Restaurant Marché

Let me preface this review with that I am not a food snob by any means, but last nights meal at Restaurant Marché was lackluster at best. For an establishment charging the prices they’re charging, I expected much better.

Let’s start off with the arrival. We got seated very quickly given we had a reservation. As a party of 2, the proximity to other tables was very close together. The bench seating was set lower than the opposite chair seating which felt a little awkward if you were on the shorter side like me. The table next to us got up and left before even ordering. Despite leaving two partially full glasses of water and a $3 tip, the waiter never changed over the napkins or silverware before seating the next party just minutes later. That was somewhat alarming.

Now onto the food. The start of the meal was great. The oysters were fresh and delicious. The bread was warm and soft, however some room temperature butter would have paired better (it was cold and very hard to spread). A minor detail but one that stood out given this being a white tablecloth establishment. The French onion soup was okay, with a lack of depth in flavor masked by a ball of melted bread and cheese.

The entrees were the most disappointing part of the meal. My husbands burger was poorly proportioned causing it to fall apart after a couple bites. The small detail of serving cherry tomatoes on the side as a burger topping showed a lack of effort on the restaurants part. My steak Cobb salad was, to be frank, completely boring and definitely not worth nearly $30. The salad came with steak, bleu cheese, cherry tomatoes, and bacon. My five pre sliced pieces of steak were cold and did not make up for lack of other typical Cobb salad ingredients like egg or avocado or other vegetables.

All in all, this dining experience was at best mediocre and would not pass any French dining experience we’ve had. This was an evening to celebrate my birthday. With the lackluster meal and no celebratory effort shown, made the experience even more disappointing. The automatic 20% service charge added to the bill at the end left a bad taste in my mouth. This establishment made it clear that only a portion of that 20% goes to the server as a gratuity leaving the patron confused on if they should tip more. Poor business choice by the restaurant in my opinion.

Overall for a meal that cost over $100+ before any tip and no drinks, we felt like it was not worth it at all. You are better trying one of the many other restaurants on this wonderful island.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

Well, bless my heart, let me tell you about our recent dining adventure in Bainbridge Island. We kicked things off with some tasty appetizers and oysters that had us feelin’ good. But after that, it was like watchin’ a three-legged dog try to race—just chaos!

Our waitress kept reachin’ across the table like she was playin’ Twister, and they shoved our iced wine bucket right in the middle of everything, leavin’ us with less space than a chicken in a henhouse. To top it off, they served my underage son a glass of wine after we specifically said it was just for my man and me. I felt like I was on “What Not to Serve Your Kids” and CPS was hiding with some candid camera, or sumptin' like that!

Now that French onion soup? It had more cheese than broth and came in a bowl so small it looked like a cheese hat! The meatloaf arrived with ketchup—bless their hearts, that’s one way to dress it up! The mussels tasted like they’d been microwaved and left under the pickup cover for too long, and the squash? Room temperature and sad.

And don’t get me started on the $28 pasta—it was glorified noodles at best! The place was practically empty, yet our waitress acted like we were invisible when it came time to settle up. Can you believe they graced us by not addin' the 20% automatic gratuity that's at the bottom of their ticket? It didn't even fully go to the waitress! We tipped her despite her lack of get-up. Thank goodness the wine was great to the last drop, though we didn’t even get to taste it first. Hell, I certainly learned how to pour a good wine since the waitress never did it fer us.

Now, just to clear things up, we don’t actually talk like this every day, but with how this evening went, we might as well be channeling our inner cowgirl! If only this wild ride had a fun twist, it could’ve made for a hilarious experience. Here’s hopin’ our next dining adventure—whether in Seattle or back home in Texas—will leave us laughin’ instead of lamentin’!

Keep polishing them boots Marché!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Provençale Seafood Stew, French Onion Soup, Atlantic Salmon, French Fries

Walking into the restaurant, it felt nice and cozy. Since it was a little late at night, there weren’t many people around, and the service was friendly. I ordered the clam chowder, while my family had the French onion soup, and both were good. However, when it came to our main entrees, we were disappointed.

We ordered the meatloaf, Mediterranean mussels with fries, and pasta. Typically, I finish all of my food without hesitation, and it doesn't take much to satisfy my taste, but this time, the dishes lacked flavor. The meatloaf and mussels were only lukewarm, and the pasta, though decent, was also just warm. For the price we paid, we expected more in terms of both flavor and temperature.

Aside from the food, the waitress was sweet with a bit of a transition when it came to getting the check, and the manager was somewhat kind as well. Unfortunately, the overall dining experience felt lackluster.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup

Great atmosphere and service and a well curated menu with tasty, French-inspired cuisine. A nice alternative to other more noisy choices.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

The Fried Chicken is the best chicken I’ve ever had the pleasure of trying. Some of my other favorite dishes I highly recommend like the Wild Prawns, Deviled Eggs, Cremini Mushroom Pasta dish and their Royal Burger with Frites. I can’t say enough good things about the food, service and the dedicated owners who are there supporting staff during each service.

