Purple Cafe and Wine Bar

Purple is a cafe and wine bar in Woodinville, WA.  It seems to be a fairly nice "cafe" though, with dinner mains ranging from $30 for meatloaf or chicken, to $44 for seared scallops, to $55 for steak.  They also offer up a number of pasta dishes, including luxurious lobster mac and cheese for $41 (or just truffle mac for $28).  Sandwiches round out the lunchtime menu, and have more of a cafe vibe, which includes burgers or ... grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Essentially, casual cafe overall, but with some upscale touches.  Every dish has a suggested wine pairing (listed as 'tastes even better with' on the menu), bringing in the strong wine bar focus.

While the dinner entree seared scallops did sound great, served with a spring pea puree among other things, all things I quite enjoy, I actually had eyes for only the appetizer section of the menu.  I was tempted by the well regarded baked brie, wrapped in pastry and served with tasty accompaniments like caramelized onions and candied walnuts, and by the burrata with heirloom tomatoes, and by the crispy spring veggies (fancy tempura with truffle aioli), and the charred asparagus ... and, the real reason I ordered from Purple Cafe ... the crab cakes.

I was in the Seattle area for a business trip, and had been craving crab cakes since my first day there.  Somehow the opportunity never came up to get them, partially because I did go rogue and opt for bar snacks from Woodblock my first night (chicken and duck liver mousse drew me in!) and disappointing sushi from Kiwami Sushi Bar & Sake House (but really tasty mushrooms!) another. But my last night, crab cakes it was.

I had many other options for getting crab cakes, a staple on many menus around the area, and many decently regarded and close by, with many restaurants that specialize in seafood, but, I had seen photos of the ones from Purple, and they just looked my style.  So even though it was kinda far away, and required a long delivery time, I ordered from Purple.  Just the crab cakes appetizer, as I had a bunch of other leftovers in my hotel to finish off too.

Side note: The dessert lineup actually was quite appealing too, with seasonal strawberry rhubarb crisp (warm with ice cream), creme brulee, bread pudding (also warm with ice cream), but, alas, those were not available for delivery.

I ordered on DoorDash, which worked reasonably well, although there were a few hiccups.  The menu descriptions of some of the dishes didn't seem to have been updated when the restaurant changed out some accompaniments, so, what I thought I was ordering, and what I got, didn't match.  The delivery took 1.5 hours.  And the restaurant didn't allow any notes, like, "sauce on the side".   So certainly not ideal.  That said, I am not unhappy with my order, and I'd gladly order again from there.  Even with the delivery experience (once I warmed the food up in my hotel kitchenette), I was quite pleased.  Next time, maybe the seared scallops, the baked brie, the asparagus ... or maybe I'd venture all the way there to really get to experience the real restaurant?

Dungeness Crab Cakes. $32.

"Two crab cakes served with cabbage slaw, citronette, dill remoulade." - DoorDash

"Crispy marble potatoes, celery, pickled red onions, fresno chili, spicy remoulade, herbs." - Restaurant

When I opened my takeout container, I was a bit surprised to see a mound of potatoes, and no dill remoulade, as described on the DoorDash menu.  Part of the reason I ordered the crab cakes from Purple, compared to other places, was for the remoulade, and for not having potatoes.  I knew the food wouldn't still be warm, given the lengthy delivery time, but I still tried a bite immediately of the lukewarm offerings.

The crab cake was the style I was looking for - shredded crab, decent seasoning, light bread crumb coating.  While I know many people prefer lump crab based cakes, like the mediocre one I had in Orlando from Ocean Prime, or the better one from Goode Seafood Co in Houston, this is the style that was calling to me.  They were slightly crispy, not greasy.  Fairly small, but, good.  ***+.

I did want the promised remoulade to dunk them in however, and did want the cabbage slaw to pair with them, but alas, I dug into the sides that it came with instead.  The potatoes weren't really "crispy" as described on the restaurant menu, but they were enjoyable.  Hunks of several colors of marble potatoes, well seasoned, nicely cooked, soft and creamy inside.  They seemed tossed in flavorful oil, likely they had been sautéed with it?  I think they are normally served warm with the crab cakes, but were barely lukewarm when I got it, which worked fine too, more like a lightly warm potato salad.  Decent potatoes, although fairly decadent, and not what I was intending to get.  The potatoes made the appetizer a bit more substantial than I'd wanted.  But still, tasty potatoes.  ***+.

And then ... I don't know what to call it.  The rest of the stuff, which was slices of crisp celery, pickled red onions, a few small bits of fresno chile, drenched in remoulade.  Those components were all mixed together, like a slaw would have been, but, without a slaw base.  Basically it came across as a way over dressed celery mix with some pickled onions and a hint of heat.  It too was lightly warm, which I think was just from being packaged with the crab cakes and potatoes.  I suspect these elements are normally not hot?  These items did help round out the dish - the celery was so soaked in the remoulade that I could sorta get some on my crab cake, and the acidity from the pickled onions was a nice touch, and I liked the crispy crunchy celery, but, I really would have preferred the slaw and remoulade separate, as this dish used to be served.  I ended up mixing all these components with the potatoes to make a potato salad of sorts, and that worked well too, but, again, just not what I wanted with my crab cakes.  *** for these components.

So overall, above average crab cake, in a style I was really craving, and good accompaniments, just, not ones I particularly wanted.  I enjoyed the dish, but likely would have preferred the previous version of the dish.  ***+.

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Breakfast Buffet at The Element Seattle Remond

Another day, another hotel breakfast buffet, this time at the Element hotel in Redmond, WA.

