Ken L.
Yelp
even in my darkest place, there is something about a pleasant dining experience that distracts me from all the turmoil going on. Tokeland Inn was one of those places, especially the 1st time I went there for breakfast 3 months ago, perfect ambiance with the quaint rustic historical inn with it's eclectic art out front to greet you to the warmth of the interior, especially the dining area, fascinating antiques & artifacts as you wander thru a den to go to the "lew", & especially that 1st time there was this amazing music being subtly piped in that I now have added to my personal music library.
My most favorite meal for dining out is breakfast, a treat for myself not as some glorious culinary meal to rave about, but a time just to step back from the rat race & relax to one of the most simple pleasures in life some of us just don't have time for anymore. For me the perfect breakfast is a ham & cheese omelet, fresh hash browns with ketchup, sour dough toast with orange marmalade jam, a clean chlorine-free glass of cold water, & sometimes a good cup of coffee.
Tokeland Inn restaurant's menu has interesting options but for breakfast not interested in french toast, biscuits & gravy, pork chops, or rockfish, don't mind trying the Eggs Benedict which I did later & it was the best I've ever had, but they did have a 2 egg breakfast served any way you wanted.
To my surprise several times before when I asked if they could do a ham & cheese omelet, the waitress checked with cook, possibly the manager too, and came back & said no problem. The 1st time I was there & asked, the young waitress said she was not sure if they would do that but without hesitation or my asking she said she would check, & the cook said no problem & it was perfect. 2nd time, the waitress was a little fussy about it but agreed to check, & again it was no problem.
So here it is 3 months later from my 1st & most memorable dining experience, and 4th time starting with a relaxing but sometimes chilly or wet 90 mile ride on my Harley thru Chehalis to Pe El to Raymond to Tokeland, looking forward to my breakfast at Tokeland.
This one shattered any expectation of another calm relaxing meal at one of my most favorite places. When I was seated & asked if it was possible for the cook to make the 2 egg breakfast served any way as a ham & cheese omelette, the waitress interupted very loud & rude with a "we don't do omelets, they took that off the menu a long time ago", and when I tried to explain that yes, I know, but I've asked before, & they did it for me, but she interrupted me with the same response again, and when I was finally able to ask if she would check with the cook after being interrupted several more times with the same response, she finally agreed she would check & scurried off in a huff, then came back to smugly tell me no they couldn't with the same explanation & a "I told you so" attitude.
Anyway, I should have walked out right then, I understand in most circumstances the menu is the menu except for those extraordinary restaurants & staff willing to go the extra mile, at the time there were maybe 3 other tables already served so not as busy as other times there, but the way the waitress rudely interrupted me & went on, I rode 90 miles without breakfast & needed to eat so I ordered the 2 eggs over easy with the sausage.
Eggs cooked ok, generous portion of 2 sausage patties had great taste but too peppery hot for me, vinaigrette rosemary tainted country potatoes bleh & much prefer hash-browns but not dare ask to another "it's not on the menu, blah blah blah" rant, & southern down home biscuit with homemade strawberry jam was amazing & probably great in a biscuit & gravy meal I don't mind but not first on my breakfast options, and this is 1st time I finally got a biscuit with my breakfast, always left out before but I didn't complain because they made exception twice to make me a ham & cheese omelet.
To add to that, they automatically add a 15% gratuity which I have no problem because they deserve it for good service, last 3 times I generously tipped on top of that for the extra service they did, like as in an extra $20 in most cases because I really had an amazing dining experience before.
I guess summer is over & they lost the more younger & friendly staff, although I did run into other staff working there, some I talked with before, that was very friendly & welcoming.
Paid the bill with no complaints, waitress did check on me from time to time although I zoned everyone out listening to my own music from my iPhone with noise cancelling earbuds. I left very upset & disappointed but headed down the road to Westport & the beaches & did not let her spoil the rest of my day.
Meal ok & coffee good, but they will not have to worry about me asking for a ham & cheese omelet anymore, time to move on & find a new place worth the long travel to a coastal destination that actually serves what I really like with a friendly & welcoming atmosphere.