Varly's Swiftwater Seafood Cafe

Formerly Cafe Orca but now known as Oceanfront Cafe. I stopped in for a late lunch here after a great morning out on the water. There was a lunch rush with probably about 10 tables seated. I was not in a rush but felt bad because the staff seems a bit overwhelmed. I placed my order for some salmon and halibut tacos, a bowl of seafood chowder to try and a drink, then went to find a nice outdoor spot on the deck with great view of the Passage Canal and waited patiently. Drinks were brought quickly by the efficient waitress, although I'd prefer it to be handed to customers at the counter so we don't have to wait. The foods didn't take long to come out. Tacos order were 2 per order ... a surprise to me as I was only expecting 1. Each order comes with chips and salsa. Overall the tacos were okay although it'd be better if the tortillas were home made...no big deal. The slaw was good and fresh with a great crunch. HOWEVER, a lot of the pickling juice and fish soaked to the bottom...so you'll have to eat pretty fast or they get quite soggy. Both the halibut and salmon were overcooked but the salmon was a bit tastier because the halibut was quite dry. The seafood soup was delicious but on the watery side. I think it was actually on the menu as chowder but I'd like my chowder a bit thicker...a matter of personal preference but overall good chowder that I'd order again and would recommend! Overall, people are great, the place is lovely and food is passable.

Now the Oceanfront Cafe, they have specialty coffees and food! Dirty Chai Latte is delicious, not too sweet and mocha is delicious! Nice little gem!

Their carrot cake is fabulous, and so is their coffee! They have handmade jewelry for sale with gemstones and minerals from Arizona(? where the owners are from. :

Ridiculously expensive food and not that great. The halibut and chips was $24 and the fish was just okay (taste was fine, it was very thin and not much of it). Good beer selection. Some of the tables are 'family style ' and elbow-to-elbow seating area. Limited covered-porch seating is available and a few bar-level counter seats that look out onto parking lot. Sort of a typical dockside fish place with high prices.

WORST fish chips I 've ever had in my life!! $24.99 for 2 pieces of halibut and 6 pieces of small shrimp. I say halibut because it was not halibut. I 've cooked and eaten a lot of halibut in my life and this was definitely NOT halibut. It was small, thin, dry, stringy, and had some tiny rainbow oil colors in the white meat. I was disappointed with the shrimps too as they were small. After eating here I read some of the recent reviews and it seems that the restaurant changed owners and everything has changed for the worst. Totally riding the coat tails of the previous owners and reviews. I 100% recommend NOT to waste your money here. Even the French fries sucked. And for some dumb reason they HID the ketchup packets underneath the paper sheet with all the fries so we didn 't find the ketchup till we ate all the fries. Same for my wife 's food too. Terrible place.