seattle restaurant advice!

I really like the Tom Douglas places. Dahlia Lounge is great. But the best meal we've had in Seattle was hands down Etta's. The food was amazingly good.

I'm not sure what Canlis is like now -- it's been a few years. But we just found the whole place kind of like eating in a senior center (and we are NOT young) -- just very "old fashioned" and ordinary. Although it did have a nice view and great setting. With so many "trendy" and more modern restaurants in Seattle, we just felt we had "wasted" a night there.

If you go, you will thank me for suggesting a new, hot place--Crush: http://www.chefjasonwilson.com/

Wen had dinner at Joeys on Lake Union 3 weeks ago.. pretty good view, entrees

Some friends had the tasting menu last week at Crush ($105 per person plus tip and wine - ) and said it was fabulous.

We were not that knocked out by Steelhead - frankly we much prefer 94 Stewart a block away.

You'll enjoy Canlis - we were there about a month ago and it was wonderful - as usual. Our perennial favorite is Chez Shea, though.

I responded on the other thread you have going on this topic.

Interesting about Crush--I went this spring and am in no rush to go back. The food was good with some flashes of brilliance, the service was emphatically not.

I just read about this in new issue of Bon Appetit and it sounds wonderful! It has been around for 18 years and sounds like it has a long life ahead of it.

Cafe Lago in the Montlake district.

http://www.cafelago.com/Menu-1.html
{website is a bit weird}


Let me know how it is if you go!
Deb

I just read about this in new issue of Bon Appetit and it sounds wonderful! It has been around for 18 years and sounds like it has a long life ahead of it.

Cafe Lago in the Montlake district.

Let me know how it is if you go!
Deb

We've been there several times. It's a good neighborhood place, but not worth gushing over by a national magazine (unless it's changed dramatically in the past four months or so since we were there last.)

On a minor note, parking is the pits.

these are fabulous replies....thanks so much! While its exciting to try new restaurants when out of town, it can be a real "downer" when you make a not-so-great choice. Thanks again and in advance for more ideas!!!!!

Etta's is still my favorite, but following Gardyloo's rave reviews, I tried 94 Stewart last month. I had the halibut, which was good, but others at the table had the scallops and the pasta, which they both raved about.

My memorable meal at Etta's:

Roasted beet, Maytag, and walnut salad.

Rub with love Wild King Salmon over cornbread and onion pudding with a shitake relish, served with fresh green beans.

Fantastic!

My absolute favorite is Dahlia Lounge. Great food, nice atmosphere, fantastic staff, just perfect every way you look at it. I can't wait to go back!

I'm telling you, Patrick has been raving about that salmon dinner at Etta's for years now (LOL!)

I like Etta's very much but I *LOVE* the Dahlia Lounge. It is my single favorite restaurant in Seattle.

Isn't Canlis pretty "old school"?

A place I want to try is Ponti's near the Fremont Bridge. Richard Malia owns it and I used to work for him when he owned downtown which is now the Metropolitan Grill. He was always a stickler for local products, exacting preparations... I'd be surprised if that's changed. Anyone been there?

~suze in seattle

Had lunch at Steelhead recently. Food was very good but they seems a little "full of themselves" attitude-wise.

Suze, LOL. I loved that Etta's dinner so much, that I bought some "Love" rub, and downloaded the recipe for the cornbread and onion pudding from the internet. I've done my best to re create that meal a couple of times.
While I loved Dahlia lounge, I think our combination of flavors at Etta's topped it.

I agree that "old school" is a good way to describe our experience at Canlis. Nothing wrong with it, but there are so many more exciting places to go.

How about heading down to Lake Washington or Madison Park since you have a car? See a bit of Seattle.

Daniel's Boiler in Leshi is a very nice restaurant.

Any of the many little cafes in Madison Park would be fun. There's a nice park with a beach too for an after dinner stroll.

I like Steelhead for brunch only

If you want to try some really interesting things then head to Quinns GastroPub

Crush is excellent for a nice meal as is Union and Matt's in the Market.

All of these pride themselves on lots of local in season ingrediants

Quinn's is a restaurant that I was *so* excited about trying, especially since I'm a bit of a beer fanatic. But I have to say that I've had my only bad meal in Seattle at Quinn's...so bad that I actually registered on CitySearch so I could write a review about it.

2 of our 3 dishes were inedible..literally. 1/2 of the chicken dish was visibly raw and could not be cut with a steak knife...we returned it to the kitchen only to be told that the chef has a special preparation that is "unique." Had the chef tried to cut it and chew it, he would have realized it was raw.

I had a fish dish that had a lobster sauce that was also inedible due to how fishy the taste was. I think I choked down about 3 bites and then set it aside.

The 3rd dish was a burger, and that was a hit.

