Avant Lard Travel - by Houston Porter In a town with excellent food, Sirens stands out as one of the top contenders on the Port Townsend food scene.
Weve dined here several times in the past because Sirens is one of the only places in town with a true view of the water. However, we have only ever gotten pub grub, and although excellent on its own, it was last nights dinner that really blew our minds and moved Sirens to the top of our list of favorite restaurants in Port Townsend.
First off, this was one of the only restaurants in town that was open on Christmas night and actually had tables available without a reservation. (In general, Sirens usually keeps their kitchen open later than most places in PT. (PT can be a fairly sleepy town with little open past 8/9 p.m.))
We had never ordered from their regular menu and were excited to see things like lasagna, grilled salmon, sheppards pie, and even a PT version of cioppino.
We started with a couple of local draft beers, which we have always been able to count on when visiting Sirens. They were one of the first restaurants we found years ago that served Port Townsend Brewing Company, and not just one, but several, along with a great selection of other beers, wines, and excellent cocktails. (For those of us who dislike the hoppy beers that prevail in the NW, I highly recommend the Scotch Ale and the Nitro Stout, both from PTBC. Both are great examples of those beer styles and both are perfect with food.)
We opted for the lasagna, salmon, and cioppino and all were off the charts good, with the cioppino possibly being the best weve ever had.
We eat a lot of cioppino, being from the S.F. Bay Area (where it was invented) and this saffron infused version is phenomenal. The amount of seafood was seriously impressive and the flavor of the saffron stew was mind blowing.
We followed this up with the holiday special black forest chocolate cheese cake...which was truly fantastic.
To top it all off, the staff was wonderful as always, making us feel welcome on a blustery Christmas night and they had spent some serious time decorating for the holidays, and that too added a warm and welcoming touch to our dining experience.
We havent always stopped in to Sirens during every visit to PT in the past, but after last nights dinner, we certainly will on all future trips. Seriously, after Finistere, this might be our new favorite restaurant in town for a high quality dinner.
Kudos to the chef, the staff, and the owners for making such a great place for both locals and visitors alike.
