Seattle: Dinnertime!

What's the deal with the Thai? Not that I'm complaining...

2006-02-24T00:28:00.000-08:00

While I've never been to Thailand, I've certainly had my share of Thai. I've lived in the Fremont neighborhood for nearly 2 years, allowing for frequent visits after having been already well-acquainted with the numerous Thai restaurants at my disposal. Four years ago, there were six Thai restaurants in a small stretch, but now we're down to five. I've rotated through each of those five in phases.

At first, Jai Thai drew me in with a neighborhood-related discount at lunchtime. The food was adequate. They've recently discontinued that discount, but I abandoned frequent visits long ago due to having the poorest service in town. I was tired of hunting down the wait staff in the kitchen to get my bill paid during lunchtime, dinnertime, or during late-night happy hour. For the second time last Fall, between the terrible service and finding a fly in my soup (no kidding), I stated I hoped never to darken their doorstep again...even though that Country-Style Pad Thai isn't half-bad. Neither is the late-night Fisherman's soup, nor the N4 (Guay Tiew Num) Lunch Special with that abundance of Thai basil and cilantro. I miss those dishes, but there are better alternatives.

Before I gave up on Jai Thai, Kwanjai Thai became a weekly pre-soccer habit. The pad thai in the lunch specials provided that extra boost to make it through an entire 90-minute game without needing a break -- necessary for a co-ed team that was chronically short on women. I prefer their panang curry to all others in the neighborhood, although the Garlic Shrimp (on the specials' board for three years) is a winner. The service was a welcome change from Jai Thai. I loved that the sweet ladies in the kitchen remembered me and I could always expect an enthusiastic greeting when I picked up my take-away.

Kwanjai's an extra five minute walk away and is still good when I have time. A combination of a lack of time at lunchbreaks and preference of dining companions resettled my sights on Tawon Thai. The service at Tawon is routinely excellent and the food has improved drastically since it first opened several years ago (I stayed away for months after a gross and greasy first visit). I've tried a number of their dishes; I can't think of a dish that disappointed me. They're also quite accommodating for larger groups -- they handled sprizee's birthday dinner two years ago. In fact, that was my second chance dinner and it turned my opinion around.

The other two restaurants, Kaosamai and Chillies Paste, are a little bit further out from the core -- demonstrating location, location, location importance. Why go further, even only 2 blocks, when my needs were already surpassed? Kwanjai's the farthest I went for a while, since that or Tawon called me back every time. I gave Kaosamai a shot a year ago, while on an uncomfortable second date. I didn't have any objections and I hear they deliver as far as Phinney. But, I've only tried them once. I do remember the kind waitress, but not much else.

The other untried was Chillies Paste, a place I'd put on my "need to try" shortlist list a year ago. The main motivator behind this Fremont Thai overview: I discovered the CP Orange Beef on Superbowl Sunday, right before kickoff. We were joining friends at the George and Dragon for the big game. The place was packed and the logistics needed to order and eat food would have been difficult at best. So, my Official Dining Companion and I headed across the street to the final untested Thai restaurant during the last few minutes of the pre-game commentary.

This turned into one of the most pleasant dining experiences of recent memory. I ordered the my comfort food pad thai. He ordered the special, the Orange Beef -- something I'd usually never pick first since I am not in the red meat habit. The pad thai was noticeably unremarkable, but the flavors in the Orange Beef more than made up for this. The cilantro and citrus were so vibrant and fresh, the beef perfectly cooked, and the sweet-and-sour-sauce tones of the dish have almost made up for my ongoing longing for a well-known Chinese dish with a similar profile (in an area of town where I can't find decent Chinese food). We've since returned to this little house on 36th and the Orange Beef, still listed on the chalkboard, was just as fabulous the second time around.

35th Street Bistro

2005-11-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

For the last couple of years, I've walked past 35th Street Bistro, and always said, "One of these days..." Well, last night, en route to yet another Thai meal, my Gentleman Caller and I decided it was High Time. We'd already upgraded to Tawon Thai over Mad Pizza (his favorite), as it would be a warmer meal, so what was another $30? In this case, it turned out to be more like $60, when all was said and done.