 

The Element hotels always include breakfast for all guests.  They generally offer a basic continental lineup (cereal, yogurt, pastries, toast, bagels) and then some kind of hot item, usually breakfast sandwiches, or, if you are lucky, a made-to-order station that makes one dish a day (pancakes, waffles, eggs, omelets) on a rotation.  I've stayed at several Element properties, so I knew to expect this.  Generally, the offerings are sufficient, but not worth really mentioning.

The Element Redmond was slightly above average compared to many other Element properties.  It wasn't super premium, and certainly doesn't compare to a hotel breakfast buffet that charges $40/pp normally, but, in addition to the standard continental offerings, it had a small hot buffet AND a rotating daily made to order dish, and, the real shocker, the pastries were from a local bakery.

Most items in the buffet were un-changed from day to day, but a few (the type of breakfast hot protein, the style of baked goods, and the made-to-order dish) did change daily.  The buffet. was well stocked and replenished, even though busy.  I appreciated that they had both real plates/bowls/mugs/cutlery for those who wanted to dine in, and disposables for those of us who wanted to run back to our rooms with it (no takeout boxes, but, paper plates, bowls, cups, and plastic utensils).  The dining area was large.  Overall, a good offering for included breakfast.

Cereal.

The cereal lineup is pretty basic: Cheerios, corn fakes, raisin bran, and "rice mix" (off-brand Rice Krispies?).  No particularly kid-friendly options like your standard Fruit Loops or Cocoa Puffs.  I appreciated that the cereal was in jars rather than those twisty dispensers that are always jammed, and always dump far too much cereal once they finally do turn.  I had corn flakes with my breakfast one morning, simple but not stale or anything. ***.

The back side of this area had the juices, none of which I tried.

Scrambled Eggs / Frittata.

Every morning the hot buffet had the same scrambled eggs (your basic buffet eggs that somehow look both dried out and watery, at the same time) and little veggie frittata muffins that looked sunken and not great every morning.  Somehow though, folks seemed to take both of these items regularly, even though they looked pretty gross to me.

Herb Roasted Potatoes.

Next came the breakfast potatoes, usually these chunks of smaller potatoes, roasted with herbs.  They looked generally decent.  One morning they were a slightly different shape.

Veggie? Sausage.

The final hot buffet item was the breakfast meat of the day.  Some days it was sausage, and others it was bacon.  Sometimes it was pork, others it was turkey, and occasionally it was veggie.  Always just one choice, but, it changed out daily.

Amusingly, it was *always* incorrectly labelled.  Days it was bacon, it said sausage.  Days it was clearly turkey it said pork. Etc. Etc.  I was there four mornings, and it never once was correct.  It both amused me, and made me wonder what the actual problem was.  Someone was clearly changing the sign daily, as it was different every day.  The protein itself was changing daily.  Was this someone just having fun?  Or maybe a non-native English speaker that truly was confusing the words for bacon and sausage?  I was always in a rush so I didn't stop to mention the always-wrong label, but, certainly, it made for my morning amusement.

I tried the pork sausage one morning (not pictured), and it was very greasy but otherwise fine, lower end sausage. **+.

Turkey Bacon.

My last morning I randomly grabbed a piece of the turkey bacon (labelled "pork sausage" of course).  It smelt really funny. Maybe it was veggie bacon, not turkey?  I'm still not quite sure.  It was crispy though, and decent dunked in syrup, but ... the odor was definitely hard to look past. **+.

Milk, Hard BoiledEggs, Cream Cheese
Fruit Salad, Salsa, Cheese.

To go along with cereal, there was 3 kinds of milk: whole, 2%, and almond.  I'll give them credit for one alternative milk, but was surprised it wasn't soy, as that is generally more common.  Also credit for not just whole milk, but, again, 2% seemed an odd choice, why not fat free or at least 1%?  It didn't seem like they were reaching the masses here.  The milks were lukewarm, which wasn't all that pleasant with the cereal, and there was no ice around to chill it down.

This area also had salsa and shredded cheese to jazz up your eggs, cream cheese and butter for your bagel, and a fruit salad with just melons and grapes.

Spreads.

The lineup of spreads was decent, with 3 kinds of Bonne Maman preserves, Jif peanut butter, honey, and Nutella.

Croissants from Local Bakery.

The first morning, I was surprised to see local pastries, advertised as from Franz and Alki bakeries in Seattle, rather than standard Sysco frozen products.

Sadly the croissants really weren't very good.  They were fairly dry, not particularly flaky, and sorta seemed stale.  They looked good though.  **+.

This lineup changed daily, another surprise, as most of the buffet was the same every day.  That said, I quickly realized the interesting sweet carbs ran out by 8am most days, and by 9am there definitely would be nothing left at all.

White and Wheat Bread.

Franz Bakery seems to supply the sliced bread, bagels, and english muffins.   I had a slice of toast one morning, it was fine, seemed fresh enough.  ***.

Bagels and English Muffins.

Sadly the bagels were always just plain bagels.  Really a missed opportunity for some variety.

Banana Coffee Cake.

The breakfast breads were never labelled, but the next day, rather than those sad croissants, we had a banana bread coffee cake.  It was fairly moist, good banana flavor, good crumb structure.  A lighter, more-cake like bread than I'm accustomed with banana bread, which is why I'm calling it banana coffee cake, as it was more like a coffee cake (but not spiced like one, no streusel top). 

Overall, not bad.  ***.

Lemon Citrus Tea Loaf / Banana Tea Loaf / Petite Scone.

The next morning, entirely different sweet breakfast carbs, this time, tea loaves.  These were much denser than the previous day cake-bread.

The banana bread tea loaf I didn't try, but it looked far more traditional, dense, darker.

I did snag the last scone, which was fine.  Nice crumb, slight tang, light glaze.  Fresher than many you find in a hotel breakfast buffet, but fairly plain.  I wanted cream to go with it!  ***.

