Oyster Creek Inn

Ordered whole bunch of apps and entrees to share as family style. Dishes that really stood out were:
— Manila clams with fresh herbs. Awesome favors and super fresh. Recommend soaking up the sauce with house warm bread:)
— Anything oyster — chowder, pasta etc. It’s fresh and well balanced to keep the virtue of oysters yet balanced with other ingredients and textures
— Whiskey bread pudding. Bread pudding isn’t my favorite. In fact, I usually avoid. But this place has quite spectacular bread pudding that’s got the right texture and richness.
Overall, awesome place to relax and have a solid meal.

My boyfriend is a big foodie and was really excited to take me out here for lunch. Since it’s close proximity to Taylor oyster farm we assumed that the food would really good. Boy where we wrong I stared with oysters on the half shell which have seen better days and where defiantly not at the level of freshness or quality you would expect from a Resturant with oyster in its name. Next I had the crab stuffed ravioli which was only four little pieces of previously frozen ravioli in a small bowl. On top of that they where charging top dollar of this. I don’t mind paying top dollar if I get what I am paying for but this was hands down the worst lunch I’ve ever had. The crab stuffed ravioli where so bad I couldn’t finish one bite of that freezer burned partly frozen excuse of a ravioli. I’m not going to even start on service all I’m going to say is we where there for two and a half hours for apps and entrees. I will not be back. I wish I would have looked at other reviews of this place on urbanspoon or trip adviser before coming in.

My husband and I are moving from WA to WI to be closer to family. We treated ourselves today to a day off from purging and packing to have a special lunch in one of our favorite restaurants. The ambience was perfect – view from our table was ferns, waterfalls, moss-​covered trees. Inside we had linen table cloths and red roses on the table. I had the baked oysters as a starter and my husband had the onion soup. He is a connoisseur and declared this one of the best. I had the warm seafood salad as an entrée – butter lettuce in a simple lemon, olive oil, caper dressing with a piece of salmon, scallop, prawn, mussels and clam. My husband had duck confit with white beans and spinach. Also done perfectly – moist and flavorful. The house-​made bread was crusty and warm. Wonderful!
We will miss this!

The fam and I went on a scenic autumn drive to the Chukanut Bay. Starving, we decided to stop at the Oyster Creek Inn for a quick bite. We sure did not expect this place to be a fine dining, intimate setting restaurant! Small and cozy dining tables, surrounded by windows overlooking the creek and the forest. Spectacular view and It felt so enchanting! Very quaint and romantic, this place is perfect for a date. Service was very slow because there was only one server.
For starters, we ordered the baked escargot with shiitake mushroom and oysters on the half shell. Escargots were delicious as always, but I wish they were served with bread. Oysters were amazing. Don’t know much about oysters. I just eat them. Some were sweeter than the others, that’s all I know lol.
For our entrees, we ordered the Filet mignon and crab stuffed prawns, Duck Confit with Saffron risotto, Pan fried oyster fettuccine and Bouillabaisse.
Dad ordered the filet and he loved it. Not only that it was cooked to perfection, It was so succulent and tender that he didn’t even realize he was cutting it with a butter knife.
I opted for the Duck confit with saffron risotto. The duck was overcooked but it was still a delightful meal.
The Pan fried oyster fettuccine, believe it or not, was my favorite meal of the night. I never liked fried oysters but these were out of this world good! It was complemented perfectly with the house made lemon garlic pasta.
The bouillabaisse was alright. Bouillabaisse is tomato based spicy stew with various kind of fish. This stew however, had a mixture of prawns, scallop, salmon, clams, mussels, oysters,
We paired our dinner with a bottle of cabernet. Can’t remember which =/​
For dessert, we shared the vanilla crème brûlée and the bread pudding. They were both amazing.
We had such a lovely time!

Wonderfully happens upon this adorable and quaint restaurant. Love the view of the creek in the gully. Food was tasty and locally sourced. I’d give 5 stars but the salad plate could have used a touch more greens.

The Oyster Creek Inn is one of the finest restaurants in the Bellingham area, and hands down, without the shadow of a doubt, the best restaurant along Chuckanut Drive. The oysters, of course, are sublime, either raw or pan fried, oh, be still my heart! I have eaten there many times, and the chef is friendly, engaging, and truly delighted to provide an exceptional dining experience for his guests. He accomplishes this feat without food snobbery, just pure food delight. He has prepared special dishes for a friend who could neither eat gluten nor dairy, as well as a surprise Grand Marnier soufflé for my father on his 90^th birthday. The restaurant is beautifully situated along the creek, and the views are gorgeous. If you haven’t already tried it, give yourself a treat!

