Restaurant Review

Last week Jeanna and I chose Alki Crab and Fish Co. in West Seattle as our “new restaurant of the week.” NWsource.com says it’s summer year-round at this informal seafood shack that serves combo platters and clam steamers at a bargain price. Just past Salty’s on Alki, the view may be the best value of all, and the new outdoor beer-and-wine patio is a “destination for the 21-and-over crowd.”

Since it was a pretty gorgeous day outside, Jeanna and I chose the restaurant for its patio, prime waterfront location, and low prices due to budget constraints. Upon walking in, the restaurant was what it claimed to be; a seafood shack. You order at the counter from a chalkboard menu before choosing a number and waiting for your name to be called. Since you must be “enjoying a beverage” to utilize the patio, Jeanna ordered a glass of white wine. The $8 drink was served to her in a plastic cup. We both ordered two-piece cod combo meals served in greasy paper trays which included fries – coleslaw had to be ordered on the side.

The seafood was good and decently priced, but nothing to brag about. However, I do think I would go back just for the gorgeous panoramic view and patio – it’s so rare to find one that isn’t packed to the max on a sunny Seattle day, but we had no wait to get a table at Alki Crab and Fish Co. The dining room also has big picture windows and there are picnic tables and grass by the parking lot. The restaurant also draws passengers of the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, so could be a great destination for a tourist-type date, or just a place to wind down after work.

This weekend, my friend Tara invited me to go to one of her favorite restaurants, Cactus. Apparently, this is one of the most popular Friday night restaurants in Seattle, because when we got there at 8:30 we were told the wait would be an hour at least. However, we had already made the trek to Madison Park, and I was dying to try the innovative Mexican / Southwestern / Spanish cuisine of the award-winning restaurant, so we headed toward the bar.

The atmosphere at the restaurant was fantastic and authentic – tile floors, hanging chilies and funky folk art. Even better was the prime location with a view down to the grass and water of Madison Park. Although it was pretty much too crowded to move, the servers and guests were polite and friendly and we didn’t even really mind the wait for our table. Not to mention that the two bartenders were pretty much perfect examples of the male species. I think I was probably drooling because of them as much as my growling stomach.

The six seats at the bar were full, so we ordered drinks and stood back trying to avoid colliding with servers carrying trays of the most fantastic-looking food I have ever seen. My mouth was watering by the time we finally grabbed open bar stools about 20 minutes later. Our mango mojitos went fantastic with a huge basket of chips and salsa casera, and almost exactly 40 minutes later we were led to a romantic little table for two outside.

After some serious consideration (and a strawberry mojito) I decided to play it safe and order the House Chimichanga, one of my favorite Mexican dishes. At less than $15 it was a great deal, served with pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, rice and beans. Tara decided on the Butternut Squash Enchilada – crisp white corn tortillas layered with jack and goat cheeses, spinach, roasted butternut squash and caramelized onions, topped with guacamole and New Mexican red chile mole, also less than $15. Hands down, some of the best food I have ever consumed.

Now, I realize that one of my current goals is to quit frequenting the same restaurants over and over again, but Cactus will probably have to be an exception – I could easily eat there once a week for the rest of my life and never get sick of it. However, if I visited the Alki and Kirkland locations, that would be kind of like trying a new restaurant, right?

Yum.