Adrift - Anacortes

Polenta, salmon tacos, both incredible. Lemonade to die for.

Good food, just not like it 'used ' to be. Old recipes done less than perfectly. Kinda disappointing when they advertise a special, but it turns out to be a flawed copy of the original. They had a good run though...

My family was visiting from California and we had the best seafood ever in Annacortes, WA at the The Drift Restaurant. Jordan, was such an inspiring and friendly waitress. I ordered the Chimichorri Salmon, was amazing!

Spendy but delicious. Outside seating is very, very limited.

B and I had a whole day planned together. Part one was to drive up to Anacortes and walk the Tommy Thompson trail. Then we would find a place to have dinner followed by watching the sunset before heading home. The first part went well, but the long walk in the hot sun with only a few blackberries to sustain us drained our energy to the point where dinner changed from a nice idea to an imperative. The walk along the shore suggested seafood and Google came up with Adrift. It had plenty of stars and it was nearby. That was good enough for us. Someone forgot to tell Google Maps that there was an art show that day that closed down Commercial Avenue. Fortunately, Anacortes is laid out in a simple grid, so we were able to maneuver around the art show and found street parking within a few blocks of the restaurant. We heard live music nearby, but I voted to stay focused on food. B is a kind person and supported my choice even though she has a burning love for live music. As we walked to the restaurant, we saw that all the restaurants on the street were packed. Dang, I was suffering from hanger and I didn’t know if I could handle a change of plans. When we got there, I thought it was a lucky chance that they had plenty of open tables. I was not so happy that the hostess ignored us while she made a phone call. The call was to another group waiting to be seated. Why they had to wait is a mystery. Once we got the hostess’s attention, we were led right to a table. The menu was short, but featured some interesting items. We had plenty of time to look over the options while we waited for our waiter. He came with a list of specials and a promise to bring water. We already had a good idea of what we wanted so we ordered before we let the waiter get away. I chose a rice noodle stir fry with shrimp and B had a cold noodle salad with a crab cake. The waiter made another promise to bring water and rushed off. After the long walk, I needed the restroom. It was easy to find, tucked away in the back. Unfortunately, I didn’t move fast enough and had to wait my turn. I glanced back at the table and saw that our water had been delivered. When I went into the little restroom, I was hit with an overwhelming smell of old bathroom covered up with air freshener. It was gross and I needed more time to do my business than I could hold my breath. Yuck. Back at the table, things smelled better and we did not have to wait long for our food to show up. The plates looked pretty good. Mine was full of vegetables and shrimp over a bed of noodles. B’s crab cake looked delicious. I stabbed a piece of zucchini and popped it in my mouth. I was struck with mixed emotions. The vegetable was perfectly cooked, but the sauce was way too sour from tamarind. The rest of the dish was the same everything was cooked just right, but it was painfully sour. I added a bit of salt and sriracha sauce. That helped a little. We finished up and got advice on how to get out of town from the waiter. I paid the expensive bill and we set our course for Deception Pass.