What happened to this place? It's somehow gotten worse post pandemic. Dusty dining room, bland food, dirty glasses. Kitchen takes forever. Spending close 200 dollars for this place is a joke.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 4

This past weekend we had a wonderful meal and great service at Marche. We noticed not all the tables were filled and they let us know they were short staffed so they don’t fill all the tables to make sure they can give attention to those they do seat. We had made our reservation in advance for a special occasion and were appreciative that although it must have been difficult to turn people away who came without reservations, that they held themselves to high standards for service. The warm bread and salted butter alone is a reason to come back. The Cesar salad was perfect and I loved the anchovies. My husband had the steak which was perfect and I had the mussels which were divine. We loved the house made ketchup and aioli for the fries. We didn’t get dessert but know we will next time. Thanks for such a great evening!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Gorgeous food... stunning service.

Owned by a husband and wife team who work their butts off.

We had a party of six on the night and everything presented to the table was flawless.

Keep up the good work.

Loved this place

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Very disappointing experience, the menu has great descriptions “wood fired, wild golf prawns, with fennel and lemon” actually mushy shrimp on greens with a lemon vinaigrette.

A waitress that doesn’t know that flour has gluten. Water refill what are those. Checking on the party to see how the meal was? No drop the food and go then have the table wait and wait some more after the meal is finished hoping you will see your waiter so you can get the check and go.

The kitchen is open so you can see that it is to boys possibly still in high school or just out. This a great sight when you are paying and extra “20% fee on top of your meal with 66% going to the people that prepared your meal” you might expect someone a little fancier in the kitchen.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 2

We had a beautiful time here!! Even if everything was bad, which nothing was, Jessie our bartender, who served us great drinks, drove down the road to find me and my wife and give us a bottle of wine we left at his bar. His comment was, and I quote, “I knew were you were going so I drove to find you”. Never I would have thought anyone would drive out of his or her establishment to deliver a bottle of wine to strangers that left it at the bar. If it was me, I would had taken it home and drink it with my wife. I hope I can come back and see him again. Thanks Jessie!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Expected a lot more for the food given the price point and was severely disappointed. Service was not the best either, it seemed there was a preference towards a certain group of locals.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Phenomenal. The chef is a master. The steak is always cooked to perfection. Everything here is outstanding. Best restaurant on the island by far.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Steak and Fries

My girlfriend and I gave Marché a visit for our anniversary over a week ago. I’ve taken a few days to sit on this review, just to give it room to air, and maybe come back with a fairer perspective. But the more I’ve waited the more it’s aged like milk, instead of wine. I’ll begin by saying that I feel like my expectations were justified, given Atkinson's reputation (locally and online). He and his wife were present and were charming, from what little we saw of them. The staff appeared to be enjoying themselves in the kitchen—which you can see from the entryway—and the atmosphere was fine, if not a little on the generic side of “homey.” The food, however (how do I say this without being dramatic…) was shockingly dissappointing.I've only sent two plates back to the kitchen in all my life, and this is one of them. Believe me, I'm not a snoody foodie—my small town roots compel me to eat what I’m given and be grateful for it. For $30+ a plate, however, I expect better than unseasoned, undercooked squash, plain-as-cardboard muscles garnished with steamed-to-death fennel bulb (and *nothing* else), and a pasta with a cheese sauce so broken you’d have to sip your way through several spoon-fulls of oil to get to it. Believe me, a no-frills, small town diner chef could’ve done better.They politely offered to fix us another plate, which, admittedly, we should’ve taken, but at that point the wind was so far out of our sails that we decided to cut anchor and row for the nearest Anthony’s Homeport. We left hungry, $25 poorer (for two drinks and an “appetizer”), and looking for redemption. The menu offered an intriguing amount of daily specials which may, given some time and healing (ok, now I’m being dramatic) entice us to come back, but not before we’ve tried the rest of Bainbridge.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

The service here is laughable.We came here for dinner and to celebrate a birthday, but didn’t order dessert. The waitress brought out an empty plate with a single candle.Any other decent restaurant would have at least brought out a small cake or dessert.Other than that, the waitress (middle/late aged lady that has worked there for a long time) was also very unprofessional. They didn’t carry the beer we ordered, so she said you can have this other one instead, but she said she pulled it from the back of the fridge, bc no one orders beer there. Clearly making fun of us for not ordering a bottle of wine.We spent $60+ each for dinner, but the experience was worse than cheese cake factory.I can’t imagine why people like this place, I anticipated much better than what we had.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 1

Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup, Steak and Fries

First-class food and wine! Friendly owners and staff offer great advice on wine choices.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: French Onion Soup, Steak and Fries, Wild King Salmon Grilled