25 for $25, again

[malarkey]

Have had 2 of the $25 for 25 dinners.

Barking Frog: ok, so its on the eastside and it was an easy one to hit after work.

Had broiled oysters, proscuitto wrapped rabbit, and cranberry bread pudding. oysters were good, nothing to write home about, rabbit was tasty but a bit dry, and the bread pudding was the clear and overall winner. why? because it was swimming in a pool of delectable caramel. Batgrrrl, you would have LOVED it. No chocolate in site, and little frozen cranberries used as garnish. sounds unexciting, but was really knocked out. And I'm not typically a dessert lover.

Brasa: met a friend there last night. good selection on the $25 menu. Like 4-5 choices per appetizer & entree. only 2 dessert choices.

I had a salad (which I later regretted, salads are boring and they did list some interesting apps, including the mussels). Had the roast suckling pig. Well, had to, since I've never had it and it was one of the entree choices. Yummy, spicy. dessert: profiteroles, hmm, sorta boring, but like I said, I'm not really much of a dessert eater.

[tighe]

Scrat and I have reservations at 727 Pine at 6:30 tomorrow (Wednesday) evening to try their $25 menu. The menu looks tasty! If anyone would like to join us, just PM me or post here and I'll add you to the reservation. Either way, a full report will be forthcoming.

[MsRamsey]

I'll join you if there's still time to add me in. Thanks!

Kathy

[tighe]

I'll join you if there's still time to add me in.  Thanks!

Kathy

Sure thing. See you tonight....

[scrat68]

Tighe, Ms. Ramsey and I went to 727 tonight and had a great meal!!!!!

Twenty-Five for $25

Dinner Prix Fixe Menu

Offered Sunday through Thursday 5:30pm - 10:00pm

Tighe had:

Beet Carpaccio Salad

Rogue River Blue Cheese, Orange Infused Olive Oil

(fabulous combination of flavors, really great Blue Cheese - I will go back just for this starter!!!!)

Grilled Center Cut Pork Loin Chop

Farro Risotto, Cider Glazed Root Vegetables and Sage

(pork chop was over done but flavors were nice; farro was really good)

Ms. Ramsey and I had:

Cold Smoked Salmon

Fresh Dill, Horseradish Foam, Caviar

(salmon was served lox style with an ample dollop of caviar, horseradish foam was perfect - just a hint of horseradish, light and fluffy)

Snake River Farms Kobe Style Beef

Pan Seared Wild Mushroom Fricasse, Braised Lentils

(the Kobe beef was out of this world - tender and yet flavorful - the crust was beautifully salty. The lentils were wonderful, not sure what type of mushrooms they used but they were great.)

All of us had the same dessert:

Cinnamon Bread Pudding

Ceylon Cinnamon, Caramel Ice Cream

(the caramel sauce was dreamy and the bread pudding was the perfect texture.)

We all felt that the service was very good - great attention to detail. Kudos to the Maitre D' who obviously was in tune with all of his staff.

Hats off to the bartender - I requested a drink that I had at Szmania's on Sunday - a White Satin - some combination of Bailey's, Creme de Cacao and I don't know what else. I told the waiter if the bartender didn't know the drink to concoct something with Bailey's....

The result was a drink combining Bailey's, Creme de Cacao and their own housemade pumpkin, cinnamon vodka - it was FANTASTIC with the bread pudding. They should add this to their menu. BTW, they have six or seven of their own house infused vodkas - all of which were appealing!

After dinner, we asked to view one of the guest rooms if available. One of the front desk agents, Heather, showed us a suite - talk about glamorous! Totally chic and yet warm and inviting. If only Tighe and I could have a bathroom like this...sigh....Heather was obviously well trained and proud of her hotel - what a refreshing surprise!

I also want to give credit to the valet staff, especially Mitchell, who was knowledgeable, friendly, courteous and prompt.

All in all, we were thrilled with the evening and definitely will return soon! Make sure you check out this restaurant during and after the promo!

Pat

Edited November 21, 2002 by scrat68 (log)

[tighe]

As scrat said, the Kobe-style beef at 727 was phenomenal. I poked around a little and came up with a web-site where you can order it. Not cheap my any means, but it sure was good....