The 35th Street Bistro is hands-down, the most expensive establishment in Fremont. It is also one of the nicest. The cost is somewhat justified.

We started with the Bistro Salad, described as: "frisee, radicchio and iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, pancetta and creamy blue cheese dressing -- with fried onion strings and hard-boiled egg." The pancetta was really bacon, and the iceburg wedge was the most notable part of this salad, architecturally-speaking. Accompanying this, we started our dinner with the house bread with their onion relish (bueno!!) and tapenade, along with a glass of Chianti (Classico, Coltibuono Roberto Stucchi Toscana 00) for him, and Pinot Gris (King Estate Domaine, Willamette Valley 03) for me. Since I didn't take great notes about the wines, we'll pass on the descriptions for now.

For our main course, he had the Osso Bucco and I had the Seared Ahi Tuna. The Osso Bucco came with a tasty, buttery polenta and the dish was hearty and perfect for the cold evening. I had the fennel-encrusted seared ahi tuna and I loved it. My dish was served with greens and chanterelle mushrooms, in a tomato-based sauce. The spiciness was just about perfect--not overpowering, and just hot enough.

Bonus points awarded for the later-night service. They were open until 11 PM on a Sunday night, most likely in competition with new late-night service at Jai Thai and Chiso within a block's radius.

Before the tip, our bill came to $73 for the two entrees, the salad, and wine (the wine portion was under $25). I can't say I'd pick this place for a special occasion, and it's too expensive for a weekly outing. The service was great, so it pains me that I can't recommend it without reservations. I'd have to give this restaurant 3 out of 5 umbrellas, and one umbrella is for the service alone.

Bizzarro Italian Cafe

2005-11-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've focused on trying all of the restaurants in my neck of the woods in Seattle. Bizzarro Italian Cafe had been lauded over the past year by a few of my Rollergirl pals, and during one of the first cold Winter nights this year, I remembered it as I craved some heavy pasta.

I think I've found my favorite Italian restaurant. There may be others that are superior or even more authentic, but the eclecticism, taste, service, and experience sent it to the top of the heap. Our bill came to $68 with a 20% tip, and at least 3 glasses of wine to accompany our two entrees and one appetizer.

Our menu:
The House Red (Meritage)
Bruschetta: Fig, Gorgonzola, and Red-Wine Reduction
Puttanesca
Stroganoff

The bruschetta was the best appetizer I've ever had. Both of our entrees were preceded by a perfect House Salad. The Puttanesca was tasty enough that I wanted the leftovers for breakfast on Monday morning. And the Stroganoff has to be the perfect winter dish with the spicy italian sausage, and the delectable brown gravy. Our waiter, who I loved from the moment I saw the "Dumb Waiter" nametag, provided us with the best tasting house red I've had: a Monte Volpe 2001 Meritage. The bruschetta was not on the menu and the Stroganoff was a special for the night. All of these factors lead me to honor the BIC with 4.5 outta 5 little umbrellas.

Free Advice

2005-09-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a tip:

Do you want to know where the best tiramisu in the city is?

Via Tribunali, on Capitol Hill

Try it, after the caprese salad, focaccia, and salame pizza.

Persimmon

2005-08-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

On Fremont Ave, there's a cute, smart, and relatively new little restaurant that I'd highly recommend for Sunday morning brunch. In fact, for a while, I think they only did breakfast and lunch, but when I visited, they were promoting dinner from Wednesday to Sunday nights.

Recently, my regular partner in crime and I met up with four other friends on the spur of the moment on a Sunday morning. At first, I dreaded the wait, but they seated us quickly for a party of six without reservations. The atmosphere was charming to the point that I also underestimated how my brunch would turn out. I can be a bit skeptical since my first several years in Seattle seemed to reiterate that restaurants were more about style over substance. I'm happy I was wrong!

