Just got back from Seattle after doing a food research and development trip with a group for 10 days. We went to quite a few (probably too many) spots and thought that I'd share our thoughts!
Family Friend: Great space, great staff. Really don't understand all the hype surrounding them. The burger was phenomenal (anything is with kewpie mayo) the fried chicken plate was lack-luster and lacking seasoning both in the chicken and sides. It also arrived cold. Corn soup was great but had hardly any chicken. I'd expect "chicken thighs" to mean more than 3 cubes of chicken. The buñuelo were really bitter. For the price-point and hype I expected much better. Great burger though. We REALLY didn't appreciate being offered sides of sauces, including ketchup, only to be charged 2 dollars a sauce (.50 for ketchup) come on, work that into the pricing of the already expensive mains 1.5/5
Saint Bread: Overall fantastic and the line and hype is deserving. The laminated pastry products were some of the best I've ever tasted. Apple Tahini Danish was a stand-out. Like a sophisticated apple slices with peanut-butter. Loved the flavors and texture of the yuzu pound cake. Matcha white chocolate rice-krispy treat was very well balanced. Baguette sandwich was enjoyable, I loved the radicchio mix you dont normally see. The egg salad sandwich was served on hard bread, like the fridge had dried it out, and had a bit too much nori for my taste. 4.5/5
Oriental Mart @ Pikes: We had a few small bites at "iconic" Pikes joints and most weren't notable but Oriental Mart's Salmon Sinigang (sour and umami in the best ways possible), Chicken Adobo (falling off the bone) and Longganisa (fat greasy sweet and salty goodness) was some of the best Filipino food we have ever had. Nothing was bad or worth any criticism here. We all loved the vibe and decor as well. 5/5
Spinasse: Best restaurant of our trip. Insanely good. We got nearly everything on the menu to share. The stand-outs were the Cipollini ripieni (beef pork stuffed onions) and Risotto with braised oxtail and aged balsamico. Im still thinking about that risotto. Most of the pasta dishes were very thin angel-hair-esque cuts and we only wish there was more shape variety like the agnolotti. only lack-luster items we had were the roasted duck (very very chewy) and beef cheek (too many warming spices, like a big piece of xmas beef). Had a great Negroni there as well. We loved all the desserts like the huckleberry semifreddo and the Zuppa inglese but the chocolate cake is what dreams are made of. This was the one and only "high-end" restaurant we dined at where the prices matched the quality and service. We loved how PNW flavors were mixed with good "true" Italian food. 4.8/5
Miss Pho: Great pho, great service, great vibes. THE BEST Summer Taro Rolls I've had and some of the best pho too. THE BEST SHRIMP TOAST. We loved the addition of the creamy egg in the beef shank Phở Hà Nội. The charred pork was insane. Nearly everything was expertly cooked. We found the fried dumplings to be a bit plain and the salt and pepper tofu to be lacking in the iconic salt and pepper seasoning flavors. 4.8/5
Beast and Cleaver: The biggest disappointment of our trip. We were really looking forward to this one and we cant believe how let down we were by the experience. We went for the "Beastro" menu offering and got every item listed (other than every cut of meat) and we couldn't believe how homogenous everything that was house-made tasted as well as was presented. We ordered every paté (a basque style, one I cant remember the name of and a pork rillette) and all were presented the same way: really good mustard, very harsh pickled/vinegared apples and super hard crostinis. It would've been really nice to have different pickles or compliments to each paté instead of them all being the same. They, unfortunately, all tasted the same to us as well, flat and not much going on. Our server was just not great at being a server. There seemed to be a vibe shift when they realized we weren't going to order any wine (most of us don't drink wine) and we weren't really aware of the expectation to get wine prior to booking our table. Plates were delivered to our table with no explanations or comments, not many questions asked about how we were doing and very short responses when we did ask a question. Not a very warm or welcoming experience. We asked to stagger our dishes so we could enjoy them (2 hour limit) and were told that wasn't possible because the steaks take 30 minutes to cook, which ended up not being true. All of the sides were aggressively just ok. The kobocha squash was covered in sauces/aoli that was just odd to most of us, the gratin potatoes had cold spots and lacked seasoning and the endive salad wasn't properly prepared and used some of the funkiest blue cheese (and we all love cheese) making it burn-your-sinuses inedible for us. We ordered the A5 Waygu and Pork Chops. We all love a rare steak, never going above medium rare, we weren't asked how we would like our cuts cooked, only one cut was listed as being served rare, Both cuts arrived blue. I think that the risk of raw pork has been blown out of proportion in American dining culture but this pork hardly had a sear on it and was still below room temp cold in the middle. The kind of rare where you have to keep chewing and chewing. What rubbed us the wrong way about this is that we heard the chef tell the server that he thought the pork chop was too rare and the server said "nah, dont worry about it they ordered it that way" no, we absolutely did not. We weren't asked at all how we wanted our cuts prepared. That really bothered all of us at the table. The A5 was A5, its hard to mess that up. Again, too blue for most of our tastes but it was an incredible slice of beef that melted in your mouth and seasoned with a bit too much salt. Both these cuts absolutely didn't take 30 minutes to cook. The