Seattle's Underrated Restaurants

[tighe]

Of course, it's not like Monsoon hasn't had enough publicity lately.

Yes, any place that get ordained as the best neighborhood restaurant in Seattle by Bon Appetit has to forfeit the "underrated" moniker.

[SeAAttle]

We tried Lampreia about a year ago, our first and last visit. Food was good but not great, very expensive and the attitude was too much. Obviously very impressed with themselves.

LeGourmand is first rate, Maximillien is always a real treat in every way, Earth and Ocean a great addition. Have dined there 5 or 6 times and it has been consistently outstanding.

[tsquare]

Had a very good dinner at Stumbling Goat Bistro last night (located on Greenwood Avenue). They have a seasonal menu, but tend to serve the same thing year to year, with some new offerings. It had been awhile, and I was past due for a visit.

Glass of Sagelands cab ($6) - not too special, but okay.

Chopped salad - huge plate of iceberg and romaine in a creamy dressing, served with cubes of cooked, not mushy potatoes, tomatoes, crisp celery, cucumber, tartly vinegared roasted beets, perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs halves on the side, and the freshest walnuts I've tasted in a long while - buttery and light colored. ($8)

Entree of lamb shank with polenta. Fat on the lamb shank wasn't completely rendered off, leaving lots of flavor, not falling off the bone, but fork tender. Cloaked in a tomato carrot concoction with a sweet, smokey undertone of chipolte pepper and brightened with fresh lemon zest and parsley. Could have used a marrow utensil! The polenta tasted like equal parts grain, cream, and butter. ($17)

Solid bread with the good butter that makes you eat too much to consider dessert (though they sounded great - devil's food cake with ice cream, creme brulee with cookies, pecan pie, or apple/cranberry turnover with cinnamon ice cream, as I recall. Ice creams made in-house.)

The room is very much a labor of love, red being the overriding impact, and definitely a romantic feeling, though they are a neighborhood restaurant. They have a full liquor license, street parking only.

[col klink]

Sounds great tsquare, I've been meaning to go there for a long time. Glad to see someone else likes it too.

[thelastsupper]

I like Nell's too, but I don't think anyone has talked about it on here. I find that it is one of the rare dinners in Seattle that I can trust in: whatever I eat will be simple and good. Wow, that list is shrinking fast in Sea-town. Wonderful service in an odd room-- like the ghost of Sizzler's-- that is still quite comfortable. Perhaps Greenlake is too out of the way for folks? Anyone else have anything to add?

Edit: Nell's is on the 25 for $25 list so you heathens got no excuse!

[tsquare]

In the interest of those who don't like wine served in tumblers, I checked out Stumbling Goat again. They are still serving wine in the tumblers, maybe cocktails in stemware?

However, the beet, stilton, mixed green salad is still outstanding, and last night's special was good to the last drop - crispy duck hindquarter with duck confit ravioli, served with braised greens. The ravioli had a hint of ginger, maybe some additional asian seasonings, excellent balance of flavors, pasta not etheral, but not tough either. Good solid hit.

[seacrotty]

Sounds great tsquare, I've been meaning to go there for a long time. Glad to see someone else likes it too.

We were awfully fond of the Stumbling Goat when we lived up that way. Glad to hear that it's holding up.

Okay, back to the thread:

Underrated

Chiso (great sushi in Fremont)

Oobas (spectacular taquerias in Redmond and Woodinville)

St. Cloud's (brunch in Madrona)

Overrated

Herbfarm

Flying Fish

Red Mill

[jbonne]

on the still-kicking front: went back to Brad's Swingside last night after a too-long absence.

i'm happy to report it's as great as ever and as comfy as ever. i've decided the wild-boar-and-venison ragu is my soul food. the seafood stew was also perfectly balanced and a healthy plate full of fish. the meat/cheese starter was terrific, with some amazing wild-boar salami.

we even found a Vacqueyras we'd been dying to try, and which ended up being a perfect match for the more or less Northern Italian grub. (the seafood was Sicilian, but seemed far more subtle than a Sicilian dish.)

really, a wonderful place -- and back on my list, with a bullet.

[tsquare]

That's funny - I had seafood stew at Matt's for lunch and wild boar ragu for dinner at Zoe. Great minds...(and both were outstanding.)

Edited November 18, 2004 by tsquare (log)

[Coop]

Tulio when Walter Pisano was chef. Is he back? Shucker's in the 90's. I still love the smoked oysters on the half shell. I had a great meal at Daniels' Lake Union in 2001.

Over-rated, maybe The Harvest Vine for service. Assaggio, poor food great wine. Cafe Campagne, last two times all our food was cold. Icon Grill, just bad right from the start. Brasa, good appetizers, but then everything went wrong, had some sweetbreads that looked and tasted charred.

[little ms foodie]

Tulio when Walter Pisano was chef. Is he back? Shucker's in the 90's. I still love the smoked oysters on the half shell. I had a great meal at Daniels' Lake Union in 2001.

←

Walter is back in the kitchen at Tulio

[Foodie-Girl]

We've only been twice but really enjoy Brasserie Margaux.

[vengroff]

Brasa, good appetizers, but then everything went wrong, had some sweetbreads that looked and tasted charred.

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I was actually very happy with both the food and service at Brasa recently. I had roast pig served in a cazuela with clams, potatoes with a broth heavy with smoked paprika and chorizo. The whole thing was topped with a crisp strip of crackling pork rind. The meat was very tender and succulent; exactly as roast pork should be. At first I found the potato a bit extraneous, but taken with the well seasoned morsels of chorizo it really worked well.

