Recommendation for Bellevue restaurant

[richards1052]

My wife & I are going to the movies tomorrow at Lincoln Sq. (Bellevue). I wonder if anyone likes any restaurants very close by. I've been to Bis & quite liked it though I don't know if it's open on Mondays. Anything else worthy mentioning?

[MGLloyd]

SeaStar is very good.

[tsquare]

How about trying the new O8 Seafood and/or Twisted Wine Bar at Bellevue Place? Dan Thiessen's new places. He sounded pretty passionate about what he was doing, but we haven't made it to the Eastside to sample the food.

Edited January 15, 2007 by tsquare (log)

[kieran]

SeaStar is very good.

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Is Seastar open again after the crane incident?

[Ling]

Porcella has awesome cured meats, and you can also sample them in the charcuterie platter. They have classic French bistro dishes like coq au vin, beef bourguinon, and duck confit, etc. Their sandwiches are good, as are their truffled gaufrette fries. I also love their duck rillettes and pork rillettes.

[rockdoggydog]

Second Porcella.

Rocky

[JasonTrue]

It's not particularly exciting but the vaguely Lebanese restaurant, Mediterranean Kitchen ,is fairly reliable and reasonably priced, and generally has decent service.

The only problem is a fascination with large serving sizes, and that there's no point in ordering appetizers as a result. It's also heavy-handed with garlic, which is either a plus or a minus, depending on your perspective.

The group I went to Seastar with left with mixed reviews. My only real complaint with it is that it had this very sterile-feeling interior and corporate vibe... I remember they actually had a staff member responsible for event booking sales, though I don't know if that's still the case.

Also worth considering, depending on how you order, is the Japanese/slightly Hawaiian Flo, which had fairly decent small plates. Some things were quite decent (I always have a weakness for dengaku nasu) and some things were a little less so (mostly their fusiony things). (I haven't been there since perhaps 2003, so things may have changed).

When I lived in the Eastside and didn't have better Italian options, a girlfriend and I often enjoyed Salute, but it is occasionally inconsistent, and I'm not sure if it has the same owners or not these days. I also haven't been there for years.

Edited January 16, 2007 by JasonTrue (log)

[richards1052]

Thanks to all for those replies. They're really helpful as we're from Seattle & don't get to eat in Bellevue too often. This will give us a few promising new ones to try. <a href="http://www.porcellaurbanmarket.com/index.htm">Porchella</a> sounded wonderful & the website looks yummy.

We actually chose to go to Bis for a variety of reasons too complex to go into here. Suffice to say that while we liked the meal we had there a year ago or so, I can't say the same for tonight's meal. It was entirely ordinary. Nothing very bad, but very little that was very good.

I had bacon wrapped scallops on polenta with apple coulis & brussels sprouts. When I ordered I didn't realize that apple coulis & scallops could taste quite strange together. It didn't ruin the dish, but didn't help either. If you don't do scallops perfectly when you're grilling or pan-cooking them you're left w. entirely avg. scallops, which happened tonight. The outside of the scallop must be seared nicely & crispy, while the inside should be tender & moist. There was very little sear on the outside at Bis. The bacon seemed undercooked (not raw, just not cooked till the proper full brown coloring came out). And at $28.50, it wasn't worth the price. The polenta tasted bland.

The dessert list was entirely the "usual suspects" you find in too many restaurants. The typical molten chocoloate souffle pecan pie, & lemon tart, among others. We ordered the lemon tart. While it was good in its way, it did nothing to rise above the 400 other lemon tart servings you've had over the years.

The restaurant makeover was nice. The room was still cozy and warm. But it was nothing like the wonderful, intimate familiarity of the old Bis setting.

We really wished it was better. We truly wanted to like it.

Edited January 16, 2007 by richards1052 (log)

[Mellich]

Give us a shot next time (Porcella that is)

Edited January 16, 2007 by Mellich (log)

[hhlodesign]

Give us a shot next time (Porcella that is)

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How about these:

Porcella shots

[richards1052]

Give us a shot next time (Porcella that is)

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As I wrote, your site looks lovely. We just felt we didn't want such a full-on MEAT experience that particular night. But we will definitely check out Porchella.

[scout]

Just wondering if there's anything new in the area worth checking out.

We'll be staying in Bellevue for 1 night this Saturday and would like to find a nice place to take my friend out for her birthday. We're staying right near Bellevue Square (Marriott Courtyard), so it would be a bonus if we could find something walking distance from the hotel.

Thanks,

Scout

[tsquare]

Just wondering if there's anything new in the area worth checking out. 

We'll be staying in Bellevue for 1 night this Saturday and would like to find a nice place to take my friend out for her birthday.  We're staying right near Bellevue Square (Marriott Courtyard), so it would be a bonus if we could find something walking distance from the hotel.

Thanks,

Scout

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Chinese?

Bamboo Garden Sezchuan has had good reviews - 106th at 2nd.

[daves]

Just wondering if there's anything new in the area worth checking out. 

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What timeframe would be new to you?

And Porcella (see up-thread) is just down the Bellevue Way on Main.

Edited May 17, 2007 by daves (log)

[Marky Marc]

I stopped at Porcella today after reading the reviews here and I was quite pleased. I had the Pork Rillette with Shaved Red Onion, Wine Plumped Currants and a Dijon Mustard Sauce. It was a nice balance of sweet and spicy that complemented the pork nicely. Top notch. I also manage to snag a slice of foie there, which I was very excited about. But oh man... those gafrette (sp?) cut potato chips... fuggetaboutit! So good! Garlicy, salty, and I swear I could taste white truffle in there too! I will definately return.

(edit: there are truffles in it as someone already mentioned. hahaha)

Edited May 18, 2007 by Marky Marc (log)

[ImportFood]

My wife and I went to Porcella late last summer and we loved the food and the way you can see the kitchen. Excellent dessert and coffee too. This location offers a bit of romance too. You can walk down the sidewalk afterward, toward the lake, and across the street is a very good middle eastern supermarket. It starts with a Z, don't recall the name. After that we drove just a 1/2 mile or so to the little waterfront park which was still open after dark. There is nice parking and you can walk down to sit on the park benches at water's edge.

Our favorite restaurant in Bellevue is Calcutta Grill at the Newcastle Golf Course. The food is very good, and they are family friendly so we can bring our kids with no problem at all. All summer long they have a bagpipe guy who comes out at about 8:00 in Scottish dress and he puts on a bagpipe show. They also serve excellent cocktails which we get after dinner. More about the bagpiper.

http://www.newcastlegolf.com/subcontent.aspx?SecID=434

[Eden]

Porcella closes early on Sundays so where else besides Bamboo Garden could we go for a quick meal pre chick-flick at Lincoln Square?

[tsquare]

We needed a late night (after movie) spot. The town is dark! Bamboo Garden, closed, Sea Garden, the sign says open, the help is seated and eating, we don't try.

Managed to get in at Seastar at 10 - they graciously sat us and offered to send one more order to the kitchen. We didn't order a lot, but they delivered - food and service, and validated parking. Lots of flavor in the seafood preps. The diner menu is pretty spendy, but I would try this place again, maybe lunch, if I am ever in need, or a nice pre-movie bite in the bar.