Yarrow Bay Grill

Duwardo and I met up with our friends JP and MP for dinner at Yarrow Bay Grill. We were celebrating, so we had all gussied up and looked pretty snazzy, if you ask me. That’s besides the point though….

We decided to try Yarrow Bay Grill because I had read good things about it, it had a beautiful lake view, and it was part of Seattle’s “dine around” where you get a 3 course meal for $25. Additionally, JP is pregnant and has some health issues, so she’s on a HUGE dietary restriction. We had looked at the menu online and she had picked this restaurant because it was something she knew she could eat and also something she wanted to eat. We get to the restuarant…and the menu had changed. You could see the disappointment in her face. MP politely asked the waiter if there was anyway we could just order her a plate of the gnocchi that was on the menu online, and the waiter went and asked the chef, who replied that she would not allow any sort of substitutions. The poor waiter though, you could see it in his face “how do I tell a pregnant lady no?”

While we understand that there’s a set menu, it is a bit frustrating when you see something online and that is what you’re expecting, and then you change it up when you get there.

JP and I decided to go with the roasted pepper tomato soup and the American Kobe short rib. Duwardo and MP went with the mussels in coconut saffron/tarragon sauce and the seared scallops. The roasted pepper tomato soup was delicious. I loved it and thought it was absolutely great. The guys really didn’t like their mussels. M actually ate only three and pushed his plate away.

The American Kobe was…lackluster. Not horrible, not great. The guys felt the scallops were pretty bland and boring as well.

We picked our desserts and MP and I got the chocolate chocolate (a chocolate lava cake with chocolate mousse), JP got the chocolate profiteroles, and Duwardo got the Simply Refreshing (rhubarb sorbet, chocolate gelato, and some caramel espresso granita.) The chocolate lava cake was ok…a chocolate pot at B&O Espresso is a lot better, so I’ve been spoiled there. The chocolate mousse was pretty tasty though. J really enjoyed her profiteroles…as did the baby, as the baby went on a huge sugar rush and started kicking her. The rhubarb sorbet was delicious though.

Oh, and MP and Duwardo split a half bottle of Cuvvee Chardonnay…which I thought was ok, a bit slow on the finish. I had a glass of the Fort Walla Walla Cellars Syrah. Yum. I do love me some syrah! Besides the great company, the glass of wine I had was the best part of the meal.

Overall, the actual meal was pretty awful..at least for what we were paying. I mean, sure it’s the $25 cheaper deal, but I am never coming back to this place anyway. There are other places that have done the $25 deal and Duwardo and I have decided we are coming back here again…even without the deal, the food is just worth it (Ray’s Boathouse!)

I do have to say, the server we had was very patient and great. He really tried to accommodate us, so props go out to him.

Yarrow Bay Grill, 1270 Carillion Point, Kirkland, WA

The Oceanaire

Duwardo and I went to the Oceanaire last night for dinner.  We got seated in the “Hollywood Booth” which was kind of cool.  That’s where the coolest stops.  Oh wait, the bread was pretty crusty and yummy.

I had the citrus salad, which tasted just like salads that Duwardo makes at home.  The grapefruit was a plus though, I do love grapefruit.  Duwardo had the new england clam chowder and that was pretty tasty.

Our entrees consisted of a rubbed pork that was too dry.  They had hominy on the plate though, and I’m a fan of hominy…so that made it interesting and I ate all of the hominy off of my plate.  But yes, it was pretty dry.  I usually only eat pork at restaurants because when I cook it myself it usually turns out too dry…so I felt like once again this was something I could’ve done myself.  Duwardo had the seared Alabacore tuna.  That was pretty good, but at the same time, not superb either.

For dessert I had “The Big Ed” which is a  ice cream cookie sandwich over caramel sauce.  The cookie was pretty good and the ice cream was yummy too.  I’m usually a fan of caramel, but for some odd reason I thought the caramel was too much this time.  However, it felt again like one of those “I can do this myself” dishes.  Duwardo had the bitter chocolate mousse.  It was a bit bland, but that could be because I had just taken a bite from my super sweet ice cream cookie sandwich covered in caramel.

Duwardo and I had also ordered a half bottle of semillion wine, however we were told that they were sold out, so the waitress brought out a reisling for us and gave us glasses instead.  Not exactly what we were expecting, but she did it before we could say anything.

Overall we didn’t get the greatest service.  Our waitress seemed too busy elsewhere for most of the evening.  We were sitting there for a while after we finished our entrees and waiting for our desserts.  After dessert we waited a while for our bill.  When the bill came we paid it and when the waitress brought it back for us to sign, the bill amount had increased by about $30.  We asked her about it and she said that she had given us the wrong bill and that she would’ve noticed it sooner or later and would’ve have adjusted the tip we gave her accordingly.  I’m not sure how that works out, but still…weird.

Overall, not recommended.  There are so many better restaurants in Seattle.  Maybe it’s the fact that this was a chain restaurant (we didn’t know it when we made reservations, but knowing that now might explain a bit).

The Oceanaire, 1700 7th Ave, Seattle, WA

Old Town Alehouse

Duwardo and I went here with a bunch of his friends for dinner.  I had the chicken tenderloin sticks and the cheese tortellini.  YUMMY!  The chicken tenderloin sticks were delicious!  It was probably the “healthiest” tasting chicken tenders I’ve ever had.  It didn’t taste fried or greasy, it was great!  The cheese tortellini’s were pretty good too, but the chicken sticks were better.

