I went last night on the suggestion of the NYTimes article sent to me from a friend of mine that lives near NY.
The guy in the article with the curly-que mustache ( http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/travel/eating-in-and-around-seattle.html?src=me&ref=general ) was there shaking up drinks, our oyster schucker was a quiet, dread-loced dude. He told us that he shucked 40-50 dozen a day. He schucked with such ease…I told Chris that he needed to watch & get some pointers for our at home weekend shucking extravaganzas. Overall the service was great!
Super cute place!! I felt like I was in someone’s deluxe home kitchen. It reminded me of Sittka & Spruce. White cupboards, you can see the Chefs, Oyster Shucker, there were wire buckets filled with ice and oysters, great (I’m assuming locally handcrafted) chandelier. Small (45 people occupancy), Bright, loved to see the canned goods in the pantry.
It was ½ off oysters from 4-5. So we ordered 2 dozen.
I have to say these were some of the best (if not the best) oysters I’ve has here in Seattle. Served with a delicious mignonette (which is so simple but sometimes seemingly hard to get the right flavors; good vinegar, finely diced shallots & pepper ratio. The shallots in this one were diced so fine I almost thought they were put in a Cuisinart. Note to self when making at home, if you think your done, keep dicing….) and fresh grated horseradish (I think I need to dig up the remainder of my horseradish [I’ve been trying to kill it because it grows like a weed!] & plant it in it’s own pot so I can grate & eat also).
We had (favorite listed first):
Treasure Cove ($2.00 each) Salty ocean full nice medium size
Blue Pool ($2.50 each) mild salt smaller
Eagle Rock ($2.00 each) mild salt size was not consistent
Penn Cove Select ($2.00 each) big fatty full buttery very mild
Grilled Sardines with shallot, walnuts & parsley.
Nice & clean. A smidge too oily for me (not the fish.. there was too much olive oil on the plate). Tasted just like a sardine (duh!) but better…I love salty fish. Crispy on the outside, tender & flaky inside & no bones!!! We were soaking up the walnut/parsley concoction with our bread though. Yummy
Steak tartare. I remember back in the day my mom used to make this for us. I could never eat enough. I don’t remember the last time I saw it on a menu so I jumped at the chance to order it.
The farm fresh egg yolk was beautiful. I love the way farm fresh eggs look & taste. I think once you start to eat farm fresh eggs it’s hard to go back to store bought eggs.
My first bight was bland, then another bite I had a caper & I was excited. Flavor! But my next bight went back to no flavor. Ugh. For the most part there was something missing in it; maybe it wasn’t mixed up well. My taste buds were screaming for more flavor/seasoning. But… that did not deter me from eating it all up. Chris did not like it (granted he likes his meats cooked well done and I like mine rare).
I hate to say it but maybe I am more of a food snob than I’d like to admit. Somewhere I read that this was one of the best places to eat in Seattle. No, I don’t think that at all. Yelp’s rating is 4.5 stars (out of 5) I give this place a 3 ¾ - 4 star rating. Our total bill was $72, not including tip and this was happy hour drinks & oysters (oyster prices listed above are regular pricing). I’d go back if I had out of town visitors (go here first then to Ray’s Boathouse for outside patio dining) or go for happy hour oysters & drinks, and try a dessert.
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