The menu featured a number of french-inspired items. I ordered the gruyere and jambon omelette. Out of the six entrees on the table, it was the best. The Ulli Sausage with Apples was good, but not spicy enough for my taste. I tried the blueberry crepes and those were winners--but would probably not top the crepes down the street at Bouchee, if that's what you're craving. And finally, when ordering your sides, don't be swayed by the Essential Bakery brand name for the bread, the biscuit option was clearly the best...but seriously, get that gruyere-and-jambon omelette. It's perfect and the best I've had while dining at brunch.

4.5 umbrellas out of 5.

The Road to Mandalay

2005-07-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, we sat on the porch at The Mandalay Cafe on 45th in Wallingford. It was a place I'd driven by numerous times over the last 3 years. I'd never made it in--I'd tried two years ago, when my book group was on the hunt for either Indonesian or Dutch food (the book was based in the Netherlands and we aimed for the cuisine of our meetings to match the author or the setting). At the time, we were pretty much stretching for anything that wasn't Thai or Chinese. This place would have fit the bill, but they were temporarily closed back then.

The food could have been categorized as almost-Thai, but Asian fusion is truly the best label for the food here. Several Southeast Asian countries were represented on the menu.

We ordered: Singapore Samosas, Thai Iced Tea, daal soup, Sumatran Roasted Nut Curry, Malaysian Green Banana Curry, and the Thai Basil Cheesecake. Overall, I liked this place, while my gentleman caller didn't so much. I found the use of new flavors and combinations interesting, but he made a great point: the flavors came on strong at first bite, but underneath, everything was bland. There was plenty of heat, but not enough depth on this go-round. (The cook even commented to us that regular patrons don't usually go for the higher levels of spiciness we chose.) The best items ordered were the unique cheesecake and the great samosas.

Three umbrellas outta five.

Pair!

2005-07-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

When I first gathered a list of places to visit in search of great mac 'n cheese, I remembered hearing about Pair, in Ravenna. While everything I'd read sounded great, I delayed heading there for nearly a year. I've been in the neighborhood regularly for the last several months, and last night, I decided it was high time to visit.

We arrived at Pair around 9 PM on a Thursday night. We were seated immediately. Pair has a menu full of various "small-plate" comfort foods, which is noted in almost all reviews of this establisment. Which leads me to note: am I the only person who finds the term "small-plates" disconcerting? I'm not even sure why--maybe it's just too trendy of a term, even though I tend to like places that have "small-plates". Anyhow. The waiter recommended that we order two-and-a-half to three plates per person. Two probably would have been enough, especially if I'd known we were going for dessert after, but we ordered five between the two of us.

We ordered a number of items that I bet I'll be going back to order in the future. We started with Napa Valley Chardonnay (I remember little else but that it was a 2002). Next up, we had the Cambozola Fondue with d'Anjou pears, apples and crostini. The cheese was thinner than I'd anticipated, but with the crostini and apples, it was a very tasty winner. Right before the heartier portions, we had a green salad with butterleaf lettuce, vinaigrette and goat cheese toasts. The salad was standard and goat cheese is always appreciated.

To share, we'd ordered the Halibut in Parchment with asparagus, onions and tomatoes, the Pork Tenderloin with tomatillo relish, and the Macaroni and Cheese. I know that I've enjoyed pork tenderloin often lately, but Pair's was great--my dining compadre agreed. The relish and the seasonings were so, so tasty. While the halibut was mostly unremarkable, the macaroni and cheese is the first I've had in Seattle that's truly given Cafe Venus a run for its money. In fact, I may have to check into options for ordering it to take home some night when I'm needing a little mac 'n cheese boost...

The surprise winner of the night was one that I would not have ordered on my own: Banana Bread Pudding with caramel and vanilla ice cream. Amazing. I'd go there for this dessert alone.

Recommmended: 3.75 out of 5 little umbrellas.

Is there any good chinese food in Seattle?

2005-06-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, after a particularly long work-day, we ordered dinner from Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon, located in Maple Leaf. This has to have been one of the most dissatisfying Chinese meals I've ever had in Seattle. I'll note that there have been many. This one falls even shorter than the average-tasting meals I've had at better Chinese--T&T in Shoreline and Shanghai Garden in Bellevue. I still miss Top Gun Dim Sum in the International District, but even then, I wasn't blown away. Snappy Dragon is probably a place where I won't reorder.

