[SEA} Red House

[Ye-Ye Girl]

Red House is a cute little tapas bar and retail wine and beer shop in Renton that's been open for a little over three weeks now. I've visited three times, once with a group of four, once with The Dude, and once solo. I plan to go again later tonight (solo again).

The menu consists of around 18 or 20 tapas items with a bit of a lean toward a Mediterranean influence, usually complemented by 2 or 3 specials. A few desserts - not on the menu and often not shown on the specials board - are available as well. Prices are reasonable - portions are good-sized for tapas, and all plates are between $4 and $7, with most items $6 or under.

I'd guess there are around 400 different bottles of wine and around 200 varieties of beer (sold as singles) on the retail side to choose from, covering all price ranges. All are available to be opened onsite to enjoy with the tapas (or without, if you prefer). There are also 15 or so wines by the glass to choose from, most priced between $4.50 and $6.50.

Unfortunately, I can't remember all the food selections I've tried, but here's a shot: olives & roasted almonds, babaganoush, lamb meatballs, spicy garlic shrimp, prosciutto & manchego with grilled rustic bread, potato & smoked ham hock croquetas, some kind of marinated, sauteed mushroom with cotija cheese, and pear/apple tarte tatin. There are a few others I just can't recall, no matter how hard I rack my brain.

The good news is that it's almost all quite good. We didn't care for the mushrooms, but everything else was good, especially those croquetas and meatballs. Red House is no Harvest Vine, but it's not as expensive, either, and it's a nice addition to the Renton/southend dining scene.

They haven't had a grand opening yet, and they've done zero advertising, but they've still been pretty packed every time I've been there. Granted, it's small - maybe thirty can be seated inside, with room for eight or ten more on the deck, which has two covered tables and a large radiant heater. But once word gets out more than it already has, this place will be busy all the time.

Red House

410 Burnett Ave S

Renton, WA

425.266.2666

M-Th 11-9

F 11-10

Sa 4-10

Su 3-9

No smoking

[tighe]

Thanks for the report YYG, always good to get south end news (girl chow has been slacking off recently if you ask me ). Do you think this is a place where one could show up with a baby in tow?

[Ye-Ye Girl]

Two of the times I've visited Red House, there have been families toting babies in carriers, so they're clearly welcome. It could be a little crowded if you're in the entry room with more tables - space is kinda tight there. The second room (that houses more retail wine than the first) is the same size, but has fewer tables and would be a better bet.

Last night I had one of the specials - duck salad in a mint vinaigrette. The flavors melded beautifully, but the salad ended up being kinda difficult to eat. Perched on the greens were two duck legs, and a larger salad bowl would have made for easier carving of the meat. But it was tasty, and filling for one person all by itself.

Oh, yeah. I was wrong on my earlier post with the prosciutto...it's Serrano ham with the manchego instead. Very tasty. And I can't believe I forgot to mention the chipotle deviled eggs, the very definition of yum.

One last note - Red House doesn't add corkage if you purchase the wine and drink it there, at least not that I've experienced.

[girl chow]

HEY Tighe, watch it.

Ok, yeah, I have been slacking on South King County restaurant coverage. But I have a good excuse. Now that I work and live in Pierce County, I've devoted my time to finding great eats way south of you all. I just don't know how much you all care about the netherlands of Tacoma, so I haven't posted much.

What I've discovered in Tacoma will blow off your socks if you're of the type who would travel down here. YES! We have banh mi (Cafe La Vie), great Greek street style eats (It's Greek to Me), fantastic BBQ (Bob's and The Warthog), southern food that will make you swoon (Southern Kitchen, From the Bayou) and believe it or not, a really kick-ass upscale grocery store (Proctor and Dash Point Met Markets). A Trader Joes will be opening soon in University Place (burb of Tacoma). Why the hell do I need to come up to King County anymore?

But if I ever have a need to get up to the Renton hood, I so will check out Red House. Thanks for posting Ye-Ye Girl I'm curious about the location, is it over by the C.D. Danza Spa, or is it one street south of there? I can't think of where it would be in relation to the train tracks/Spirit of WA dinner train. HELP!

[Ye-Ye Girl]

Hey, GC! I've no clue where the C.D. Danza spa is, so I'm afraid I'm no help with that reference. However, I do know you can see the train depot from the deck and front windows of Red House. It's less than half a block south of the tracks on Burnett, and probably one block (max) east of the depot. It's right where Burnett splits into the divided avenue, next door to the VFW (which, by the way makes so-so drinks, but has great kitschy entertainment on weekends). And if the name didn't give it away, it's in an older house that's painted...red.

[tighe]

I found a web site for Red House. I'm anxious to give it a try since it's close to home. If only it were possible to, oh, I don't know, find out who else might be interested in going.....

[DRColby]

Tighe,

We'd like to join you. We started out a couple of months ago to try to find this and ended up in an Italian place by mistake. I asked the owner and he said he'd never heard of it.

Set a time for a lunch or super and Cathy I will join you.

Dave

[tamiam]

Red House sounds like a great addition to the area. I'd like to try it too. Perhaps if several of us just happened to show up at the same time, we might enjoy it together.

We could speak in ig-Pay atin-Lay to arrange a chance meeting.