Tea Loves: Lemon Citrus Tea Loaf & Chocolate Cake.

The other tea loaves were lemon citrus and chocolate, both really quite sweet pound cakes, not really breakfast appropriate, but ... hey, I wasn't complaining.

Both were very moist, very rich (butter and sugar, check!).  The lemon citrus pound cake had a light citrus favor.  I suspect it would be nice as a dessert with berries and cream.  The chocolate one was decently chocolately, decently moist, and also very rich.  It was good, but would have been better with some chocolate chips in it.

Both nice sweet breads, but, more like dessert than breakfast.  ***.

Cranberry White Chocolate Coconut Streusel Muffins.

The final morning was muffins, their first appearance. 

These were actually quite good, large muffins, super moist, excellent streusel top.  There were pops of cranberry for tartness and chew, a few white chocolate chips for additional sweetness and creaminess, and shredded coconut throughout for lots of texture.  A very cake-like muffin base, quite sweet, again, more like dessert than breakfast.  But I quite enjoyed mine (although I'd prefer any other fruit than cranberries).  Far better than most hotel breakfast buffet muffins.  ***+.

Chobani Branded Yogurt Bar.

Like every Element hotel, the buffet also included the branded Chobani yogurt cart.

It had both nonfat plain or greek Chobani yogurt, neither of which I cared for, as I just kinda can't stand Chobani yogurt.

The toppings lineup was decent, your standard dried raisins and cranberries, walnuts, and granola, plus fresh fruit.  The fruit generally included small bits of pineapple and then either blueberries or strawberries.  Unlike other Element properties I've stayed at (ahem, Orlando!), the staff did a good job restocking this, and the berries rarely ran out.  I was particularly impressed with the berries, as they were flavorful and fresh.  The granola was more like crumbled crunchy granola bars, and I didn't hate it.  But it was sweet and not really like normal cluster based breakfast granola.

There was also syrup and agave in this area, and, one morning, also a can of whipped cream.  Sadly, that can of whipped cream vanished after my first morning, which is a shame, as it would have jazzed up those sweet pastries!

Overall, a decent offering, and **** for the berries.

Oatmeal / Hot Cocoa.

The toppings for the yogurt could also easily be used with oatmeal if you prefer.  There were packets of generic Sysco brand instant oatmeal, in several flavors, along with Swiss Miss hot cocoa mix that seemed to be a real hit with the kids.

Made to Order Station.

The final element of the lineup is the made to order station.  This little cart featured a different item every day - omelets my first day, pancakes another, and eggs your way another, and then back to omelets.  I'm not sure if anything else ever rotated in.

I was surprised that this station didn't get much action.  Granted, it was rarely staffed, and I kinda think the staff preferred to just refill the berries than deal with annoying omelet requests, but, I was still surprised to see such low usage, as these stations tend to be where the lines are at other properties.

Egg over Medium.

The morning of eggs your way, the staff member was actually around, so I asked for an egg over medium.  It was actually really nicely prepared - exactly over medium as I asked, no runny nor too firm whites, and amazingly, she even seasoned it well.  Considerably better than most hotel breakfast egg stations, and ready in just a few minutes.  A highlight for me.  ***+.

Coffee Station.

And of course, the essential coffee.  Pre-brewed regular and decaf were on offer, and they were fairly not great.  I tried both.  Harsh, acidic. But nice and hot.  All kinds of sweetener available.  Overall though, below average coffee. **+.

There was also a robot machine to make other drinks, but it was broken two of the four days I was there, and had a looooong line the others.  

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STK Steakhouse

STK is a small chain of high end, or at least, high price point, steakhouses in major cities in the US.  They recently opened one in San Francisco, right along the waterfront, and literally right downstairs from my office.  

I was excited to try it out when it opened, but I took one look at the price point, and decided to wait for a worthy occasion.  This is not a casual evening out restaurant, this is a splurge, a major splurge, destination.  Reviews also seemed fairly mixed, so, I wasn't compelled to visit sooner.

After several months of walking by literally every day, I finally visited, with a small group of co-workers, at the end of a day long working strategy session.  We didn't have the budget for an actual meal there, but we were able to visit during Happy Hour, and make a meal of it.

Mostly Happy Hour.

We visited during Happy Hour, to take advantage of the quite reasonable prices.  The Happy Hour prices really are remarkable.

Also remarkable was the service.  As in, it was truly horrible.  We were fully ignored for 30 minutes until we flagged down a waiter (not our first attempt to do so, but, we were unable any other time!), who wasn't even ours, but he helped us out.  

The food was ... ok.  Not great, and certainly not worthy of the regular prices.  I'd consider returning again for Happy Hour just due to convenience and great prices, but, it certainly wouldn't be my top choice.

Setting

STK bills itself as a "modern steakhouse & chic lounge", the later part being a prime focus.  There is a live DJ every night.  At 5pm on the dot, the DJ stars spinning, and it is a scene.  The evening dress quickly becomes cocktail attire and upwards.  If you are looking for a low key, intimate, quiet venue ... this is not it.

STK sets itself up as somewhere to be seen - literally.  There is a giant bull out front to pose with, and of course, post your content to social media.  An Instagram-worthy flower backdrop and photo booth inside.  High end steakhouse decor.  

Patio.

My visit was for Happy Hour, which is limited to the small bar area inside, or, the large patio outside.  We were seated outside, where the vibe was still strong, the DJ blasting.  Seemingly ever table was a fairly large group of co-workers, or friends, out for a good time post their work days.  Food, and more importantly drinks, were free flowing.

It was also, well, San Francisco, which meant it was fairly cool, and the heat lamps were necessary, although barely functional, as they kept blowing out in the wind.  