Snake River Farms Kobe Style Beef

[LaurieA-B]

We enjoyed dinner at Nell's last night, and while we didn't have the $25 menu, it sounded great and I recommend Nell's based on our meal. You have a few days left, and Nell's is open daily.

The $25 menu:

Fennel soup

Leek risotto

Ahi tuna with curried lentils and butternut squash

Chicken breast with potatoes (mashed or crushed, I think) and rosemary jus

Lavender creme brulee with shortbread cookies

Puff pastry apple tart with cranberry ice cream

Wines with each course are offered for $20.

I ordered the apple tart, and it was delicious. I'm sure Matthew, Judy, or I will post a full review of our meal soon.

[malarkey]

last one: We did the $25 menu at Andaluca. Had calamari (I noticed they've changed their menu and a couple of the dishes we had are no longer available on the $25 menu). the calamari was sauteed in a spicy tomato/paprika type of sauce, served with grilled bread. very nice dish. Next was the beef tenderloin with cabrales cheese melted on top, sitting on top of mashed potatoes and grilled pears on the side. the flavor combination of the grilled pears with the tenderloin with blue cheese was really great. this was the stand out dish of the evening. dessert was the cranberry/pear crisp, this was a nice dessert, but it was not as fabulous as the bread pudding I had at Barking Frog.

[seawakim]

As scrat said, the Kobe-style beef at 727 was phenomenal.  I poked around a little and came up with a web-site where you can order it.  Not cheap my any means, but it sure was good....

Snake River Farms Kobe Style Beef

Scrat and Tighe, thanks to you and other eGulletaires, I had a delectable dinner at 727 Pine tonight. The staff was very informative....I will post a full review in a few days.

Thank you for the recommendation and the resource for the Kobe beef. What a delightful addition to add to my holiday cooking.

[mb7o]

I went to Wild Ginger last week. Their 25 for 25 menu appeared to be a reduced version of the regular menu, which I didn't have time to read and certainly don't remember from rare visits. Three choices of appetizers (suger cane shrimp, spring rolls, ?); we had them all.

Maybe ten entree choices. We ordered the fragrant duck, shanghai beef, and a seafood noodle dish. What we actually got was a chicken dish, shanghai beef, and a seafood noodle dish. Oops, somehow the order got confused and our server re-ordered the full sized fragrant duck, we ended up with the chicken for free. The service was actually quite good, which is unusual in Seattle.

All of the dishes were excellent. Frankly, I've never been too impressed with Wild Ginger. Not that the food is bad, but it has a stellar reputation and the food doesn't always match. My favorite was the shanghai beef, which had the effect of being coated and deep fried, and I'm not a fan of deep fried.

The third course was desert: a ice cream in your choice of 5 or so flavors; neither here nor there.

One last comment is that the place is enormous. I can't think of a larger place of near this caliber in Seattle.

[tighe]

Scrat and Tighe, thanks to you and other eGulletaires, I had a delectable dinner at 727 Pine tonight. The staff was very informative....I will post a full review in a few days.

Thank you for the recommendation and the resource for the Kobe beef. What a delightful addition to add to my holiday cooking. 

So glad you enjoyed 727 and the beef.

Having my interest sparked, I have surfed for more info on the subject and came up with at least a couple interesting items. One is that part of the traditional feeding regimen is to give the cattle beer! How bad of a life can that be? The other is that when cooking it, its important to cook it rare. Apparenty, anything beyond that results in tough flavorless meat. In fact, one web site I read said it should be treated pretty much the same as cooking ahi.

[tighe]

Scrat and I went to Flying Fish tonight for their $25 menu. Hadn't been there in a number of years, but my worst memory of the place, the deafening noise level, remains unchanged.

Fortuantely the food was good. For my first course, I had spicy calamari with a jalapeno sauce. Very tasty with the calamari cooked perfectly. My entree was blackened swordfish with wasabi steamed bok choi and a risotto cake. The risotto cake, in particular, rocked! Dessert was a lovely, if not astounding, grappa brownie with black and white chocolate sauces. If anyone can find the "grappa" in this dish, please let me know....

