Nosh Pit

Huge Portions

Where to go when size matters.

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Apr 02, 2012 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Gordito’s, home of gigantic burritos. Photo via HubPages.

Of course you’re not a glutton.

But every once in awhile a girl’s gotta eat a burrito as big as a baby.

“Ew, yuck,” my daughter winced on walking into Gordito’s Healthy Mexican Food in Greenwood last week. All over the entryway are photos quantifying Gordito’s favorite “big as a baby” descriptor for its burritos grandes. Turns out two large flour tortillas crammed with meat, beans, rice, lettuce, sour cream, guac, and chunky salsa is just a scoch smaller than a newborn human. Just look at the (sort of disturbing) pictures.

We had the regular, thank you. It was fine with smoky pork and healthy tasting vegetables.

I’m always writing about quality. Gordito’s got me thinking about restaurants known for their quantity. Huge portions were a big novelty deal in the ‘70s—who remembers the size of the burgers and desserts at the Great American Food & Beverage Company on Eastlake?—and remain in fashion in certain sorts of places.

Like steakhouses. Metropolitan Grill and Morton’s are two with extreme-sized side dishes. A Morton’s baked potato is about the size of a nuclear submarine.

As for pizza, there’s Northlake Tavern’s notorious cheese-loaded heavyweights; for burgers, Burger Madness’ 5-, 10-, or 12-patty monsters (which earn you prizes if you finish one in under 30 minutes); for anytime breakfast, Beth’s Café’s 12-egg omelets.

Then you can head to North Capitol Hill’s Kingfish Café for one of its plate-sized slices of red velvet layer cake—and repent tomorrow.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Hamburgers, Pizza, Metropolitan Grill, Burgers, Mexican Cuisine, Critic's Notebook, Steakhouse, Beth's Cafe, Kingfish Cafe

Australian Wagyu Arrives at the Metropolitan Grill

Just four restaurants in the country carry this premium beef.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on Feb 10, 2012 at 02:15PM 1 Comments

The rich cut of meat is served rare at The Met.

The Metropolitan Grill prides itself on being old school. Green plush booths, dark wood counters, white-jacketed bartenders, chop salad and steak old school. But there’s a notable new addition to the steak display case that greets you at the door—Australian Wagyu, the ultra-marbled and highly prized beef that comes from full-blooded Wagyu cows whose ancestors just happened to be dispatched from Japan to Australia in the 1990s. This beef rings in at $85 for a five-ounce cut.

The Met was chosen by producer Mayura Station as one of four restaurants in the States (along with two locations of Wolfgang Puck’s Cut and the Wynn Encore Resort in Las Vegas) to carry its limited-quantity luxe beef imported from the southeast coast of Australia. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, it’s the first time full-blooded Wagyu has appeared on the Met’s menu since hoof-and-mouth disease halted beef exports from Japan in 2010. Back then the restaurant was one of about a dozen nationally that offered the particularly prized Ohmi Wagyu, which cost $100 for six ounces.

Wagyu has attained designer beef status thanks to its generous marbling—the way the fat exists within the meat, infusing it with tenderness and taste. And not only is the marbling exceptional in the meat of these ancestrally Japanese cows, they have entirely different kinds of fats, fats that melt at a lower temperature. That old adage about something melting in your mouth as you eat it? That actually happens with this fat.

This is not a steak to serve charred, like a big New York or a ribeye. It’s a delicate thing—the product of a carefully raised cow, a cow fed tiny sips of beer before each meal. Met chef Eric Hellner says each precious steak is pan seared, finished in the oven, and served rare. The first easy cut into the succulent steak reveals a dark pink interior, the first taste a far richer-than-average, earthy, intense flavor.

“This is much more like something of a foie gras or a delicacy…you’d only eat it once in a while,” said Hellner. “You can’t eat it every day, it’s super rich.” Well you can, if you’re super rich.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Beef, Metropolitan Grill, On the Menu, Eric Hellner

Which Restaurants Have the Best Private Rooms?

It’s the perennial holiday question. We got answers.

