Ocean Shores dining - Bennetts Fish Shack and Alecs By the Sea

Typically I have had some of the worst meals in my life on the Washington Coast....

We arrived Saturday ready for lunch. I went to my old favorite, Mikes Fish Market. We pulled up to it, it looked exactly the same as it did two years ago, only with 2 years of Ocean weathering.. It looked run down and no one was there. It wasn't closed, just not popular obviously. Caddilac Jacks next door is closed.

I turned the car around and headed back to a new place I saw on the way. Bennets Fish Shack. We walked in, and there was a big paper menu on the wall behind the counter. You order at the counter, and the bring your food to you. Like a fast food place, except that there is a bar also.   Kelsey ordered a Dungeness Crab Caeser ($15.99) and I ordered a Halibut Sandwich ($12.99) after inquiring if it was frozen Halibut. The counterperson told me it was fresh.

We sat at a small table, the boothes were full. I could see the bar and the TV in the bar from my angle. I watched two bartenders tending an empty bar, while the two counter girls were running around like crazy with a full lunch crowd. I realized they were new and lacked experience. Soon though, the bartenders did come out and run food.

The bar began to fill up, the UW Huskies were playing Colorado. The bar tvs were on King of Queens. sigh... The bar customers asked for the game and the bar tender went to find it. He had no idea where to look for a UW Husky game. He started searching by title.. UGH,I just wanted to scream, 627! But I watched him fiddle with the remote for close to 5 minutes before finding the game.

The food came. My sandwich was HUGE. The fillet must have been at least 8 ounces. It was topped with a quality kaiser style roll, Romaine lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, cheese and tartar. It was fantastic!  It didn't really need the cheese, but it didn't hurt. The fish was fresh and cooked to perfection. Kelseys Crab Caesar was also great, topped with a generous helping of Crab meat.  We both ate every bite.

For dinner, we went to Alecs by the Sea. I have been meaning to try this place for years. We had to wait 20 minutes for a dinner table, it is a popular place.

I was torn, I really wanted the Captains platter, but do I really need a plate of deep fried fish? No. I ordered the Lytle Oysters. Locally harvested. They were fantastic. I think there was a dozen oysters on my plate!
Kelsey gambled on the Razor Clams, lightly breaded and grilled. She was not pleased by the fact that you need to use a steak knife to cut them! They were tough. I tried them. I didn't care for them that much either.
Overall, this place is average at best. It did not live up to the hype. This "Chef" wouldn't make it far in the city, but it's good enough for the coast. I watched droves of people turned away from the bar, Reserved signs at most the tables. No one ever did come sit in those Reserved tables.

Breakfast at Shilo. It was good! I was shocked. A man was complaining loudly at the hostess station when we got there. As we were being taken to our table, we passed by a 6 top, 4 of 6 plates were untouched, and the party was gone. I don't know what happened there, but we had good food and service.