Scrat's starter was salmon cake with a basil aioli and balsamic. Yummy! Entree was mahi-mahi something that she felt was just OK. For desert she had a coconut cake with a sauce made from some bizarre type of Australian tomato that is sweet and tastes like strawberries! It was excellent.

We're planning to squeeze one more of the dinners in before time runs out this week. Just can't help ourselves....

[Fish]

We went to 727 Pine this evening. I hadn't read eGullet for a while so I hadn't seen all the rave reviews here. I went in expecting an over-hyped dinner, since the last reviews I'd read of the place indicated that it didn't deserve the fuss.

Four of us went for dinner. It didn't get off to a great start when we had to wait just under half an hour for our (reserved) table. Sure, you can't make people leave, but still .... Others have described the menu earlier in this thread, so here's what was ordered:

Amuse bouche: Just after we sat down, they brought out a piece of cured sea scallop with chives and what smelled like truffle oil. I don't eat seafood (though it was apparently very good), so they brought me a tiny, delicious fennel salad.

First course: 3 of us had the smoked salmon, which was excellent. The salmon had a lovely smokey flavour, though the horseradish foam could have been a bit more assertive. The pommes maxim garnish was bloody impressive, especially since I've made something similar and it's damn difficult to do that well. The fourth person at the table had the soup (pumpkin ? squash ?) which I tasted - very good.

Second course: Three of four had the Kobe beef. I really wanted to get it too, but since my SO was getting it, and it was served with mushrooms, I decided to try the monkfish. This was a big step for me: since I saw the Battle Monkfish on Iron Chef, I've thought monkfish the most revolting thing I've ever seen. But it sounded good, served with basil gnocchi, so I ordered it. Great choice - it was absolutely delicious, and IMO better than the beef (which I tasted). Very interesting flavours, and the gnocchi in particular were excellent. The beef was nice, but it just didn't do it for me. Red meat just isn't as appealing as it used to be.

Dessert: No choice here: bread pudding all around. It wasn't bad at all - not the best bread pudding I've had, but tasty.

Finally, with the bill, we were presented with some small chocolate mousse-ey things served on pistachio shortbread - very yummy. Off to he gym with me tomorrow !

All in all, a very good meal. For 25 bucks, it was a good deal. The wine ain't cheap (I had a glass of the recommended Chardonnay with my fish, for $9) but all in all, I'd go there again.

- S

(Edited to correct typos)

Edited November 25, 2002 by Fish (log)

[tighe]

...I don't eat seafood (though it was apparently very good), so they brought me a tiny, delicious fennel salad....

Not that its any of my business, but out of curiosity, how does this statement reconcile with the fact that you had two courses of fish for your dinner? Do you mean that you don't eat shellfish perhaps?

[Fish]

...I don't eat seafood (though it was apparently very good), so they brought me a tiny, delicious fennel salad....

Not that its any of my business, but out of curiosity, how does this statement reconcile with the fact that you had two courses of fish for your dinner? Do you mean that you don't eat shellfish perhaps?

Whoops, silly me - poor choice of words. No shellfish (or pork) for me. Then again, given my avatar, eating any fish seems like cannibalism

- S

[SeAAttle]

Agree with the rave reviews of Kobe-style beef at 727. First time to dine there and although we got off to a bad start, the evening quickly recovered. We arrived early for a 7:30 reservation and were told that we would "have to wait because (you) are early". Almost an exact quote. True, we were about 25 min early but the way we were told was not very smooth. We replied that "yes, we are early but you do not seem to be that busy" (they were about 2/3 full). While waiting, I noticed a few other less than smooth interactions with customers, so I think they may need to reconsider the staff assignments. After a 10-15 min wait, we were given a table -- right next to the waiter station. Punishment for being early, I guess.

Our waitperson made up for the bad start by being very attentive, interactive when we invited it and did a great job. I had the smoked salmon which was quite good but the serving was extremely small - about 1 inch square, literally. It looked ridiculous on the large plate. The waiter said it was the regular serving size so I was quite glad to be taking advantage of the 25/25. Then the Kobe-style beef came and I never looked back. An enjoyable evening. Waiter told us the table numbers that we should request in the future. In my experience, that almost always works because "if you know the table numbers, you must be regulars."