This is a quaint, little restaurant that is definitely worth driving to! The service was a little slow but we weren’t in a rush. We were also the largest table in the place so c’est la vie. We started with the pan fried oysters, baked oysters and the sweet potato gnocchi and all of them were awesome! I had the goat cheese and apple salad and it was ok. The goat cheese was wrapped in Parmesan crisps that were a little too thick and chewy. I had the Bouillabaisse for my entrée and it was amazing! The seafood was great and fresh and the tomato broth was creamy, flavorful and perfect. I tried my niece’s Dungeness crab ravioli and it was also amazing! Delicious homemade pasta and fresh crab? Yes, please! They also have a great wine list according to my brother-​in-​law who thinks he knows his shit.

The food is locally sourced from local farmers and the food is prepared from scratch… but it doesn’t end there. The bread service is amazing and found out it is baked on premise. For lunch, I tried the mussels in a light white sauce and it was the best mussels I have ever eaten. Next were oysters lightly dredged and presented on top of a wonderful mayo-​based sauce with capers. The final dish was a lump crab cake on top of a bed of sauteed kale. All great dishes. For dessert, the crème brûlée was yummy as well as the fresh berries in crème fraîche and anglaise. I’m glad I had room for dessert! I left Oyster Creek Inn extremely happy and highly enjoyed the service and culinary experience. Bravo Oyster Creek Inn!

«Simply delightful» experience… everything from scratch and locally sourced. Service was superb and the wine pairings were spot on.
The experience started out with their home-​made bread… perfect! (First Impressions… as they say)
Oysters…mussels…crab…all done with delicate attention to detail, and wonderful balance of flavours. Then finished with the crème brûlée — I sensed some «secret» ingredient that added a new dimension to the dessert.
Worth the travel … You won’t be disappointed.
(I also recommend a trip down to the Taylor Oyster Farms just down the road from the Restaurant… I hear that is where they get their amazing oysters…
The only other restaurant I gave 5 stars was Agape Substance in Paris… simply amazing.

The fiancé and I were deciding where to go for my 30^th birthday — we wanted somewhere special, since we can’t afford to go out very often, but we splurged since you only turn 30 once, right?
The ambiance is great, and our server was very friendly and attentive. We’re off to a good start. After much internal debate, I decided to go with pan-​fried oysters for an appetizer, and the crab ravioli for my entrée. She had a french-​onion style soup with Gruyère, and the salmon fettuccine. In my head I’m hoping we just didn’t over order…
They started us off with a small but tasty complimentary hummus with some pita bread, it was tasty. Then some bread and butter. Since we’re a sharing couple, we each tried all 4 items. The soup was good, my oysters were amazing (best I’ve had). My ravioli is good to very good, and her fettuccine was an oil-​based goat cheese varietal, which wasn’t bad, but she was hoping for a cream base. Overall, it was all good if not very good.
Dessert was a molten lava cake, which was quite delicious as well. I had a glass of wine, she had a drink as well, and I finished it all off with a port.
But now for the downsides. While neither of us have what I would call small appetites, we aren’t big eaters. For example, I rarely eat fast food but when I do, I only supersize the meal if I am ravenous, otherwise the regular sized meal is fine.
We both left hungry, and for $ 120 (3 drinks, the rest is food) you would assume you would be at least be full. And this included two complementary starters. I mean I had I think 3 pieces of ravioli, maybe it was 4, can’t remember. She probably had about a ¹⁄₅ pound of salmon in her 4 oz of noodles. We are talking less food than what comes in a Lean Cuisine.
You could tell everything was very fresh, hand-​made noodles, delicious sauce, but yet… I left underwhelmed. Sometimes places are a great value, sometimes you get exactly what you pay for, and then sometimes you feel «what did I just pay for»? This place is the latter. The food wasn’t amazing enough for me to ever go back for the price we paid.
If you are a pure quality over quantity person, with a mid to small appetite, this is the place for you. My tastebuds were very satisfied, but as far as satisfying my hunger, it did not meet my needs.
Agree with other reviewer who would give it 3.5 if possible.

