Quick comment on some Seattle restaurants

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
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We got back late yesterday from a trip to Seattle. Here’s a quick snapshot of some of our dining experiences:

  1. Shilla Restaurant. It was close by, the weather was cool & rainy, and the Korean clay pot stews were soothing. Not fancy but hit the spot.

  2. Ray’s Cafe. Downstairs is the more formal Ray’s Boathouse; upstairs is the more casual Ray’s Cafe. Based on the action, clearly the upstairs Cafe was the place to be. The upstairs was packed with a long line of people waiting to get seated. A nice bar area with an interesting selection of wines (including wines by the glass). We started with calamari that were fried perfectly–a little crisp but still tender inside. Both fish entrees were prepared nicely. And, of course, the view of the water was very nice.

  3. Monsoon. A Vietnamese fusion place in Capitol Hill. On the plus side, the food is very interesting and everything was well-executed (even the banana cake dessert). On the down side, the room is very noisy (no dampening materials at all on the walls) so don’t try to have a conversation unless you raise your voice.

  4. The Fat Hen. We had brunch here, and although the wait was a little long, the food was quite good. One downside was that we reserved the rhubarb tarts for dessert only to be informed later that someone dropped the entire tray of them and so were were SOL. The macaroons at Honore across the street, though, made up for it–esp. the salt caramel macaroons.

  5. Spur Gastropub. A new foodie place in Belltown. I really liked the interior of the restaurant, and the food is very interesting and inventive, although occasionally just a little too heavy in the salt department. Lots of little plates, and a bit spendy for the portion sizes, but very, very good. A nice splurge.

Bruce

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Ray’s Boathouse is on the Passport/Prime program; you’d be surprised at how many people are going because of the 2:1

I enjoy Spur, just wish it wasn’t so dark. I’ve actualy been more impressed with their cocktail lists, which have been awesome. If you’re into the Gastropub-type restaurant, try Quinn’s Pub the next time you’re up this way. That’s usually my go-to place and you’re not as likely to get robbed getting from your car to the restaurant :smiley:

3

We dined early enough at Spur that the ambient light from outside was fine. Not early enough for the Early Bird special, though. One of our diners had a homemade, non-alcoholic soda with cucumber, basil and a few other goodies. Very tasty, but
it needed some gin. [snort.gif]

Now that I understand the Passport/Prime thing, it makes total sense on the Ray’s business.

Bruce

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Bruce, Ill be in Seattle in August and have one night for dinner out on my own. Im thinking RN74 since I know Raj Paar, co-owner. What would be your choice for the best food/ wine/ service/ ambience in town?

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Blake–That seems like an excellent choice. When we went there, we weren’t really looking at the most “high-end” restaurants in town. Our criteria was more in the funky/interesting/unique realm.

Bruce

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Blake - RN74 is up there for sure. Great Somms, very good food. As for ambience, the interior is very nice, but it’s downtown. In contrast, Rays Boathouse is more middle of the road food (very good, but fairly basic fish stuff), but it sits right on the Sound and the Cafe deck is a nice place to hang out on a sunny afternoon. There’s a bunch of good places (Zoe, Spinasse, Poppy, etc etc). RN74 is, though, somewhat better once you factor in the breadth of wines and the great wine service.

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Bruce/ Rick,
Thanks for the feedback. Since I have a connection with RN74 plus your input and I love Burgundy, that`s probably the correct call for a one night stand.

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I met up with an old VinoCellar friend last night at Poppy. Chef is Jerry Traunfeld, who was recently on Top Chef Masters. Dining experience centers on large platters served with 7-10 smaller bowls/ramkeins of food on them (thalis). The mains were fantastic (duck leg w/tea and lavender rub was nothing short of amazing, black cod was awesome) but am not thrilled with the idea of having a 7 course meal show up at all at the same time. “Jump-in-your-mouths” appetizers were ridiculously good - fried prosciutto, cheese and sage leaves.

Great service, great cocktails, fair-to-middlin’ wine list.

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In general, I agree. In addition to not liking the concept of getting 7 courses at once, I found that there was a wide variance between quality. When I went 3 of my dishes were excellent, another 1-2 was pretty good, and the rest were un-inspired throw-ins. If they had the same menu a-la-carte I would have been so much happier and probably go back more often. I think Thali should be an option, not a forced play.

10

Best wine list: Wild Ginger. It’s online too, take a browse.