Stephanie T.'s Profile

Sometimes I really, really wish I could give six stars.  My dining experience at Mashiko tonight was one of those times.

Two words: Chef's menu.  They figure out six courses of awesome and serve it to you in a reasonably priced, beautifully presented, and well paced fashion.  There are a couple of reasons I think this menu is much better than your ordinary sushi tasting menu.  First, it incorporates non-sushi.  I love sushi as much as the next guy (OK probably more) but in going the adventure route you're almost sure to get something you don't like.  Second, the quantity of food.  A lot of times tasting menus (particularly of the sushi variety) leave you ready for a second meal.  Notably not true at Mashiko.  Third, price.  $30 might not be cheap for dinner but for 6 courses of awesome I'd call it a pretty good deal.  Important tip - make sure you visit in multiples of two, since the chef's menu is a two person item.

I would compromise a lot of things for the meal I just had but I didn't feel I had to at all - service, attention, pacing, water service, clustering of tables and size of restaurant to make it feel like a private dining space.  On a relaxed Tuesday evening we were seated almost immediately and attended but not smothered.  Perfection.  

Go!  West Seattle might seem a little daunting but it's just not that far (cough, cough, Ballard) and believe me, it's well worth it.

This place was exceedingly disappointing.

I really make an effort to keep my list of reviews full of places I would recommend that friends and visitors go, but given the limited number of reviews for this place and the deceptively high marks it seems like it would be irresponsible to go silent.  That, and I genuinely hope that this restaurant improves, since the concept is interesting and it's also close to my place.

Judging by the menu it seemed like there were a number of innovative dishes.  And if you were giving points for overall effort it was clear that the two chefs in the semi-visible kitchen are working very hard.

But in terms of food quality, I have to say it: this place's food just plain sucks.

Warning sign #1: We heard the microwave timer go off before we received our [mediocre] miso soup.  Either hide your kitchen or don't use a microwave.

Warning sign #2: Asking the waitress what was French or Japanese about the menu was answered by a look of general confusion.

Warning sign #3: A month after opening the restaurant is promoting its "grand opening" with a $1 sushi night.  (Though admittedly this could be a really good deal, I don't know)

Warning sign #4: The top 3 dishes on the menu (and also the ones highly recommended while ordering) were the same dish, just with different kinds of fish.  
Note: the fish was way overcooked and the pasta was sub-par.  Also, word to the wise, fusion is more than serving both fettuccine and sushi on your menu.

Warning sign #5: Each course takes 30 minutes, plus and you are the only ones in the restaurant.

In short, the only reason this restaurant even gets two stars is the points it gets for trying and that my friend's teriyaki beef was better than everything else we had.  And, to be fair, they get points for being willing to sell nigiri for $1.

Not impressed, Gambas, but hopeful that you might get better and show me what is awesome about a French-Japanese combo.

You have to acknowledge that there is something cool about an establishment that can pull itself off as a) a coffee shop, b) a restaurant and c) a bar.  Oddfellows does this about as gracefully as you could possibly imagine.

At breakfast:
-I had probably one of the best breakfast sandwiches I've ever had.  The bread was perfectly toasted, the egg was soft but not runny, and I really found myself just wanting more at the end of it.
-You order at the counter, so it's a great casual destination for those potentially awkward payment situations (you know what I'm talking about, giant group or nebulous date)
-The floor to ceiling windows let in a ton of that flat Seattle daylight and you feel like you could be in some kind of artsy design space

At dinner:
-The candlelit atmosphere warms the room while also being contained to your table, so you feel like the restaurant is all yours
-The restaurant successfully pulls off some excellent entree type sandwiches (the pulled pork is my favorite) as well as some sophisticated and well-made entrees (duck breast and beet salad)
-Service switches to wait-service so you actually feel like you're eating at a sit-down restaurant
-Shareable pork tots and special-sauced fries make a great appetizer - but be warned they don't bust out the fryer for these until late afternoon

And anytime you come here you can expect a mix of people working on laptops, hanging out, or having lengthy low pressure meals.  I mean, what better place for an "I don't quite know what I'm going for" type outing than an "I don't know quite what kind of dining establishment" type place?

I found it! I found it! I found it!  Actually my friend found it.  An ice cream shop around Seattle that really means business about being an ice cream shop.  (Well, apparently also a local concert venue and pinball joint.)

