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Four Swallows
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
16 reviews for Four Swallows
I heart the Four Swallows... The food is wonderful. The patio is a dream. The wait staff is charming and knowledgeable.
My most recent experience combined a bottle of proseco, a green bean appetizer and a split order of pomodoro pasta. Fresh berries and whipped cream for dessert finished the evening perfectly.
I started with the grilled prawns... Where do I begin explaining... It was a party in my mouth! The prawns were atop an amazingly done polenta (not too creamy, not too dry) with fresh corn and a perfectly added amount of chili oil for a pleasant little kick. If I hadn't ordered two other dishes, I would have ordered another!
As my second, I ordered the raspberry and goat cheese salad. At first, it seemed to be presented as a simple and unnotable mixture, but as it was DEVOURED, I noticed little details (like the tiny addition of sweetly marinated onions, or the goat cheese obviously chosen for it's light and fresh flavor) that made it special. What I most noted was the surprisingly not bitter flavour of the raspberries; you know how they can sometimes have that harsh flavor? Well, none on my plate!
Here is where my 5 stars turned into a 4... My fianceé ordered the bacon wrapped halibut, which was a little disappointing. It was slightly overcooked which made it dry. He says the flavor was "spot on" and the corn and tomato accompaniments were tasty, but he was not 5/5 happy. Also, my third dish (muscles with grilled bread) had a very distinct taste that was a little too much for me; I learned it was smoked paprika. The dish overall was very good, I just think it's a matter of personal likes.
What more could there be? On top of the almost perfect food, the service was spectacular. We were promptly seated at our requested outside table, and when a larger, more intimate table became available, the host offered to move us. Also, which I thought was quite cute, our waitress continuously relit/changed our candle as the stubborn lil bugger kept going out! It's those little attentions to details that make a restaurant like this so memorable. We will definitely be coming again when we are in the area!
I want to score 4 and 1/2. Nice staff, good atmosphere and the food is their strong element here. The smoked duck appetizer was great, I enjoyed every bite and will go back to this restauant for this plate alone. My pasta dish was done perfectly which does not happen very often at many other restaurants. I tasted my husband's beef dish and the quality of the meat surprised me. Their wine list is quite comprehensive.
This is a serious restaurant - their focus is on good food. Many restaurants are run by amatuers who are in business for something other than providing quality food - Four Swallows is professional.
If you love good food, this is the place.
Four Swallows on Bainbridge Island is A - MAZING! I took my wife to Four Swallows recently for our Anniversary and we have not been able to stop telling people about it. From the moment we sat down we had a wonderful (and laid back) experience. The wine selection was great, the appetizers were perfect and the entrees exceeded our expectations.
I was impressed with the service considering what is expected from Bainbridge Island restaurants.
5 Stars - Four Swallows is a must for everyone.
My girlfriend and I made it into the Four Swallow on our last vist to the island. We both enjoyed the restaurant very much. The food and service was spot on. It's just one more reason to come back soon.
I'm going to be the dissenting view in this love-fest for 4 Swallows but I think that this place delivers some of the most half-baked, under-realized, smug, silly food of any restaurant in the entire Seattle area. And my opinion is based not on one or two visits but on maybe fifteen times of being dragged there by friends who doggedly swear by the place. A company I once worked for had its Christmas party at 4S and it was one of the worst spreads of dessicated hors d-oeuvres and charred food that I've ever encountered. The chef here is notorious, among Island people who actually make food for a living, for screwing up a dish and then trying to "market" it onto your table, anyway. During one visit, I ordered their pepperoni pizza, on the theory that nobody can screw up a simple pizza too badly. My pizza arrived - already marked by a pizza cutter - with a STEAK KNIFE shoved under the rim of the crust. When I started to try to eat it, I found out why it was there. The crust was like NASA-grade plastic. Cutting it with the knife required concerted effort. I've had cake that had conspicuously fallen (The crumb was so compacted that it looked like fudge) and was sold anyway as "slump cake". I've had sauces with traditional names attached that looked and tasted NOTHING like the sauces they were supposed to be. I've found an actual live worm in a salad. If the owner, Mike Sharp, was not one of the nicest, most down-to-earth, fundamentally-decent Bainbridge Islanders I've ever met, nothing short of a court order would have ever gotten me through the door after about the fifth time. Something has been seriously out of whack EVERY SINGLE ONE of those times I've gone there. Not being wheedled into repeated visits to 4 Swallows is the only really bright side to living in Bellevue.
I have a theory - and I've rewritten this review after some constructive criticism from another Yelper whose judgment I value - which briefly goes that Islanders tend to be far more kind and give more leeway in almost all terms to Island businesses. I don't even think that's a bad thing, really. I think it's not only healthy but admirable to support businesses in your immediate neighborhood. I'll never be able to prove this, of course, just as those writing 5-star reviews of 4S will never be able to prove the reverse, but I believe that, if you put 4 Swallows into Ballard or Fremont or Madison Park, in quotidian comparison to other restaurants that offer similar intimacy, atmosphere, and menu, it wouldn't be seen as any more than another middle-of-the-pack restaurant. I don't question or doubt any of the glowing reviews posted here. As I constantly tell other Yelpers, if what you write reflects your honest views and accurately describes your experience, you have no apologies to make for your review, even if it strikes some readers as unduly harsh or gratuitously glowing. I can't begin to analyze why my experience of this restaurant has been so radically different from everyone else's. But it has, so - short of removing this review altogether - this says what I believe it should say. As with ALL reviews you read ANYWHERE, it's up to your own judgment and sense of fairness to decide to accept ANY of the perspectives you find on Yelp.
