small dishes and 1 large dish. Nothing felt tacked on, or unnecessary, the flavors of each dish all melded together seamlessly with purpose. All plates came out in order, with descriptions of everything plated, nothing rushed, everything timely.
The salmon tartrate was my favorite, undescribable how good it was. I wish I had skipped the seaweed bread and butter, not because it wasn’t good, it was (and I was curious), but because it was filling and I would have liked 1-2 additional small plates instead.
We spent $130 per head, and have no regrets, we were fully satisfied and happy. It is in my opinion a “special occasion” location, but we are sure to return and look for any excuse for an occasion to celebrate. If I lived down the road… I would try to find any excuse to eat there.
Only a minor note, because “‘merica,” they do have a 20% gratuity added, which I had no problem with, but I wish it were included in the overall cost, and a simple “extra optional gratuity” line on the bill. We did add extra gratuity on top of the bill, because our waitress was great and everything was perfect, but there’s that Americana pause of “what do I do?” The price per head I included earlier includes the additional gratuity fyi.
Other minor note: there was a large regional newspaper review of the restaurant that came out the week prior to our dining there. We actually read the review a few days after meeting the reservation. It’s very critical, but: I have no idea what the hell they’re talking about. I didn’t experience anything remotely what that reviewer wrote, the complete opposite is what we had. Highly recommended for anyone looking “to be fancy for a night” or just desiring an excellent experience with seafood, nuances in the food was impeccable.
Other randomness: I enjoyed sitting by the kitchen, I love cooking and seeing everything happen there was magic for me.
Fantastic food including the tartare.
Really lovely meal. Very friendly staff. Worth the trip.
Food and service was excellent. I would recommend the sturgeon.
I would not recommend the Seabird martini. Much too umami and salty to be enjoyable, even with food. Very bizarre.
Our server was perfectly attentive and the salmon tartare is absolutely incredible.
Update: 3rd visit: just keeps getting better. Bartenders will make special drinks if nothing on the menu strikes you. This menu was delicate and complex
Stellar drinks, food, service… all outstanding. 20% gratuity added fyi so you don’t go and tip another 30% without knowing.
Fav drink… smoked yardbird… menu is always changing but salmon tartar and soup appear to be regular features and both are very complex and balanced.
Sad they will be on hiatus January 🙁
An incredible meal. The sturgeon was the single best piece of fish I have ever had. Absolutely perfect. The service was on par with the food, just excellent. From beginning to end, it surpassed all expectations.
This restaurant is something else. If this restaurant continues down the path it’s heading, it will earn a Micheline Star. We tried and shared multiple dishes, both raw and cooked, and all were phenomenal. Each sauce has its own complexity that compliments its featured item. Some of the dishes read off the menu very strangely due to the ingredients, and they are, but the ingredients worked so well together. The chefs in the kitchen are clearly working in unisen, and it shows. My biggest recommendation would be for the bar. I would highly reconsider your old-fashioned recipe to something that doesn’t have as much spice, as it doesn’t pair well with the food as it’s overpowering. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you’re willing to pay the price. This is the best restaurant on Bainbridge Island hands down.
What a happy time. Surprising and wonderful food and bevs all night. Service was perfect, so patient and thoughtful. Had a blast!
Incredibly unique PNW dining experience. True to the region with lovely creativity. Highly recommend.
Great food and service
Perhaps the nicest restaurant we’ve ever been to.
My husband and I were visiting from NYC. We’ve been to some really good and some really “fancy” restaurants over there.
Here at Seabird, the food was incredible. Plating was stunning. The dishes are all local. Flavorful. So creative.
Staff was wonderful. So friendly, knowledgeable about every single dish and its components, and knew which oyster types to suggest to my husband who loves Kumamoto oysters. Our water was refilled promptly. Our plates were taken away and replaced with fresh ones timely. Drinks were also good.
What I loved about this place, besides the fantastic service, was the vibe. Moody inside, Douglas fir (I think) table tops, gorgeous decor, plates were ceramic and wood, and above all, the fact that you could dress up to come here and be fine, but you can also show up in jeans and a sweatshirt and not feel out of place. Definitely no frills and there’s just something so special about a fine dining experience that doesn’t feel stuffy or pretentious. It was just amazing and it wasn’t trying to be anything else.
Pricey, but a wonderful experience. I truly had a genuinely lovely time and plan to come again on our next trip.
Another thing. We had not been impressed with the Seattle culinary scene— there are very few, if any, vibey spots like Seabird, and surprisingly, every seafood place we have been to has not been it— the fish has been dry and nothing has been special. Seabird completely changed my mind about this. It is the only restaurant that has the ambience we were yearning for and the fish was most definitely not dry.
