Nice Place in Bellevue

[LARRY WIENER]

We will be staying in Bellevue and would welcome any suggestions for a nice place to eat there; we wil have just one night. The type of food is not as important as the quality of the place. We would appreciate any suggestions for a place that is nice enough but not outrageously expensive.

Thanks.

[Mr. Toast]

Hmm, a bit vague. Care to define "not outrageously expensive"?

My first suggestion is a few miles away, Cafe Juanita. Expensive, but maybe not outrageously so.

[tighe]

Recommending places that one hasn't been is often a mistake, but I've had a couple people tell me that Sans Souci in the Hyatt is quite good. As with Cafe Juanita, I'm not sure if it would qualify as "outrageously expensive" or not. The menu I have shows pasta dishes at the low end at about $14 up to rack of lamb at $28. If you go (or if anyone else has been for that matter) I'd love to hear how it was.

[Kimo]

I'm curious to hear about Cafe Juanita (about 10-15 minutes away in Kirkland) and San Souci as well. My suggestions: I've had several amazing business lunches at Seastar Restaurant...have never been for dinner (www.seastarrestaurant.com). The wine list is one of the best on the Eastside. This restaurant is located in downtown Bellevue. Expensive.

I have had spectacular meals at Salish Lodge & Spa (www.salishlodge.com), located 20 minutes east of Bellevue next to Snoqualmie Falls; the sommelier worked under the sommelier at Seastar. And, the cheese tray is one of the best in the country. Very Expensive.

If you're in Bellevue for lunch, I've had wonderful lunches at Pogacha Restaurant (can't find website, found a nice review at www.mainstreetdental.com/restaura.htm). Please report back on your one-day findings!

[girl chow]

Agreed! Pogacha is fabulous and very well priced. Their specialty is this wonderful Croatian flatbread that they make in a wood fired oven. (they also have a location in Issaquah) Delicious. I highly recommend Pogacha. It's in a strip mall, so the atmo is slightly generic, but wonderfully executed food served in a rustic fashion. If the lamb shanks are on the specials sheet, do order that dish! The entrees are in the $15 range.

Sans Souci is high quality Italian, but my personal favorite is Firenze, located at Crossroads Shopping Mall in Bellevue. Firenze Also at Crossroads is an outpost of Jones Barbeque, which people here really love Jones BBQ. It might be worth a stop for lunch, but probably not for dinner.

Also at Crossroads is a great vegetarian Indian Place called Udupi. (it used to be called Golkonda).

I've lunched at Seastar and liked my meal, but I know too many foodies (whose opinions I value) who hate that place, so eat there with that knowledge. For a real sushi bargain, check out I Love Sushi in Bellevue, which is completely great sushi with an OK atmosphere. I Love Sushi link.

If you want to stay in Bellevue and eat at a spendy restaurant ($50 per person minimum), check out Daniel's Broiler, which has FANTASTIC views. I love that place. They've got a piano bar! Great cocktails! Excellent steak! A good time will be had by all. Mmmmmm..... steak... click here

If you decide you need to grab lunch, for authentic and very inexpensive Mexican, there is a great restuarant called La Cocina del Puerco (or something like that) on Main Street. Do not let the plastic chairs and folding tables fool you, this is a great place for authentic Mexican.

Moving a bit north of Bellevue (about a 10 minute drive), there are lots of great restaurants in the waterfront area of Kirkland. A new restaurant called Hector's (used to be a dump before they tore it up and renovated) just opened this week. It's a nice little place. But my top choice for Kirkland is definitely The Third Floor Fish Cafe, which hands down does the best seafood on the Eastside and has a great view Third Floor Fish Cafe link. They are fairly spendy, in the $30-$40 entree range. Cafe Juanita is in the same price range and is a great choice if you like really well crafted Italian food. I have not eaten there since John Neumark left and Holly Smith bought the place, so I cannot comment on the current state of the restaurant, but I still hear great things about the place. Cafe Juanita link

Also in Kirkland: Lynn's Bistro, a very cute little bistro serving upscale New American food ($20 entree range). Also, there's Szmania's on Lake Street click. They've got great Euro-Ameri food ($20-$25 entrees). I REALLY like the cocktails at 21 Central in Kirkland, although the staff can be either snobbish and/or idiots. Still, the bartender is fabulous and I recommend 21 Central for a drink after dinner.

