RockCreek Seafood & Spirits

Eric Donnelly I could kiss you on the mouth for this addition to Kirkland. This was the best meal I've had in a very long time, including experience. Our waitress was knowledgeable, and made excellent selections. We actually ended up choosing quite a bit of her recommendations.We started with the bread with bright herb butter (incredible) and the octopus (incredible). We usually share a few bites of everyone's entrees as well, and every single one had us saying "oh my god" out loud. I got the roughey, and the sauce alone? I'd sell my soul for it. Perfectly tender, topped with crab, it's decadent but light. The yellowfin niçoise was also amazing, and the garlicky little kimchi esque bites were addictive. The seabass is one you have to try. It's technically an endangered fish now, but given that theirs is ethically sourced, we tried it. Literally melt in your mouth, orgasmic, explosions of flavor. They maintain the delicacy of the fish while only enhancing flavor. We tried so many cocktails. The kilowatt is one I daydream about. I usually avoid tropical drinks as they contain a bunch of lime that hurts my stomach. Not this one, absolutely incredible. Like a punch to hawaii. So amazing. The French nurse, as someone who doesn't like rose, was delicate, sweet, and delicious. They make a wicked perfect sazerac. The pheasant tail we tried because curiosity, I didn't hate it. It was definitely a drink I've never had before. The umami of it was insane, and was a fun savory twist. For dessert we tried their take on s'mores. It was delicious! They brought it out with a candle as we were celebrating a birthday, it was a nice touch. We were seated right by the door due to a large party, and it wasn't bad at all. Not overly loud, I'd say about as loud as your usual restaurant. There's a second bar downstairs by the bathrooms that had a cool vibe. We will absolutely be frequenting this place.

After visits to Rock Creek Seafood and Spirit-Fremont, we decided to visit the Kirkland location which recently opened. Let's begin by saying, our server Amber N. was exceptional, the food excellently prepared and flavorful, and the ambiance great! Owner/ Executive Chef Eric Donnelly was in the house interacting with diners. We started the evening with the oven roasted Barron Point Oysters, oven roasted Oysters "Brock-a-Fella, and Point Judith Calamari "Kari-Out." Next up for entrees, the rustic organic Pain de Campagne bread, Old Bay Smashed Potatoes (as a side), the Fijian Yellowfin Tuna, Banchan Niçoise Salad, and the grilled Whole Baja Crimson Snapper all taking us on a trip to "flavor town"! The Key Lime Pie for desert was scrumptious!!We've enjoyed the Seattle-Fremont location and can now add the Kirkland spot on our rotation.

Cutting right to the chase, the food is outstanding and 5/5... service 5/5... the only downgrade from 5 stars overall is that the space is relatively small and tables are packed together tightly. This makes for a very cramped and loud dining experience! There are only a couple booths available- every other table you can reach out and touch your neighbor. But the food:::* Cocktails: very solid - Sazerac and Old Fashioned were top notch* The Small Plates were the highlight of all food. With 6 people we sampled a lot of options. The Octopus was outstanding- tender & flavorful... Heirloom tomatoes - the sauce was magical... Calamari is a must! It comes in a Chinese foot to-go container and is sooo good - soy ginger with crispy won tons. Yum!* Mains were all excellent - we had Sea Bass, Branzino, Cod, and Sole. No dessert -- know that the prices of the small plates sneak up very fast. Total bill for 6 people was $750!! Next time I will come and sit at the bar with my wife for a drink and couple small plates for a perfect weeknight treat.

RockCreek has some potential but unfortunately is plagued by a couple issues that may be the result of the restaurant being new. That being said, this isn't their only location, so it's a little surprising to see so many problems at the Kirkland location. First off, the service was the highlight. Particularly, our server was attentive and offered to even bring us some additional bread to soak up the sauce from the clams. No issues there. But the rest of the experience is just off. Each dish had something about it that was just odd. Nothing that was a complete dealbreaker, but just enough to make notice of. For example, the tuna tartare should have had horseradish listed as the first ingredient, above the tuna. It was so overpowering you really couldn't taste any other aspect of the dish. The calamari was another weird one: no where on the menu does it mention that it is a salad or even that it has lettuce, but it is unmistakably one when it arrives at your table. The oysters and clams were just fine, nothing really stood out about them.The last thing that they need to fix is that happy hour is only applicable to the bar. Of course, literally no where do they say this (including on the website as of April 2024), so only after you are seated and ask about the happy hour menu are you told that you're out of luck. The hostess did offer to let us know if something opened up, but as expected, no one ever came back to follow up with us. Overall, the food was fine, but not particularly impressive for the cost. I can name several other seafood restaurants in the area I prefer, which is the luxury of living in Washington. Fundamentally I don't think there's anything wrong with the place, but there's not a whole lot to rave about either. It may be worth a visit in a couple months or a year once they figure some of these things out.

