No real restaurant recs but we spent a couple days in downtown Seattle this early spring. Stunned how empty the downtown was after Pike Place closed, and how empty all the office buildings were. Worth making the hike from Pike Place down the waterfront to Pioneer Square, lots more funky stuff in that area than around the market.

I love Seattle (grew up in the area and have family all over). We visit several times a year.

Salumi is on my list to try! We almost ate there last summer, but circumstances dictated otherwise.

Sometimes I listen to Tom Douglas's radio show 'The Hot Stove Society' (also available as a podcast and on youtube) for food ideas. He often starts episodes by highlighting a local restaurant.

Below are some wins from my recent memory. I'm happy to talk Seattle food anytime

We had a stand-out brunch at Terra Plata on their beautiful rooftop patio. For whatever reason what I particularly remember are the Shishito Peppers and the Sourdough bread plate. I've heard great things about their Paella, but haven't eaten it myself.

https://www.terraplata.com/

I can also recommend Nick's on Madison (great atmosphere, fresh food and great attention to detail):

https://www.nicksonmadison.com/

I've been craving the lentil soup from Turkish Delight in Pike's Place (this is family owned and operated). The lamb stew is also excellent (as are the deserts - the Turkish delight isn't JUST cloying sweet):

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Turki ... ?entry=ttu

For breakfast / dessert you can't go wrong at either the Dahlia Bakery OR Macrina (I recommend Macrina's bialy breakfast sandwich and their morning rolls, along with pretty much anything else).

https://www.dahliabakery.com/
https://macrinabakery.com/

Also - for breakfast or lunch - Fat's Chicken and Waffles. I usually find chicken and waffles too sweet and one note. Not so at Fat's - the chicken is crispy, salty and delicious and the waffle was tangy / sweet. So good.

https://www.fatschickenandwaffles.com/

- zorkmead

If you follow J. Kenji Lopez on Instagram, he has done many Seattle area restaurant reviews and recommendations (pizza, teriyaki chicken, etc.) over the past 3-4 months.

irisarbor wrote:Bumping this thread
Likely will be in Seattle in mid-late July for a work event
previously had amazing food at Salumi and Shiro's for sushi
looking for other recs as well

Hey, Elaine, we have a family trip booked in Seattle in mid-July. I’d been thinking about bumping this thread too! We haven’t been to Seattle since our Honeymoon back in 1995. Looking forward to seeing how it’s changed. A little sad Dahlia Lounge closed. It was our favorite dinner way back then.

We were in Seattle, Vancouver and Olympic National Park for a couple weeks last summer in late July/early August. We had a great time and covered a lot of ground during our visit. We stayed a few days in Pioneer Square, a couple at the Fairmont Olympic for a wedding, a night in West Seattle and then a night near the Needle before we left for Vancouver.

In Pioneer Square, I would highly recommend the oyster happy hour at Taylor Shellfish Farms kind of near the stadiums. Fresh oysters, good drinks and friendly service as I was solo with two younger kids and had no issues. I also grabbed a sandwich to go at Salumi and was very happy that I did. I went for two salami sandwiches with the classic salami option. It looked a bit small with the $15 price tag but these were pretty substantial and filling. High quality ingredients and a well-made sandwich I would get these again and it's a great option to take with you on a ferry ride to the island.

I would also recommend a trip to Chinatown if you have time. Watched some epic outdoor ping pong matches one evening at a park and there are a lot of interesting places and things to see around here. I saw another poster recommend Dough Zone up thread, and we liked it so much we ate here twice. Order all the dumplings (like $6-8 per order) and the cucumber salad. Fantastic soup dumplings. I grabbed some excellent malasadas one morning at a cute shop called Fuji Bakery which is also in Chinatown/International District.

The ferry to Bainbridge Island was located pretty close to our hotel in Pioneer Square, so we took the trip to the island one morning which was really nice. Plenty of cute shops and places to snack on the island, along with a nice art museum right along the trail from the ferry to the downtown area. There were also wild blackberries everywhere during our trip, which I thought was awesome. I also took the kids to Richmond Beach Saltwater Park one day to swim, which was lovely. Beautiful country, I would love to go back and spend a couple weeks at Olympic we only had a few days and barely scratched the surface.

On our way to Seattle soon, I’ve got a loose itinerary in mind and a couple of reservations. I’m looking for a very specific recommendation. We will arrive on a Saturday, late afternoon. By the time we pick-up our rental car and arrive at our Vrbo condo it will likely be early evening. We are staying in Queen Anne and plan to hit the nearby Metropolitan Market shortly after our arrival to stock up on a few beverage and breakfast essentials. What should we do for dinner that night?