Moving east to Redmond (10-15 minutes from downtown Bellevue), there are some places worth trying, including the Malay Satay Hut, a very reasonably priced Malaysian restaurant ($10 entrees). They also are located in the International District. Also in Redmond is a neat Italian joint (in a strip mall, errr) called Il Bacio. It's on Cleveland. Next door is a neat Greek place called Epiros. Both are very well priced with entrees in the $15 range.

Ok, my eyes are glazing and probably so are yours from information overload. I hope I've helped you come up with a few ideas of where to eat. If you give us a better idea of the "quality of the place" you're looking for, we could probalby tailor your search for you.

[tsquare]

A new restaurant called Hector's (used to be a dump before they tore it up and renovated) just opened this week. It's a nice little place.

Did you go to the pre-party on Monday? Hear it was pretty crazy. Any idea what the food is/will be like? Sure looks a lot better, but that was easy.

[girl chow]

I went to another preview function there this week and had some great food.. goat cheese tart, tenderloin with an interesting glaze. The chef seems like he really knows his stuff. He cooked with Vicky McCaffree and Cameon Orel at the Yarrow Bay Grill for 13 years! I recommend checking it out.

[LARRY WIENER]

Thanks for all your suggestions. With one evening free, we chose to go to Seastar in Bellevue, and it turned out to have been a good choice for us. It has the atmosphere of a big city seafood restaurant. There are high ceilings and a well-controlled level of background conversations.

There were four of us, each having a different main course: Halibut in a Potato Chip Crust; Diver Scallops; White Alaska Salmon; and Escolar. Well, we didn’t know what a “Diver” Scallop was, but it was good. This was the only place at which we had ever had Escolar, but again it was well received. There were non-seafood entrees on the menu. They included Kobe beef, chicken, and one or two vegetable items.

There was an extensive wine list, with selections covering a range of prices and origins. We had a French White Burgundy at about $30 - $35. It went well with all the various courses we ordered.

Starters and deserts were good. We found that splitting a salad between two diners still was adequate. One of the desert sorbets wasn’t received very well, but as I recall, it was some funny flavor. One supposes that it’s difficult to constantly develop new sorbets.

Note also, that the owner/chef also does planking. If you are interested you can probably contact him via their web site.

All in all, Seastar is a place we would return to, if we were to return to Bellevue.

[Foodie-Girl]

I've been to Cafe Juanita once...after Holly Smith took over. I thought it was great...from the service to the quality of the meal. I said 'hello' to Holly and she is a charming woman. I highly recommend Cafe Juanita!

[girl chow]

Larry, thanks for your report! It was fun to read.

Click here for plank information: mmmmmm..... salmon

I have John Howie's plank and I love it. For anyone curious, there are a few things you need to know about plank cooking.. don't oil the plank too much or the oil can cause serious smoking in your oven. Also, I've found it's better to soak my plank for about an hour before using (and this also helps the plank from catching on fire in your oven!!)

I've also used Howie's disposable planks on the barbecue, but I've found the traditional method of using wood pieces in a smoker box on the barbecue works better (and is MUCH cheaper) than the disposable planks.

[Schielke]

I've been to Cafe Juanita once...after Holly Smith took over.  I thought it was great...from the service to the quality of the meal.  I said 'hello' to Holly and she is a charming woman.  I highly recommend Cafe Juanita!

Yep, Cafe Juanita is really great, I think it is the best restaurant on the Eastside. And in my top 5 of Seattle.