Now, our flaw may have been getting the food as delivered takeout, but given the quality, I have a feeling it would have been bad in any location. We ordered the standard Americanized Chinese entrées: General Tso's Chicken, Sesame Chicken, egg rolls, and fortune cookies. My basic Chinese comfort food.

The sweet and sour sauce was flavorless, the egg rolls were unusual (not in a good way), and the chicken in our General Tso's and in our Sesame Chicken was overcooked and dry. Several pieces of chicken were as difficult to chew as beef jerky would be, if they were smothered in the "spicy sauce."

Normally, I don't pass on negative information about a place before trying it several more times. Since this restaurant has had so many recommend it online, I feel obligated to pass along the bad experience to prevent others from having my high expections.

I give it 1 out of 5 little umbrellas.

I <3 Feta

2005-05-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Sweetbabyjames, I have a new favorite restaurant. Last night, before we went on to see Revenge of the Sith at the Cinerama, tibadoh and I went with four other folks to Lola's in Belltown. The food...was outstanding. Marvelous. Everything was good.

We were all in agreement to get the Big Dinner--necessary, since to order it for even one person, everyone at the table has to buy in. If someone had decided against it, I had two possible backup options with the Lamb Burger or the Lola Sampler.

Since we had six in our party, for variety, we were able to include additional items from the menu (available online, which is how I'm jogging my memory here). The Big Dinner for 6 included, in this order:

Lola Spreads--pita with spreads of "barrel-aged minty feta", roasted red pepper, tzatziki, cauliflower-anchovy spread, tarama-tender herb spread, and garlic scented skordalia (this bready, herby concoction),

Salmon kebab with sweet fennel,

Portobello kebab (instead of the squid kebab),

Greek salad with HUGE pieces of feta, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives,

Cumin-spiced leg of lamb,

Seafood tagine,

Horta,

and Smashed garlic fried potatoes.

Our Big Dinner Finale included goat cheese turnovers in honey and mint...and a birthday dessert for tibadoh simply called "Dessert Donuts". These were the best damn donut-like dessert I've ever had, with greek yogurt ice cream. OH, man. All so good. Accompanied by the great Lola red table wine.

We were really full. 5 out of 5 of those little umbrellas.

Sip and Spin at the Space Needle

2005-03-25T01:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight, we hit the Space Needle for the Sip and Spin. There were ten of us, total.

This was a dinner at SkyCity, in the Space Needle--a "Martini Pairing Dinner". They didn't get off to a great start--they were nearly an hour late seating our party. But, to be fair, it was a busy night and we were a party of 10. Once we were seated, this meal was well worth the wait. I get martinis fairly often, but these were great. I give the entire meal 4.5 umbrellas out of 5 on the sprizeeScale.

I ate and drank the following (I'd add what others ate, but I can't remember exact dish names):
-Pancetta-wrapped Prawns. These were terribly delicious. Mmm, bacon.
-Seattle Sunset (Cranberry Vodka (Finlandia apparently sponsored), Chambord, Pineapple Juice) . This drink came with my appetizer.
-Seared Ahi with Ginger Quinoa and Bok Choy. I had no idea I loved seared ahi so much.
-Mocha Dreamtini (that name? whatever. Finlandia Vodka, Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua) . This drink came with my main dish.
-The Dude's Seattle Sunset or Cosmo or Pink Elephant (vodka, strawberry lem, chambord). Whatever it was, I'm not sure--I'm betting the elephant. He just couldn't finish it in time to head to the Desserts on the Observation Deck. His drink was like kool-aid, I tell you. And you know what my true favorite drink has been for the last 25 years? Tropical Punch. And sugar-free is nearly as good as the full sugar version.

My own version of sprizee, doin' Getty It On. I've been waiting for this moment since Christmas.

