Nitpick: the Pig War actually took place on San Juan Island, which is a lovely place to go but is not reachable by ferry directly from Seattle. It’d take you a day or overnight to go up there, look around, and come back, so the Whidby option is highly preferable.
Hotel Andra is right upstairs from one of Tom Douglas’ restaurants, Lola (Greek/Mediterranian), and across the street from his original restaurant, Dahlia Lounge. There are other fancy restaurants I’d go to first (like Restaurant Zoe), but Douglas is a local institution who makes very good food.
I am not Interrobang–but my take on it, is that it is a nice restaurant–sort of a greek/med flavor to the menu if I recall. I took my wife there last year for her birthday. The had great garlic smashed potatoes (not mashed potatoes)–these were small garlic potatoes that we cooked then sort of mashed down…very good.
There are other better restaurants though in the downtown area. If you are coming to Seattle–I would stick with the seafood choices. I am sure in Chicago you have many restaurants that would put Lola to shame.
Anthony’s at Pier 66 gives you three choices–a fast food street seafood place, a mid priced restaurant on the main floor and a higher end restaurant above. (At least that is how it was last time I was there).
Another good restaurant to try is Wild Ginger and for some good music you can try the Triple Door (located under Wild Ginger) which also serves the same food as Wild Ginger. I would describe their menu as an eclectic asian influence.
A good steak/seafood house is Metropolitan Grille–they have a great happy hour menu. Drinks are pricey–but the happy hour menu itself is inexpensive. Same goes for McCormicks and Schmicks–but they are more of a chain. I would also recommend the Brooklyn. Another option is Union Street Grille up by the Convention Center.
interesting,no one has ever called me a honky or uptight before – what specifically didn’t you like about Wild Ginger?
Personally I like a wide variety of asian foods–but I see them as very different cuisines. Chinatown has some very good Asian Retaurants as well–but they are different from Wild Ginger.
I liked Earth and Ocean–but more for the dessert I had there. I thought the fish was a bit too oily when I ate there. But I think is a nice restaurant.
I can’t speak for Mr. Hawk, but I consider the food there very mainstream. What you get on your plate is not significantly better than what you can get from a good restaurant in the ID, but it is more expensive. You’re paying for the location, the ambience, and the privilege of eating at Wild Ginger, not for the food itself. If you want really adventurous Asian cuisine, go to Monsoon, which I recommended above.
Agreed, the Ray’s Boathouse Thai Mussels are the most heavenly perfect food on the planet.
A close second are their beer-battered clams. Yum!
However, count me in as a dissenter about Anthony’s. I think their seafood preparation is awful, barely worth the effort it would take to regurgitate the mess. Their chefs torture seafood in unholy ways, oversaucing and overspicing everything like an Iron Chef reject. Seafood is meant to be minimalist, not breaded dipped and boiled in twelve layers of mango-coconut-mole-chipotle-kiwi sauce.
For a great ethnic twist on seafood, get to TnT Seafood in Lynnwood (north Seattle). Chinese restaurant specialising in seafood, with live tanks of just about everything. They have the best prawns and scallops in this local arm of the galaxy.
For the evening munchies – assuming you have been out to dinner, passed on dessert because you felt too full at the time, then walked around and realized, yes, you could do with some dessert, after all – check a grocery store for Tillamook Creamery Marionberry Pie Ice Cream. It goes quickly. There are people who circle the stores, eyeing the frozen goods section, and pounce when they see the new TCMbPIC put in the freezer case. But, sometimes you get lucky and it’s right there waiting for you. It is smashed pie in vanilla ice cream and it is far better even than it sounds.
It is from Oregon, but it is regionally available into parts of Idaho.
Tabby
I gotta agree. I’ve had the food in the past (before the move/years ago) and it was pretty good…now not so much. And I will NEVER eat at the Triple Door again–cold food, no lights to eat by (bad idea if you get the duck and don’t want to eat all that fat!), stupid expensive for what it is…
Now, if you are ever in Bothell, check out Pen Thai. It almost made me believe in God it was so good–Pineapple Fried Rice and Crispy Garlic Chicken are to die for–they have a location in Bellevue near the mall, too.
The Triple Door wine list is quite good, in my opinion; and there’s some really good music there, though your cover charge only gets you one set and then they kick you out. (Not sure how this works in other cities; but in Seattle, at the otherwise-not-worth-it Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, you can usually stick around for the second set if it’s not too crowded.)
So, I’m back from Seattle (I’ll do a laudatory thread in IMHO later today).
Good food recommendations all throughout the thread, and here’s what we did (with a 1-4 star rating, IMHO).
[ul]
[li]Islander and Tiki Lounge (we had just gotten to the Hotel Andra (4th and Virginia), walked down to Pike Market, and stopped in at the first place. My wife had ribs, I had a chow mein, and I’ll give it ** (but I’m a tough grader).[/li][li]A bar on Queen Anne Blvd…can’t remember the name! I had Fish Tacos (halibut cheeks), my wife had a burger. The tacos were great, and I’ll give it a **.5[/li][li]Flying Fish (on 1st ave and Bell). I had Halibut again, and my wife had a “hot pot” (mussels, clams, prawn and “other” in a red curry sauce with rice). My Halibut was one of the best pieces of fish I’ve ever eaten, and they actually gave us bread prior to the meal. I give this place ***.[/li][li]McCrory’s by the stadium. My only mis-step. My wife loved the Clam Chowder, but I had a “wild salmon sandwich” that sucked. If you’re going to give me a nice piece of fish, why do you caot it in pepper and crappy lemon-pepper? The service stunk, too.[/li][li]Ivar’s Acres of Clams. OK, the “ambiance” wasn’t great (think TGI Friday’s). However, I finally had my first piece of unadorned Wild Copper River Salmon. It was even better than the halibut! My wife had an assortment of mussels and clams, and was equally impressed. I give it ***, with the understanding that most people don’t agree.[/li][li]Julia’s in Capitol Hill (last breakfast). Turns out it’s a drag-queen hangout, but none were evident at 8am. I had some truly excellent pancakes that I couldn’t finish. Wifey had the same, and also couldn’t finish. I give it **.5![/li][/ul]
All in all, I loved the food in Seattle, and hope to go again!