For $3, you get a fresh waffle cone (I mean, literally, made out of batter in front of you when you order it) and up to three flavors of ice cream.  And really the experience is about the ice cream, there's no upsell of yuppie packaging, other kinds of food, twenty million toppings -- no, Full Tilt just wants to hook you up with some great ice cream in a hot waffle cone.

The flavors change regularly but some of the more interesting I have seen have been cardamon and sweet potato.  I will tell you, that sweet potato might be a weird color, but it is flipping good.  Perhaps one of the things to best appreciate about Full Tilt, however, is their commitment to the standards.  Sometimes that taste of childhood is just a plain vanilla or cookies n cream ice cream cone and Full Tilt can always dish it up.

Yes, I go out of my way to get to White Center to dine here.  Yes, it is pretty close to an adult superstore. And yes, I also might or might not have my next birthday party at Full Tilt - I'd get to design my own ice cream flavor!  (Don't act like you don't want an invitation.)

I should preface this review by saying that I think it would be hard for this restaurant to live up to two years worth of hype in my mind.  Literally, I've been trying to go here for two years now.  Something about it being on Bainbridge, though - it's always, "Too rainy," "I missed the ferry!" "But Macrina is right *here.*"  Finally, finally, I made it out on our admittedly pretty convenient transport system to try the notorious Cafe Nola brunch.

We shared the huevos rancheros and the infamous French toast.  The French toast was your picture-perfect home-style French toast, served with bacon, syrup and made to the right level of fluffiness.  The pecans add a nice crunch but otherwise I'm not sure there's anything special I'm writing home about.  The huevos rancheros came presented as a giant, unrolled tortilla filled with chorizo, beans, rice and avocado slices.  The avocado slices were a lovely touch - you definitely can't get those on just any serving of huevos in this area.

In general, Bainbridge is great as a day trip.  I'd recommend the whole experience to someone looking to spend a staycation type day close to home but also feeling like being removed from one's life in favor of being in a resort-like town.  Nola is a lovely addition to one's "I'm vacationing" type itinerary.  (One or two of their themed Bloody Marys certainly doesn't hurt that!)

So, yeah, after all that, Nola is pretty good.  Is it worth pining over for two years?  Would I hop on a ferry jut for it?   Maybe not - Seattle sets a very high brunch bar and so I'm going to stick with a solid four and not five stars on this one.

I took some out of town guests here for brunch one Sunday and I'll say that it makes a lovely Sunday brunch: tasteful northwest inspired variations on classic breakfast and lunch dishes served in an upscale restaurant.

Order an appetizer!  Monkey bread isn't something you expect to find in a nice restaurant, but having sampled it and seen the hot donuts being tossed in a paper bag at the table next to ours, I would definitely recommend the pre-entree order if you're at Dahlia with company.

All of our mains were quite good but I thought mine was the most interesting.  On face,  I thought it was your typical basic breakfast order: meat, potatoes, fried eggs and a biscuit.  But judging it on face was where I was all wrong.  The potatoes tasted like they had been mashed and then fried, crispy on the outside and mashed and delicious on the inside.  The biscuit was a perfectly flaky manifestation of a starch side.  Perhaps what I underestimated most, however, was the smoked trout it came with.  All I can say is that it would be hard for me to imagine a more delicious smoked and mild accompaniment for my already very solid meal.  I'd get it again in a heartbeat!

Make reservations.  We waltzed right in at eleven with a reservation but saw a family of three get quoted at an hour wait  at the same time.  (And if you want max selection, dine at 11 or later - they serve both the brunch and lunch menus starting at this time.)

Easily one of my new favorite restaurants in Seattle.  I went here with some friends for the 30/$30 promotion (http://www.dinearounds...) and could hardly have been more impressed.

One area where I think this restaurant stands head and shoulders above others is in service.  Ever-present but not overbearing, we spent the entire evening feeling like we had a private staff, each of whom was assigned a different task in keeping us attended throughout our meal: refilling water; refreshing bread; clearing plates -- they managed to keep things moving at a comfortable pace without us even noticing.  I think even if the food were only mediocre I would be tempted to come back to this restaurant for the sheer comfort and quality of the dining experience.

