Earth & Ocean

[Mr. Toast]

A group of us went to Earth and Ocean last night. Most of the group went for the 25 for $25 special; I picked a more expensive prix fixe menu.

Executive summary: Earth & Ocean is a decent restaurant with delusions of grandeur.

Some of the good:

The nettle soup was delicious (this was the first time I ever tried nettles). Desserts were very good. Some of the other dishes were also quite good. We all liked the fries, and I had an excellent bison steak.

Some of the bad:

First, the airflow sucks . We were probably 30-40 feet from the bar, but there was a constant flow of cigarette smoke blowing over us.

Service was slow, and sometimes quite poor. I ordered a flight of wine to go with my meal. For the second course, the wine arrived after I finished the course. Then the next glass of wine arrived just 5 minutes later. And when we got the bill, I was charged for the individual glasses of wine, not for the flight - despite it being clearly called out on the menu.

Some of the food was just plain disappointing. The venison stew was bland and the venison itself was dry. My baby octopus over fork-mashed potatoes arrived without any octopus. When I complained, they brought me another dish with slices of what I would have to call juvenile octopus - not at all what I expected. Another diner in our party who doesn't eat pork asked to have the bacon left off his entree. There was no *visible* bacon, but plenty of bacon taste. Huh!

I really had high hopes for this place, especially after reading the menu. Now, I see no reason to go back.

[SeAAttle]

We returned to Earth & Ocean tonight for the first time since Sundstrom left. Overall, a disappointing experience. We arrived to find they had no record of our reservation. We had requested a specific table to avoid the smoke from the bar but they had just seated another couple there. The host was apologetic and offered us a table next to the wait station and very near the bar. We declined. She checked and said that we could have one of the back booths in 5-10 minutes. We waited at the dining room bar and although nobody offered a glass of wine or anything, we were seated in about 10 min. The host handled the problem with considerable skill. That turned out to be the highlight of the evening.

We ordered drinks and waited. Water eventually came. Finally, drinks also. The 25/25 was not particularly appealing so Ms. SeAAttle ordered the salmon and I had the duck confit. The table next to us was seated 10-15 minutes after us but they received their food before ours, even though we had the same waiter. The salmon was below average. Duck confit was ok but the spaetzle was dry, hard and crispy. Perhaps crunchy is a better description. Good but not outstanding wine by the glass was outrageously expensive -$14. I confirmed with the waiter that he had not overcharged us.

Smoke from the bar was a consistent problem.

We were big fans of E&O during the Sundstrom era but will not return until things change substantially. Oh, well...plenty of much better restaurants in Seattle.

[jbonne]

on a recent visit, i found the service OK but totally uneven. our server was very apologetic for, quite literally, not being able to find the first two bottles of wine we chose off the list. other staff were less good.

food was generally quite good, even the 25/25, but with some shortfalls. the salmon was eh.

the wines, though -- like you said, outrageous. the list is actually pretty good, but the markup is eye-popping.

[SeAAttle]

on a recent visit, i found the service OK but totally uneven. our server was very apologetic for, quite literally, not being able to find the first two bottles of wine we chose off the list. other staff were less good.

food was generally quite good, even the 25/25, but with some shortfalls. the salmon was eh.

the wines, though -- like you said, outrageous. the list is actually pretty good, but the markup is eye-popping.

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I got to thinking about the cost of the wine and wondered how we missed the outrageous price. I think they list 3oz and 6 oz servings, in that order. Probably saw the 3 oz price and the waiter brought the larger volume. He did not ask our preference. Buyer beware.

BTW, the place was packed - on a Tuesday night.

[Coop]

For me the cigarette smoke issue is a complete deal breaker. We were hotel geusts and wanted to have Saturday lunch there. The only tables open were right in the enterance about three feet from the smokers. No thanks.

[sequim]

For me the cigarette smoke issue is a complete deal breaker. We were hotel geusts and wanted to have Saturday lunch there. The only tables open were right in the enterance about three feet from the smokers. No thanks.

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I think they really need to deal with the smoke issue. Yesterday we went for lunch and were seated by the window, behind a big column, and we could still catch the whiff of smoke. You'd think they could easily put up some kind of screen between the bar and the dining area...

[tsquare]

Go after the lunch crowd. Quiet, smoke free, attentive.

Fabulous chicken sandwich - pulled chicken (?) smokey (in a good way) with sweet lightly cooked red onions and aioli. Nice side salad with crispy bit of chicken skin!

Sue's Snap Crackle Pop - on the Today show Friday June 3! And it is good - and sweet.