I’m not comfortable with having a reservation because who knows if travel will go as expected. Looks like we could pick-up
food at the market and stay in that night but I am wondering if there are Queen Anne options where walking in around 8pm on a Saturday without a reservation would be feasible? Bear in mind we will be with our 12-year-old. Thanks!

We had an amazing time in Seattle. Some food highlights:

Hands down favorite lunch was at Local Tide. After exploring the Fremont Sunday Flea Market it was the perfect place to grab a bite. We were sat immediately at the counter which was a fun way to interact with staff and see the food being prepared. Jonathan and I opted to share the shrimp toast and a daily special of ceviche. Truly perfect ceviche - Summer in a bowl. We were told they don't have it often so felt lucky to try it.





Audrey raved about her salmon teriyaki bowl and ate nearly everything.





The staff were so engaging and friendly. Loved it.

For nostalgia's sake, we dined at one Tom Douglas restaurant, Lola. We ordered a bunch of mezze. The standouts were the dolma and the manti.


Seen here after 2 of the 4 had been consumed.



Calamari was good too.


There was one clunker - the falafel. Over-fried, hard, sad. Great atmosphere, polished staff. Our shared hazelnut ice cream was a terrific finish.



We chose Elliot's for a lunch on the waterfront. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed watching the tour boat action. The oysters were delicious, especially the kusshis.



The mussels were the star for us here. Addictive broth - tequila, lime, jalapeno, cream & cilantro.



Did some hiking in the Snoqualmie area and stopped at Salish Lodge for lunch. It was solid, but not special. The signature complimentary biscuits drizzled with their own honey and the clam chowder were pretty great though.



Lovely view if sat by the windows and friendly staff. Free valet parking when dining.

Off the beaten path a bit, our dinner at Taurus Ox (Laotian), was a favorite. They don't take reservations and there was a 30 minute wait on a Tuesday at 7pm. We took the oppotunity to stroll around their Capitol Hill neighborhood and gawk at the gorgeous homes.

Lively, fun atmosphere.



Pulling from the menu descriptions:

We shared to start (small, individual portion shown,) Papaya Salad, made with padaek, crab and shimp paste, green beans, tomato, green eggplant, crushed peanuts, lime, and sliced cucumbers.



Audrey had Nam Khao ( A crispy rice sald with coconut, nam, peanuts, makrut lime leaf, pork skin, herbs, and chili. Served with lettuce wraps.)



Jonathan had the Lao Sausage Entree



I went with the Phad Lao (Stir Fried rice noodles, cabbage, herbs, shredded egg, pickled fresno chili, crushed peanuts, fish sauce & tofu.)


Wonderful, carmelized tofu on the bottom, not visible in the photo.

Everything here was interesting and satisfying.

Dough Zone was perfect for a quick/light lunch. Very fair prices too. We shared some cucumber, soup dumplings, potstickers & wontons.


Audrey love the Ube Milk Tea.







Il Nido did not disappoint. Very personable service. Dove right in with our appetizers so no pictures of the burrata and housemade cherry focaccia. Absolutely perfect pastas.

Fregula with mussels


Gnocchi


Tagliatelle


Can't beat the post-dinner walk along Alki beach.

Indulged in a fried food lunch on Bainbridge Island at Proper Fish. The breading on my oysters was a bit thick but the oysters remained a perfect creamy texture. Fries and mushy peas were outstanding. Audrey went with the kid's fish nuggets and Jonathan got the cod.







For our last dinner I had made a reservation on the patio at Musang a few weeks out. One week out I received an apology that their patio would be occupied by a buy-out group. I was offered seats at the bar for my 7:30 reservation time or an indoor table at 9:15 plus $20 off the bill for the inconvenience. Neither option really worked for us so I told them I would need to cancel. At that point they offered us a 7:30 reso at their sister restaurnt, Kilig. Same chef, more casual concept and they transferred the $20 credit. we decided to go for it. This was a completely different experience than we would have had at Musang, but we had fun here. The service was extremely attentive and when they saw how interested we were in everything it was especially enthusiastic.

We started with a gin on the rocks, a house white wine which was a lovely Gruner Veltliner, and a Guava Sunset (pink guava, coconut milk, lime.)



Audrey tried lumpia for the first time at the last LTH picnic and was instantly a huge fan. We shared these as an appetizer and she approved.



