restaurant for birthday dinner -- please advise!

[kieran]

I have been entrusted with organizing a (surprise) birthday dinner for someone on pretty short notice -- dinner is to be this coming Friday. The birthday boy is culinarily adventurous and has great taste in food. The catch is the number in the party -- I'm guessing we'll have about 10-12 people in all. Total cost should be maybe $25-40 a head, but at this late stage just finding somewhere good is more of an issue than cost.

Any suggestions for a place with tasty food that could accomodate a big party with less than a week's notice? Type of cuisine/ambience not an issue.

Thanks for your thoughts!

P.S. Finally going to do the tasting menu at Union tomorrow eve. Can't wait!

[wesza]

I have been entrusted with organizing a (surprise) birthday dinner for someone on pretty short notice -- dinner is to be this coming Friday. The birthday boy is culinarily adventurous and has great taste in food. The catch is the number in the party -- I'm guessing we'll have about 10-12 people in all. Total cost should be maybe $25-40 a head, but at this late stage just finding somewhere good is more of an issue than cost.

Any suggestions for a place with tasty food that could accomodate a big party with less than a week's notice? Type of cuisine/ambience not an issue.

Thanks for your thoughts!

P.S. Finally going to do the tasting menu at Union tomorrow eve. Can't wait!

kieran:

Have you considered pre-ordering a "Chinese Banquet Dinner" at anyone of many different Chinese Restaurants you could order and enjoy a authentic Banquet.

There are Cantonese, Shanghai, Hakka, Szechwan, Mandarin, Taiwan, Malay, Vietnam or even Korean Restaurants available, including Hot Pot's or Tableside Barbecue.

If any of these interest you, there are previous threads to research or I'm sure other posters will recommend their favorites.

10/12 Diners are the perfect size for any of these types of meals and most places have various menus pre-printed for your perusal or will cook anything you want.

I find that when these types of meals are ordered the timing and fun spent together at the meal makes every occasion special.

Irwin

[laurel]

I've been to two large birthday dinners at Marrakesh, the Moroccan restaurant in Belltown. The food was good, and the atmosphere was fun, with sitting on the floor and eating with our hands from shared plates (you'd probably want to make sure the people coming are pretty good friends and/or don't fear germs).

[kieran]

thanks for the suggestions -- both good ideas. i know he's been interested in trying marrakesh and seven stars pepper and has tried neither before.

would seven stars pepper be good for such an event? i haven't been there before either. (it's been on my list for a while now.)

[tsquare]

Brasa has a deal for 8 or more dinners - $25 for food, $15 for matched wines. I can't seem to find any info on line - you'd have to call them for specifics and to verify the price.

[kieran]

thanks for the suggestions, everyone. after consultation with the group i decided on marrakesh. i'll be sure to post a full report post-celebration!

tsquare, we went to brasa for his birthday last year, actually. it was pretty good, but i think i prefer their bar menu to their dinner menu.

kieran

[kieran]

last night we went to marrakesh for the birthday dinner. it was the first trip there for everyone in the party (there ended up being 8 of us). i think it was a pretty good choice that pleased both the more culinarily oriented members of our group and those who like to play it safe. we had the five course feast.

we started with a very lemony lentil soup that was tasty if not terribly innovative.

the next course brought two salads that we ate with chunks of soft moroccan bread. the first (better) salad was a carrot-eggplant puree that one member of our group remarked didn't taste much like carrot and another remarked didn't taste much like eggplant. i would describe it as mostly a smoky eggplant puree with a little carrot for sweetness. it was very good. the other salad was a tomato-cucumber mixture tossed with a very garlicky olive oil dressing. it was also good, but i liked the carrot-eggplant salad more because it presented more interesting flavors in my opinion.

the appetizer course was to my mind the highlight of the evening. it was a large pastry made of phyllo dough and stuffed with chicken, almonds, and some legume (maybe the other person who was there and who is likely reading this can help me -- i can't remember), topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon. despite the fact that i think everyone ended up inhaling a little too much powdered sugar, this was great. the cinnamony sugar worked really well with the phyllo and the stuffing. it was just the right combination of sweet and savory. very messy to eat with our hands!

we shared several entrees: roasted lamb shank; chicken with apricot sauce and sesame seeds; chicken with honey and prune sauce; couscous topped with chunks of roasted lamb and vegetables; roasted cornish game hen; beef and vegetable skewers (heavy on the beef, light on the vegetables). everyone else seemed to prefer the beef skewers, but my favorite was the apricot chicken. the most pleasant surprise was the chicken with honey and prune sauce, since i'm not generally a fan of prunes. the dish was a little sweet, but the chicken was tender and the prunes added a hint of flavor that really worked with the dish.

for dessert we had fruit salads and mint tea. i was glad dessert wasn't anything richer because i was (we all were!) pretty full on the rich meal. it was just the right way to end.

thanks for the recommendations, egullet amigos!