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

Partying at Steelhead Diner

We know, we know…you’re charged with planning your holiday office party (or girls’ night out, or book club gift exchange, or [insert event here])…and you fear you’re already too late, and what will you do now?

First, breathe. We hear it every year, and every year folks like you find terrific party rooms. You’re lucky to live in a region with tons to choose from.

If it’s twinkly water you’re looking for you might consider Ray’s Boathouse. In addition to its Northwest Room (which has a view and seats 10-74), not a lot of people know that the elegant main restaurant is available during the day for brunches and luncheons, before it opens to the public for dinner.

The romantically dim new Mamma Melina Ristorante in Ravenna near U Village features a bunch of semi-private tables, some in intimate alcoves behind pretty sheers, along with a menu of affordable pastas and pizzas.

For something more businesslike, Pike Place Market’s Steelhead Diner features a room for 48, a seafood-heavy menu, and a staff of uncommonly friendly servers. Down Post Alley, a room off Cafe Campagne serves as a warm backdrop for any fizzy holiday gathering.

Other downtown choices include the long private room at Sazerac , a bunch of differently sized options at Wild Ginger and the noble Farestart (where a portion of your bill will benefit its time-honored work-training programs), the Metropolitan Grill’s three rooms—the Vintage Room, the Board Room, and the Chairman’s Room—accommodating parties of between 22 and 75, a room for 75 at the ever-festive Andaluca , and of course Tulio’s handsome upstairs library.

Want more? Oh, we got more. Call around from Seattle Met’s recommended restaurant listings and you will find the room you need.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Wild Ginger, Metropolitan Grill, Steelhead Diner, Andaluca, Sazerac, Party Room, Private Room, Mamma Melina, Farestart, Ray's Boathouse, Cafe Campagne, Tulio, Holidays

Friday Night Specials: October 9

Meals so rich and hearty you’ll surely be loosening the belt.

Posted by: Leah Kraus on Oct 09, 2009 at 08:00AM 0 Comments

Forget that diet. Because tonight, chefs around town aren’t skimping on portions—meals are so rich and hearty you’ll surely be loosening the belt.

Four sumptuous meals await at Assaggio in Belltown. Choose from a risotto tossed with beef tenderloin strips, wild mushrooms, Fontina cheese, red wine Demi-glace, and truffle oil, or the linguini tossed with prawns, Dungeness crab meat, scallops, garlic, fresh tomato, and white wine marinara, both for $19. Twenty-eight dollars gets you fresh Halibut fillet with a classic Picatta sauce of lemon, white wine, butter, and capers, or sliced roasted lamb loin topped with Porcini mushrooms and red wine reduction.

At Kirkland’s Trellis munch on fresh harvested baby carrots straight from chef’s farm. They’re served with a house made blue cheese dressing and cost $5. The “two-hour salad” is made with greens from the garden picked—yup, you guessed it—two hours prior to serving. Fresh cow’s milk cheese, strawberries, and a white balsamic vinaigrette top it off. $10. Then dig into a $28 applewood-smoked salmon served with sautéed granny smith apples, beurre blanc, and a cider reduction. Or for $26 try the Cassoulet: flageolet beans, French-style sausage, con fit duck, and braised wild boar.

Downtown at Metropolitan Grill, try the Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin, grilled and topped with Yakima peaches basted in a Maker’s Mark glaze; Yukon Gold mashed potatoes are served on the side. $35. The chophouse is also offering Mesquite grilled tenderloin medallions topped with Maine lobster meat and finished with a classic béarnaise sauce and served with fresh asparagus and those delicious Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, $52. If you’re in the mood for fish, go for the Cedar Planked Alaskan King Salmon rubbed with house blended spices and brown sugar. It’s oven roasted and served with vegetables and fingerling potatoes, and finished with smoked tomato-onion buerre blanc. The seven ounce fillet is $28, while the 10 ounce is $39.

MORE DINING RECOMMENDATIONS HERE.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Metropolitan Grill, Trellis, Friday Night Specials, Assaggio Ristorante