0/8 Seafood and Grill - Guys Night Out

The Original Plan was to go to the Melting Pot in Bellevue (again), but at hours before we left the house I decided to go to a grill instead and with Urbanspoon as my guiding light, BAM! 0/8 Seafood and Grill was put on my portentous schedule for the night - Dinner then "District 9" followed by bowling at Lucky Strike and capped with a few rounds of King's Cup at Mike's house.

Dinner was probably the only thing I enjoyed that night as I lost the first round of King's Cup and Lucky Strike is the most horrible bowling place I have been to. I swear it was night club / a little close to being a brothel with steroid/ testosterone staffs fondling some Hollister moms/ Bellevue cougars who happened to get to play for free. The staffs were also very fond of entertaining some bimbos and sexing up the cougars rather than attending to the REAL patrons, until the cops came in where they started pretending like they were doing the job they get paid for. Music selection was cheesy and blasting loud enough to swerve bowling balls into the gutter. People come to bowl and have a good time, not to watch one star porn and listen to the kind of loud music a high school kid would blast in his cheaply stereo-ed car. I can't believe I paid $170 for 3 games of bowling and walked out feeling disappointed, but it happened. And they were putting Fearless and NFL side by side on the screens - football and Wushu...really?

Now the better thing to talk about, FOOD.

There were five of us so and we got a table right in front of the stage. "Believe me you would rather sit here than sit in the back among the conservative Bellevue families." And I can't agree more with the hostess.

I asked for soup of the day when our server came to take our drinks order and she said that she’d check it out for me. She came again to bring our drinks (except mine) and forgot to ask the kitchen about the soup still. Soup du jour is usually served starting at lunch but there she was 9.00pm and she didn't know what the soup of the day was. I ordered three glasses of champagne – Piper, Louis and Veuve. I did not get my champagne not until my fillet mignon was served. Champagne is an aperitif drink - it should have come before appetizers if anything. Our server was nice, but she was just very ditsy.

I had each of the oysters of the day on half shells. They had five different oysters that day - all of them were wonderful. I am just bias because I love fresh raw oysters.------$3.00 each

For appetizer I decided on beef tataki and mushroom risotto. The beef tataki was very good, excellent to be precise. Half cooked, almost entirely raw beef slices smothered in Ponzu and garlic sauce. The tataki was cooked to the right level. Slightly seared and raw in the center, no burnt marks and the right portion. Portion is very important - an appetizer should never be too small that the customers can't even savor enough of the taste and yet not to big that it might as well pass for an entree. The tataki is an appetizer that fits those requirements.----------$8.00

Mushroom Risotto. It was rather good. I am an appetizer person and risotto usually fails me due to being to thick and under-seasoned. My last best risotto was probably from Urbane at Olive 8 and after that a few risotto I have tried just didn't quite do it for me. The risotto that night was again, well portioned, perfectly seasoned and it has the great consistency that I expect in a good risotto.---------$9.00

After a while waiting to find out what the soup of the day was, It turned out to be something uninteresting. So I ended up ordering their lobster bisque instead. The bisque was not spectacular but it was definitely better than Nordstrom Cafe's. Slightly better than Whole Food's lobster bisque, I found that the bisque lacks some kick. A little more spice would have made this bisque tasted delicious to me.-----------$6.00

Fillet Mignon. It's hard to please yourself when you have eaten a lot of steak before. I was expecting this fancy restaurant to wow me but in the end I just got a very delicious yet mundane piece of steak with boring asparagus and mash potato. The sautéed mushrooms tasted like it was slightly burnt but has a soggy texture. Wasn't impressed by the mushrooms. The only good thing is that the steak was good enough for me to not have to bother the waitress for some A1 steak sauce.-------$36.00

Mike asked for something flavorful and yet not too filling and my gut feelings recommended him the seared scallop and it turned out that Mike found it divinely delectable. Josh was not very happy about his demi poulet (half chicken) and Eric was not happy about his steak either. Rob, the only vegetarian at our table said he enjoyed the vegetable menu of the day.

I ordered dessert but I forgot what it was hours after that...and I am known among my friends to be the one with the elephant's memory - the dessert was that unimpressive.

Food - 7/10. For such a small selection of menu I would expect everything to be the kitchen's specials but my fillet was very.... mediocre. Great oysters though.

Price - 8/10. Even for Bellevue, the drinks are a dollar or two overpriced. Everything else is borderline acceptable. 36 dollars Fillet Mignon is a great steal, but the appetizers can be a dollar cheaper.

Ambience - 8/10. Diners should never be seated too close to the bar, as it can get pretty loud. I like the decor though.

Service - 6/10. She was friendly, but unfortunately a little incompetent and ditsy. Well she tried. At least she is not snooty and unfriendly. The host was very nice too - she attended to us right as we entered the door.