Service was awful.  Truly the worst I've experienced anywhere in several years, including in non-tipping countries, or those were the status quo is essentially no service.  Getting attention of staff members required aggressive effort on our part.  Were we not dressed the part?  Was it just bad luck?  

Drinks

As a prime Happy Hour, or spurge-worthy dinner destination, STK has an extensive drink menu.  One entire side of the menu is devoted to drinks.

Drink Menu.

STK has a pretty decent cocktail list, with basics like a margarita, mojito, or negroni, plus interesting slight twists on classics and house specials.  All cocktails are $21 normally, a touch high, but still fairly standard for a swanky place in SF.  However during Happy Hour, *all* the house cocktails are only $9 (as are a single varietal of red, white, and bubbles for wine, and a single kind of beer).  I expected just to be able to pick from 2-3 cocktails for the special happy hour pricing, and kinda couldn't believe it that all were only $9.  That really is a remarkable price for a high end cocktail in downtown!  Now I understand why every table was loaded with cocktails.

STK's signature drink is the Spiced Watermelon, a tequila based cocktail that comes garnished with a big wedge of watermelon, and has won many awards.  Nearly every table around us had multiple watermelon cocktails adorning it, every server who walked by had at least one in hand.  As I have an extremely severe watermelon allergy, this was concerning, as I know in particular the bar often will use the same knife to slice a lemon garnish as they would the watermelon, so I made sure to be very, very clear to my server that I had a severe allergy.  I was still not particularly comfortable as tray after tray of deathmelon drinks walked by all evening, and our service continued to falter.

Not Your Daddy's Old Fashioned. $9 HH/$21 Regular.

"Woodford reserve bourbon - angostura bitters - brown sugar - vanilla bean."

For my own drink, I stayed far away from the fruity offerings, and went for a old fashioned, their spin on it, the "Not Your Daddy's Old Fashioned".  It was served appropriately in a fairly hefty old fashioned glass, with not too much ice, and a lemon peel garnish.  It was a very well made drink - everything in balance, nicely bitter but not too bitter, and definitely boozy. They certainly didn't water down the cheaper happy hour cocktails.  I didn't really taste the brown sugar nor vanilla bean, but, they presumably helped create the smooth, balanced profile.

Overall, a very nice execution of a classic, and beyond reasonable for the $9 Happy Hour price.  ****.

Food

Happy Hour

Happy Hour is what draws a lot of people to STK, for good reason.  Served Mon-Fri from 3-6:30pm, and late night on Sun-Thurs from 10pm-close.  The hours are generous, and the prices shockingly reasonable, not only compared to their regular $$$$ menu, but, in general.  The Happy Hour menu is only served at the bar inside, and patio outside, which was a bit unfortunate as we were a party of 4 so the bar wasn't an option, and, it was pretty cold and windy outside.  They have heat lamps, but, they kept blowing out.  Still, I do recommend this for a happy hour venue.

Happy Hour Menu.

The Happy Hour menu is arranged around a simple premise: $3, $6, $9.  That is, all dishes are either $3, $6, or $9.  All drinks are $9.  Simple.  And like I said, reasonable.

The menu ranges from smaller portions of some of their regular appetizers and side dishes, to happy hour exclusive bites.  The $3 lineup includes falafel, oysters, and their signature tots.  $6 gets you a mini "brg" and fries, wagyu meatballs, short rib quesadillas, or salmon "stilettos" (a cured salmon bite served in a spoon).  The $9 price point gets you popcorn chicken or crispy calamari (that I would actually really like to try), several styles of tacos (a single tiny A5 wagyu taco or pair of tiny tuna tartare tacos with taro chip shells), classic tartar or shrimp cocktail, or a play on steak frites.

If you really want to splurge at Happy Hour, there is also a $19 Surf & Turf, with a 3 ounce filet and single grilled prawn.  Honestly, this sounds perfect for me - 3 ounces is just about 3 bites of steak, which is all I generally want anyway.  Pair it with a carby side dish (I recommend the tots!) and a veggie side dish, and you could have a perfectly fine, not overly indulgent, reasonably priced, dinner.

During Happy Hour, most tables were piled high with happy hour dishes.  At $3, $6, and $9 dollars, how do you blame folks?  We tried 3 different items (ok, 4, if you count the veggie version of one), and doubled up on a few.  In general, I was impressed with the composition of the dishes, but, our food was not warm, even when freshly served.

Short Rib Quesadilla. $6.

"Fontina cheese - tomatoes - chimichurri - flour tortilla - mustard cream."

I'm not one for quesadillas in general, so I wasn't interested in this, but my co-workers opted to get the short rib quesadilla.  I suspect they were expecting more standard wedge shaped pieces, and likely some salsa or sour cream, but they seemed happy enough with this more stromboli-like presentation.  I didn't try one, but I did try the sauce, not knowing what it was, but being a sauce girl I couldn't resist, and found it very ... bland.  Everyone tried to guess what it was.  They mostly though it was aioli, which didn't seem quite right to me, and certainly didn't make sense with quesadillas, even non-traditional ones.  I thought maybe it would be sour cream, but, it didn't have any tang to it either.  The answer?  Mustard cream, the same as I had my crab cake (more on that soon).  The mustard element was not detectable, although it had a mild yellow hue to it.

This dish does not appear on the regular dinner menu, but is on the lunch menu in entree form for $31.

Lil' Brg & Truffle Fries. $6.

"Wagyu beef - special sauce - sesame seed bun."

One of the clear crowd pleasers of the Happy Hour menu is the "lil' brg", available with wagyu beef or vegetarian patty.  The brg comes adorned with all the fixings: tomato, a slice of pickle, well melted cheese, and is dripping the special sauce.  It really is a nice looking slider.  The bun was glossy and coated with a good scattering of black sesame seeds too.