What a lovely surprise in finding this place. It’s nestled like a tree house over the creek with a beautiful view, even at night, of waterfalls along the creek. The setting was very relaxing. Inside it was just my kind of place, intimate but tables far enough apart I didn’t have to hear other conversations. A blend of gourmet and casual and the food was great. Especially liked the appetizers. We had the escargot with shitake mushrooms, which were tender and served in chinese soup spoons for a yummy bite. Duck pâté… maybe I’m a lame pâté eater, but I prefer this one; smooth and lacking the mineral taste of most. Filet in demi glacé was very good as was the oyster fettucini. I would have liked more choices on the menu but hey, it’s february and not their in season. The service was excellent. Okay, it was a little expensive but we did have a lot of wine. We will definitely be back.

This restaurant is located in such an amazing spot off Chukanut Drive. Overlooking a river that runs through the most luscious moss covered trees and ferns I have ever seen.
Sampled a bunch of the meal options and was definitely blown away by the large, meaty mussels. For sure the best ones I have ever had before. Food was fresh and flavorful.
Service was excellent and friendly.
A finer dining option that I would aim to revisit when back in the area.

Took a very long time to get food out. Portions are very, very small, so a average person will probably be smart to order a main course, an appetizer and a salad just to not leave starving (but certainly not full). Its a small place with only one waiter on shift, so many folks were visably trying to get the attention of the waiter to get some kind of service. The staff was professional, but just plan on a 2-​hour event and stopping for more food afterwards.
Easily a 3-​star if the portions were more than infant/​toddler size.

It took over an hour from the time we ordered to get our food and 20 mins just get a drink. And we had to eat our main course without a drink seeing as we never saw a refill. The food was pretty good though but very small portioned we got four ravolis for 26 dollars ;(the best part of this meal (which we are grateful considering after oyster appetizer, salad soup and ravoli left still hungry) a couple who were regulars got our meal after our waiter told them we were dual military. Wish we could have thanked them they made our meal.

Lived in skagit valley my whole life and finally tried oyster creek tonight. Phenomenal service! Very educated staff and wonderful food! Everything made from scratch. Great experience!

We went here on a Sunday for a celebration mid-​day meal. I believe our server was the honorable Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts.
The restaurant is in an enthralling setting with a view of the forest and the tumbling waterfalls of a nearby creek. The food was fantastic! The mussels were the best I’ve ever had as were the oysters. This is a great place to celebrate an occasion or treat someone special to a romantic dinner. There wasn’t a kids menu and it was a challenge to keep my 5yr old niece entertained at this restaurant. I’d say it is not kid-​friendly, but neither are a lot of fine dining experiences. 5 Stars!

Amazing.
After getting booted out of a place up the road because we had kids with us (at 2 in the afternoon) We luckily found the Oyster Creek Inn. The food is incredibly fresh. They saw that we had kids and immedietly began to peel potatos fro french fries, the pasta is made fresh daily and the sauce is fabulous. The Oysters. Amazing. I have trouble having oysters anywhere else because they are so fresh here. The service is incredible. This is where you want to go. The end.

Although I haven’t tried it yet, I understand the Oyster Creek Inn has reopened with new owners and I’m looking forward to giving it a try! This is a wonderful little restaurant in a great location and since it sits next to the Taylor Shellfish Farms on Chuckanut, its a pretty good bet the shellfish are fresh!
The drive is worth the effort, and the location alone should earn it three stars. I’m definitely looking forward to checking out the restaurant under its new ownership with the expectation I will be able to add at least one more star on my next (REAL) review!
I’m hungry just thinking about trying the Oyster Creek Inn. Bön Apetite.

We just had dinner here the other night and found it to be pleasant and tasty. The view of the creek is gorgeous. However, you really need to be a seafood lover to appreciate this place. We had a party of 5 — 2 non-​seafood eaters, a veggie (me) and 2 seafood fanatics. The 3 of us who didn’t eat the seafood thought the food was just ok — not bad and not amazing. However the seafood eaters were ready to sell their first born for more chowder and bruschetta made with scallops. Dessert was hit and miss. The crème brûlée was good but served cold. The flavors would pop much more if it were warm. The Hubbard squash bread pudding may sound weird but it was awesome! Overall, skip it if you aren’t a seafood fan but if you are make it a priority destination.

UPDATE: CLOSED. The Palmers (owners) have opened a new restaurant in LaConner called the Owl and Thistle.
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I love this place! And I love driving down on Chuckanut on the way there. It’s where I go for my birthday and such. It’s a beautiful location on a cliff overlooking the creek. The atmosphere is a bit fancy, you can get dressed up and not feel like a fool.
The food and service are impeccable. Better than anything you can get in Bellingham, in my opinion. Last time I was there I got salmon stuffed with crab. It was so decadent but delicious.
They were closed for a while but have reopened (in January I believe), and it is highly worth the drive!