"Very Bainbridge" - Local Ingredients; Charming, Upscale Farmhouse Atmosphere; Worth the Ferry for a Day-Trip to Bainbridge.
Visits: 1, so far
We Enjoyed: the Mussels, OMG they were amazing; the Pizza, very seasonal; the Lamb, which my husband liked so much I didn't get a bite of.
DO:
- Check the ferry schedule (and get it right), and plan on a cab for the 1/2 mile walk to the restaurant.
- Consider yourself warned: it's beer & wine only, with great local selections of each.
- Try the Mussels. They are paprika-y goodness, and I think about hopping the ferry *just* for them all the time.
- Place dibs on your entree right away if you want something, but are waiting for your dinner companions to decide. They had just run out of my top choices, and I fear it's because we dawdled when we sat down.
Now let's get something straight...I have become much more judicious about my 5-stars. I mean, they've got to be worth something right? Well, I believe that after the numerous times I've been to Four Swallows that it's been earned.
The place is charming and quaint. It's an old farmhouse for god's sake what's not charming about that? (Rhetorical.) The smoked paprika mussels will end marriages and create a new social subculture of those who wish the same civil rights with their seafood as heterosexuals have come to expect and enjoy. The sea scallops with sauteed pea vines (see aforementioned). The rosemary & garlic focaccia may well be the cause of either world peace or world war something. The bread pudding with vanilla bean gelato to become top priority for last meal of death row convicts all over (not available yet...sorry guys). The service? The type that walks that fine line between what guests expect and enormously appreciate - like a French Grandma...with tips. Really good tips.
A cozy place in a converted house with excellent food and quite friendly staff and chef. Even items no longer on the menu can be prepared. We have a thing for their butternut squash ravioli in brown butter sauce, and if there's ever ingredients in the kitchen we can have it prepared. Of course, we've also had other items. Their pizza is delicious and not too much dough or tomahto. Pasta, meat and seafood dishes are offered, and there are daily specials. The wine list is superb though not exhaustive.
One can choose to dine in a romantically-lit room with church-like booths, or in an open table and chair setting...some with table tops to play checkers. Either way, the feeling is one of white linen, crystal glasses...yet a welcoming and approachable experience.
We read about this place online while en route to Bainbridge Island. Armed with some vague directions from google maps, we were able to locate the place after a short walk from the ferry landing.
Though we did not have reservations, we were seated by the bar and served by a very knowledgeable waitress. Even though I'm not a wine person, she was able to recommend a great wine to go with the seafood risotto I had. The food was absolutely delicious.
The service was excellent and I hope to stop here again when in the area.
I recently visited Bainbridge Island for an extended stay to visit my boyfriend who has been transferred out to Bremerton from Massachusetts. Although we love everything about this little community, we did feel (coming from Boston, though) that there weren't a whole lot of above-pub scale (although, the pubs were awesome!) dining. On our last night, a Saturday, we had gotten late reservations at the Four Swallows (9 pm). I'm all for eating a late dinner so that was fine by me. We got there around 830 thinking we would sit at the bar for a drink or two before dinner. We met Mike (who I see now from other reviews is the owner) and he seated us at the bar and poured us some drinks. However, the room where the bar was was so incredibly hot that we both became increasingly uncomfortable. Mike offered us a table on the small front porch to sit and wait for our table to open up. It was so nice outside so we immediately accepted. At about 910 or 915, Mike came out to say that our table was ready after apologizing profusely for the delay. 10, 15 minutes?! Who cares! No big deal, we're on vacation, sitting outside enjoying our beers on a gorgeous night in beautiful Bainbridge. Anyways, he cared, and after sitting us at our table, told us the beers were on him. For a 10 minute delay! I mean, very unnecessary but obviously reflects what kind of attention he gives his customers and the level of service provided at the restaurant. We had one of the best tables in the house, an amazing waitress who was friendly, responsive, not overbearing, and very pleasent to make conversation with (I think, Yolanda). The food was terrific, the atmosphere of the old farmhouse was wonderful (especially subjective because my kitchen and the restaurant share the same framed french poster!), and overall it was a wonderful, memorable last night on the island. I would highly suggest this restaurant to anyone who is visiting and looking for something more sophisticated and elegant than sandwhiches and fries!!
Four of us enjoyed a completely fabulous summer evening on the patio. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The evening was relaxing and lovely. The wine selection is superb and they serve a few local beers on tap (yay). All the appetizers were scrumptious as were desserts and the filet. Gnocci and pea vines were especially wonderful. Seafood is not the chef's domain however. Our two Halibut orders were beautifully presented, sprinkled with spices and wrapped in bacon. Wrapped in bacon? OK. Both Halibut filets were so overcooked that they literally crumbled and were so dry they verged on inedible. The staff doesn't write anything down, which resulted in four forgotten drink orders and two forgotten appetizers. But, the evening was so lovely, it all didn't really matter. I'd definitely go back for the ambience, appetizers, salads, and desserts, but for the money, I will always go elsewhere for seafood as they just don't get it.
This is a highly rated restaurant that serves simply the most delicous food I've had. It's presented beautifully, too. Their Beef Tenderloin is incomparable! There's warm and intimate atmosphere. Only open for dinner on Tues-Sat. I feel so pampered when I'm here. We know the prices...:)
Its really good food. Decor could be better, and a bit pricey, but for the odd celebratory meal, its the only real option on Bainbridge
The best on Bainbridge. The food is always good, great wine list and the staff is the best.
It's quite the drive, but sure worth the wait! I'd write a long review, but it's just simply great. Bainbridge Island is lucky to have this place. Other restaurants on the island just can't measure up or seem to have any staying power, but this place is it!
