Nosh Pit

How Far Does $15 Get You at a French Restaurant?

At La Côte Crêperie, very far.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 10, 2010 at 01:00PM 1 Comments

Crepes are delightful little things, aren’t they? So Euro, so subtly filling, so delicate.

There’s no shortage of food shops serving ’em in Seattle, and of these, La Côte Crêperie sure is a gem. Positioned on E Madison St, it’s a stone’s throw from Mad Valley’s other French staples, Rover’s and Voila! Bistrot. But unlike them, La Côte is cheap. And especially so after 5pm.

Here’s the deal: Order a glass of red or white wine, choose from the soup of the day or a salad, and pick any savory crepe off the menu. The bill? A bargain: $15.

The special runs Tuesday-Saturday until close, but several words to the wise. The crêperie stops serving at 5pm on Sundays, but ask for the $15 fixed menu before that and you’re likely to get it anyways. If you’re thinking of popping in late on other nights, call ahead. When it’s slow La Côte’s been known to close shop early. How Euro.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Bargain Bites, cheap eats

Dine Around Seattle…

…starts a week from today

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Feb 22, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

The dining promotion formerly known as 25 for $25 went up a five-spot a few years back, changed its name to Dine Around Seattle, and firmly fixed itself upon the November and March calendars of Seattleites who wish their favorite restaurants weren’t so spendy.

It consists of three courses for $30, every Sunday-through-Thursday in March, at 28 joints across the region. Some do 15-buck lunches too. Great way to sample the places you’ve been hearing about but haven’t made it to yet.

Like Bastille, the gorgeous new Gallic sensation in Ballard. Or Artisanal Brassserie at the swanky Bravern in Bellevue.

It’s also a good way to stay current on the many joints enjoying new energy in their kitchens. That’s why I want to check out Ponti under the new leadership of returning superstar chef Alvin Binuya. I want to go back to creamy ART at downtown’s high-end Four Seasons Hotel and find out exactly chef Kerry Sear has tweaked the dining program.

If I feel like driving I’ll head east to Snoqualmie’s Salish Lodge & Spa Dining Room to see what the new team out there is cooking up. (That new team includes Matthew Mina, the hotshot who won the coveted top toque post at The Hunt Club only to leave about 15 minutes later.)

Or maybe I’ll stick closer to home, casting my gimlet eye upon joints whose owners are distracted at the moment building new projects. Tom Douglas is busy completing his ownership of downtown, with new restaurants to work on in Pike Place Market and South Lake Union, so I want to make sure Lola and Dahlia Lounge and Etta’s Seafood aren’t feeling the inattention.

Ditto Steelhead Diner, that local Northwest comfort-food spot in Pike Place Market, whose owners Kevin and Terresa Davis are currently morphing the burnished husk of Oceanaire into another seafood destination called Blueacre.

Where I’ll go the other 14 nights? Good thing I have another 19 spots to choose from.

Add a Comment »

Tags: New Restaurants, Bargain Bites, Promotions, Dine Around Seattle

Free Fries This Friday!

An Ash Wednesday message about a really good Friday

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Feb 17, 2010 at 08:00AM 0 Comments

Free!

Every third Friday is always a big deal at Pike Street Fish Fry, as that’s the day those fine fryers dispense free fries from 5pm to 7pm.

Yes, FREE. Like happy hour, for your arteries. Only freer.

Put it on your calendar, folks. Because this month’s third Friday happens in two days.

And they’re pretty good, those PSFF fries. Seems like lately this town has rediscovered fried potatoes. You know about the flimsy, grease-soaked wonderments at Dick’s, or the creme-fraiche drizzled ones at 35th Street Bistro.

But did you know about the gloriously golden crispy fries, fluffy within, at Fremont’s famous Roxy’s Diner? Or, up a notch or two pretension-wise, the truffle-oiled lovelies at Ventana, the newish small-plate joint from the Twist people, in Belltown?

Notable both. Now tell us where you get your fry on, won’t you?

Add a Comment »

Tags: Bargain Bites, Restaurants, critic's picks, Fries

Cheap Date: Naam

Finally! An afforable Thai restaurant hired an interior designer.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Feb 11, 2010 at 09:00AM 2 Comments

Photo courtesy yelp.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Photo courtesy yelp.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Photo courtesy yelp.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

The kee mao noodles.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

God knows there’s no shortage of Thai restaurants in this city. But ones with character, sleek design, ambience—heck, any kind of design scheme? We’ll take more of those, please. Chalk one up to Naam, the newish joint tucked in Madrona’s darling strip of storefronts, for realizing interior can stimulate just as much as four-star-spicy som tam.

Here cushy beds with triangular lumbar pillows line the window wells and take the place of traditional tables. Don’t worry, they’re not of the we’re-in-the-club, Sex and the City–type, but rather cozily re-create the Thai way of eating. A narrow snack bar divides the drinkers from the diners—if the beds are occupied, this is where you want to sit. Though the table space is tight, so much so you bump ’bows with yours truly, it’s great for conversation. Not to mention the ideal spot to catch rousing whiffs from the nearby kitchen.

Slick wood paneling and plush oversized banquettes further the mod and clean styling. Taken as a whole it’s the perfect stage to showcase Naam’s vibrant food, which, given the swank surrounds, is surprisingly down-to-earth and cheap. About three-fourths of the menu is $9.95 or less, and you’re hard-pressed to find a dish costing more than $13. House cocktails are $7, glasses of wine average the same, and beer, $3.75. If you’re in the mood for noodles, try the kee mao, though it’s best with meat and not tofu. The yellow curry also comes highly recommended.

All this yet Naam never loses sight of the down-home charms—an all-too-hospitable (and adorable) wait staff, menus with a bagillion options—that make Thai restaurants so lovable. Looks like Naam has found a winning combo.

Add a Comment »

Tags: New Restaurants, Bargain Bites, cheap eats, Thai, Cheap Date

Full Tilt Rocks

Ice cream, beer, pinball, and utter happiness…now in three locations!

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Feb 10, 2010 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Full Tilt Ice Cream: Happiest Place on Earth

Popped into the Columbia City Full Tilt Ice Cream the other night and had a hard time popping back out.

First: The arcade games, great ones, a quarter apiece, which instantly addicted the 11-year-old and her roving posse to pursuits like Ms. PacMan and, yes, pinball.

Second: The fact that everyone was here. Everyone. Full Tilt opened in the southern fringe of downtown Columbia City right before the Big Heatwave of Summer ‘09, cultivating a devoted neighborhood following just as it had done before in downtown White Center. Then just last month a new outpost brought the same love to the *UW’s 50th and Brooklyn* corner. Every one of ’em attracts the kind of fizzy, alt-flavored family energy that builds community and makes Friday nights out in the ’hood really, really fun.

Third: BEER!!! The coolest thing about this ice cream parlor is that it embraces a grown-up’s need to bring the kids out for ice cream and enjoy a little naughtiness of her own.

Fourth: Astonishingly enough… there is ice cream. Really fine, creamy, and affordable ice cream in flavors like Mexican chocolate and a superlative salted caramel. I tried the newer salted caramel variant, enhanced with a fair amount of Sailor Jerry spiced rum, and found it every bit as compelling as the pinball machine.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Bargain Bites, reviews, University District, Beer, Desserts, kids stuff, Columbia City, White Center