Sleepless in Seattle Pt. 5

Our tour guide told us Ivar's is a "must-try" restaurant when visiting Seattle. However, we drove to a small town location near the Puget Sound instead of the one in downtown Seattle since that one is too touristy and the food isn't as good. 

Our appetizer from the daily menu, freshly caught clams braised in wine and garlic marinade. The perfect marinade for shellfish.

The famous clam chowder. For all the seafood lovers, this is a must try! You can actually see each individual clam; and boy, they sure didn't hold back with the clams!

My dinner. :) The seafood platter contains mussels, clams, scallops, tiger shrimps, dungeness crabs and Alaskan king crabs braised in a wine marinade. All this fresh seafood for $30! Only in Seattle. Everything's so fresh, and the marinade is spot on. Loved it!

Freshly caught halibut. Didn't try this, but apparently it's very tender and definitely fresh.

I would like to think this is crab cakes, but I don't really remember. I just remember my friend really enjoying this.

Overall Review:
Food: 10/10
The most important thing for this kind of restaurant is that the seafood is fresh, everything else is extra. The freshness makes the dish and the seafood I've eaten is definitely fresh and everything is spot on. Great job!

Ambiance: 9/10
This restaurant is geared more towards family instead of business dining. The ambiance is therefore more warm and homey. Through the windows, you can see the Puget Sound. With such a nice location, the restaurant really doesn't need much decor.

Service: 9/10
The waitress was warm and friendly and very attentive. However, the food took a bit longer than I liked to come.

Price: 8.75/10
Not super cheap, but very reasonable.

Final Verdict: 9.25/10
By far the best restaurant we've been to in Seattle. Definitely pay Ivar's a visit when you're in town!

Sleepless in Seattle Pt. 4

This restaurant was recommended by our Taxi driver. It was perfect for a lazy day since it's within steps from our hotel.

As you can see, the view is pretty dang nice.

Alaskan king crabs on the house.

Best. calamari. ever! Tossed in peppers, pepper, garlic salt and basil, dipped in honey mustard and basil purée... a surprisingly refreshing combination.

Seared scallop, mushroom and cheese ravioli. The scallops bring a freshness to the creamy dish and puts it back in balance. This is a good-all-year-round dish that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside after eating! (Especially if you love seafood and cheese).

Dungeness crab. I mean this place is called Chandler's CRABHOUSE. Do I really have to elaborate on how flipping yummy this is?

Ahi tuna (seared tuna sashimi). Well, I don't eat raw fish, so I don't know how this taste. But according to the person eating it, it's delicious and this level of freshness is only found in Seattle.

Overall Review:
Food: 9/10
Pretty great, nothing really to complain about except my veggies were kinda bitter.

Ambiance: 10/10
Eating here is like sitting inside a cottage or a lighthouse staring at Lake Union. I don't think it gets much better than this.

Service: 7/10
Very professional, you can just tell they had really good service training. I cannot find any fault in the waitress. BUT the food took YEARS to come. By years, I mean we waited for at least 1.5 hour after we ordered, I'm not exaggerating. If it weren't for the great waitress, I would've given them a failing score for that.

Price: 7/10
A bit too pricey for me. Although the food was good and the seafood was fresh, the restaurant is more suited for business people. I've had better seafood for a better price in Seattle.

Final Verdict: 8/10
If I was around the area and don't want to travel for food, this is a place I would visit again.

Address:

901 Fairview Ave N
(between Valley St & N Minor Ave)
Seattle, WA 98109

(206) 223-2722

www.schwartzbros.com/chandlers.cfm

x
View Larger Map

Sleepless in Seattle Pt. 3

Our tour guide recommended us a few must-try seafood restaurants in Seattle, and this is one of them.

View of the pier from our table.

Apparently August is the season for peaches and I was told peaches in Washington tastes super amazing, hence we ordered a caramelized peach salad. The combination of fruits and greens creates a very refreshing summery taste; perfect for a hot summer day. This salad is a great appetizer since it increased my appetite.

Grilled halibut with poached peaches. We asked the waitress for the freshest thing on the menu, and she recommended this to us. I'm usually not a big fish eater, but this halibut changed my view on fish. The fish is so tender and you can definitely taste the freshness. It just, well, blew my mind.

Sockeye salmon, another local fish, caught daily. Normally, I would've been amazed with this salmon, but after eating the halibut, the salmon kinda fell short. Not as tender, and not as fresh. But compared to salmon in Toronto, it's still very good.

Overall Review:
Food: 7.5/10
The score is based on other seafood I've had in Seattle. I don't feel that it's fair to judge based on Toronto standards since every restaurant would get near perfect score if I do.

