Nell's on Greenlake

[malarkey]

me and my friend Deb went to Nell's last night for dinner. We've never been, so had no idea what to expect. Its white linen and speigelau stemware and I felt a bit chagrined to show up in jeans and a tee shirt, but hey, this IS Seattle... and they really didn't mind at all. We did the tasting menu, for $47. Its 4 courses, and we added the Saleh calamari to the list because well, we'd also never made it to Saleh al Lago either

The calamari has a paprika/spicy dusting on it and it was cooked perfectly, NOT rubbery at all. It came with a parsley salad and was sprinkled with pan fried capers. Wow, great dish, really yummy. I especially liked the capers, they were just slightly crunchy and some of them had sort of exploded. really great!

Then came halibut on a white bean and chard ragout. This was also a great dish- the halibut pan seared and perfectly cooked and the white bean mixture underneath it all was really tasty.

next was foie gras sitting on top of a poached pear with a sort of bread salad/stuffing underneath it. I can't remember what they called this but it was savory and quite delish. The foie gras with the pear was a great combination.

then there was duck confit resting on herbed potatoes and asparagus, with an asparagus 'jus'. the asparagus came in paper thin angled slices, really interesting, I've never thought about slicing asparagus this way (obviously done with a mandoline). duck confit is NEVER bad.

dessert: lavender creme brulee with shortbread cookies. Creme brulee now always reminds me of the movie Amelie. (she liked breaking the crust on creme brulee...) Really great but by then we were bursting.

All washed down with a couple of glasses of wine this adventure came to ~$90 each with tip.

I notice they have a couple of bad reviews on Citysearch. Not sure what's going on there but our experience was fabulous.

[awbrig]

Sounds like an incredible dinner!

next was foie gras sitting on top of a poached pear with a sort of bread salad/stuffing underneath it. I can't remember what they called this but it was savory and quite delish. The foie gras with the pear was a great combination

That foie gras sounds awesome. I was once had a Foie Gras dish @ Trotters that was paired with Seckel pear and I remember that it was a great pairing!

Edited April 17, 2003 by awbrig (log)

[col klink]

I never knew we had such upscale dining on Greenlake. Yum, foie gras. Sounds like you had great meal Malarkey!

[docsconz]

Nell's Restaurant. The Chef/owner is Phil Mihalsky. Before coming to Seattle he worked in France and NYC. He started in Seattle at Dahlia Lounge before moving to Marco's Supper Club. From there he opened Nell's. I know Phil to be a very talented chef so I became a small investor despite his restaurant being on the other coast. It's nice to hear such a positive review. I have no doubt it was earned.

[nightscotsman]

Sounds like a great dinner at quite a reasonable price. When Seawakim and I dined from 25 for $25 menu there last month, I have to say the food was drastically less inspired. Clearly we should have ordered from the regular menu.

[SparrowsFall]

The two times I've been to Nell's I've been quite pleased with the food. Not the most prepossessing ambience, but okay. The wine's list's bit shy on continentals, but otherwise pretty smart.

[mamster]

I've been once and had a great meal. Foie gras, scallops, and a good chocolate dessert. I think I described it on a thread previously; I'll try to find it.