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The Metropolitan Grill claims to be the best steakhouse in town, and they are more than likely correct.  The Met, as it is affectionately known, is packed to the gills most nights and between the hours of 12pm and 2pm most weekdays. Most times when you say you are going to the Met, you are saying you have a purpose; as in wanting to impress an important client or a hot date!

A large part of the reason the Met is so good is obviously the food, which I’ll get to, but it’s also the Met’s presentation.  Servers actually want to make sure your food is pleasing.  The restaurant’s décor is also a bit old-school.  It’s the kind of place you would have seen the Rat Pack in, sipping on high balls or a Dewar’s and water.

With the attention to detail delivered by the Met comes a price; it’s normally in the form of a hefty check.  But as I said before, this is part of what makes the Met the kind of restaurant it is.  So when someone else was offering to pay, I dropped what I was doing and hauled butt over there.

 

As one might expect, the Met makes their burgers with Kobe Beef.  This type of beef has become the way to make a cheeseburger qualify as haute cuisine. Truth is, it’s delicious and there’s a pretty good chance it will leave you stuffed.  The burger, topped with melted cheddar and Swiss cheese, also has caramelized onions and Thousand Island dressing layered on it.  I also have the tendency to pay close attention to the fries.  The Met opts for not using a steak fry but rather a standard French fry.  In my opinion this is a good idea since the burger alone is a satisfying meal. 

  

 

The Metropolitan Mushroom Steak is advertised as a specialty and for good reason.  A steak marinated in balsamic vinegar, garlic, shallots, and rosemary is grilled over mesquite and topped with sautéed petite mushroom caps.  The steak is accompanied by mashed potatoes (in my case a salad) and vegetables (today is was asparagus, a lot of asparagus, enough asparagus to make a child weep when ordered to eat their vegetables).  I’m a meat fan and a mushroom fan so I was obviously excited to bite in. 

Initially, I was somewhat disappointed when I cut into my luscious steak, which was served medium rare instead of the medium I had ordered.  Normally, an oversight like this wouldn’t bug me but this was the Met.  They serve “the best steak in town.”  How could they not properly cook a steak to order?  Alas, the Met reminded me of something very important.  Sometimes when you are in a restaurant of this caliber and you receive something that differs slightly from your order, you just need to take their advice and go with it.  After one bite, I understood immediately that when a place like the Met uses the highest quality cut of meat you can afford to have it done a bit rarer than you normally might. Suffice to say that the flavor was incredible and it was as easy to cut through as if it were a stick of butter. To add to the flavor experience, the creaminess of the mushrooms was a perfect compliment to the meal.

I learned an important lesson that day at the Met. Don’t rush to judgment about how food is prepared. In any other restaurant I might have sent my steak back and asked to have it cooked a bit more, but the Met has been serving up some of the best cuts of meat for many many years, and trying it as served opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. The folks at the Met are experts in what they do. Follow their lead and you won’t be disappointed.

American, Steakhouse

Thanks for taking the time to check out Seattle Foodster.  My goal is to bring you reviews on the best (and sometimes the worst) restaurants in Seattle.  I encourage, no no, I implore you to post comments.  You can even recommend restaurants for me to try.

Uncategorized

Chinoise, focusing on Pan Asian and sushi, is the result of combining food aimed to please the eyes just as much as the palate.  With locations in Madison Park, Queen Anne, and Wallingford (and formerly in the International District) each location boasts a casual environment and artwork from artist Patty Makaruta. 

Chinoise is well respected for their sushi bar, nominated best in Seattle by Citysearch, and placing second in Seattle’s Best Restaurant magazine.  However, do not think that you can only eat raw here.  In fact, on my last visit I purposely did not order any sushi, although I admit I was tempted to right before the check came.

The Vietnamese Egg Rolls ($5.25) are longer and wider than a spring roll and filled with pork, mushrooms, bean threads, and veggies.  They are artfully served with a Vietnamese sweet and sour dipping sauce.  Unlike other egg rolls I have had in the past, the insides of the roll were cut down so fine that the ingredients were unrecognizable.  This doesn’t really matter because the ingredients inside the roll vary in color, adding to their aesthetic appeal.  The taste is perfect.  The fried wrapper of the egg roll is cooked just right so it isn’t soggy. It isn’t overcooked either so that it falls apart after one bite.  Also, the sweet and sour sauce made my mouth so happy I was relieved not to find a spoon on the table or else I may have had it as a soup. 

Garlic Noodles and Grilled Beef ($13.95) consists of thick noodles stir fried with garlic in a dark sesame sauce and served with strips of flank steak marinated Korean style.  Each time I have visited Chinoise I have had this dish.  Each time it is perfect.  The flank steak strips are juicy and soak up the garlic sauce.  The noodles are very thick, picture spaghetti but three times as thick.  Every ingredient in this dish compliments the next.  Honestly, it’s hard to describe this dish without wanting it again.  If you go to Chinoise just order it! 

Ha Moon Noodles ($10.95) contain the opposite noodle… very thin rice noodles served with shrimp, pork, eggs and veggies in a light sesame seasoning.   The Garlic Noodles and Grilled Beef is more of a comfort dish while the Ha Moon Noodles are more exotic.  Each mouthful was a unique and pleasing flavor experience.  Some bites were egg and noodle, some pork and noodle. 

