dinner review: Spring Hill, West Seattle
Melissa took me out for yet another nice dinner at a new place. We find Spring Hill quite easily - well, this is West Seattle after all and anything on California is pretty hard to miss. The front door has almost a diner feel to it but once you get inside and seated, it's got a much classier, modern vibe, albeit a quite spartan one. Wait staff was all friendly and efficient and we were seated at one of the smaller tables rather than a booth - understandable considering how quickly it got busy.
We started with some yummy rolls coupled with creamy butter and sea salt, as well as some wood-grilled gulf shrimp, which included egg, mushrooms and grits. Both were excellent. Also kicked off with a couple of cocktails - Melissa had this orange vodka thing that was rather strong and I got a 'baden-powell' which combines gin (Aviation even) with pear tonic, soda and lime. It was really good I must say - not overly strong but very flavorful.
For the main course, I had a rainbow trout dish with brown butter, pan-fried pumpkin cakes, toasted hazelnuts and parsley. I've never been a huge fan of trout but damn this was really good! The fish was cooked just right and the other flavors melded together wonderfully. Melissa had some kind of scary looking lamb dish that she claimed was really good, too, though at least half of it ended up going home for the dogs since Spring Hill does not skimp on portions. She completed her entree with an apple sparkling wine cocktail and I had a 'doug fir,' which is Dry Fly gin coupled with douglas fir eau de vie - a unique flavor to be sure but definitely enjoyable.
Dessert consisted of a delicious butterscotch pudding (with bourbon whipped cream and buttered pecans) for her and I got the special of the day: a Guinness-Bailey's ice cream float! Thankfully it wasn't too big as I was already fairly full, but it actually tasted quite good, especially once the ice cream melted.
Overall, Spring Hill is a spendy place ($$$) but one that is actually worth the cost. Definitely hoping to go back again!
We started with some yummy rolls coupled with creamy butter and sea salt, as well as some wood-grilled gulf shrimp, which included egg, mushrooms and grits. Both were excellent. Also kicked off with a couple of cocktails - Melissa had this orange vodka thing that was rather strong and I got a 'baden-powell' which combines gin (Aviation even) with pear tonic, soda and lime. It was really good I must say - not overly strong but very flavorful.
For the main course, I had a rainbow trout dish with brown butter, pan-fried pumpkin cakes, toasted hazelnuts and parsley. I've never been a huge fan of trout but damn this was really good! The fish was cooked just right and the other flavors melded together wonderfully. Melissa had some kind of scary looking lamb dish that she claimed was really good, too, though at least half of it ended up going home for the dogs since Spring Hill does not skimp on portions. She completed her entree with an apple sparkling wine cocktail and I had a 'doug fir,' which is Dry Fly gin coupled with douglas fir eau de vie - a unique flavor to be sure but definitely enjoyable.
Dessert consisted of a delicious butterscotch pudding (with bourbon whipped cream and buttered pecans) for her and I got the special of the day: a Guinness-Bailey's ice cream float! Thankfully it wasn't too big as I was already fairly full, but it actually tasted quite good, especially once the ice cream melted.
Overall, Spring Hill is a spendy place ($$$) but one that is actually worth the cost. Definitely hoping to go back again!