After dinner, we went to the Observation Deck, where dessert was served. I had:
-Tiramisu, while in line for
-Caramel Appletini (Cranberry Vodka, sour apple liqueur, butterscotch schnapps). This drink was the best of them all, a list which included: the Classic, the Pink Elephant, the Appletini, the Cosmos, the Chocolatini.

After all was said and done, there was a visit to El Camino with Margaritas for the others and a Dreamsicle (OJ, Vanilla Vodka) for me.

Please cue up some Marvin Gaye now. The PDA Award of the Year goes to this drunk couple, while the bartender is not far behind:

Let's. Get. It. On.

Livin' the High Life

2005-03-15T01:51:00.000-08:00

Oh, come on, I had to go with that title.

You'll read about the origins of the Hi-Life everywhere, so I might as well repeat it to help make the connection. There's a new restaurant in the old firehouse in Ballard, called the Hi-Life. It's part of the Chow Foods chain of "neighborhood restaurants"--which I do think is a cool idea--distinct restaurants for different neighborhoods. The P-I recently covered the owners and this concept around the time Hi-Life launched. These are the guys behind Coastal Kitchen on Cap Hill, the Jitterbug in Wallingford, Atlas in the UVillage, and the 5-Spot on Queen Anne. All good places to go and almost all are guaranteed to be packed on Sunday mornings. Out of all of them (tested on various Sunday outings), the Hi-Life has quickly become one of my favorite places to eat.

I made my first visit last month. Several days before my roommate left for his wanderings around the western hemisphere, we had a houseguest that we'd planned to take to Crave on Capitol Hill with some other friends, where I was to continue the mac 'n cheese quest. For a variety of reasons, these plans changed and I took it as my opportunity to head to Hi-Life for the first time after reading so many reviews. Besides--the original drive to go to Crave was for the mac 'n Cheese, and I was coming down with a cold--so my judging of their rendition wasn't going to be as trustworthy as I wanted.

So, we went one neighborhood over to Ballard for Friday lunch with my roommate and our friend from Atlanta. Ironically enough, the special that day was mac 'n cheese, but I passed and ordered one of the sandwiches with prosciutto, manchego cheese, and carmelized onions (let it be known that I am a total sucker for carmelized onions). My two dining companions went with the Special, and the twist in this case was the addition of a tomato sauce (encmonkey later said it was like a pizza macaroni and cheese). My sandwich was huge, on large slices of the standard Essential Bakery bread. I think I ate the leftovers for the next two lunches, but the enjoyment was overshadowed by a recent visit to the Rocksport and that delish grilled cheese.

A couple of days later, I found myself in the market for Sunday morning brunch. The Hi-Life was suggested and I agreed to this, without letting on that it had only been about 48 hours since my last visit because I wanted to check out other menu items. There was a supposed 20-minute wait, but I swear it was only 5 minutes since we were seated in the large over-21 section. My dining companion ordered the Biscuits and Gravy, which appeared to be a winner. This go-round, I went with breakfast too--the Vanilla French Toast. This French Toast is the best damn French Toast I have have experienced in my life. The best. Oh my god, it was so good. And the portions were HUGE. Bigger than my head. We didn't get more than a quarter of the way through our meals, but you can blame that on the previous evening's intake. We both agreed later that these were some of the best leftovers we'd ever had.

Here's the thing: the bread on this french toast is soaked in a vanilla custard before it's cooked. It's french toast, but the taste was completely unexpected. It wasn't too sweet, and the flavors...oh, the flavor. It's topped with whole hazelnuts and mascarpone cheese, which makes an excellent sub for butter. I went home soon after, napped through my carb coma, and ate the leftovers upon waking up. Inhaled would be a more accurate term, I couldn't eat fast enough.

For weeks, I've been saying I wanted to try it again--to see if it was as good on the second try. Yesterday, after the St. Patrick's Day Dash, sprizee and her Dude, and Toad and I headed over for our post-Dash meal. The Dude ordered pizza (excellent!) but 3 of us ordered the French Toast with extra sides of bacon. From my observations, my cohorts enjoyed this French Toast as much as I did. Even the Dude tried some after having a salad, his whole pizza, and two cokes, and he was all about The Toast, too.