PS we had the king salmon wrapped in seaweed with nettle sauce, kale rabe, crispy dulse. We had 12 oysters. The seaweed focaccia wirh wakame butter. The butter poached halibut with roasted carrots, leek vinaigrette, and squid ink chips. Also had the chocolate tart and the toffee pudding. My husband ordered a few drinks but I can’t remember which. The seaweed wrapped salmon definitely has a strong seaweed taste which is an acquired taste but it was still delicious. I suggest the halibut for something more “basic,” though it was far from it— so good.
10/10 would recommend. It’s one of the best.
The night after dining at Seabird two of us dreamt about the meal. Perhaps dreams tell it better, as it is hard to talk about the food.
It was so… unusual, like eating in a new language.
Usually, I enjoy a dish as a thing with a name, but in these plates each thing retains its identity, and so it is like eating an ecosystem transformed by a scene change into something theatrical.
Every ingredient seemed brightly awake – as if one was eating it for the first time. A stranglely compact dish of crab was an explosion of taste – both in the flavor and texture.
My favorite dish (if one can have such a thing) was the Woodfired Kale Aspirations – which is the essence of spring. I was so taken by it that I failed to take a photograph and have only a cropped corner of photo of the dish half eaten – (It turns out, as my son said “that kale as dreams too” – in this case, to be presented in this dish).
Every spring, Kale flowers but as it grows leggy before flowering it has these growing shoot-like things (I know, my garden kale is doing it too). These are the aspirations. The dish presented the kale in a light kale broth which I cannot put my finger on other than to say it was umami and made me want to retreat to a yurt and write poetry. Also in the broth were slices of pickled cherry, and floating on the top were the same cherry blossoms that we passed through like snow-flurries on our drive to the restaurant. This made the dish intensely present – bringing the essence of this moment, the growing kale, the snowing cherries and the briny kelp oil of the coast into an ecosystem which I could … well, barely could (because of competition across the table) eat.
I drank the last broth from the bowl. There were some actual plate lickings too.
I could go on about many dishes, but this was my favorite.
The restaurant is dark and interior looking, with a clear view to the oven and work area. The staff were highly professsional, helpful and attentive.
When we emerged from the restaurant at 7pm it seemed wrong that it was still daylight – like you have come from a theatre that was more real than life, and are somewhat confused to find the world unchanged.
Amazing! Food was all delicious. We tried the seaweed focaccia, singing scallops, potato and leek, collared raab, king salmon, and the chocolate tart. Everything is made to share and was excellent.
Devine experience! Creative delectable cuisine!!!
Lovely experience! Second time at Seabird and we loved the additions to the menu. The caramel at the end was truly the cherry on top of a fabulous dinner.
Delicious food and drinks. Albacore crudo is fantastic!
Beet Custard was the star of the show. Smoother than I believed possible. Go ahead and get the Seaweed Focaccia as well.
One of the best restaurants in the area plain and simple.
Absolutely worth a trip to Bainbridge. This place is doing wonderful things with seafood.
This restaurant is incredible. Excellent service, wonderful food, and inventive dishes! We were visiting from across the country and this was the best meal during our trip. Also, finding such upscale and beautiful food in an unpretentious, calm environment is so hard to find.
I was lucky enough to dine at Seabird recently for the Analemma Winemaker’s Dinner. Wow! Absolutely outstanding. A truly unique, delicious and beautifully presented series of gorgeous culinary vignettes. The wine was thoughtfully paired and the service was spot on.
Amazing food. I had the halibut and it was incredible. Unique wines and tasty bread too. I took off a point because we were celebrating a birthday and had brought in a dessert (and checked ahead of time) and they told us they charge $10 PER PERSON to serve it, which seems outrageous (I.e., a corkage fee is by bottle, not glass count). We closed out and ate it elsewhere.
Everything here was sooo delicious. It is pricey, but it’s worth it for sure. Definitely coming back.
Dinner at Seabird was superb, exquisite, and extraordinary! I dined solo and was so entertained by the food and the kind staff that I am proud to say I wasn’t even tempted to become a zombie phone scroller. I started with the cucumbers goma-ae and was delighted by the crunchy texture. Cucumbers are not usually a go-to vegetable for me but Chef Grant Rico somehow transformed them into the cooling sensation of biting into a dreamsicle on a hot summer day. For reasons that I will chalk up as mystical, they were creamy and cool. And don’t get worried by the word “sand” on the menu. Goma Ae is a common Japanese side dish that added umami pizzazz to what I usual eschew as a boring vegetable.