Duwardo had the fish and chips.  He really liked it and felt that the panko made it taste lighter as well.

Overall…this was a delicious place!  When I’ve been to an alehouse or any sort of place like this, I always feel like the food is heavy and greasy, but I really enjoyed the food here.   I also likd the ambiance of the place, it’s got a great feel with these curtains draping on the wall.  I really liked it.  To top it off, the service was great!  The guy serving us was totally awesome.  Can’t complain about anything!

Old Town Alehouse, 5233 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle, WA

Cascadia

Duwardo and I went here for the 25 for $25 dinner with some of his friends.  I love these deals, because it allows me to try different restaurants and get a feel for things.  Cascadia also had a wine pairing to go with this, and we opted to try this as well.

I ordered the buffalo savernaccio on grilled potatoes, grilled bone-in new york pork steak, and the rhubarb strawberry upside down cake.  The buffalo savernaccio was pretty good, but I wasn’t taken away by it either.  The pork steak was nice and juicy, and I was very surprised by that.  The rhubarb strawberry upside down cake was the best thing about it though.   I had a pretty tasty glass of syrah, but I can’t remember where it was from.

Duwardo had the leek & potato bisque.  I thought this was quite tasty and actually traded my buffalo savernaccio (a bit like a carpaccio) for the bisque.  This was paired with the Montensia “Franciacorta” sparkling wine.  That actually went better with my savernaccio than with the bisque.  His next course was the ginger cracker crusted soft shell crab.  I don’t think he was especially wowed by this one, but he did eat it all as well.  This was served with a Taiheikai “Tokobetsu” sake.  For dessert he got the passion fruit mile high meringue pie paired with the 2004 Kiona Ice wine Chenin Blanc.  This was certainly sweet, but not super sweet either.

Overall, I’m glad we came here for the $25, as I don’t see myself paying the full price for a meal here.  It was definitely decent.  I’ve heard the happy hours here are great…so I recommend this place for happy hour.  For dinner, however, I’ve been to a lot better restaurants.

Cascadia, 2328 First Ave, Seattle, WA

Manzana Rotisserie Grill

Duwardo and I met up with some friends at this restaurant for lunch.  I’d never heard of it before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Doing research now, I see that they have locations in the Pearl District in Portland and Lake Oswego (also near Portland).

I was pleasantly surprised with my lunch.  I ordered the half rotisserie chicken sandwich and a cup of soup (I picked Southwest Chicken Tortilla) and I got to pick from a side of either house salad (my pick, it came with a delicious apple walnut vinagrette), caesar salad, or french fries. The chicken was delicious, it was juicy and moist and really good.  I’m usually pretty hesitant about chicken sandwiches because often the chicken just comes out dry, but this really was fabulous.  It may be one of the best chicken sandwiches I’ve had.   All of this was for $8.95.  Not too bad, but at the same time, I’m not usually a big eater but I cleaned my plate.  It was perfect for me, and will be perfect for those light eaters too.

Duwardo had the two fish taco, and he seemed to enjoy it as well.  Except they failed to give him decent limes and he got dried out limes with his tacos.  I believe that was the only minus of his meal.

Two guys had the southwest cheeseburger and also seemed to enjoy their food.  They both finished it and said that it was good.  Another guy had the fresh roasted sirloin french dip sandwich, and that looked delicious.  He stated it was really good as well, but overall that just looked it was the tastiest meal of the bunch.  Dungeness crab was also ordered in the group and it was also consumed completely.

The food wasn’t horribly pricey, so that was certainly a plus.  Overall, a nice surprise and a great meal.  Another plus, they were open for us to have a late lunch at 2:30.  YAY!

Manzana Rotisserie Grill,  610 Bellevue Way NE #110, Bellevue, WA

Jade Garden

This is Duwardo and my go-to dim sum place.

Duwardo’s originally from the bay area and gets delicious chinese food all the time, so he was really hesitant about Seattle’s dim sum scene…but then we went to Jade Garden and he’s been pretty pleased with it.  Even his parents had good things to say about this place when they came up to visit us…so you KNOW it’s good!

We’ve always ordered the har gou (shrimp dumpling), siu maai (pork dumpling with shrimp and roe on top), cha siu baau (my favorite, it’s the bbq pork steamed buns) , cheong fun (rice noodles stuffed with beef), and lo bak go (daikon cake).  YUM!

Additionally, great thing about Jade Garden is that it’s open late.  We are always getting fried rice takeout late at night…especially if we’re flying home late at night and haven’t had dinner yet.  Jade Garden’s open until 2 am on weekdays and 3 am on weekends.

The congee here is also pretty good.  I don’t think we’ve actually had anything bad there yet. Oh…only complaint is that the food is so good for dim sum that if you come after 11 -11:3o am you’re going to be stuck waiting for about an hour.

Jade Garden, 424 7th Ave S, Seattle, WA

Jamjuree

I think this may be Duwardo and my new favorite thai place in Seattle. We’ve been here twice and have ordered different dishes, such as garlic pork (my staple, and man was it good!), basil tofu (soooo good), showering tamarind chicken (great flavors…I’m getting hungry thinking about this!), and yellow curry.

It’s just a really delicious place, and the only thing I have to complain about this place is that parking in this area sucks! The prices are decent, the food is delicious, and it’s not too loud so it makes a great place to go for a date. They have a choice of brown rice or white rice…so when we go with our friend, MB, she can have her brown rice. A happy compromise for all.

Jamjuree, 509 15th Ave. E, Seattle, WA