For each visit, the entrées didn't cost much more than 8. On Sunday, our tab for 4 came to about $70, after you added on the Mimosa, cokes, sides, and tip.

The service is great, the atmosphere is great. The waiting time when you've just done nearly four miles on a mostly empty stomach was not so great. But if you're more patient than we were or you don't take any minors with you (you'll be seated sooner), you'll be just fine.

I give it 4.5 umbrellas out of 5. In all of Seattle, only La Carta de Oaxaca, a few streets over, has delighted me more.

Love that Ballard.

Cafe Flora

2005-02-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is one of only two entirely vegetarian restaurants I know of in the city of Seattle. Cafe Flora is near Madison Park and the Central District. It wasn't our intended restaurant of choice that night, however it more than served its purpose.

Four of us went to dinner without making a reservation for Cafe Flora. There was plenty of parking to be had and also plenty of space inside the restaurant. They gladly seated all of us upon arrival at about 7:00pm without a wait. I ordered the Prix Fixe which consisted of a three course meal for $25. Not too bad in my mind. Entrées were a little steep ranging in price from $15-17 a dish though.

My wife, the only vegetarian in the group, ordered us a wonderful appetizer they call artichoke croquettes. The great croquettes were gone within minutes while we munched on their nice airy bread. My Prix Fixe included a yummy caesar salad for an appetizer, Oaxacan tacos, and crème brûlée . My wife dined on the Oaxacan tacos and gave them a thumbs up as well. Our neighbors/friends seemed to appreciate their food, what they consumed is escaping me also. The desserts were nice and definitely hit the spot.

The service was flawless. I drink a lot of water in restaurants and my glass never got below half full. Our server was hilarious and was able to guess my dessert selection sans a cape or black magic hat.

Rating (5=excellent, 1=try the local AM/PM instead)
Service: 5/5 --> impeccable wait staff and server
Price: 3/5 --> cost about $150 w/o tip for four
Ambiance: 5/5 --> nice soothing sounds of an indoor waterfall
Restrooms: 5/5 --> clean and well stocked
Portion size: 5/5 --> not too big or small
OVERALL: 4/5
Would I return: Yes, without a doubt

The BOB

2005-01-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

Last Summer, motomotoyama and I were on a quest to find the best macaroni and cheese in Seattle. We had our list from NWSource, and one of the recommended eateries was The Blue Onion Bistro on Roosevelt.

A group of seven--sprizee, her Dude, Beth, dagmar b, miss villanelle, motomotoyama and I--headed over there about 7 PM on a Sunday night. The mac 'n cheese was bland. The service was inattentive. Beth (he's a guy, this is his nickname for those new to my tales), already pissed off that the waitress had addressed the whole table as "Ladies...", was convinced that the waitress was out back smoking pot. Humorously enough, we later ran into her out near the back dumpster. The prices were high for what we got. I couldn't recommend any of the dishes to anyone, except the pork schnitzel that The Dude got (and I kept laughing at the name...I'm a ten year old boy, apparently). Ever since, I've been a little bewildered that local reviewers kept it on their recommended lists.

Today, I logged on to read the local Sunday paper. I feel a little vindicated now--a recent review agrees that it's quite lackluster.

P.S. Out of several local places, we came to the consensus that Cafe Venus/Mars Bar has the best. There's probably more to come on the pursuit of good mac 'n cheese. Stay tuned.

OMFG, this is the best sandwich EVAR

2005-01-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

For the last year, I've played on a Seattle co-rec soccer team (GO KRAKATHOOM!) on Thursday nights. Traditionally, we go out to a sports bar after the game either to commiserate, or to celebrate. My favorite of all of our sports bars is in West Seattle--The Rocksport. And that's because of two things: 1) cheap Killer Teas on Thursdays, which helps with the booze budget and 2) the Grilled Ham (and cheese) sandwich. I don't think I've tried much else there, but I haven't wanted to order anything else.

