Seattle restaurant help needed

[dmcgreevey]

DH and I are off to Seattle this weekend and are trying to weed down the great choices I've seen in other posts. We have three nights- what would you not miss? (We are staying downtown)

I am leaning toward (assuming at this late date we can get in):
- Chez Shea
- Ray's Boathouse

Possibly:
- Campagne
- Assagio
- Andaluca
- Dahlia Lounge
- Flying Fish

Thanks!!! Dawn

[RobinC]

What hotel are you staying in? I have spent the past several months traveling to Seattle every week. I usually stayed at the W Seattle, which I love.

Go to the icon Grill. It is wonderful. It is on 5th, across the street from the Westin. There is glass art all over the place. They do outstanding "comfort" foods with style. My favorite is the double cut porkchop with scalloped potatoes and warm chunky applesauce. The meatloaf and fried chicken are also both excellent.

Wild Ginger on 3rd is also great. They are a pan-Asian place. You will need reservations to get in. The duck served with steamed buns is one of my favorites. The seven flavored beef is also great.

I've been to Ray's Boathouse, they are excellent.

I always wanted to try the Dahlia Lounge - I've heard a lot of good things about it.

[dmcgreevey]

I will check out icon.

We are at the W.

[dotglee]

From your list

>I am leaning toward (assuming at this late date we can get in):
- Chez Shea
- Ray's Boathouse

Possibly:
- Campagne
- Assagio
- Andaluca
- Dahlia Lounge
- Flying Fish

I'd definitely say Dahlia Lounge. It's one of our most inventive chefs and easier from downtown than Ray's. Campagne is fabulous, but not as "Northwest."

The quality and variety of restaurants here is so high that it makes it hard to pick, but also hard to go wrong.

[wish]

Ray's Boathouse is a very good choice, especially if the weather is nice, since it's right on the water.
Flying fish is also really good, and it's downtown, so it will be easier for you to get there. They have a huge selection of different seafood dishes. I also like Andaluca- when I was there, they had lamb, beef, veal shank, and salmon dishes on the menu. I think their food is a little "heavier" than the other two I mentioned, but very good nonetheless. The atmosphere is more of a dark, candlelight place, so it might not be as appealing in the summer.

[Jessica]

Another vote for the icon grill. All the kitschy decor makes it a feast for the eyes, and the food we ate there was superb.

[dmcgreevey]

Thanks, guys! I am looking forward to checking out the city.

Do you know how long from downtown to Ray's? Is this a cab or can we take public transport?

[dotglee]

It looks as though the route that would go from downtown to Ray's has been discontinued. Ray's is on Seaview Avenue (hence the great view), but I don't see an easy way to do the bus. You can check yourself on transit.metrokc.gov.

It's a bit of a long cab ride from downtown, although on a weekend night (you are going in the opposite direction from the Mariners game that night) it should be fairly quick in time if not in distance. Ask about busses at your hotel. If they can get you even close, it might be an adventure, and Seattle busses are great. If you can get to beautiful downtown Ballard, a cab from there would be quick.

And, in spite of what I said before, Ray's or Anthony's next door, is usually our venue of choice for birthday or anniversary dinners.

[RobinC]

So where did you end up going? How did you like the W hotel?

[browneye]

All of the restaurants you listed are great. Here is my input: it depends on what you want. I have been to all but one of these restaurants.

Best Water view and scenery: Ray's Boathouse
Best food. Period: Campagne or Dahlia Lounge
More Romantic, Mediterranean, no view, cool place, good food: Andaluca (I prefer Brassa for Romance and more intriguing food over Andaluca)
Great food and Reputation, solid: CHez Shea
Best Seafood: Ray's or Flying Fish
Best Funky groovy interior, pretty good food: Icon Grill

I haven't been to Assagio.
Just my $.02

Enjoy! The weather is delightful here today
:p

[dmcgreevey]

Day 2, still working. DH comes in tonight and I wrap up work tomorrow.

The W is great- a very large room- much better than NY! And the location is great- just came in from shopping and walking around for hours.

It's sunny and 80 or so- this place is gorgeous.

Tried the restaurant here last night- Earth and Ocean- very good. Will probably venture out somewhere close to the hotel tonight. We are going to hit Ray's, Chez Shea and then Dahlia Lounge.

Thanks again for all your help!

[browneye]

If you liked Earth and Ocean, you will LOVE the other restaurants that are on this list... E & O is just okay.....

[dmcgreevey]

I just wanted to say thanks for all your help.

We had great meals at Dahlia Lounge and Chez Shea- they were awesome! We had lunch at Wild Ginger, also good. We did Anthony's instead of Ray's and had terrible service- the food was good, as was the view.

So, what's the weather typically like there? Is it cloudy and rainy a lot? We heard a lot of people tell us "it's never like this" and were curious. It's one beautiful city, but manageable.

Thanks again. Dawn

[emilycat]

Dawn, just curious -- which Anthony's did you go to?

[RobinC]

I loved staying at the W. The staff was always so nice and helpful - especially those guys in valet parking. I am glad to be off the road, but I do miss the W...and the icon Grill....and Wild Ginger....and the "better than cobb salad" at Earth & Ocean. :D

I think people in the NW have very short weather memories. Our summer generally starts after July 4 and lasts through October. I think the summers here are wonderful - not too hot (high 80's is hot for those of us in the NW). The winters are wet and mild. Drizzle and rain trough most of the winter, but it means snow in the mountains with skiing less than 1 1/2 hours from Portland.

Glad to hear you had a great time in Seattle.

[dmcgreevey]

The W was great- terrific bar scene was fun to partake in.

We hit Anthony's Pier 66. I cannot even express how bad teh service was- I waited tables in my youth, so I typically tip 20% unless the service was really bad, then 15%. We left 10%- he forgot one of the dishes we ordered (and never even mentioned it!), put 4 wrong drinks on our tab, forgot to bring our wine for 25 minutes (and was no where to be found), the story goes on.....

Again, many thanks.

Favorite dishes:
- Mac and cheese at icon, as well as the grilled pear salad
- Rack of lamb at Chez Shea
- Crab cakes at Dahlia and the salmon
- Laska noodle bowl at Wild Ginger

[browneye]

Glad to see you had great food. Anthony's on the Pier is really only good for a glass of wine outside on the deck and a big maybe for an appetizer. I agree about the service there, I would not ever recommend Anthony's (any of them) anymore for dinner.

Dahlia is still on my top 3 Seattle fav's....

[RobinC]

AAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! I missed crab cakes at the Dahlia Lounge!!! During my last couple weeks traveling to Seattle, I was having crab cakes all around town. I became obsessed with crab cakes.

Glad to hear you liked the icon. I love the grilled pear salad.

It sounds as though you had a lot of great hits despite your one miss at Anthonys. (Which I rated pretty good on crab cakes - luckily I didn't have any problems with service)