11.24.2008

dahlia lounge review

I'd capitalize "dahlia lounge," but dahlia lounge is simply too cool to be capitalized. Or at least they don't in their restaurant.

I'm a n00b to Seattle, so far be it for me to know what are good restaurants or bad restaurants, or what is famous in this town. In general, putting it nicely, the food sucks in this town, which is actually a good thing as it forces Amy and I to eat in most of the time. And we've been burned so many times by recommendations by the locals (for example, that crappy Woodman Lodge in Snoqualmie, argh) that we've learned to not even bother with trying new restaurants in this town - just ain't worth it.

Three years ago my boss at Amazon gave me a gift certificate to dahlia lounge for Christmas, telling me it was his favorite Seattle restaurant. Amy and I sat on it for at least six months, simply not trusting recommendations from the locals. We were sorry we waited so long.

Located on the corner of 4th and Virginia in Seattle, dahlia lounge is the first restaurant that has earned my trust in putting something on my plate I can't spell, pronounce, or describe, and yet I will taste it. Namely because everything they make is amazingly good.

For example, Amy and I went there Saturday, and one of the appetizers was listed as "(some word I don't know) cheese, white toast, (three words I don't know) mustard, and (two words I don't know) onion jam" for $10. Any other place, and I'm going "ewww". Instead, Amy orders it, and it was un-friggin-believable. That's right, an amazing taste from cheese, bread, mustard, and onions, whoddathunkit. I wish I would have ordered enough to make an entree out of it.

They always have a simple menu (just two short pages) based on what's in season, with the two consistent offerings that Amy and I can detect being their crabcakes and their Peking Duck - both are awesome. Upon request, they'll turn their crabcakes into an appetizer, so you can enjoy both signature items. Not that I've done that a couple times or anything.

dahlia lounge is on the pricy side - $30 or so for entrees, $10 for appetizers and desserts. Plus the service is always excellent so you're ponying up 20%+ for a tip. Brings it to $75-$100 a person depending on your drink of choice (their wine selection is excellent, including half bottles).

Next time I'm not sharing my "cheese/bread/mustard/onion thingy" with my wife... she has to order her own.

1 comment:

Brian Erst said...

James, James, James...

I don't know what's more sad - that you can't seem to find a good meal in Seattle, or that you somehow managed to do so in Indiana...

By the way - grilled cheese sandwiches are almost always pretty good. >;^)