Planning a trip to the Pac-NW, and wondering if anyone can recommend a few Seattle restaurants with great food and wine. To be clear, these don’t necessarily have to be high-end places, just great eats with great wine selections. Thanks in advance!
If price of the wine is no object Canls is well stocked. If price of the meal isn’t a huge concern The Herbfarm is well stocked. There is an RN47 downtown. Matt’s in the Market is solid. Le Pichet is awesome though the wine list is just inexpensive but solid French wines.
Canlis has a fabulous wine list, great food and a terrific location on the lake.
Beyond what’s mentioned…
The Met
Aragona- For Spanish
Wild Ginger
RN74
Café Juanita
Nell’s
Eva
Place Pigalle
Eva
+1
Good suggestions by everyone. Nell’s is my favorite under the radar choice as the food is excellent, but the list is the star. check it out. Impressive set of burgundies, and he has a habit of keeping things on the list priced according to what it cost him. 2000 dauvissat Preusses for 125. Chave 1998 and 1999 for $300 or under.
If you want the best list in Seattle, then Canlis is far and away the best. Nells has a few nice, well selected gems, but nowhere near the depth and breadth of Canlis. RN74 and Wild Ginger are good, but nowhere close to Canlis. Generally, wine lists in Seattle suck, but good corkage policies for locals makes me not care.
Other than a 1996 Coche Corton I bought at Canlis last year (for a special occasion), I can’t remember the last time I bought a bottle from a restaurant list.
Hate to disagree, but best wine list in Seattle is Wild Ginger, and prices are fair. Chuck, I think Gingers Cellar List is better than Canlis.
And the impressive Ginger list has the honor of being utterly inappropriate for the food they serve. It is nearly criminal.
The Canlis list is solid but often overpriced. However they are corkage friendly and incredibly wine savvy. Nelson is fantastic.
+1000
Wild Ginger caters to (mainly) tourists who want Washington wines and wineries, which generally don’t match the food at all. WA cabs and syrahs with asian influenced food? Not a good fit, but they sell a lot of them. Sure, they offer a number of rieslings, etc. (if people know to order them), but that is not equivalent to the list that Canlis offers.
The OP asked for the BEST restaurants for wine. Canlis. QED. He didn’t ask for the broadest list of WA wines, or the best priced list, just the best. If he wants to modify his inquiry, then my answer may change. Until then, Canlis.
Canlis is certainly the best.
All the rest will always play second fiddle.
Saying that, most of us are laymen, so for US, Ginger will have to do. Given the price range, scope and access, Ginger has the best list.
Also remember that Ginger was the ‘original’ food and wine destination in Seattle, the owners from the inception, cared about the synergy of the two. Canlis decided as a family to invest a fortune on building their restaurants position in the food scene, especially within the past 6 years.
I’m not even sure what that means, but from the inception, Canlis has been the ‘original’ food and wine destination in Seattle, besting Wild Ginger by some 40 years or so. Perhaps you misspoke, and meant to say Canlis was the original.
And yes, Canlis has spent a fortune building and aging their list, something no other restaurant in the area can afford.
I might disagree.
Yes, Canlis bests Ginger bye 30 some years and yes they, back in the 60’s were the destination spot but they seemingly for a period of time let their wine list, decor, food nit progress for a long period of time.
From my understanding and observance there was a 20 year stagnate period where all were in decline.
Maybe their wine list has been intact (and I would argue this), but the rest has been a work in progress for the past 15 years, including their new Chef in the past 6 years.
Canlis is an ‘old guard’ that hit a rocky patch and spent a chunk of time regaining it’s form as where Ginger hit the ground running and hasn’t as of yet hit a real rocky patch.
I would argue that Ginger hasn’t been the same since they left their original location…
BTW, I really do enjoy Wild Ginger.
Cafe veloce on the east side, In a strip mall area. Casual Italian. Food is neighbourhood decent not in the same ball park as those suggested. They do have a decent wine list with great value. Like 10-20 dollars over retail ok WA stuff.
Of course canlis is great. I find wild ginger fake Asian… But then again I am Asian so my standards probably differs as most of my family can cook better than what’s served at wild ginger
Ginger to me has always been an enigma, Having really cool and interesting wines that sometimes hit stride with the food, but often times their list is made up of what is around with a lot thought put into pairing. Whether you or I would make those Pairings, Ginger is so comfortable with itself that they pair anything.
With places like Ginger, that get their pick of wines available in the market, the greater question is do the wines match the menu?
I would argue yes and that if they were a steak house, they could get away with anything.