We made reservations for their Thanksgiving dinner. Will see which table we get!

Tried 25/25 at Assaggio tonight. Very large menu for both first and second courses.

[tsquare]

Last day!

My final dinner out on this was at Tulio's. I'd never been there for dinner and missed their presentation at Boomtown Cafe, so thought I'd try it out. Pretty good business on a Tuesday night. There are two sets of two seats at the back of the restaurant - at the cook line and at the salad/dessert prep areas. I took the salad/dessert counter. A view into the pizza oven as well, some simple dessert plating, and tossing of salads to amuse me.

Started with a butternut squash soup. Smooth and silky, nice flavor, spoon marks left in the bowl (thicker than it tasted). Would have liked to see a swirl of flavored oil, or a sprinkle of something crunchy on top as a contrast, but it was good as served. Other choice was a tossed salad. Bread plate included foccacia slices and dark style loaf.

Entree was roasted chicken breast on lemon risotto. The good sized portion of chicken was tender and juicy with a crisp and salty skin. Tucked under the skin was fresh sage and garlic slices, perhaps carmelized? This was great. Risotto was toothsome and a bit creamy, with a sweetness from perserved lemons. Appreciated it served as a side - never order it as an entree as I find I get bored eating a big portion. As I was finishing up, I was brought a forgotten crostini starter "chef's choice" that I was wondering about, but hadn't asked about. It was topped with tomato, basil, currents, pine nuts, and EVOO. Burst of flavor that was delicious. But, when I returned to the chicken, all of a sudden the sage took on that funky taste rather than what I was enjoying a few minutes earlier. Not sure if it was relative to the crostini flavors or a bad leaf. Couldn't get beyond it. The entree option was a cheese stuffed pasta with garlic and broccoli or some such.

Dessert choices were tiramisu (duh) or warm chocolate pudding cake. I went for the pudding cake at the waitr's suggestion. Not a molten cake - tender cake surrounding a creamy pudding center, served with vanilla ice cream and a small portion of cherry stuff (not a compote, maybe a sauce, but with whole cherries.) This was good. Saw the tiramisu - big slabs.

This was a very good meal - thought not a huge price break. I liked the seat (despite it being close to a hall door that had much use.) Not a lot of places in town to watch cooking.

[tighe]

Scrat and I finished off our $25 dinner spree at Ponti last night. As hoped, it was quite a good meal, although scrat cheated and strayed for the $25 menu!

For the first course, I had sauteed calamari (not breaded) in a somewhat spicy tomato herb sauce. I really prefer unbreaded calamari when I can get it and this was a great rendition.

For my entree I had Thai curry penne with crab, scallops and shrimp. This was really exceptional. A finely balanced curry with wonderfully fresh and perfectly cooked seafood. I couldn't have imagined being happier except that I had to watch scrat enjoying (to put it mildly) the seared ahi that she ordered. Since this is the second time I've tasted the ahi at Ponti, I can say unequivically that it is the best I've ever had.

Desert was white chocolate creme caramel. Nice as creme caramel goes, but couldn't detect any white chocolate flavor.

Of the places we ate this month, I would rate them as follows:

1. 727 Pine

2. Nishino

3. Ponti

4. Flying Fish

5. Szmania's

Here's to hoping they decide to do this again in March!

[heyjude]

Having slowly recovered from my in-laws birthday visit, I'm ready to comment on Nell's a week late. None of us ordered the $25 dinner, but the meal for 8 of us was reasonable anyway. Even with wine and a couple of drinks and some special order fois gras, the dinner was about $50 a person including tax and tip. All but one of us(who never enjoys anything), was more than happy with both food and service. The waiter turned out to be a friend of my twin sons and was competent and gracious. The appetizers including a butternut squash soup, heavenly fois gras with a fig-port reduction and calamari were delicious and just the right size. The mains were venison, chicken, duck breast, scallops, salmon and beef tenderloin. Every plate was bare when we were done and we were all very satisfied with taste and presentation except (see previous parentheses). Jake did say that he prefers lots of food for little money to small portions for a lot, but that he is outgrowing that. The desserts were good though not fabulous and they sent out a creme brulee with a birthday candle for my MIL. Chef Philip Mihalski came out to greet us. We all expressed appreciation of the meal(except the lone pouter). We also took them to Brasa which did seem to be enjoyed(we paid). Okay, that's out of my system.