Oddly enough, I had a friend who dined there with 2 of his friends the same night...and 2 of those diners also ordered the chicken (which they sent back) and the fish dish (that they didn't eat).

Moral of the story: I might be convinced to go back for the overall vibe and atmosphere that I liked...but I would not be convinced to order anything but the cheese plate again. Or if I were to send someone there, I would tell them to order the burger.

Bummer too...I had heard such good things about it. I also found it to be totally unfriendly to vegetarians (even their fries are not vegetarian) and their beer to be of average selection and overpriced.

hi beanweb~ Interesting story. I used to work in the restaurant business. Nothing makes me madder in a restaurant than LAME excuses. The "chicken's raw" I want to shout... just stinkin' apologize & maybe even comp me another meal. Don't tell me it's the "chef's special method" like I'm the dope!!! Sheez louise.

One of my many complaints with Flying Fish (and they have well paid for it by how many times I've told this story!) is when the entirely wrong dish was brought to my friend one day for lunch, instead of apologize or offer to bring the correct entree, he says "Oh, I don't know the lunch menu. I usually work dinner shift". Nice, right?

My point exactly...just apologize!! Lame excuses like that just completely turn me off to a place.

Your story about FF reminds me about a restaurant I went to for lunch in DC about 2 years back. Our service was *abysmal*...wrong orders, messed up orders, food didn't come at one time, waitress disappeared, etc. The manager knew the service had been awful without us saying a thing and approached our table...not to apologize, but to suggest we come back for dinner "because my night time staff is so much better than my lunchtime staff." Um. No thank you.

Recently when we questioned why things were taking so long when clearly there was hardly anyone in the restaurant, the waiter brightly offered, "yea. The two main cooks didn't show up, so the kitchen's really off." Shouldn't that have been our cue to say, "let us just pay for the drinks and we'll go where the cooks ARE working"?

Customers shouldn't (shouldn't have to) know about that stuff!

As a waiter I was taught if they can't eat it, don't take it (your problems) to the table!

Hey Ive heard great things about the Mamounia Moroccan Restaurant on Bellevue. ALso check out http://www.travelskoot.com/skoots/view/258-vegetarian-eats-in-seattle
It has a map and descriptions of really good vegetarian places-which always have the best fresh food.

Good luck!

that sucks about your Quinns experience- I have been there at least 4 times and everything has been amazing- fries in demi glace with foie gras, roasted marrow bones, wild boar sloppy joe, duck duck mousse and of course the ultimate burger

I stand by my recommendation for it as I just haven't heard of anyone else having a bad meal there- of course those things can happen and they can happen anywhere (my worst meals were at Canlis and Mistral!)

Speaking of Mistral, I noticed yesterday that someone new has opened in their old space... Spur I think was the name on the door.

We just ate with a large group at Anthony's Pier 66, which I thought was going to be very touristy, but it was fantastic. (If interested see my review in Fodor's restaurants.) I also love Matts at the Market and Campangne's and Wann's in Belltown.

Sorry, suze, we really didn't like Daniel's Broiler, but we're not big meat eaters, so maybe someone who is would like it.

We also loved Dahlia Lounge. Other places we enjoyed nice meals were: Flying Fish in Belltown, Six Seven @ the Hotel Edgewater where we stayed and Salty's on Alki Beach. ***kim***

These are great! I'll be there labor day weekend; better get busy with reservations.

I agree with Suze on Flying Fish. We had horrid service issues and even though we have been several times trying to see if it was a one time problem, nope, and we will not go back.

Places we really enjoyed both when we lived up there as well as now when we go back to visit friends and family are Ettas, the Salmon House, Anthony's and Queen City Grill. All of those have very good seafood. You would need a taxi for the Salmon House, but it is one of our favorite places.

artlover~ I recently "discovered" Anthony's Pier 66 myself (I work in Belltown). I also assumed it was too touristy &/or too expensive, but I really do like the place and have been several times recently. (Though I do have one friend with a "calamari grudge" against the place that he's been carrying around for years -lol!)

mms~ Thanks for the mention of Queen City Grill. It's literally across the street from my office, I'll give it a try sometime for lunch.

Elliots by the Bay, was great...loved the Salmon. Also Tulios was great too.

Just had an early dinner last night at Wann's - very tasty. We got there around 5:30 and the place was nearly empty. We made a meal mostly out of the happy hour menu which is very lengthy...$2.50 beers, $4.00 mixed cocktails, and a host of different appetizers and sushi rolls to choose from. It was definitely as good as I remembered it being from our GTG. Highly recommend it if you're in the mood for Japanese/sushi.

www.wann-izakaya.com

a favorite of mine too!

Of course! We had a GTG there, so you know it has to be good if you saw it on Fodor's, right

Add one: Portage in Queen Ann. Went for the first time last night. Really good neighborhood restaurant that's good enough to be a destination.