Close To Home And Yet So Far - Indochine

When Josh used to work in Tacoma Art Museum he had lunch in Indochine once. He thought it was pretty good. And so, last Monday we decided to give Indochine a go. I even dressed up in my Baju Melayu just for kicks.

We were well attended and did not have to wait to be seated as the server gracefully walked towards us with a warm and sincere smile on her face and seated us around the pond. Yes a pond. Even before the menu catch your attention, I can bet on a stack of cook books that you'll be awed by the interior design of this restaurant. Gleaming hardwood floor and 'furniture', unique settings, a pond in the middle of the restaurant - it is hard to believe that this restaurant's space used to be a warehouse. I always fancy adaptive reuse of space.

We had ourselves Thai iced teas and a Drunken Buddha. Good presentation, not so sure about whip cream on the iced tea but the Orchids definitely made it look delicious. The iced tea was very good, thick, perfect consistency, unlike in some places where the tea is very watered down or the milk is almost overpowering the tea.

We had fresh spring rolls and and the curried vegetable empanadas. I can't help but to smile and laugh when they served the empanadas. It's basically 'karipap'... For a second there I felt at home. The spring rolls are made of literally fresh top grade lettuce,basil and cilantro with shredded chicken and symmetrically split shrimp. It is served with a watery garlic chili sauce. It taste good with or without the sauce anyways. The 'karipap' was served with thick peanut sauce. Josh admire the sauce, I was fairly indifferent. I grow up eating 'karipap' the way it is - with peanut sauce is a strange novel experience indeed.-------------Rolls = $7.50 Karipap = $9.00

I found it rather typical for me to order Tom Yung Gung or Tom Ka Gai whenever I go to a Thai/Asian restaurants. So at Indochine I ordered something different - Tomato Soup with Blackened shrimp (3 star spicy level). It swear they used Naga Jolokia or something like that in that soup. It was a very spicy tomato soup even for 3 star. I didn't get to enjoy the soup since it was too spicy even for someone who grows up eating spicy food everyday.---------- $12.95

Three Flavor Wild Salmon Steak. a pound of salmon steak cooked with basil, bell peppers, garlic and smothered with the typical Thai 3 flavored sauce. Sweet, sour and spicy. Not one taste is superior than the others and yet each are clearly distinct on the tongue. Personally the dish would have been better served on a different kind of fish. The sauce would ruin the Salmon's taste. Salmon lovers would find that the sauce hides or even overwhelms the unique taste of Salmon. For people who are not big with Salmon, this dish will not be your enemy.--------$26.95

The Black Sea. It's paella with black rice and instead of the tomato and pepper based sauce, coconut milk is used as the substitute. It is weird even for me, but the weirdest combination turns out to be quite appetizing. I have never thought seafood will taste good with black rice let alone cooked as paella. however I prefer the original paella over this dish any day, Provided of course the paella is a good one. Thumbs up for the creativity in making something new and different.-----------$25.95

We topped our dinner with the warm coconut cake. The waitress was amazing - she added a complimentary scoop of orange cranberry gelato on top of the cake. She also didn't charge us for our 2nd glass of iced tea. Coconut cake was my choice only because that seems to be the only thing that is different on their dessert list. It was fortunately a good choice. the warmth of the cake coupled with the smooth cold taste of the gelato made a whirlwind of sensation in my mouth. the texture of the cake was rather exquisite in taste. The soft cake with coconut shaves and the melty gelato combined in a great harmony of multiple texture. I am glad I didn't ordered the usual creme brulee or sticky rice and mango. -------$7.95

Price-----8/10. I'm amazed at how the price of all the entrees are cheaper then the House Speciality. not by a dollar or two but by almost 10 dollars. Appetizers are a little overpriced. I do however believe that I paid for the ambiance and the experience.
Food------8/10. PF Chang has got nothing on this restaurant. You might want to be careful when choosing the level of spiciness.
Service-----10/10. Top Notch. Enough said.
Ambiance--------9.5/10. If only there are flowers on my table.

I definitely will come back.

Lunch at Cafe Campagne

I love going to a non-chain restaurant. The thought of going to Olive Garden or even Palomino sickens my stomach. Though there are some nice chains such as Cheesecake Factory and Gordon Biersch.

Last week I went to Pacific Place to watch 'Julie & Julia' and after the movie ended I was ready for a French lunch. A few blocks away, I could feel Cafe Campagne calling out for me. This is my 2nd visit. First was last year with best friend Ron after we had our shopping spree. I wasn't impressed last time so I figured I should give it another chance. I was also not very impressed with the food when Josh and I went to Campagne for our 1st anniversary, other than that the service and ambiance was magnificent.It was romantic since we popped our bottle of champagne while viewing the breathtaking Puget Sound and we came late enough that we were the only people in the entire restaurant. The manager let us stay past their hours and she was very accommodating.