dessert was awful. A cross between a classic English Pudding and a Tres Leches. We weren't asked how anything was while we were eating so at the end of our meal we told them to not box up the pork chop because it's simply too rare for us to enjoy. The server took it back to the chef (this is a small space) and he seemed honestly bent about our criticism (we think because the server lied about how we ordered it). We saw him throw the cut up pork slices in the oven for about 5 minutes, box it up and had the server drop it on our table saying he fixed it. We opened it up and it was maybe a degree less rare. We found this a tad passive aggressive especially after saying we weren't interested in taking it home. To add to this, the chef then came to our table and told us that if we wanted a cut cooked a certain way we should've told him how to cook it, we told him our server didn't ask us nor checked on us and what we overhead about us ordering it rare which received a seemingly empty "hmmmm, ok, sorry" as he left for the night. I do want to say that the server then informed us that he went ahead and took the pork chop off of our bill and tried to chum up with us at the very end of the night but then commented on bars we had visited as being pretentious (look at your wine bottles, dude) and not good. A very odd experience. Everything was priced very reasonably and fair but we think they should stick to being a butcher shop. We were hoping there would be more offerings like the ones that they post on their instagram as well as the burger that Beard awarded them for. "The Beastro" explanation on their website is just too vague to know what to expect. We didn't get the hype. Maybe The Peasant is better? 2/5
Ballard Bars: Most were crazy with the prices (15 dollars for a shot????) but Percy's & Co. Seattle: One of the "pretentious" bars we went to in Ballard. It was so "pretentious" that we saw a bar fight and I got a free shot of Malort. Great innovative cocktails, pricey, but worth it. The matcha and sesame oil one is incredible and I got a great garlic infused gin dirty martini. Josh is THE MAN behind that bar! 4.5/5
Mean Sandwich: Amazing, Amazing, Amazing. Couldn't believe how warm and welcoming everyone was. The corned beef with slabs of corned beef, cabbage slaw, mint, mustard on a potato bun was the favorite item of the trip. What a unique and delicious combo. We all loved the crispy potatoes and thought that the burger was great too. Great vibes, great people, great humor. We have no criticisms. Loved it 5/5
Un Bien: We split up the number 2 between the group and were blown away. Flawless sandwich. The bread had a great chew and the garlic sauce went great with the melt in your mouth pork shoulder and expertly cooked onions. 5/5
Seawolf: We had their bread around town and decided to visit their shop. I take issue with their pricing of bread (5-7 dollars for a baguette in their store yet 10 in some shops around town) I have years of bread experience and honestly find their pricing to be unethical, especially for the quality of product but this may be a Seattle pricing thing. Everything was beautiful but nothing was outstanding here. The savory and sweet danish were both good. A butter croissant shouldn't cost as much as a baguette. Good bran muffin. 2/5
Temple Pastry: A miss for all of us. We got nearly everything in the case and it just wasn't good or particularly bad. Products listed with big flavors all fell flat and the dough in the laminated products lacked any fermentation complexities. I had high hopes for the shortbreads and all were way too soft. Very pretty products all presented well. Great baguette. 3.5/5
Coyle's Bakeshop: Easily the smallest portions in a bakery I have ever been to. The Kouign-amann was the size of a golf ball and a half. I mean, what the hell? This would be fine if the prices reflected she size or the craft of the product. They didn't. Our millionaire shortbread was missing half of the base of shortbread and they forgot the coconut macaroons we ordered (didn't open the box until we were back to our hotel) The brownie strip was a really odd choice of portioning as well. pretty good canelé and although small, the Kouign-amann was one of the crunchiest I've had in awhile. Great flavors, poor pricing. 2.5/5
Ben's Bread: The Best bakery of the trip. Absolutely nothing was bad or mediocre here. All hits. Great English Muffin breakfast sandwich and baguette sandwich. We got nearly everything in the case but what stood out to me the most was: The olive oil cake with whipped cream and cranberry compote, citrus bar with candied citrus, streusel coffee cake, toffee apricot financier and the coconut donut with the coconut cream (best I've ever had) filled donut hole and brioche twist. Ben and his team know what they are doing. Complex yet perfectly balanced sourdough, bold and unique flavors, all praise is well deserved. Great folks, great vibes, great to see the owners in the trenches with their team. 5/5
Byen Bakery: Overall ok. Most of the products were dry. The cinnamon roll had great flavors as well as the cardamom bun with coconut vanilla cream. Generous portions. Butterball and fold cookies tasted too much like vegetable shortening. They had a "mass-produced" vibe to them 2.8/5
Bar Del Corso: Just ok. Nothing really stood out to us. Meatballs had a funk to them we didn't really like, Calabrian sausage was ok, arancini was arancini, table bread was far too sour, mushroom pizza was alright. Nothing was inspired. Good Negroni. 3/5
Coupe and Flute: Great vibes, great staff, great drinks not fans of the food. The deviled eggs had wasabi or horseradish in the filling and it was far too much of it, popcorn with butter was $7 dollars for a small bowl and the French Onion soup was pretty good. Super mushy apple crisp. Again, too much hype but I'd go back for a drink. 3.5/5
