I missed the appearance of a new Indonesian restaurant in Seattle: Julia's Indonesian Kitchen. Must go soon. TO summarize the reviews on Yelp: Indonesian food aficionados seem to like it, others do not; service can be weak. (Unclear to me if they're related to the other Julia's'es.)

We've had really good luck dining out in the last two weeks, mostly at places new to us:

Tidbit (10th Ave E & E Miller--where XO Bistro was). Of the bunch, this was the least impressive; we both had a $30 prix fixe course and one was good but mine was good yet uninteresting.

El Greco (E. Broadway): El Greco is a standby for us, always on the ( Read more... )

Another "25 for $25" variation: New Urban Eats runs for the duration of January and focuses on relatively new restaurants.

From the list of participating restaurants, we've previously liked Cremant, Moxie, and Red Fin.

Tonight we tried Tidbit, a new italo-spanish restaurant in the space vacated by XO Bistro. Results were mixed: one very ( Read more... )

Rumor has it that Frites, the Belgian french fry [1] shop next to Neumo's, has closed its doors. Sadness.

By sheer accident, I found out this weekend that there's a frites shop in Bremerton, a 2 minute walk from the ferry dock: Fritz Fry House. Their fries are good, their selection of sauces is excellent (I recommend the curry ketchup; I failed to ( Read more... )

It's November, which means it's 25 for $25Dine around Seattle month. Newly included restaurants: Boka Kitchen (downtown), Mixtura (Peruvian, Kirkland), 35th Street Bistro (Fremont), Veil (lower QA).

The Barking Dog in Ballard used to be a great place to go for a fancy beer and some food better than usual pub fare. No longer. There are few domestic beers on tap you won't find at the next pub, and only 4 Belgians, two of which are commonly found elsewhere. More importantly, the absolutely wonderful lobster bisque disappeared from the menu. That' ( Read more... )

Padi Indonesian restaurant on University Way NE (x NE 50th ( Read more... )

I've heard good things about Japanese restaurant Mashiko in West Seattle for a while, so when it came time for a birthday dinner, I picked Mashiko. It was excellent. We sat at the sushi bar, ordered one of the chef's choice menus, and had a fabulous time. Not everything was remarkable (salmon cheeks, nice but forgettable) but some dishes were ( Read more... )

If you'd like a change of scene for dinner, I recommend a drive to West Seattle. Go across the bridge and at its end bear right onto Admiral Way. Follow Admiral up the hill, and optionall stop at the nice viewpoint that looks to the downtown skyline. When Admiral hits California, take a right and find parking. About a block up the street is ( Read more... )

After years of enjoying cheap veggie combo platters, I burned out a bit on Ethiopian food. I haven't had much of it in the past year and hadn't tried a new restaurant in ages.

Lately, the Meskel's new location (@ 26th & E. Cherry) has gotten some positive press. We tried it last night. I didn't see anything beyond the usual on the menu, as the ( Read more... )