Duck Soup Inn - Friday Harbor

I called last week and ordered drinks to be taken to our clients who were celebrating an anniversary in a few days. Not only did the drinks not show up, but my follow-up call and email placed the next day were not returned. I understand that mistakes happen but to ignore the call and email constitutes very bad service in my book.

I’m sharing my recent experience at Duck Soup, hoping it might help others make a more informed decision before dining there. We visited on August 8, 2024, for my brother-in-law's 50th birthday—and were extremely disappointed. Our experience was far from what we had hoped for, and unfortunately, it overshadowed the celebration. First, the online menu was misleading. We were looking forward to dishes like the pork chop and belly, only to find they were not available once we got there. Instead, the menu at the restaurant was different and the prices higher. This was frustrating, especially since we had specifically chosen Duck Soup based on their online menu and recommendations. Our party of six faced numerous issues with our meals. Out of all the dishes, only one was satisfactory. We chose not to send back the majority of the meals out of embarrassment, which contributed to a ruined birthday dinner. Here’s a breakdown of the terrible food we were served: The filet was overcooked despite ordering it medium rare. It was remade, but it definitely was not worthy of an $80 steak. The Steak Diane was overcooked, with raw and burnt side vegetables that were left untouched. The noodles that came with the black cod were drenched in soy sauce, making them inedible. The pasta and prawns were overcooked and barely touched. The quail was undercooked and left uneaten. It looked like it was thrown in a microwave. My stomach turned so much that I could not eat it. The waitress never asked what if there were any issues even when 4/6 dishes remained mostly uneaten. We should have spoken up, but considering it was a birthday dinner, we did not want to spoil the night. The final blow came with the automatic $88 tip added to our bill $528 total), which felt unjust given the poor quality of the food and service. After spending so much, most of us left hungry and had to find another place to eat. I spoke with the manager, who explained that the online menu isn’t always current, as they change their offerings monthly. She also mentioned that the main chef was in the ER that night. While I understand that emergencies happen, it doesn’t excuse the overall lack of quality and bad service. I was told we should be grateful for being accommodated without a reservation, but in hindsight, I wish we hadn’t gone at all given how disappointing the food was. We were never offered anything to remediate the crummy food and experience. We dined here previously and it was pretty good. However, after this experience, and the manager's response, we will not dine here again. I want to make sure others do not make the same mistake we did with eating here.

Really wanted to love this place. Location is amazing. We had appetizers, drinks, mains and desserts. Burrata was okay but was a cracker and not “focaccia”, salad was just okay. I ordered the verde puttanesca and it was the saddest thing I have ever gotten at a restaurant, not to mention a restaurant that had a near $500 bill for 4 people. It looked like something Chef Boyardee came up with but tasted worse. Just like literally no flavor and bad texture. It was like eating butter noodles with frozen peas and carrots. The key lime tart was absolutely amazing. Can’t say I would ever come back considering the price…not worth the risk. Parking: Gravel lot parking

Fantastic setting. By far our favorite meal on San Juan island. Menu is on the smaller side, but it all looked so delicious we had a hard time choosing. Great wine selection. Could have had a better whiskey selection, but that could just be a regional thing. Service was absolutely first class. Highly recommend this place if you are staying in San Juan and can easily access the restaurant. Note- it is about a 10 min drive from Friday Harbor. Extremely close (1/4 mile) to Lakedale

Great food. Great service. Compared to small pizzas you can get at other restaurants for $30 the prices were reasonable. Frankly, I don't know what others are complaining about in their reviews. The meal was amazing.