Two of my co-workers ordered these, and said they were good, albeit very messy.  Although cooked medium-well, barely any pink inside, they said the patties were remarkably juicy.  Our vegetarian companion tried the veggie version, and said it was fine, but not great.

The Happy Hour brg also comes with their signature truffle parmesan fries.  You can't get the fries alone on the happy hour menu, but the brg comes with a tower of 4 of them.  These are unique fries, very thick (but not like steak fries) but rather like logs.  Solid logs of fried potato.   I tried one and wasn't particularly impressed.  It was just a big fry.  Looked interesting, but wasn't really.  I tried it very soon after it arrived at the table when my dining companion offered one, and it was stone cold.   The truffle flavor was barely noticeable.  The parmesan was fine.  If you want these with your meal outside Happy Hour, a side order of 12 of them is a whopping $20, which seems crazy to me.  **+ for the fries.

I also did try the special sauce that dripped off the burgers, and it was pretty standard special sauce.  Creamy, flavorful, zesty. ***.

The brg is also the regular starters menu for $33, which is a pair of them, with no fries.  $16.50 per slider - wowzer.  The happy hour price was totally reasonable, particularly with the fries, but  I can't imagine paying $16.50 each for these.

Tots. $3.

Our final item from the Happy Hour menu was my pick.  And, really, this dish was a primary reason why I wanted to go to STK.  For the tots.  Yup, the tots.  Me, a girl who could generally care less about most tater tots, couldn't wait to try these.  Another signature dish, another bougie spin on a classic, and luckily for us, far more successful than the fries.  A single order comes with 4 tots, and we ordered several platters of them, knowing that we'd each want more than one (or at least, hoping so!).

Much like the fries, the theme was super sized.  Giant tots.  They were crispy on the outside, and basically a ball of creamy yummy mashed potato inside, not shredded potato like their namesake.  I really liked the tots, but, they were barely lukewarm when they arrived, so, minus a point for that.  The same parmesan and herbs were sprinkled over them that came with the fries too.  **** tots, but, knocking down to ***+ due to being cold.

They were served with a orange dipping sauce, that I gleefully took a bunch of, only to discover that it was chipotle (I think).  Creamy, good, but, I didn't like chipotle flavor.  The others did though.  I used the mustard cream from their quesadillas, and a little of the special sauce that had dripped out of their burgers, on mine, and eventually asked for ketchup.  Yup, I was that person who asked for ketchup (which, everyone else ended up using too, for fries, tots, and brgs).

The tots are also available as regular side, 8 for $20, so this is clearly a much better deal.  

Dinner

Happy Hour was our main draw, but we could also order from the full dinner menu if wanted to splurge.  Warning: this is very much a splurge kind of venue. 

Dinner Menu.

So, the dinner menu.

It starts with several salads, such as a $29 iceberg wedge (for real), has a few of the Happy Hour dishes in dramatically higher price points (tuna tartare, calamari, the brgs for $34, $31, $33 respectively), and a few other starters such as bacon or burrata for $30, and a single crab cake for $41.  Gulp.

The raw bar comes next, with "STK Pearls", e.g. oysters and American caviar for $69, king crab, and a $71 per person, two person minimum, shellfish platter.  

Then there are the entrees.  Your cheapest option is the $55 chicken.  The sole vegetarian item, tagliatelle, with truffle, is $65.  For seafood eaters, things escalate to the salmon ($62), fish & chips ($68), and sea bass ($73).  But this is a steak house, and the red meat is what they are all about.  Small filets start at $61 and from there ... you rise up to the $165 tomahawk, or the A5 wagyu priced per ounce.  Want toppings such as a lobster tail to make it a surf & turf and that will be $41, a peppercorn crust will cost you $9, and then there are several butters to pick from for $12 each and long list of sauces for $4 (or a sauce plate, for people like me who always want them al, for $29).

The sides lineup (all $20) is really all quite appealing.  In addition to larger servings of the tots and fries, the other potato offering is a fantastic looking parmesan crusted mashed potato.  For those who want some vegetables, not necessarily healthy ones, there is creamed spinach, crispy brussels sprouts (with bacon), sweet corn pudding, confit mushrooms (also with bacon), and asparagus.

And not be left out, of course, desserts, all $18, none of which are particularly inspired: chocolate cake, cheesecake, apple pie (not even served warm), a skillet cookie, or bag of donuts.

So, a fairly low key meal of a salad to start, a modest mid-range steak, single side, and dessert would be $175 per person, before taking into account drinks (cocktails are $21 outside of happy hour).  Yeah, ooph.

We tried a starter and a side, and nothing else (yes, I even passed on dessert, mostly because they get such lackluster reviews).

STK Pull Apart Bread w/ Blue Cheese Butter & Chive.
 (Complimentary with Dinner).

"House made bread. Topped with blue cheese butter and served with chive oil."

I knew from reading reviews that people go nuts for the housemade bread, served with a signature blue cheese butter and herb oil.  I saw it being delivered to tables around us, as soon as folks had their orders in, before their appetizers/happy hour bites arrived.  But we didn't get bread.  This seemed on trend with the horrible service, but after literally every other dish had arrived and still no bread, I asked about it.

I was told the sad news - bread is only served to those who order an entree from the main menu.  So, copious Happy Hour bites, even sides and apps from the main menu, did not make us worthy of the bread.  Doh.  We had plenty of food, and a table loaded with plates, so, I accepted our fate, and moved on, but the server came back by and said he'd sneak me one.  Ok, while service was generally awful, our makeshift server really did a great job.