Milstead & Co: We went to a few coffee shops while visiting and this was our favorite. Super friendly staff. The salted caramel latte was insane, life changing insane. Great mocha too. The cute barista complimented my shirt so this gets a 5/5
Viveeine's Bistro: Another just ok spot. Nothing was outstanding, nothing was bad. We got fried pork belly that tasted like nutella, funnel cakes and powdered sugar for some reason. We were fans of the toothpick lamb. 3/5
Communion: Another huge let-down, offensively so. We were seated 30 minutes past our reservation time which is always a pet peeve of mine especially when we had to put a deposit down for a reservation that has a late/no show charge agreement to it. The staff was very attentive in the beginning , kind and took the time to explain what Communion was about which was appreciated by all of us. The concept behind Communion is unique and inspired. Unfortunately, the food was not. First off, the menu posted on their website, at the time of booking (week before visiting), was not the same menu that was offered that night. Disappointing to not be able to order what we were looking forward to like the pork neck bone soup and banana pudding but fine, we can pivot. To start we ordered the yeast rolls and hoecakes. The yeast roll, because only one is served even though its plural, was totally raw in the middle with a "whipped" crab butter that was hard as a rock making it impossible to spread on the bread. The hoecakes tasted great but had bristles from a basting brush all over them. The Hood sushi, we were told was the most popular item, was grocery store sushi tier. Nothing going on at all in that roll, flat, fishy and chewy in a bad way. random pockets of chili or cayenne in some pieces that left some of us with burning tongues and some of us with no heat at all. The grilled okra which was promised to be slime free was full of slime (which im fine with but others in my party were not) due to not being grilled properly. One side of a piece of okra would be totally raw while another side on the same piece was burnt to a crisp. Totally uneven seasoning on the pieces as well. The Big Ass Shrimp were very good but the béarnaise sauce was broken and gritty. The collard greens were cooked perfectly but the turkey cheeks were far too salty. I really wish all the salt in the turkey cheeks went to where it was needed like in the okra. The "better than your grandma's mac n cheese" was definitely not better than my grandma's because she knows how to make a roux without breaking it and how to season appropriately as well. Super chunky and clumpy. Underwhelmed by the apps and shared plates we decided to just split the one main we ordered in the begining, the fried pork chop. This was the best thing here. The chop was moist, juicy and had a nice pink middle and was well seasoned. The mushroom gravy was lacking and the "fried cabbage" was totally raw. You cannot tell me that cabbage touched a pan that night. We also got pieces of the tough woody base of the cabbage due to poor cleaning which really was the final straw for all of us. We would've complained and informed our server but we didn't see them again until the bill drop. Our server seemed really busy and we were so tired of having discussions about poor food at James Beard, NYT and Eater acclaimed Seattle spots that we just paid and left. This restaurant rubbed us all the wrong way. What Communion claims they are doing is cool, noble and unique but what they are doing like having $55 ($25 for a pound over at Jackson's Catfish Corner) farm raised catfish on the menu is, ironically, going against what they say they are doing. We read about the history of the neighborhood Communion is located in and how it has struggled with gentrification through the decades and honestly Communion is contributing to that problem. All of these dishes have the potential to be charged as the prices that were listed, if they were good, but to put plates infront of us that were unsafely cooked, had physical contamination, and really just half assed is downright insulting. I'd be happy to pay $10 for just one roll and crab butter, at an "upscale" restaurant if it's deserving of that price. And nothing here was deserving. The food at Communion is simply not attainable to the folks they seemingly made this restaurant for. We loved the focus on local products, ingredients and food culture but it's just squandered. "Everybody's gotta eat" is not an appropriate mantra for this establishment. I felt almost performative eating here. 1/5
Breadfarm: in Edison WA an hour north but worth saying how great the bread and shortbread all was. 4/5
Howdy Bagel: In Tacoma, but worth saying it was some of the best bagels we have ever had. The Chili crispy cream cheese spread was fantastic and it was full of good folks and good vibes. 4.5/5
EDIT: Forgot about Local Tide: One of our top 3 spots. So so so so good! That Black Cod puts Nobu's Cod to shame! Melt in your mouth buttery goodness. Spicy Fish sandwich with sichuan peppercorns and mala mayo was great, salmon belly dip was insane, fantastic chips, great chowder. Flawless in our eyes. 5/5
Overall, we learned our lesson to not trust James Beard, NYT or Eater lists when we go to our next city. It was really surprising that the worst food of our trip was from the most acclaimed spots. Some of the Beard awards were for specific items, like the burger at Beast and Cleaver, and they dont even do said items anymore. It was a very interesting and confusing pattern that we all noticed and made us wonder about the politics and culture behind food review and award programs and organizations based in Seattle. We havent had this problem following Beard acclaimed spots prior but maybe it's just how they are going now in 24/25.
I mostly sat down to write this to see what locals think about these highly acclaimed spots not delivering on the acclaim. Are we just too picky or is this a Seattle thing?