Each time I visit Chinoise I am comforted.  The artistic design reminds me that I am in a respected establishment without the pretentiousness that comes from more upscale restaurants.  Also, Chinoise can accommodate many appetites… from fresh sushi, to Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese dishes.  Everyone will find something to love at Chinoise.

Pan-Asian

I do not claim to know Indian food.  I promise never to make such a broad, overreaching statement with this type of cuisine.  However, I do know three dishes that I like:

• Plain Nan (Flat bread cooked in a tandoor)
• Onion Bahji (sliced onion mixed in batter and deep fried)
• Chicken Tikka Masala (chicken with cream sauce made from tomatoes and curry)

Laadla, is located near the new fancy, smancy, Vulcan powered neighborhood better known as South Lake Union.  Over the course of a time I have driven past Laadla a few hundred times and have always been curious to try it but never really felt the need/hunger to go in.  It is one of the many businesses you see daily that you accept as being there but understand that they are not necessarily there for you.  I believe the reason for this is simple.  The exterior of Laadla is completely unappealing, let alone saliva-inducing.  In fact the mere knowledge that Laadla also has a separate bar room almost caused the writing of this article to never exist. 

So what is the most unfortunate thing about Laadla?  The food is really good! 

First let’s explore Laadla.  As I mentioned before Laadla has the outdoor aesthetic appeal comparable to a dive bar.  Inside Laadla is a pretty simple place, a big room with lots of tables sitting under just-above-the-dim-setting lights.  The host/waiter/DJ (appears to be slow on Saturday nights) was extremely polite and helped me choose some dishes. 

The Nan bread was great.  It was topped with a little bit of minced garlic and was great to pull apart and dunk the chewy bread in various sauces.  Also, at $1.75 it is also a great stomach filler for those on a tight budget.  As far as the food goes I only have tiny finicky complaints.  The Onion Bahji wasn’t properly fried as many of the pieces stuck together.  Other than that it was a good dish, the powerful onion flavor was cut down by the batter.  Also the dish is served with, what I would guess is the Indian equivalent of soy sauce.  Finally the Chicken Tikka Masala is the hungry man’s (or woman’s, we are in Seattle now) meal.  Boneless chicken and the tomato curry cream sauces are poured over a very generous portion of Basmati rice.  The sauce is excellent, sweet a like a tomato with a slight kick from the curry.  My only complaint here is that there was not enough chicken.

 

 

Moral of the story?  Don’t judge a restaurant’s food based on its badly designed and ill-kept exterior.  Laadla isn’t pretty from the outside but in the end that’s not what food is about.  I personally rather eat in a restaurant that was unappealing and served great food then a pretty boy restaurant with inedible and unappetizing food.

Indian

Cutter’s Bayhouse near Pike Place Market is deceiving.  When I think of a restaurant located in the heart of a Seattle tourist attraction with a magnificent, jaw dropping view of the Puget Sound I immediately think of an eatery that will make my wallet weep.  I’m not saying that Cutter’s is cheap… their lunch menu is very well priced and their dinner menu, although more expensive, is also price fairly priced considering the quality of ingredients.  

After strolling through Pike Place on a weekend afternoon my girlfriend and I began to search for a place to eat.  We walked into Cutters while one of the chefs was preparing their “Sea Bar” which open every day at noon.  The restaurant setting is open which allows itself to capitalize on views of downtown Seattle and a panoramic view of the entire Puget Sound. 

One difficulty in being a foodie is the desire to order everything that looks good.  Fortunately during lunch this dilemma can be compromised by the “combo” meal.

After nibbling on the Foccacia bread brought to the table I ordered the Hot Dungeness Crab Sandwich and a cup of the Smoked Salmon Chowder.  My girlfriend opted for the Smoked Turkey Club and the daily soup which was Butternut Squash ($11.50 per combo).

After the second basket of bread (it’s really good!) our lunches arrived.  Ideally, I would have changed two things about our meals.  First the Smoke Turkey Club was not that good or eye catching in relation to the other things on Cutters menu.  The turkey was nothing more than slices of the white turkey meat and the bottom of the sandwich was beginning to get soggy due to the large tomato.  The only thing to complain about my Crab Sandwich was the size.  The sandwich is served open face with the crab mixed with artichokes, parmesan and cheddar cheese.  I like the idea of it being served open face, however I didn’t like that the sandwich was so puny.  On the bright side it forces you to take really small bites.  

Believe it or not the soups were the best part of the meal.  First the butternut squash was fantastically creamy.  The flavor is rich and manages to soothe your palate at the same time.  Also, I was pleased it was not pureed to the point that it was without any texture.  I would love if they made this soup a permanent fixture on a winter menu.

I do not ever recall having smoked salmon chowder before.  However, because of Cutters I will be on the look out for more of this soup.  Salmon cooked in an applewood smoker is mixed in with a lobster cream sauce and vegetables.  The best way to describe this is to think of lobster bisque with bite size pieces of salmon. 

I am still amazed and content that Cutters, in the middle of a tourist trap, surrounded by beautiful scenery manages to do high end and hearty cuisine with no hints of snobbery.

American, Northwest