A few minutes later, he delivered the bread with a smile.  It was beautifully presented, in a skillet, with the two spreads on the side.  I eagerly ripped off a roll, and was immediately disappointed.  Um, it was not hot. Not even lukewarm.  Stone cold.  Sigh.  Really, I couldn't believe how cold it was.  Was the cast iron skillet all for looks?  Was it supposed to be cold?  I don't think so, as most photos I had seen of it had the butter melting all over it.  There was no way this butter was going to melt on the cold bread, in the cold SF outdoors.

I slathered the butter all over it, undeterred.  Rookie move, not trying the bread first, nor the butter, but, going all in.  And ... wow, I didn't really like it.  The butter had an odd taste, and was strangely chunky.  It was then that I remembered it was *blue cheese* butter, and I don't particularly like blue cheese.  The bread was also sourdough, although only mild sour dough flavor.  So, cold bread, cold butter that didn't melt in and had a flavor I didn't care for ... not a winner.  * for that butter for me, the parsley at least was ok?  And ** for the bread, at least it was soft?  The bread would be *** if warm.

The best thing on the board was the chive oil.  Very herby, flavorful.  Not remarkable, but, not bad. ***.

You can also purchase this a la carte for $6.90 if you don't quality for the complimentary bread, or you want a refill.

Starter: Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. $41.

"Whole grain mustard cream - chili thread - cucumber mustard seeds salad."

I went rogue and ordered a starter off the regular menu, instead of a happy hour bite, for my main protein.  I was really, really craving crab cakes, and I knew STK had a crab cake on the starters menu.  Had I stuck with the happy hour menu, the fried calamari really did look decent.

The crab cake was reasonably warm, unlike all the happy hour bites.  It was a decently thick patty, with not too much filler, and lots of crab.  Lightly crispy, not greasy.  A decent crab cake, but not remarkable.  Not particularly well seasoned, and it really could use a little acidity.  I wished for a lemon to squeeze over it.

The plate was garnished with flair, with the same mustard cream that the quesadillas came with, that made more sense here, but was still a very, very muted flavor.  I liked having some kind of cream, but, it didn't really help the flavors pop.  More mustard would definitely help, but really, I just wanted some tartar sauce.  If service was better, I would have asked for some of the roasted garlic and lime aioli that comes with the calamari perhaps, but, waiting to get the attention of a server was not really an option.  I wanted to eat while at least one item on my plate was remotely warm.

The "cucumber mustard seeds salad" was really just a single long thin piece of cucumber attractively rolled up.  Fresh, crisp, but, not much of it, and definitely not a salad.

Overall, the crab cake was fine, but everything else let it down.  Looked considerably prettier than it tasted.  ***.

This crab cake, the single crab cake, with very little else served with it, was $41.  $41!!!  Yes, it was a good crab cake, but, wow.  A $41 starter, or in my case, a light main.

Side: Sweet Corn Pudding. $20.

I wanted all the sides, but at $20 each, I limited myself to just one to try.  I was between the creamed spinach and the corn pudding, and let the group help me decide.  We all though the corn pudding sounded the most unique.

It was essentially just slightly fancier creamed corn.  Very heavy in the cream, and made with whole kernel corn, not crushed pieces like you find in canned cream corn.  I was secretly hoping it would be more the style of the insanely life changing corn pudding I had at Truth BBQ in Houston, but alas, it was more like regular creamed corn.  Good creamed corn, don't get me wrong, but, just creamed corn.  A bit more seasoning, a touch of kick like jalapeno, or even a cheese crust could have likely amped this up a bit, but as it was, it was fine, but not something I'd get again, unless really craving creamed corn.

The portion was definitely sharable, we all had several scoops with no problem.  ***.

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479° Popcorn

I'm always on a popcorn kick. 

It all started when I visited my parents one summer, and attended the local farmer's market with my mom.  The market was tiny compared to the Ferry Building farmer's market that I'm used to in San Francisco, but, it still left a strong impression.  The produce was fine, but nothing spectacular.  Overall, it seemed pretty forgettable.  And then my mom mentioned that she needed to get her "treat": a lemonade and a bag of popcorn.  She led me to a stand where they were making fresh kettle corn.  It smelt great, but it was just popcorn, how exciting would it really be?  While we waited for her lemonade to be freshly squeezed, I idly took a handful of the fresh popcorn.  It was salty.  It was sweet.  It was totally and completely addicting.  I couldn't stop eating it.

I haven't found kettle corn as good as that stuff anywhere else.  I've tried tons of popcorns, from packaged ones, to microwave ones, to fancy ones sold at the farmer's markets in SF.  None even come close to that popcorn.  The good news is, it freezes wonderfully.  I think I might even prefer it frozen, as it gets a little crunchier.  I may or may not have filled every remaining space in my luggage on my last return trip with popcorn.  And I may have mocked my mom when she overnight mailed me a giant bag of it as a surprise, telling her how ridiculous it was to spend that much money on shipping popcorn.  But secretly, I was thrilled.  If you are wondering, that is Howl'n Good Speciality Popcorn, and you can only find it in the Lebanon, NH area.

Anyway, this review isn't about that popcorn.  This is about 479°, a San Francisco based gourmet popcorn maker.  They are local, but sell it packaged in regular retail locations.  They have some savory and some sweet varieties, with fairly interesting flavors.

I almost liked all of their popcorns, but at the end of the day, they all leave me wanting something more.  Specifically, the popcorn from that tiny farmer's market in New Hampshire ...

Chipotle Caramel + Almonds.

“Rich, dark caramel spiked with chipotle chili + toasted almonds”.

This was sweet and ok, but not all that standout.  My notes said, "Just kinda there. Sweet, slightly spicy aftertaste, but really nothing special.  I really don’t get the chipotle spice at all.  Just kinda sweet popcorn, slight caramel flavor on finish.  There was only one almond in the entire bag.  Eh.  **+.

Vanilla Bean Caramel.