Now, I know what you're thinking--that #1 is why #2 is so good. But no, I have been back there and ABSTAINED from any adult beverages just to make sure it was soooo good. I don't know what these people are putting in those sandwiches, but they need to keep on doing it (I have a hunch they grill their sammiches in some sort of garlic salt or garlic powder...and probably with a lot of butter). It's basically just the most perfect grilled cheese sandwich I've come across in Seattle. I hear rumors that Hale's Ales gives them a run for their money...so seeing as Hale's is close by and I don't have to hit I-5, 99 or the West Seattle bridge to get a fix, the next time I have a hankerin', I'm gonna head over there for a little comparison.

Oooooh, that sandwich was goooood.

Going Casual on the Waterfront in Magnolia

2005-01-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

Last month, I headed over to Maggie Bluffs in Magnolia with some friends of mine for lunch after a very busy and active morning. I'd never heard of this place before and I'm not totally sure who recommended it. It's near the marina next to the fancy-schmancy budget-busting Palisade. On a prior visit to Palisade this Fall, where I opted for the soup and salad to keep costs and calories down (still $30!), I didn't notice Maggie Bluffs at all. It's tucked away in the back and Palisade's presence dwarfs its sister restaurant. Maggie Bluffs is almost as memorable as Palisade, but come on, the chocolate pots I had over there in October totally trump fantastic french fries. If money's no object, and I do mean a lot of it for a full meal at Palisade...there's not really a question.

I love that this place has same view Palisade has, I'd take out-of-town visitors here for that alone. Regarding food, there are three things I remember best about Maggie Bluffs a month later: the fries, the Bloody Marys, and the excellent service. I'd never had a Bloody Mary before, and I didn't actually order one--one friend, Kathleen, made me try hers, and it was fantastic even though I get grossed out by the idea of V8 or tomato juice. Ooh, girl, this drink was tasty. My friend Ally ordered fries as we sat down, and these were pretty perfect. And believe you me, I know my fries. I'd planned to get a salad with whatever I ordered, but after trying these, I had to switch to fries for my side. It's a crime to pass up a good batch of fries.

Six out of eight of the women at my table were nursing hangovers that morning since it was the holiday party season. Some serious comfort food was in order and this place delivered. I recall an order for your average club sandwich, an unremarkable salad or two, my spicy chicken sandwich (pretty decent, decent enough to eat leftovers a couple of hours later) and lots of orders for chili. Judging from the reaction, chili seemed to be the best choice. If you check out other online reviews of Maggie Bluffs, you'll see references to fish and chips, or burgers, but I didn't notice that many people ordered those. I was too busy scarfing down my fries.

It was a really good, casual experience. I give this place 4.5 umbrellas on a 5 umbrella scale.

Rich. Velvety. Sophisticated.

2005-01-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

On Friday night, sprizee and I had dinner with our friend E-FO. He introduced us to a beautiful, delicious new beverage at Starbucks: Chantico.

This Thursday, you can try it for yourself between 4 and 5 PM.

Atlas Foods

2004-12-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

I just got back from Atlas Foods in U Village. It's a Chow Food restuarant which means it's owned by the same peeps that own The Coastal Kitchen. And like all other Chow Food spots, this place has a speciality. It's seafood. But I ignored that fact and just went ahead and ordered a Cobb Salad.

Anywho, it was pretty good. No suprises on the menu, just a slew of good solid meals. Two things about this place.

One. When someone orders more than one seafood dish the waiter shouts the order back to the cook, who in turns repeats the order, and then a couple other people (bartender/busboys/whathaveyou) also chime in. Red Robin's got the birthday song and Atlas Food has this. Whatever. I could take it or leave it. Not annoying enought to rant on about. Not unique enough to say more. Moving on.

Two. They talk up the berry cobbler so much and about how long it takes to make it that they practically force you to order it with your dinner. This is brilliant because most people don't have room for dessert after their meal but if you've already gone ahead and ordered it with your meal when you're at your most hungry, who can resist? Well, I can but I'm a Marketing Executive so there you have it.

I give this place 4 umbrellas on a 5 umbrella scale.