Food and service was incredible. We ordered the burrata which was super fresh and half a dozen oysters, they were on par with Taylor's, my absolute favorite place and had a really great selection. We also ordered the sea bass lettuce wrap very light and fresh. Would be perfect for a light lunch, the vinaigrette was so good. We also ordered grouper and roughey. The grouper was hands down one of the best meals I've had, truly incredible. The roughey was a giant portion, very decadent and the fish was cooked perfectly. Loved the fried capers! We went all out clearly so it was an expensive night at right around $250 with a generous tip but we would most likely order half that amount on our next dinner. I heard they may be offering outdoor seating in the future, I hope so, the only thing missing from dinner was a view of the water!

Always love trying new places that open up! With that said- take this with a grain of salt as they're clearly working out a bunch of kinks although that doesn't change the glaring opportunity with the layout. The layout- no clue who designed this place but they did this place no favors. The alcohol sits on a ton of shelving which basically blocks most of the view. I'm sorry but you have a perfect view of the sunset and you cover up half the window?? The glasses just sit on the counter mat and it feels oh so dirty. So many alternatives to this bar design. Then there's how you move through the restaurant to get downstairs to the restrooms and how the servers move around tables. Space is tight and pathways are certainly not clear. I get that the restaurant just opened, but you could see remnants of all the unorganized stuff downstairs.The staff is still being trained. It was difficult for the bartender to be attentive to the folks at the bar, make drinks, and to keep up with restocking all the dishes. She had to check with the kitchen on the oysters being offered. They forgot to bring the crab cracker and it was strange that there were no wipes or extra napkins for the Dungeness crab. A huge highlight that a supervisor was on top of rectifying these things and really made the extra effort so I'm sure the staff will get trained up quickly. The food- oysters were bomb and delicious! We had 4 types (Holliewood, wild cat cove, Kumamoto and beach glass) on our platter and I thoroughly enjoyed the Kumamoto. The crab was good but honestly way too messy with the seasoning and the way it was presented. The crudo could've had 50% less sauce, and I was definitely not a fan of the cabbage salad. The drinks were a highlight as well- loved my French nurse #2. Would be back for drinks, but likely not a meal.

We made a reservation and happy we did they were busy. The service was excellent. Our bartender and server were both friendly, prompt and knowledgeable about the food and wine. They did a great job remodeling the space and has great natural light. The tuna tartare was fresh with a strong amount of horseradish. If you don't like horseradish this is not a tartare for you. The yellowfin Niçoise salad was delicious and reminded me of a Korean bibimbap. There was a generous portion of tuna and I really enjoyed the banchan sides - cucumber, radish kimchi, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms. The pasta was so good and vegetarian. Last was the s'mores. Rich dessert and we finished the whole thing.

Excellent seafood and high professional service . Highly recommend. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went there on Mother's Day right when they opened. My husband, me and my 91 year old mother. Said we'd like to sit in the bar for happy hour. The hostess explained there was only seating at the bar top. My mom was in a wheelchair. She was very rude and said she couldn't help get her into the barstool. Of course I would have never expected that. The three of us managed to sit at the bar top. Bartender was great. Food and wine great. Hostess...definitely not the mostess. She couldn't even move the chair for us to push the wheelchair through. Upon leaving, never uttered a word of " glad it worked out, or happy Mother's Day" Also, there were two hostess and not even busy.

Food: excellent, the whole reason to go! I had the cauliflower salad and Chilean sea bass... both super flavorful. Service: also excellent.Ambiance: terrible. Noise level is untenable for conversation; please put up some noise-muffling wall decorations! The three tables in the front (where we were sitting) are blinding sun-in-your-eyes at 6pm. 5 stars for food & service, 2 stars for ambiance