On the service side, the maitre d' noticed when our coats were being taken that I had theatre tickets poking out of my shirt pocket. He asked exactly when the show began and when we needed to leave and made sure to inform our waitress before she visited our table the first time. All this despite the fact that we actually arrived 20 minutes late for our reservation due to a combination of traffic and poor planning on my part. This is the kind of service I expect in New York, but see far too infrequently in Seattle.

[daves]

<I'm new as a participating member, but I've been lurking for a while>

Under:

Tosoni's: couldn't agree more. My wife and I love this restaurant, and Walter is always a hoot if he's wandering around the dining room. A few years ago, we were there for our anniversary. When he found out (after dinner), he got a bottle of wine and sat down with us -- at our invitation. Stayed for a glass, and then left us to finish it off.

Cafe ORI: across the street from Tosoni's. Hong Kong-style Chinese. Yummm.

Over:

Herbfarm: We had a not-so-good experience there a year ago and swore we would never be back. The HF provided a gift certificate to make up for it, and so we're heading back

Dixie's and just about any bbq place in this area: Dixie's is great for the show, but I find the steamed food a little lacking. Still haven't found what I'm looking for.

[laurel]

Dixie's and just about any bbq place in this area: Dixie's is great for the show, but I find the steamed food a little lacking.  Still haven't found what I'm looking for.

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I actually really like the fried catfish at Dixies. Moist, tender fish with a just-greasy-enough cornmeal coating... It probably helped that I had to wait 5 minutes for it and got it right out of the fryer.

[Really Nice!]

<I'm new as a participating member, but I've been lurking for a while>

Over:

Dixie's and just about any bbq place in this area: Dixie's is great for the show, but I find the steamed food a little lacking.  Still haven't found what I'm looking for.

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Welcome Daves!

To me Dixies is like dinner theatre, I'm not really there for the food.

[daves]

Thanks for the welcome!

Agreed on the dinner theatre part. I will bring out-of-towners there to see the show, but I will always smoke something at home for them to try.

[SparrowsFall]

Mentioned a while back, but worth noting: Mandalay Cafe on 45th near Stone. Aromatic elegance with complex blends of flavors ranging from South Africa to India to Java. I'm always amazed how good it is. The spiced lamb appetizer by itself is reason enough to go there.

Steve

[aaustin]

Had dinner at Cafe Campagne for the first time in many years while in Seattle a week ago and I have to say that the food was remarkably good, particularly the oysters we were served and the steak frites, which is among the best pieces of meat I've had out in a very long time! And for $20, that is saying something. We also had the steak tartare which I thought was good but nothing spectacular--I wish I'd skipped it and had the pate which I love.

Service was not good. Not good at all. But the food was good from start to finish. I think this place is often overlooked by locals, so I thought I'd make mention of it.

[ladybugseattle]

Anyone been to Impromptu down in Madison Park? I haven't but with the view location and a menu that reads well for both food and wine, it seems like it should have a higher profile.

[tsquare]

Had dinner at Cafe Campagne ...

... I think this place is often overlooked by locals, so I thought I'd make mention of it.

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That's a funny statement if you look at the cassoulet and breakfast/brunch in downtown discussions.

[LEdlund]

Anyone been to Impromptu down in Madison Park? I haven't but with the view location and a menu that reads well for both food and wine, it seems like it should have a higher profile.

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I was there a few months ago. It really wants to be a high profile location but my feeling was the owner and bartender didn't quite have the knowledge to pull it off.

[ladybugseattle]

Anyone been to Impromptu down in Madison Park? I haven't but with the view location and a menu that reads well for both food and wine, it seems like it should have a higher profile.

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I was there a few months ago. It really wants to be a high profile location but my feeling was the owner and bartender didn't quite have the knowledge to pull it off.

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What was your experience Ledlund? Its my understanding the owner and his chef both made their fortunes elsewhere and are now dabbling in a neighborhood boite. Do you know anything more? The chef has a fan club of sorts for his non-cooking skill at looking good unclothed and his willingness to charge for said skill, or so I've heard.

[LEdlund]

What was your experience Ledlund? Its my understanding the owner and his chef both made their fortunes elsewhere and are now dabbling in a neighborhood boite. Do you know anything more? The chef has a fan club of sorts for his non-cooking skill at looking good unclothed and his willingness to charge for said skill, or so I've heard.

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That is too funny. It's been a while but, iirc, the story about the owner making his fortune elsewhere rings a bell. I remember thinking that it seemed like a case of the owner opening a place where he would to hang out. They sort of billed themselves as a wine/cocktail bar with food, as opposed to a restaurant serving wine and cocktails. That being the case, I tried to engage the bartender in a conversation about interesting cocktails, but he was not familiar with quite a few types of liquor (chartreuse comes to mind). Again, iirc, the chef was not someone I would pay money to see unclothed, but I can see where he might have a following with those of a persuasion other than my own

[aaustin]

Had dinner at Cafe Campagne ...

... I think this place is often overlooked by locals, so I thought I'd make mention of it.

←

That's a funny statement if you look at the cassoulet and breakfast/brunch in downtown discussions.

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Actually, I find that, many times, people suggest the same places over and over again even if they haven't eaten there in a long time. I expect that, more often than not, those types of recommendations are based on the "in theory, were I to go to Pike Place Market for brunch, I would..." scenario than on actual recent experiences.