In a year when the hotel industry faced unexpected challenges, the Seattle Times avoided criticizing restaurants and giving star ratings.
But this does not mean that I no longer eat out. I continue to patronize the new restaurant and try my favorite new dishes.
We would rather forget after a year, here are 20 dishes that I will remember.
Tomo, White Center Summer Pumpkin ($68, third in a five-course tasting menu) James Beard Award winner and former Canlis chef Brady Shiwata Williams has created some of the most original vegetable dishes. We are not talking about eggplant imitating sirloin, or other kitchen tricks designed to deceive carnivores. Williams' new plant-centric tavern is a sincere tribute to the gifts of this field. The pumpkin is soaked in egg miso, then grilled, and topped with hemp pudding, toasted hemp seeds, pickled pumpkin and sesame oil, filling the plant with nutty, smoky, and peppery flavors. Squash has never looked sexier on the plate.
Aki Kushiyaki, Madison Valley Chicken ($129 out of a 13-course menu) is one of the best restaurants to debut in Seattle this year. This Japanese barbecue restaurant in Madison Valley offers only a 13-course menu, wagyu and beef Other marble cuts are the hottest charcoal on Bincho Beach. But the revelation here is the humble chicken, which is the most memorable poultry dish in the history of the city. The skewered poultry is an umami bomb on a stick, and its bubbly skin crackles in my mouth like a pop rock, followed by the buttery dark meat underneath. At the end of the dinner, my lips were shiny with chicken fat, and I was very happy about it.
Holy Communion, Central Neck Bone Stew ($22) A preacher who eats from start to finish—using everything except oink—Chef Kristi Brown gave the main position of the neck bone on the main course menu. But we believe in Christie Brown. Neck bone stew is one of Seattle's most delicious pork dishes, with dripping, fleshy pieces falling from the bones, and lima beans swimming in a rich herb stew. This dish was supposed to be a cameo, but after winning so many fans, Brown decided to keep it until the end of the year.
Dan Gui Sichuan, Bellevue Tea Smoked Duck ($18.99) Chinese cuisine has never been better, thanks to a wave of chefs and restaurateurs from Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Vancouver, British Columbia, planting flags in shopping malls near the East Side. In Before this Sichuan restaurant opened, if you didn't get your passport to go to Richmond, British Columbia, you couldn't get such a good tea smoked duck. The meat is smoked with green tea leaves and jasmine flowers. The best meal I've had in the East Side is about $20.
Grillbird Teriyaki, West Seattle Shrimp Sandwich ($9.49) Grillbird's square shrimp cake is a brazen tribute to the appearance of McDonald's fish fillets, but this is the end of the similarities. Some prawns are coarsely grinded and others are chopped. This is a satisfying thick patties, garnished with shallots, garlic, seaweed salt, and sambal; wrapped in a crispy panko crust, topped with American cheese and cabbage salad And lugnut-sized bread and butter kimchi; then put it on toasted Marino potato rolls. It's just a wonderful blend of texture and taste.
Matia Kitchen & Bar, Orcas Island Rosemary Garlic Oil Sealed Potatoes ($18) This year's most popular booking has lived up to expectations. Its farm-to-table menu is inspired by the flavors of the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Matia’s interpretation of Spanish patatas bravas is full of creamy versions of fennel and cumin chermoula sauce, as well as silky pumpkin blossoms, almonds, roasted poblano peppers, dill, and cherry tomatoes, all of which are filled with various flavors Surrounded from south of the border. In the hands of smaller people, this vegetarian snack can be an overworked mess. But all the components sing in harmony, thanks to Chef Avery Adams, a veteran who has worked at the famous American bistro in Seattle and Hogstone's Wood Oven on Orcas Island. For 31-year-old chef Adams, Matia is a star debut to watch.
Cedar Elm, The Lodge at St. Edward, Kenmore The Everything Spice Bread ($18) Bread is usually a mediocre, top-heavy appetizer. Not this, it was dressed like a bagel covered with garlic, onions, celery salt, poppy and sesame seeds. Then top it with apple and cherry smoked Chinook salmon, red onion, capers, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, whipped cream, and any herbs that Chef Jason Wilson has grown in the nearby garden. The bubbling outer cortex is crunchy and crumbly, and it matches well with the lox bagel ingredients to make a large cake inspired by bagels.
9th & Hennepin Donuts, West Seattle Fresh Donuts ($11 for four) Justin Newstrum's sales promotion is that the best donuts are hot donuts. So he only served the food in a deep fryer. I can prove their temperature. When I rushed in to eat his cake doughnut for the first time, I burned my upper jaw and avoided the cashier's warning. Newstrum's menu changes as you wish every week. A box of four donuts includes a combination-a cake donut, raised donuts, fritters and/or fritters (many are stuffed with butternut squash or any fruit or vegetable that caught his attention at the farmers’ market ). Beware: hot donuts disappear faster than cold donuts, this is just simple physics.
Samburna Restaurant, Bothell Goat Curry ($15.99) Some of the best foods I have eaten this year are from the East Side and the shopping centres at the southern and northern ends, including this Indian gem. Its sweet and spicy gravy is filled with coconut milk, tomatoes and spring onions, and the residual heat lingers in the end. At the same time, the buttery bone marrow of goat meat adds a pleasant depth. The taste is so unique, I swear I can pick this blindfolded South Indian dish from any curry lineup.
