(New series! When all of our local critics jump on one restaurant and review it, we compare what they say.)
Wow, but Seattle’s food critics enjoy their Revel. Let’s have a look.
I didn’t encounter any dish I wouldn’t happily have again.
That’s the Seattle Times’ Providence Cicero in her review back in March.
In an article with a dek that refers to the restaurant as a "spectacular winner," Seattle Magazine’s Allison Austin Scheff speaks of the joys of thumbing her nose at other cities via Revel:
Sometimes, it’s easy to fall into ‘other city’ envy…. But when a restaurant like Revel comes along right here at home, it’s one more notch in our belt, and the competitive food nerd inside me can’t help herself: Eat your heart out, suckers.
Bethany Jean Clement at The Stranger was a bit more mellow in her assessment, but she had good things to say nonetheless.
Revel feels like a grown-up dining hall—loud, crowded, fun. But, you know, with tasty updated Korean food.
Surly Gourmand, writing for Seattle Weekly’s Voracious blog, had this to say:
There’s nothing quite like Revel in Fremont. For years the region was devoid of fine dining, sandwiched between Wallingford and Ballard, both bastions of high-end neighborhood restaurants. Previously, diners in Fremont had to settle for a seemingly endless parade of Thai restaurants, or Cuban sandwich shops that keep unicorn’s hours, or shitty overpriced Mexican food that was really just a front for a 24-hour frat party. Now, with Revel, Fremont finally has a real contender. May their competitors die in a raging fiery lava flow!
This magazine’s Kathryn Robinson came to her own enthusiastic conclusions:
Here’s the thing: Street food—comfort food—has no business being technically flawless, even less being groundbreaking. Revel’s is both.
And finally, the new girl. Seattle Weekly’s Hanna Raskin chose Revel for her first-ever Seattle review. She had a few finger wags—not enough servers, for one—but in the end she joined the other happy critics.
When I think about returning to Revel, my mind fixates on the corned-lamb salad…I suspect what I liked best about the salad was what I like best about Revel: It was gutsy, unexpected, and nonchalantly delicious.
And there you have it: total consensus.