Fortunately for me, the food is also quite excellent!  Each dish clearly had a lot of thought put into both composition and presentation, with novel blends of flavor mixed with conventional favorites.  I thought my pork belly appetizer couldn't be topped but admittedly I was somewhat jealous when one of my companion's carrot soup and scallop arrived.  (Not sure where else I have seen carrot soup, and certainly not paired with a scallop!)  The same was true of the mushroom pasta and flank steak entree representations at the table.  It's always good when you can like everything that is brought to you!

The cocktails are fashionable and classy - we had one topped in maraschino foam and the pear infused vodka came with a delicious slice of fresh pear in it.  

If I were forced to choose a slightly weaker link in my evening's menu, it may have been the chocolate cake I ordered for dessert - which, while beautifully presented was a little dry and could have benefited from chocolate chips, less time in the oven, or more ice cream.

A bit pricey for an everyday meal but Crush is most definitely one of my top special occasion destination recommendations if you should find yourself in Seattle.

Who knew that a pretty sketchy looking purple building on the southeast edge of Capitol Hill (practically Madison Valley/Central District) could be such a fantastic dive bar?

I have two words to start off the food experience: One, tater, Two, tots.  TOTS.  Whether you want to be reminded of childhood, college dining hall food, or just vicariously experiencing these things via "Napoleon Dynamite," this place serves up heaping bowls of tots for $3.  I'm not sure I need to go any further than this.

For the more adventurous (and healthy!) at heart, chicken-fried bacon.  Truly, it's like this restaurant took the thought, "what wouldn't be better deep fried" to its limits by taking something already essentially deep fried and, uh, deep frying it again and serving it with a bowl of gravy.  Seriously!

They also have a number of bar standards on the menu, including chicken tenders, burgers and fish and chips.  Everything is made to order and seems fairly high in quality (burgers are hand balled meat for example, not frozen patties) which could be somewhat surprising given the restaurants decor but worth having.  For the record, you can get the burger with peanut butter.  (If you're not filling up on tots and bacon that is)

I can't finish the review without mentioning that they also have arcade-style Tetris (don't tell me you don't like that game because everyone does).  This place might be kind of out of the way but it's worth a trip, and well, pretty much the only game in town if you find yourself down by 23rd and Madison.

A friend and I went here shortly after this restaurant's opening and had a lovely little Sunday dinner; Spinasse is standout in my mind among Seattle's Italian restaurant establishments, and its food is truly spectacular.

Unless you're really hungry, I recommend ordering a few things a la carte and sharing.  The fixed price meal is kind of an upsell / good alternative to ordering each item individually yourself but a pasta, entree, salad, appetizer and dessert over two people is plenty.

I'll write to the things we had, though everything around us also looked very good.  Beet salad and prosciutto/melon starters (two separate dishes) were perfectly seasoned, apportioned and beautifully presented.  The prosciutto in particular took me right back to Italy.  Handmade spaghetti with the lamb ragu was possibly some of the best pasta I think I've ever had.  Whereas pasta is often a "check, we have that" type dish at most restaurants, it is a standout production at Spinasse as they make it in house and it turns out, you can tell.  The rabbit meat we had for entree (perhaps slightly politically incorrect) essentially fell off the bones and was paired with perfectly seasoned carrots and potatoes.  And grilled peaches with honey and cheese for dessert?  This is one of those things that seems like it might go either way - but if you have the chance, go for it.

The communal tables give dinner a social aspect if you're the outgoing type, but you can easily stay absorbed in your own meal conversation if you prefer.

Just to continue with my general obsession with Wallingford as a terrific destination to get delicious food, I'll write about one of my favorite little "sushi-joints" in Seattle.  You may not get the fancy-presentation that has become almost trendy in sushi these days but this place is a low maintenance restaurant you should visit when you just want a good meal.

Musashi's certainly gets hype for bang-for-your-buck quantity for price (just look at the line out the door) but Kozue is the underestimated girl-next-door restaurant (as it is literally about one block from Musashi's).  This unassuming little establishment will often have easy seating when Musashi's leaves you hanging outside for hours and their sushi is also very generously served/well-priced.  It also has the advantages of many great non-sushi options as well as a happy hour, acceptance of major credit cards and elbow room.

In particular I recommend the spicy tuna-don.  Not sushi per-se, but a great apportionment of fish served with avocado and cucumber and only $10.  

Of course, need I point out another great advantage of this place?  Molly Moon's and/or Trophy cupcake for dessert!