The famous kitchen, Issaquah Roast Pork ($13.99 per pound) The roast pork skin at this Cantonese cafe is very crispy, and I can hear the crispy crunch of potatoes from a satisfying restaurant two tables away. The bronze-colored, shiny skin is wrapped in juicy white meat, covered with a layer of fat that melts on the tongue. A small amount of five-spice seasonings or herbs have adulterated this meat. Only the clean taste of salted pork.
Burb's Burgers, Montlake and Pioneer Square, as well as the upcoming Burien Double cheeseburger ($6.50) In the hot years of Hamburg, every bar or corner cafe in the city seems to be selling this greasy dinner staple. Burb's is one of the cheapest burgers, and it is as good as many higher-priced burgers. Its textbook-perfect meatloaf is mashed on a baking tray and then sizzles until the edges form a thick charred crust, which contributes to its smoky flavor. Ask for Burb's Special ($6.50), with kimchi and all the creations, reminiscent of a Big Mac, but no bread in between. However, even better is the double cheeseburger, without any additions, which can make the bite cleaner and firmer.
Banh by Lauren pop-up pandan chiffon cake (a slice of $10). During the restaurant’s closure, many inspiring laid-off pastry chefs copied the scripts of their Los Angeles and New York counterparts and announced their bakery sales via Instagram, medium, very Suitable for showing off three-tier wedding cake and flower frosting skills. Lauren Tran's pastry pop-up shop is very popular this year. Federal Way natives living in New York City returned to Puget Sound to take care of his sick father and sold some cakes as a side business. Through word of mouth, her pandan dessert drew three blocks long lines. Tran worked at Momofuku Ko in David Chang and then at Gramercy Tavern in Danny Meyer in New York City. She still sells cakes when she is at home. Follow her on Instagram to see the date of her four-layer pandan chiffon cake with coconut mousse and butter frosting; this is a conversation around Seattle and New York. Her chiffon cake is rich and light, and the sponge cake is full of vanilla, almond and tropical flavors.
Oliver's Twist, Phinney Ridge Cambodian Stuffed Chicken Wings ($15) The best chicken wings in the city are made in this Phinney Ridge cocktail hall. They are boneless Draper Valley poultry stuffed with pork, noodles, taro and carrots. They are essentially egg rolls, with chicken skin doubled as wrapping paper. Caramelized fish sauce and fat on the skin make these wings sing.
Baron's Sino Kitchen & Bar, Bellevue Beijing Roast Duck ($78, $49 on Monday) The deconstructed duck looks more like a tortoise shell when it arrives, with its mahogany shell gleaming in the light. That luster has a message: forget your diet. In the next hour, you will eat something greasy. The skin cracked like a biscuit, succumbed to the duck fat underneath, and became almost liquid after hours of cooking. Take a pancake, add a piece of meat and some green onions. Dip in a syrupy secret brown sauce. Come on Monday, when the ducks are on sale. It is more meaningful than any happy hour.
Mirchi, Issaquah fried chili or chopped Mirchi ($6) Forget the jalapeno chili sauce stuffed with chilled cream cheese. Mirchi's fried chili is the more refined and wilder cousin of poppers-an unapologetic five-alarm capsaicin fire, accompanied by a crunch. These Serrano peppers are wrapped in chickpea flour, then fried, and paired with dry Riesling or Oregon sparkling wine, they will taste three times better.
Single Shot, Capitol Hill Pork Chop ($35) This salty "flint" pork chop is still the most juicy pork chop I have ever eaten in the Northwest Territories. Unlike many other versions, which are uniformly light beige, it is caramel-colored with burnt brown on the edges and a rosy blush in the center. When I pressed my knife, the pork drops absorbed the accompanying sand and vegetables.
Breezy Town Pizza, Beacon Hill Pepperoni slice ($5) owner and chef Dave Lichterman (Dave Lichterman) simply calls it a mix of Chicago pie and Detroit-style pizza. No matter what you call it, you can call it a good slice for pepperoni lovers. The crust is more like a sourdough bread, with weight. It needs it: a burnt, lace-curled pepperoni cup on top with its own juice. Below is the second layer of'roni, softened by being covered with slimy mozzarella cheese. Pepperoni slices with steroids.
L'Oursin, Central District Squab au Vin (US$36) Julia’s children’s staple food, sous-vide breast meat and oil-sealed pigeon legs are finished on a yakitori grill, giving this bird a taste of backyard barbecue. The roasted bird-which tastes like a Peruvian guinea pig-is added with root vegetables and bacon in the Bordeaux wine sauce, seasoned with plenty of pigeon, chicken and duck offal, and leftovers. This is a rich, nuanced flavor. Birds and sauces.
Carrello, Capitol Hill Agnolotti ($17) Many versions of this sandwich pasta appear on Carrello's pasta menu every month, but I beg Chef Nathan Lockwood: Stop the mess. Chef, you have used your latest. Pasta is a small candy-sized package stuffed with rabbit meat, pork and duck meat, and then coated with a butter sauce flavored with cured pork, topped with meaty chanterelles and goat's milk cheese. Damn, if this is not the best spaghetti in the city.
Old salt, Fremont cold-smoked black cod ($20 for 4 ounces) Before we cancel the word "pivot", my best act two award goes to the seafood bistro Manolin for its smoked fish and bagel pops The window (named Old Salt) was born during the pandemic with such long lines that it has always been there. Old Salt will continue to serve as a morning takeaway outside the Manolin space and will open a second location in Ballard next year. Old Salt highlights the fish in the waters of Inner Bay of the Olympic Peninsula. The fish fillets do not need to be over-smoked or heavily seasoned as you find elsewhere in town to cover up the lack of fish. On the contrary, there is only a hint of cold smoked apple wood. Look at the black cod.
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