For mains, from the menu descriptions we had:

Kare Kare Dan Dan: wheat noodles, tahini, peanut sauce, short rib, okra, eggplant, long beans, bagoong & garlic chili sauce xo



Summer Pancit Canton: Canton noodles, yellow squash, zucchini, oyster mushroom, rainbow carrots, edamame, micro cilantro, radish, fried garlic + added shrimp



Sinuglaw: Seared Albacore tuna, grilled pork belly, pinakurat vinegar, coconut milk, shishitos, alliums, micro cilantro, pickled red onion + side of rice.




We got to talking with a couple of the staff about Filipino food in Chicago, neighborhood gentrification and urban living in general and somehow a complimentary dessert arrived. It was a nice way to end our time in Seattle.



Palitaw: Glutinous rice flour, ube, coconut caramel toasted sesame sugar, shaved young coconut, lime zest.

Lynn-

Thanks for such a great post! I am particularly enjoying how Audrey is developing her palate over the years.

We just returned from a trip out to the PNW and had some meals in Seattle worth writing about

So, I was very excited to finally get sandwiches at Salumi! We ate a salami with iceberg lettuce added, a grindhouse and a meatball sub. All were very good. According to my personal preference, I would say the grindhouse was the best (the mortadella was delicious). The other two were very good, but I might ask for the peppers on the side of the salami sandwich next time - they tasted good, but I felt like I wanted to eat the salami without them.

We followed that up with a pleasant ramble around Pioneer Square, dropping in at whatever stores interested us, briefly visiting the Klondike Goldrush National Historical Park, watching people play chess in Occidental Park and running up to Freeway Park for a free dance performance.

That evening, we had a truly lovely celebratory meal at Mamnoon. We ordered six side dishes and the mamnoon mashawi for six hungry people (4 of which are in the 18-25 year old cohort) and had just the right amount of food. We ordered a bottle of Lebanese white wine recommended by the waiter - sadly I lost track of any details on the wine other then to say it definitely complimented the food.

Food highlights were the muhammara, the talami wi fleifleh and (my very favorite thing) the halloumi salad. I thought the halloumi salad was beautiful and had such a pleasing balance of creamy / sweet / spicy flavors - the cherries were perfect! This was a meal where great memories were made of eating outside on a perfect Seattle evening with the sun setting and a view of the Puget Sound down the street.

Later in our visit we enjoyed dinner for two at Tom Douglas's Neb. It was fun to discover that Neb is in the original Serious Pie location (and the food is cooked in the wood fired oven).

This is the one meal where I took pictures.

We started with drinks.

Bergmotto Spritz and Triumph Thunderbird:


The Thunderbird was sort of a Negroni / Boulivardier mashup. The Spritz was awesome - perfect amount of citrus, not puckery at all - just refreshing. The server brought over the bottle Bergomotto for us to see - this liquor is now on my wishlist.

Italicus Bergomotto:


Then came the charred napa cabbage and fire roasted mussels. The dressing on the napa cabbage added a great piquant and salty pop to the smoky flavor from the char and the mussels were rich and tender. The mussel dish included a tomato sauce which isn't mentioned on the menu, but complimented them nicely.

Cabbage:


Mussels:


Next we ordered the spinach cannelloni. The miso ricotta was awesome! I would never have thought of adding miso to ricotta - but I really liked how it added a funkiness to the fresh cheese. I would recommend trying it out to anyone who thinks ricotta is too bland for their tastes:

Cannelloni:


Service was great, food was great and drinks were great!

One last neighborhood spot to mention - on our way out of town we had breakfast at a vegetarian cafe called Cafe Flora in the Central District. Unfortunately, one person in our party had several things go wrong with their food, but the management handled it well so I feel comfortable recommending it to anyone who is interested in their menu. The space is really appealing.

LynnB wrote:Il Nido did not disappoint. Very personable service. Dove right in with our appetizers so no pictures of the burrata and housemade cherry focaccia. Absolutely perfect pastas.

. . .

Can't beat the post-dinner walk along Alki beach.

We didn't make it over to Alki on our recent trip and I would love to try Il Nido and Musang (or Kilig). Thanks for describing them and letting me vicariously enjoy your trip!

zorkmead wrote:

LynnB wrote:Il Nido did not disappoint. Very personable service. Dove right in with our appetizers so no pictures of the burrata and housemade cherry focaccia. Absolutely perfect pastas.

. . .

Can't beat the post-dinner walk along Alki beach.

We didn't make it over to Alki on our recent trip and I would love to try Il Nido and Musang (or Kilig). Thanks for describing them and letting me vicariously enjoy your trip!

Mamnoon sounds great. I checked out their website and it would be hard to decide what to get as it all sounds delicious.

There are so many great options in the Seattle area that it’s difficult to make decisions around meals. We won’t wait another 30 years to go back!