Sazerac and Tulio's

2004-12-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok. After getting called on it Friday night, I'm finally going to post about a local restaurant. I eat at local places all of the time--at the very least, I end up going to a new place once a week thanks to my adventurous friends, and/or my Sunday night dinner group (from now on lovingly referred to as my Sunday Dinner Cult).

This week, my Sunday Dinner Cult met up for our Secret Santa exchange at Sazerac's. Sazerac appears to be a part of the Hotel Monaco near 4th and Spring. I was looking forward to going here since the menu online showed several Louisiana-themed entrees.

I'll say this now: overall, the food was fantastic. I don't recommend going there unless you are a) ordering out or b) have about 4 hours to kill.

My roommate and I got there around 7 PM, to meet up with 6 other people. On Sunday nights, this is in the middle of their happy hour ($4 drinks--if you order wells, reduced price menu). The others in our party were checking out the Sazerac (served in a smaller martini glass with rye whiskey), Cosmos, and the G-Spot. Most drinks appeared to be between $6.50 and $9. I ordered a B-52 coffee, since Erika seemed to be enjoying hers and lo, it was pretty damn good.

The waiter kept the drinks coming, but never stuck around long enough to take our order until we'd been sitting there for about 40 minutes. I ordered a Caesar, which was delicious and others ordered Lobster Bisque, Gumbo (pretty good, but I have high standards), some sort of tasty roasted veggie and potato appetizer, and various other salads. I heard zero complaints about the salads, and there were several different ones ordered at our table. These were served around 8:15. Thankfully, we had presents to unwrap after being served, so this killed some time.

Around 9, our waiter mentioned that our food would be out in 1 minute. He was off by about 6. I was irritable by this time because a) I felt we were ignored and b) he rarely came by to refill our water.

I'd ordered their Wild 'n Funky Pizza--every day the ingredients are different--Ian and two others ordered the catfish, one ordered the lambshank, one had chicken, one had steak, and Erika had the salmon. The salmon and catfish appeared to be the best choices in the end. My pizza, with chevre and kalamata olives, was just okay. Really, it was bland and boring compared to everything else.

Most of us finished our food around 9:30. The waiter heard us discussing dessert plans and suggested we head up to Tulio's and some other place I didn't catch. By this point, I was really getting pissed off because it was obvious he thought we were taking too long to leave, but...dude. We woulda been gone by 8:30 if we hadn't been sitting around waiting for food for FOREVER.

On Mary's dare, after she expressed a desire to annoy the waiter, I asked for dessert menus. The waiter impatiently hovered for the first time all evening...the chocolate cake looked intriguing, but we decided to head over to Tulio's where Ian, Erika and I split a tasty Limon Torta with walnuts and blood orange sauce, Ben had the tiramisu (sounded mushier than expected) and Juliet had some flan-like concoction. We sat in the bar area for dessert. I really enjoyed the Limon Torta, the speedy service, and the festive greenery and lights around the bar and the room. I'll probably be going back for dinner sometime in the future. The bar reminded me of visiting Harry's Bar in Venice, where the Bellini was invented.

And my favorite moment while receiving terrible service--an even better moment than the one where he noted there was a mandatory 18% tip already on the bill? When the waiter gave us his card and said we could request him the next time we dined at Sazerac.

Getty it on.

2004-12-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

I took this accidental photo of Sally as I went to put my camera away. It pretty much sums up our mood Friday night. Sally ended up taking some unauthorized pictures of me busting a move out on the dance floor. Sally, where are the goods?

One second thought, if those photos ever see the light of day on the InternetS someone is going to get hurt.

P.S. I know where you live.

Simply Desserts

2004-11-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

Oh lordy. So good.

Egan was kind enough to provide Rachel and I with some free treats tonight. And by free I certainly don't mean calorie free. No sir.

Thanks EFo!

Somewhere in West Seattle

2004-11-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

We were drunk. So very, very drunk.

Coastal Kitchen

2004-09-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

Test, Test

...Edited on December 19...

This place was good, but I mostly remember the Sundae at the end of the meal. Oh wait, I had pork chops. Those were good.