When you are traveling to a city filled with tourists, it is better to go to a restaurant that is a bit away from the center of it all, say, like Pike Place Market. We wanted some kind of seafood for lunch, and we found this upscale restaurant, connected to a Kimpton Palladian Hotel.
The inside was bigger than it seemed from the outside. The space was rather long, and even thought the restaurant only has window at the front wall, it was still nicely lit with natural light. They had nice relaxing seating at the back, with all sorts of displays, neatly lined up on the shelves.
They had a large counter seating, overlooking the open kitchen and the bar. The décor was modern, elegant, and clean, with some fun items like unicorns here and there.
It was not so busy when we got there, since it was weekday and still before the lunch rush. They only had one server, who was really nice and helpful. While he was taking an order from a table with a group, a manager noticed we were waiting to place our order, and came right over. Nice to see that the management would willingly step up to support. Great service!
We were not very hungry, so we decided to have two appetizers and one main dish share. Our server gave us great recommendations when we first arrived, which was very helpful. We started off with Greek Lamb Meatballs, Tzatziki, Cucumbers + Pinenuts ($13). They were juicy, tender and packed worth flavor. Strong spice that gets nicely balanced by the mild tzatziki sauce.
The second item was off the “shareables” menu, another one of our server’s recommendation. It was Salt Cod Beignets, with Salsa Verde ($12). It sounded very curious, and I was intrigued… They were like savory doughnut holes, well, more of a mix between croquet and doughnut, packed with salt cod. Quite interesting, with nice amount of salty flavor. Soft, juicy, and yes, tasty!
For main, we went with B.L.A.S.T. with Spicy Aioli + Fries ($21). It is a much fancier version of BLT, this one is made with Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, Salmon, and Tomato. The sandwich was much bigger than I thought, and it was made with baguette which was another surprise. I was afraid the baguette would be too tough or too hard, but it was soft enough, quite perfect! The sandwich had some kind of spice with a nice kick to it. Thick bacons and ripe tomato, fresh greens and velvety avocado, perfectly cooked salmon and fluffy baguette… Super tasty!
I upgraded the fries to Truffle Parmesan Fries additional $2, just because I couldn’t resist… I was happy that it had actual parmesan shavings, makes the fries even better. They had great aroma and flavor of truffle, so addicting and delicious!
We enjoyed all the dishes, so we decided to push our luck with a dessert. We chose Warm Salted Pistachio Crumble ($10). It came with Pistachio Gelato on top, like a huge crown on a proud king. The cake was so good! Crunchy exterior with moist and dense inside. Pop of salt that enhances the sweet flavor. It had loads of pistachio everywhere, on top, spread around the cake, and in the inside of the cake too! Great and rich flavor, we enjoyed every bite!
The bathroom is shared with the hotel, so it is located right by the entry door. Go down the stairs, and find a beautiful space down below.
The bathroom was large and bright, elegant and clean. They had a full-body mirror in there too, which is always great to have, especially for us ladies!
It was indeed a pleasant lunch. The services a bit slow since there was only one server the entire time, but he was polite, friendly, and helpful. The manager also helped out here and there. The lunch menu was interesting, but I saw they have even more interesting menu for dinner, I would like to try some of their fantastic dinner offering the next time I visit Seattle!
Shaker + Spear – 2000 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121