Dining – Fancy

Our goldfish, Rainy, is jubilant today. Finally, we’ve cleaned his fishbowl AND revived our lonely, neglected blog.

Last night, we said good-bye to my brother and sister-in-law after a beautiful activity-filled, sunshiny 4 days.  To celebrate our last night together, they wined and dined us at Palisades in Elliott Bay Marina, just over the bridge into Magnolia.  This is now my new favorite spot in Seattle for bringing out-of-towners.  An expansive window overlooks the marina, across Elliott Bay to Seattle and the Needle and southeast to Mt Rainier. Magnificent view (on a clear day) as the sun sets on Seattle skyline and Mt Rainier.

Oh yes, what about the food?  We started at the bar while waiting for a table of our choice. The drinks were excellent and our bartendress, Cynthia, quite entertaining and attentive. After sharing the wine list (on a customized ipad app, no less), she offered a complimentary sampling of a good Cabernet and then when Randy ordered a glass, she comped his glass.

Oh yes, but what about the food?! Seated at a window-side table, overlooking the view we’d waited for, we ordered appetizers: oysters on the half shell,  calamari, tomato-avocado salad and flat bread with baked gruyere and apples.  Oysters : A.  Perfectly prepared with tasty dipping sauces. Flat Bread: A-.  Calamari: B+ . Calamari dish was very flavorful, excellently seasoned, prepared with onions, sesame seed and other good things, but the calamari itself was lost in too much breading.  Tomato avocado salad: A. At least that’s what I think Mary would rate it. She ate it all without offering to share!

For our entrees, we ordered the Halibut (strongly recommended), Risotto, Crab Stuffed Shrimp and Crab Cakes.

Mary devoured the crab cakes, exclaiming they were rich with flaky crab, very little filler, just lightly pan-fried and nicely seasoned.  My brother Randy, reveling in his first high-carb meal in months, had no problem eating every morsel of the Risotto, declaring it perfectly prepared with a delicate sauce, not too heavy or rich.

I (Claire) ordered the shrimp, which was also excellent – lightly grilled with meaty crab on top and a light delicate sauce that complemented without overpowering the flavor of the fresh seafood.  Our only disappoint, ironically, was the recommended Halibut. It was pan-fried with a nice crisp to the exterior, but a little overcooked, which gave it a slightly dry and heavy mouth feel.  Still tasty, but not as good as Randy had hoped.

Overall, we’d rate Palisades A- on food, A on service and A+ for ambiance and view.

We’ll be back!