Jeanna B.'s Profile

Came here because I bought a deal on TravelZoo. Love having a reason to try a new place outside my neighborhood because of a deal, and leave it up to the restaurant to entice me to come back. Triptych has done this for three reasons:

Service: Mostly giving four stars because of the service! Our waiter was so polite and sweet - and very helpful when I asked for his opinion of the best dishes on the menu (one of my favorite things to do). The owner was there and brought our food out. My dining partner ordered a glass of chardonnay with her meal, and the owner came back and brought her a class of voignier cause he thought it paired better with her pork chop, and let her keep both! That's the definition of above and beyond.

Dessert: Ordered their Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake and it was HANDS DOWN the best dessert my friend and I had ever had. (Best dessert in San Francisco I've had so far for sure). We kept remarking how amazing it was event after we left.

The Osso Buco: I wanted it SO bad, and the waiter said it was his favorite, but they were out that night! Booo. I'll definitely make it back for the Osso Buco followed by the Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake.

Loves loves loves. I've been to Japonessa at least 10 times in the last two months. It was my go-to spot for lunch meetings and happy hours (before we moved from WAMU Tower to Pioneer Square). It has the best happy hour in the city (or close), and the best sushi roll I've ever had - Tres Diablos with strawberry habenero sauce. Japonessa is the number one recommended place on my lips right now.

Tried this out for the first time since just moving my office to Pioneer Square - first impression: they charged me .50 cents for using my credit card and .50 cents for a plastic to-go container, which probably cost them .5 cents. Ewww. It bumped my pho price to more than $8 - high end price for pho. Then the pho was meh... overcooked, tough "rare beef" and only about five pieces in my soup. Basically I paid $8 for mediocre broth and rice noodles. If you're going to nickle and dime me, my trip turns into once, not over and over again - which you would have made two fold on your to-go containers.
Additionally, my coworkers egg rolls were burnt black. We won't be going back, which is a bummer cause our entire office goes out to lunch every day, and are extremely loyal to our favorites. Not to mention, we work at a social networking mobile company, so we're big online networkers, sharing our reviews and favs. This place missed out.
I'm giving it two stars just because the atmosphere was cute and homey. The food should live up to the atmosphere.

Stopped in last night on an impromptu Fremont bar crawl. I don't get out to Fremont much anymore because a lot of places I used to frequent feel like college hang outs now, so I was unaware that The Triangle had gone out of business and 9 Million in Unmarked Bills had taken it's place.

First off, the decor is awesome. It feels a bit more upscale then the usual Fremont bars - the over-sized grey velvet booths are awesome. As are the beer taps, which are surrounded by ice/dry ice? I touched them, but the bartender warned me not to stick my tongue on it. :)

Speaking of bartender... he was GREAT. We had Matt, or "Moose" is his nickname. Totally friendly and fun guy. He handed over their "Game Menu," which is a list of the games they offer up to their patrons. My friend and I noticed a Jenga game, which we asked if it was Drinking Jenga - it was not. So Matt let us sit at the bar with a Sharpie and pen and overhaul it into Drinking Jenga. If you go there and play, let me know what you think of our handy work. :)

We didn't eat, but Matt told us they were famous for their truffle fries. I'll most definitely be heading back to check them out...

Upon first entry, I was super duper impressed with Citizen. The space is small, but warm with exposed wood, bricks, burlap-wrapped drop lights, cozy tables with flowers, and a chalkboard wall scrawled with "Laissez le bons temps rouler." (Let the good times roll.) It seemed the best atmosphere to cozy up to a breakfast on my first fall-ish, rainy day in Seattle.

The menu is a bit random with savory & sweet crepes, Vietnamese sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, wine and espresso - but everything sounded great and the prices are cheap! ($7.95 for crepes, $4.95 for Vietnamese sandwich and $6.95 for pulled-pork sandwiches). And their wine by the glass is only $4.50!

My boyfriend and I ordered espresso, which was some of the best I've had in awhile. I even said out loud, "Now THIS is a barista who knows what she/he is doing!" The foam was thick and creamy, served up with pretty coffee art designs.