"Light, crunchy caramel popcorn infused with Madagascar vanilla. An indulgent snack with only 110 calories! Gluten Free, Non-GMO, Whole Grain, always air-popped, never fried."

On a recent flight with Virgin America, I saw 479° popcorn offered, skimmed it, and kept on reading my other options as I hadn't loved the 479° popcorn I'd tried before.  But then I backtracked.  Wait, it said "Vanilla Bean Caramel".  That was not the Sea Salt Caramel flavor I had before.  Do they make a second caramel corn now?

The answer?  Yes, they do, but it is an exclusive flavor to Virgin America.  Well, now I had to try it!

It was better than the sea salt caramel.  I could taste the vanilla bean clearly, which added a bit of oomph to the flavor.  The caramel was still very sweet, which I know is what you want with caramel corn, but without the salt to balance it, the result was even sweeter than the Sea Salt Caramel flavor.

The kernels were well coated, and the popcorn light and fresh enough, but overall, it didn't wow me.  Of course, like most popcorn, I immediately wondered how it would be frozen ... ***.

[ Others ]

• Fluer de Sel Caramel: "Sweet, crunchy caramel sprinkled with delicate flakes of sea salt".  Tasting notes:  Almost too sweet?  Not quite awesome.  Not quite a caramel corn, salt not really there enough. [ Way too sweet ]  [ Not actually good, but almost good, so you keep eating it trying to make it be good.  Almost too sweet, too much caramel.]  [ Really too sweet, I want to like this more than I do. ] **+.
• White Cheddar and Black Truffle: "Aged white cheddar drizzled with aromatic black truffle oil."  Tasting notes: Truffle is very subtle, don't really taste it.  Mostly just standard white cheddar popcorn with a bit of earthiness.  Not very good, cheddar very mild, meh. [ Update review: Cheddar too mild, not much truffle, meh ]. **+.
• Ginger Sesame Caramel:  "Ginger-infused crunchy caramel tossed with toasted black sesame seeds".  Tasting notes: sweet and ok, but not all that interesting.  Just like the fleur de sel, almost good but not really.  Lots of caramel, but not very good ginger or sesame flavors.  **+.
• Pimentòn de La Vera: "Smoky Spanish paprika with bursts of ripe organic tomato + onion." Tasting notes: Nice and spicy, liked.  Unique and flavorful.  ***+.
• Vietnamesse Cinnamon Sugar: "Vietnamese cinnamon dusted with crunchy light sugar".  Tasting notes:  flavor too subtle, not very cinnamony or sugary. **+.

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Westernco Donut

Another work trip to the Seattle area, another chance to indulge in local donuts (er, I mean, another great business opportunity to bond with my co-workers ...).  Last time, we had well known Top Pot donuts for our large event.  This time, I had a few other places at the top of my list to try, but alas, none delivered to our office, nor were near enough where the locals lived to stop to pick them up.  One of said locals went to a place they'd never been before either, Westernco Donut.

"Westernco Donut has been in the business of making the finest donuts for over 30 years and counting. We make our donuts the old-fashioned way. We don't try to offer the largest variety of donuts nor do we try to keep up with the latest trends from around the world. Instead, we focus on quality."

Some donut shops are all about their toppings, their innovative wacky flavor combinations, their  accolades.  Westernco Donut is definitely not that.  No bougie donuts here.  Just, simple donuts, done well.   And for the most part, they won me over.  I wouldn't go out of my way for these donuts, but, I enjoyed them.

Assorted Dozen.

Our first box was a lovely assortment of donuts, all fairly interesting, no plain or even simple glazed here.  There was puffy twists and bear claws, very glazed old fashioned (chocolate or vanilla), a filled raised circle (which turned out to have lemon filling), two cake donuts with icing and toppings (white with cocolate, chocolate with sprinkles), and my usual favorites, the apple fritter and cinnamon roll.  Normally, my first grab would be said fritter or cinnamon roll, but the top left two, the stuffed buttermilk bars, drew me in instantly.  They were oozing so much goodness!

Stuffed Glazed Buttermilk Bars. $2.50.

I immediately took half of each of them, one with jelly, one with pudding.  I was thrilled to find that they tasted as good as they looked.  Nicely crispy outside, moist inside, great crunch to the exterior.  Good base flavor.  Plenty of glaze.  The jelly one was goo style jelly, but that totally works in a jelly donut, and it was sweet, fruity, and enjoyable. ****.

The pudding filled buttermilk bar was the same excellent donut base, with vanilla pudding coming out.  Definitely "Snack Pack" style pudding, not a fresh custard, but, again, that works here, just like in a Boston Cream.  You don't need fancy custard. ****.

Vanilla and Chocolate Frosted Old Fashioned. $1.75.

Of course I also tried the ring shaped old fashioneds, after the success of the bar style, both the vanilla and chocolate varieties.  Again, good donut base, lots of glaze.  The chocolate was deep and rich. Both above average, although the coatings were so substantial it made these pretty sweet.  ***+.

The also make these in plain, chocolate based, and maple frosted varieties.

Assorted (baker's) dozen.

Our next box was nearly as interesting.  Here we had maple glazed raised bars, rasied glazed, vanilla sprinkled, and peanut coated rings, a chocolate covered circle one that I assume was filled, and some repeats: another twist and bear claw, another each of the glazed old fashioned (vanilla and chocolate), and another fritter.  This box also had two non-donuts, a chocolate croissant, and, hiding under the top right donut, was some kind of supersized palmier.

I tried a few from here too, once the others had gotten their picks, and many still remained.

They also make french crullers, regular cake or chocolate cake donuts with a variety of toppings, and donut holes, but our assortment didn't have any of those.

Apple Fritter. $2.50.

This was a fine fritter.  Good glaze, nice crags, moist inside, light cinnamon spicing, small bits of apple.  Fairly average, but good average.  ***.