[nightscotsman]

Agree with the rave reviews of Kobe-style beef at 727.  First time to dine there and although we got off to a bad start, the evening quickly recovered.  We arrived early for a 7:30 reservation and were told that we would "have to wait because (you) are early".  Almost an exact quote.  True, we were about 25 min early but the way we were told was not very smooth.  We replied that "yes, we are early but you do not seem to be that busy" (they were about 2/3 full).  While waiting, I noticed a few other less than smooth interactions with customers, so I think they may need to reconsider the staff assignments.  After a 10-15 min wait, we were given a table -- right next to the waiter station.  Punishment for being early, I guess.

I dined at 727 earlier this month and had a similar experience. We arrived at about 7:00 on a Sunday night without a reservation. They told us they were quite busy and there would be a 20 minute wait if we would like a seat at the bar. We settled in and ordered cocktails (which I would have done anyway). After 15-20 minutes (during which time I saw no other parties enter the restaurant) we were seated in the dining room which was maybe about 1/4 full. Did they think we wouldn't notice? What if we had told them we didn't want to wait and turned to leave?

Thankfully the experience and food after that was very good and redeemed the less than welcoming reception.

[seawakim]

I can't believe it's all over

This was a wonderful month of visiting restaurants. Unfortunately I was only here for half of it and could only go to a few of them. I was lucky enough to go to Assagio's, Cascadia, Szmania's Lake Street, Tulio, Yarrow Bay Grill, 727 Pine, Earth and Ocean, Etta's, The Hunt Club at the Sorrento, Ponti, Vivanda and Canlis.

Reviews may or may not be p[osted in the near future.

I really wanted to try Nell's and Restaurant Zoe but am hoping that the promotion will be on again in March....did they do this in March of this year?

[SeAAttle]

I dined at 727 earlier this month and had a similar experience. We arrived at about 7:00 on a Sunday night without a reservation. They told us they were quite busy and there would be a 20 minute wait if we would like a seat at the bar. We settled in and ordered cocktails (which I would have done anyway). After 15-20 minutes (during which time I saw no other parties enter the restaurant) we were seated in the dining room which was maybe about 1/4 full. Did they think we wouldn't notice? What if we had told them we didn't want to wait and turned to leave?

Thankfully the experience and food after that was very good and redeemed the less than welcoming reception.

I think they have a personnel problem at the front end. We went to 727 for Thanksgiving dinner and had a wonderful meal. However, again, the interaction with the woman at the front desk was a bit odd. My wife wished her a Happy Thanksgiving when we arrived and she said something like "Well, mine was yesterday since I am working today". Just does not fit with the excellence of the rest of the experience.

Both had the New Zealand venison - terrific.

[tighe]

Both had the New Zealand venison - terrific.

I'd be interested in hearing more details of the meal if you're willing to share. When I went for the $25 dinner, I thought the Thanksgiving menu looked quite good.

[tsquare]

I really wanted to try Nell's and Restaurant Zoe but am hoping that the promotion will be on again in March....did they do this in March of this year?

They did a March run last year (this? 2002) - oh, do you mean those specific restaurants? Not sure, but I think so, Nell's at least. Hopefully you don't stop going out when the 25 for 25 isn't on - it is pretty easy to eat as inexpensively (?!) at regular times, with some careful selections - or by foregoing either a starter or dessert. But I like the encouragement to try places I haven't been - or not in awhile.

Edited November 30, 2002 by tsquare (log)

[nightscotsman]

Hopefully you don't stop going out when the 25 for 25 isn't on - it is pretty easy to eat as inexpensively (?!) at regular times, with some careful selections - or by foregoing either a starter or dessert.

This is very good advice. I sometimes like to order two or three substantial-sounding appetizers and skip the entree, since going without dessert is too much of a hardship. Sort of a build-your-own tasting menu on a budget.