pdx

My husband and I spent the weekend in Bend for a little getaway. Perfect and lovely weather, it was a great mini-vacation.
We stayed at the Riverhouse, not to be confused with the Riverside which I thought we had booked at. http://www.riverhouse.com
Kind of worn but definitely serviceable. We paid $119 for a queen room directly across from the pool. Aack! Take heed, don't get a room across from the pool. Yes, I knew not to do that but I didn't think to ask at the time and we were too lazy to move once we got there. We just closed the sliding glass doors and turned on the air conditioner. Carpets are worn, and the sheets are nearing the end of their lifespan but everything else is okay. The place needs a major overhaul. The two pools were great! One is indoor and has a nice lap lane. Both were well heated which I appreciate. I would consider staying here again because of the pools. We ate in the lounge area of the attached restaurant, Crossings. The food is not awful, but that's the best I can say about it. Not inspired in the least. There is a lovely patio on the river side of the restaurant. Breakfast comes with the room but we didn't take advantage of it.
The restaurants we ate at are the McKay Cottage http://themckaycottage.com and Zydeco www.zydecokitchen.com/, both excellent.
McKay Cottage was for breakfast and I had a lovely (really lovely) salmon hash with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce that came with the most beautiful fruit cup I've ever seen. The fruit is fresh and assembled to order, not stewing in it's juices and wilted as some cups can be. They had gluten-free bread for those of us in that club, and really, one of the best espressos I've had in ages. I wasn't crazy about their bloody mary, not quite spicy enough but I threw a few splashes of hot sauce in there and called it good. Hubby had some kind of omelet and he said it was good but I was too busy with my little feast to pay attention to his. His came with a slice of coffee cake. We both took our leftovers back to the hotel for the next day's breakfast.

Zydeco was indecently delicious. I had a cilantro-jalapeno margarita and then another. I was going to have a glass of wine with dinner but I just wanted to keep drinking that margarita. I wanted one to go and another for breakfast the next day but that didn't happen. We had bbq shrimp for an appetizer that were in a pool of some amazing sauce that I could not figure out what the ingredients were. I know there was some vinegar in there and that's all I could identify. Stumped the tastebuds. It was some sort of reduction and a brickish red and we mopped that stuff up! My husband had a lovely ribeye, all crusty and salty on the outside and rare on the inside. Perfection. I had the redfish which the waiter called their signature dish. I think it's broiled so it too was crusty on the outside. It was like snapper in texture. It's sitting on top a bed of mashed potatoes and a layer of garlicky spinach with another miracle sauce topping it off. This is a restaurant not to miss if you're going to be in Bend.

cmcfong

Thank you!

tomfuller

Across the street from the Riverhouse is McGrath's with some of the best seafood around.
I'll have to give Zydeco a try sometime this summer.

Fodorite018

We have stayed at the Riverhouse a few years ago and had the same experience. It wasn't horrible, but not pleasant. The halls reeked of old smoke, which is a deal breaker for me, but DH was there for a conference so we were stuck.

tomfuller--For seafood, try Anthony's in the Old Mill District.

tomfuller

Thanks for the tip. My usual in the Old Mill is the Red Robin.
Bend has over 300 restaurants. I've tried about 10%.

eroz

Yes, McKay Cottage breakfast is great! WE thought Zydeco was too pricey for what you got but it is popular (we are also super picky about Cajun type food). Also enjoy 900 Wall restaurant right downtown.