Chocolate croissant. $3.
The chocolate croissant looked a bit lackluster, which I think is why it remained after everyone had their fill, so I gave it a try. It was much better than it looked, fairly flaky, and loaded with really nice chocolate. ***+.

Giant Palmier-thing.

I really don't know what this one was.  Their website doesn't mention anything like it, nor do any reviews I saw.  And I failed to get a close up photo of it.  But it looked much like a palmier, just, huge, in all dimensions, and drizzled with icing.  

It was the only real dud of the bunch.  It was dry, it was messy, and the pastry didn't have any buttery nor redeeming qualities to it.  Just, boring all around and not very fresh tasting.  I gave up on it quickly.  It could perhaps be layered with some cream like a napoleon successfully, but, the others were so much better, and we had so many left over, it wasn't worth the effort to "save" this. **.

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Kiwami Sushi Bar & Sake House

During my recent business trip to the Seattle area, I found myself browsing random places on Door Dash, and one kept catching my eye.  Kiwami Sushi Bar & Sake house, a sushi restaurant, obviously, and one with good ratings.  It wasn't actually the sushi that drew me in however, it was one of their appetizers.  It sounded like a dish from my long ago favorite sushi place in San Francisco (sushi zone), and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

So one night, when I didn't feel like going out, I just got delivery from there.  I only actually ended up ordering one type of nigiri, and otherwise got hot appetizers, as I wasn't really craving sushi itself.  I haven't visited the business myself in person, so I can't comment on that.  They are known for their sake selection, which wasn't available for delivery, so I wasn't able to partake of that either.

In addition to a slew of regular sushi items (rolls, nigiri, sashimi, etc), Kiwami has an extensive cooked food menu, with items like chicken, salmon, or tofu teriyaki, pork or chicken katsu, and ribs for mains.  They also offer udon, poke bowls, yakisoba noodles, and other bowl style dishes.  It was the appetizers though that drew me in, with classics like agadashi tofu, chicken karaage, panko or tempura shrimp, tempura veggies, gyoza, edamame, blistered shisitos,  takoyaki, and more.

I ordered delivery on DoorDash, and had no issues with the delivery.  The food was completely hit or miss however, and I don't think I'd return.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Sautéed Mushroom. $15.60.

"Shiitake, enoki, oyster mushroom, asparagus sautéed in butter & shoyu. With green leaf lettuce, arugula, ponzu, wonton chips."

Ok, now this is an odd dish, and an odd order on my part (who orders from a sushi restaurant and gets the veggie side?), but, it was actually really good, and the highlight of my meal.

The mushrooms were very well cooked, and a nice mix of "exotic" mushrooms.  Tender, not mushy, no woodsy stems.  Very well prepared.  Flavorful.  The asparagus was also good, but was a pretty minimal element.  The veggies were all cooked in a shoyu and butter sauce, which definitely infused them with all sorts of extra flavor.  Simply put, I'd be happy with just a side of the sauteed veggies, but this dish had a bit more going on.

It was all served over fresh crisp lettuce, sorta like a salad, although the veggies were lightly warm.  There was a lemon slice to drizzle over and add a hit of acidity, and I guess ponzu in the mix too.  It was enjoyable as a salad, or just as a scoop of warm veggies as a side.  It came with 2 wonton chips that were sadly fairly soggy by the time it reached me, due to being packaged with the rest of the dish, so they basically got steamed.  I love wonton chips, and I think these nice big ones would be great to scoop up the mushroom mix, but, alas, delivery definitely detracted here. I did try to add a note to package them separately, but they didn't accept any custom notes.

Overall still a very tasty dish, unexpected, and I'm glad I randomly tossed on to my order.  I nearly didn't order this because it was fairly pricey at $15.60, but, I'd get it again with no hesitation.  ****.

Baked Mussels. $14.40.

"5-piece mussels topped with mayo, garlic, tobiko. Baked, green onion."

Ok, these baked mussels pretty much broke my heart.  I wanted them to be like the ones from Sushi Zone (in SF) that I adored, and I was so so happy to see baked mussels on the menu that sounded similar, but, alas, these were nothing like them.

To start, the mussels themselves just weren't very good.  One had a substantial amount of grit in it.  Two were very, very chewy.  Several had a pretty pungent taste, which made me wonder how fresh they were.  One had a very chipped shell. So, the base mussels, not very impressive.

The topping also wasn't great.  A little creamy, but not much flavor.  The Sushi Zone ones have spicy mayo, and this was just regular mayo and garlic, which I knew, but even so, the mayo somehow didn't really improve these.

Uh, the shredded cabbage they were on was fine?  I really didn't enjoy these at all, and they were pretty pricey for what seemed like not the freshest mussels.  *.

Unagi. $9.60.

"Freshwater Eel."

I opted for just one kind of nigiri, unagi, because I was sorta craving it, and wanted to have some kind of hedge against the mussels, and some decent protein.  It was reasonable unagi, not particularly good nor bad.  Generous size pieces.  Slathered in a bit too much sweet sauce.  The sushi rice held together fine, wasn't dried out.

It came with ginger and wasabi, and soy sauce packets on the side.

Absolutely fine, but nothing special.  Price was reasonable.  ***.

Spicy Mayo, Sweet Sauce. $0.30 each.

I also added a few sauces to my order, just because I could.  They offered a huge lineup of sauces for a totally reasonable $0.30!

The sweet soy was thick, sweet, and pretty standard for sweet soy sauce.  Not needed for the stuff I ordered, but I drizzled it over a crispy shrimp cake the next day and enjoyed it.  ***.

The spicy mayo wasn't particularly spicy, but was creamy, and nice to have for other leftovers as well.  ***.

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