Now here's the problem - I would have given this place five stars in a heartbeat, and I'm pretty disappointed to share our experience. But we felt the waitresses were unorganized, disjointed and confused. We had our crepe order given away to a couple sitting downstairs, who had come in and sat down to order way after us. We watched the woman check the crepe, open it, push their fork around and then say it was the wrong crepe and send it back. The guy enjoyed my boyfriend's crepe, while we had to flag down the waitress to tell them we had been waiting awhile and we thought our crepes were just given away. She responded with a shrug and flippant manner, "I don't know what happened - this is only our fourth day. Sorry!" She brought back my crepe to me from the kitchen, which had been picked through by the other girl (kinda weird), and then said my boyfriend's would be up in five minutes. I had to start my breakfast alone while he waited, and the couple downstairs only had one crepe too, waiting for their second because of the confusion. In the end, they never figured out what happened and while it was an honest mistake, we were super put off by the nonchalant, uncaring attitude from our waitresses who still didn't figure out what happened, didn't apologize and didn't offer to make it better. In fact, they spent the rest of the time avoiding us, it seemed, continuing to run up and down the stairs with crepes that they didn't know what tables they belonged to. Disappointing. I feel that in the economy it shouldn't be hard to find really spot-on waitresses that can keep track of their tables and orders... or at least be friendly and willing to apologize when a mistake is made.

Besides that frustration - the food was really super good. (We ordered the ham, swiss, tomato & spinach crepe with an egg on top and the applewood smoked bacon crepe with sharp cheddar, basil and maple syrup with an egg on top). We're going to let the mistake go and definitely head back for a second shot at the sandwiches and inexpensive glasses of wine. Citizen is really unique and unlike anything else in Queen Anne! I think they're going to do great.

I went to The Signature when it first opened, and I wasn't in love. I felt Moxie left some big shoes to fill (I loved that place), and wasn't keen on yet another Asian restaurant in Queen Anne. We have our fair share! On first stop, the mango salad dish I ordered was too small and expensive for a main dish, and my boyfriend's pho was good- but we've had better, and for less than their bowl at $8/9 each.

I decided I'd give it another shot before giving up on it and headed there for happy hour last night with a girl friend. I have to say - the happy hour is really great, and totally worth another trip. Most of their food items were $2 and $4, and their wine $4, wells $2, etc. Those are some cheap prices! In this economy, I appreciate the restaurants that are really stepping out and offering great specials to get people through their doors.

I ordered 1/2 of the Banh Mi sandwich ($2)... a simple sourdough roll with barbecue pork in brown sauce, cucumber, jalapenos and other veggies, with a mayo to add flavor. It was amazing! What I'm guessing is the best $2 deal in the entire city.

We also ordered the egg rolls (okay), beef skewer (okay) and sauteed green beans (amazing)! Since the happy hour is twice a day, and one of the only ones that starts at 8 in the neighborhood, I will most likely be back.

I first went to Black Bottle a little over a year ago, and since that first experience, it has become a staple for me for date night or a nice dinner out with friends. I even threw my birthday party here! The private back room is too fabulous for words and only cost a bar minimum of $500. The room is a perfect size for a formal, sit-down dinner or small tables and dancing room. Black Bottle management was super friendly and easy to work with on the reservation - and they even let me bring in my own iPod music, cupcakes, decorations and created a signature drink for my party!

Since then, I have been back a number of times for dinner. I have tried everything from the Masala chicken drums (even more fabulous than some Indian restaurant dishes I've had), blasted broccoli (an infamous dish of theirs), cumin pork tenderloin and frisée (would order it again), natural hanger steak and daikon/shiso (one of my very favorites), fried tofu and house made dipping sauce (some of my friends are super crazy about this), and the potato and prosciutto wheels (do NOT miss this dish)! But my all time favorite dish that I literally dream about is their chocolate cake and vanilla gelato. It is much more heavenly than the description - the gelato is hidden within a chocolate lava type cake, and the plate is drizzled with caramel. I'm not usually a dessert person,  but I save room for this every time I'm there!

The best thing about Black Bottle - the small plate prices make it totally affordable for a small bite or dessert and a drink, but you can still go all out for a fancy celebration dinner or date night. In my opinion, it's one of the best locations in the city!

Went to check out the new Queen Anne spot this week-unfortunately I never made it to Veil because it's such an odd location, so I hope Laredo does better than the former residents.

Immediately, it reminds me a little to much of Peso's - it's super popular Queen Anne sister. The menu is somewhat similar, as is the decor. Laredo does have a bit more of a down home, casual feel however. I was immediately surprised with how CHEAP their menu is. Definitely a great price point to compete against most of the other high-end restaurants in lower Queen Anne.

The food = meh. I wasn't in love. I split shrimp tacos with my sister. They only came with one shrimp a piece in each taco! The beans and rice were well seasoned. A girlfriend of mine ordered the carne asada, which was good. But I still think Peso's carne asada hits it out of the park. Another girlfriend of mine ordered the potato-filled flautas, which were literally flavorless. We had to dip them in beans and salsa to make them edible.

I also tried this famous avocado margarita, which I didn't love as much as everyone else. It just tasted like a lime margarita, so I felt like I was drinking a fat shake- the avocado just added calories, not flavor. The sangria, however, I thought was fab!

I will give this place another try, however. Perhaps for happy hour. I did find the bar inviting, and I would like to support a local place in my neighborhood!