Next, I had the steamed cabbage and crab dish. Once again, this dish made me rethink my relationships with a vegetable I feel “meh” about. Steaming the cabbage brought out the tenderness of this hearty vegetable and pairing it with crab felt like seeing someone wearing Manolos with REI hiking pants that zip off at the calf. In other words, this is a dish only the few, daring and talented could pull off and Seabird did it with grace. To me, this dish felt like an intentional mix of couture (the crab) with humble wilderness readiness (the cabbage).
For my main, I had the roasted sablefish with delicata squash, roasted kohlrabi, cauliflower, brown butter. The sablefish was flaky without being mooshy and oh-so-tender. For me, there was just the right amount of fat with the fish to bring out its richness without overwhelming it. The bites of the main dish were like a multi-lingual conversation in my mouth including but not limited to Japanese and Quichua and Danish. No component was fluent in another’s language, but they all understood each other and worked together to create joy in my mouth.
Dessert was seaweed ice cream. Yes, seaweed! And it was paired with a foam that made me feel I, too, am made of a cloud.
In summary, I adored my meal, the service, the cozy and amber ambiance, and I even got to say hello to Brendan McGill.
As I stared at the moon on my return ferry to Seattle that night, I felt very elemental and grateful to live in a beautiful region with talented creatives who aren’t afraid to take risks in food and make it taste mighty fine to boot. Thank you!
I would leave this place 6 stars if I could. I have flown out from Ohio twice just to eat here. Brendan is everything you would want in a chef. I will be back for more.
Revelatory! One of the best meals of my life. Everything was wonderfully prepared, and the ingredient pairings were inspired and surprising. Staff was helpful and knowledgeable. A wonderful experience.
This was the best meal I have had all year.
Great experience and amazing food 🙂 had a blast!
The service was fantastic. My two star review has nothing to do with her. She was incredible, knowledgeable about the menu and friendly.
The food was mediocre at best. The cabbage dish felt like something that came out of a dumpster. The squash puree tasted like mayonnaise. And there’s not a reason on earth cooked cabbage, mayo and pear should go together, unless you’re a dumpster diving raccoon. The fried rice look like it had been regurgitated. It also tasted like it was smothered in mayonnaise. The ceviche felt like a half completed dish. No chips or anything to put the albacore on? Really? Not even plantain chips? Missed opportunity. The scallops were great but really, only tiny little pieces of scallop? That felt like a nickel and dime situation.
The only thing I thought was actually good was the beet mousse at the end.
I have no idea where the praise for the food comes from. The dishes were comically small for the price and the taste was mediocre if not downright disgusting.
This was our first visit to Seabird. We had reservations and were seated immediately and then forgotten. We weren’t in a hurry, but it seemed we were invisible the rest of the evening!
No one told us that dishes were designed to share so we all ordered what we thought were entrees as well as salads following raw oysters appetizers. The smoked octopus and the mussels were delicious, but too large for one person.
After we finished eating our dinners we waited a long time before anyone asked us if we were finished or if we wanted desserts. The waitress seemed quite disappointed that we wanted dessert.
All-in-all, not an enjoyable evening.
Simply among the best food I have ever eaten – across the United States and abroad. Everything we ordered was superb. Lovely waitstaff. My only hope – that in the evening they might lower the lights, thereby encouraging nearby diners to lower their voices.
Seabird is one of the best restaurants on Bainbridge Island. Every time I go they have a fresh menu. Food is delicious and the recipes are unique.
Seriously, when is the place getting a Michelin star. Best seafood place I’ve been to in years. Very low key atmosphere that doesn’t do justice to the food.
Absolutely a Michelin level experience from a Michelin star chef ! 10 star service and creative unique spot on dishes.
If I could give 6 stars for service I would. Anna was our server for my birthday dinner and expertly orchestrated us through the menu with knowledge and charm. The food was phenomenal, everything was creative, fun and delicious. They even all signed a personalized birthday card for me. Was a wonderful experience from start to finish and will definitely be back to try their seasonal menus.
Seabird had incredible food and cocktails. It as so fun to take my Pescatarian sister to a restaurant where she could eat everything on the menu! The menu changes with the seasons, but favorites included the 50 carrot mezcal cocktail, a flight of oysters, the ceviche, and rockfish. I was impressed with the balance of flavors in the drinks and dishes. Also noteworthy was the play with texture in the meals. Our bill included two cocktails, two mocktails, three oysters, a salad, ceviche, two fish entrees, an espresso, and a dessert. I was floored that the bill came to just $100/person for two people before tip. What excellent pricing for such a wonderful fine dining experience. Highly recommended! Will go again!