Ambiance: 10/10
I mean, it's situated right beside the pier. How much better can it get? The restaurant itself is very sophisticated. What is so unique about this restaurant is it's separated into 3 parts. There's an open bar facing the street kinda designed like a fast-food joint and they sell things like fish tacos and chowders. On the first floor is what they call a diner, designed for casual dining. And the second floor is what they call a restaurant which is designed for a more formal dining experience. The second floor is geared towards the business population. I've never seen a restaurant being divided like this; pretty cool.

Service: 8/10
Good recommendations, the waitress is friendly and was almost always there when we needed her.

Price: 4/10
I feel that we're not getting our money's worth. The menu is overpriced. We probably paid ~$30/person for fish and salad!

Final Verdict: 6/10
This is a classic tourist trap. Situated in the most touristy place with an overpriced menu. Just to play the devil's advocate, if you're looking for an experience, this is the perfect place for it. So it all depends on what you're looking for in a meal.

Address:

2201 Alaskan Way
Seattle, WA 98121
Neighborhood: Belltown

(206) 448-6688

www.anthonys.com/

View Larger Map

Sleepless in Seattle Pt. 2

Another photo entry. 

One of the main attractions in Seattle is Pike Place Market. Kinda similar to Toronto's St. Lawrence Market, they sell mainly locally grown produce and arts. This place is definitely worth a visit, especially if you like food like me! :) 

Remember to visit this pastry shop if you're around the area! You could smell the mouthwatering goodness stores away! They have some of the best Russian pastries around!

Yellow Rainier cherries; some of the best cherries around. Even my friend, who usually dislike eating cherries love this stuff! Everyone was left wanting more when we left Seattle.

I just died a little seeing all these seafood.

The first ever Starbucks. Although they sell the same drinks as other Starbucks, this one always has a lineup out the door.

The original logo. They also sell souvenirs with this logo in and only in this Starbucks.

Sleepless in Seattle

This entry will not be a review, mainly because I don't remember the name/exact location for these photos. :P 

So apparently, bars and pubs across Seattle have happy hours in the afternoon from around 2-5 and at night from 9-close where everything on the menu is 50% off. So once we landed in Seattle, we just went to a bar across from our hotel and ordered this yummy shrimp ceviche. The shrimps were so flippin fresh! My goodness! This easily could appear on a nice restaurant's menu.

Dish: 8.5/10
Perfect treat for summer, but being the healthy person that I am, I kinda wish there were more shrimps and less chips.

Fried calamari. Fresh seafood really makes the dish. By far some of the best calamari I've had. Definitely restaurant quality.

Dish: 9/10

So Seattle is really big on seafood chowders. This is my lobster chowder. Better than anything I've had in Toronto. Even better than the seafood chowders in PEI.

Dish: 7/10 A bit over reduced for my taste. The taste is so strong that it's kinda bullying your taste buds.

Dungeness crab chowder. I mean, you can already tell how delicious this chowder is by its name. Need I say more?

Dish: 8.5/10

My yummy pecan and citrus salade!

Dish: 8.5/10 If only it was more zesty...

My first ever fish taco. Too spicy for me to finish.

Dish: 5.5/10 Too many different flavours competing for the spotlight. Too overwhelming for me.

Washington heirloom organic tomatoes bruschetta. "The best in the country". Yeah, definitely the best tomatoes I've ever eaten. You know how tomato is classified as a fruit? The taste never really convinced me, but THESE tomatoes really do taste like fruits. Even those who don't like to eat raw tomatoes will find this quite dang delicious.

Dish: 9.5/10 It's hard to make such a simple dish leave such a strong impression. But it did, my only complain is that the bread is a bit burnt.

I wish I remember the name of this pasta. The cheese literally sent me to heaven. It is rich and creamy, yet remained light and fresh at the same time. Quite paradoxical, but once you've tried it, you'll understand. I'm kinda kicking myself for not remembering the name of the restaurant or the cheese. I crave for it every time I see this photo. I'm seriously considering revisiting Seattle just so I can find out the name of the cheese. If anyone knows, please tell me!

Dish: 10/10 the cheese made the dish..

Veggie lasagna.

Dish: 9.5/10 it tastes perfect, it's just the portion is a bit small..

Now this is what you call a lasagna. The layers are so think and tender. Although it's a vegetarian dish, it does not leave you craving for the taste of meat afterwards. They also imported the cheese they use from Italy and they make their own pastas I believe. Now this is what you call an Italian restaurant!