I asked for the outside sitting, where I could see people walking by in the Post Alley - it gave me a very 'French' feeling in addition to the fact that I was already seated in a French restaurant. The waiter came and I started off ordering their champagne (for lunch...I know). When he came back and brought my champagne, I ordered the lunch prix-fix item which was the soup of the day and Nicoise Salad. I also ordered the Provencal Calamari and the Almond Trout. The waiter was kind enough too remind me that the prix-fix item is big enough for one person. "I'm not gonna finish it, I'm going to have a taste of everything"

Champagne (Piper Heidsieck) was amazing. I had 3 glasses and they were well spent on.-------$15.00/glass

The soup of the day was a tomato soup with pureed mushrooms,celery and carrots. It almost taste like the kind of soup you can get from a can. Well that does not mean that it was bad. It simply mean that there is nothing astounding about it. It takes a very attentive person to realize that there is carrot in this soup. You really cannot taste the celery and the mushrooms. It is still very much a usual tomato soup despite the hint of carrot blandness. The Nicoise, what could be more French? The vegetables are very proportionately served, just the right amount of vinegar, the hard-boiled eggs are unsurprisingly boring, and the bread is saltier than the Dead Sea. I understand that the eggs need not be special anyways and therefore they were fine. The Spanish Tuna definitely compensated for the bread. It has the perfect tuna fatty taste and yet has minimal amount of oil. Not the best Nicoise I have had.------------$19.00

Provencal Calamari. This is definitely the highlight of my lunch. The best squid dish I have tasted in a long while. It might seem repugnant to see your squid served in a sea of oil to some people but the olive oil is very thin and doesn't feel disgusting at all. The oil actually bring all the flavors together very well. The limelight of this dish is definitely the capers. My respect for the chef for bringing capers,garlic, parsley and lemon together for this exquisite burst of flavor on the usually bland squids. I can see myself coming again particularly for this divine combination on a platter.-------$10.00

Finally the Almond Trout. I ate half of the trout. And that's how I feel about it. The melted butter combined with the fat from the trout makes this dish taste like eating deep fried animal fat. the fish has lost its taste, overwhelmed by the fatty taste of the butter. The potatoes did little to help ease the oily taste of this dish. I think this dish has more potential if the almond is not simply scattered on the oily and soggy fish but rather infused in the fish taste itself.------$18.00

The waiter was a very competent one and I tipped him a twenty. He was always there when I took my last sip of champagne and asked me if I wanted another one. He did ask if I wanted a complimentary dessert but I was late for my salon appointment so I told him I would save it for another day.

Price---- 9/10. I can see them be a dollar cheaper, but they are just nicely priced right now.
Food---- 7/10. It is not easy to make a perfectly delectable French food and this restaurant has its hits and misses.
Service----- 9/10. I have had good services from this place. Maybe the fact that they are located in the Pike Place Market area have brought them myriads of type of people and therefore they don't bother profiling their customers. I hate snooty servers who think that certain people don't belong in their restaurant.
Ambience-----9/10. Only because I got to sit in the alley. they have fresh flowers in a mini vase. I know it's convenient, but I would love for them to lose the paper cover on the linen tablecloth.

Tacoma's Best

Last night I was thinking of taking my boyfriend, his sister and his mom to The Melting Pot in Tacoma but since it was rather a spontaneous decision, we ended up not being able to get seatings. Note to self: Always make reservation even if it's 20 minutes away. Making the story short, we decided to go to Tacoma Pacific Grill instead and here is what I have to say about it.

The ambiance of the restaurant is pretty laid back. even at the busiest hour this place seems calm and mellow. Jazz was playing when we were there. I personally like the dark wood furniture and finishes - it compliments the dimmed lighting and the slow Jazz. Most patrons are in their late 30s and above - not very much of a surprise considering the environment of the restaurant is pretty lavish and sophisticated, suitable for the fancy diners.

Now food. We had the Steamers and Scallop Crudo. The Steamers is a bowl of steamed Manila clamps served with garlic and herbal broth with two medium slices of home-made croutons. It is definitely the best Manila clamps I have ever tasted since I first came to Seattle in fall 2007. I am a huge fan of shellfish and I have tried almost all shellfish dishes served in famous Seattle restaurant. I used to think that 13 Coins pesto Manila clam was the best but Pacific Grill definitely changed my mind. The clam was cooked carefully to the point that every clam managed to absorb even the smallest hint of herbs used in making the broth. I usually end up having at least one unopened clam in most restaurants I've been too but Pacific Grill made sure that did not happen.A flavorful dish it was with a nice garlic taste Though there are plenty of garlic bits visible in the broth, the taste of the garlic was rather subtle. I would have ordered a second serving but I decided to leave the room for something else since it was my first time there and I wanted to try as many dishes as I can.--------------$13.95

Scallop Crudo. My weakness. Raw jumbo scallops thinly sliced into for 4 slices served with fresh chopped basil and pepper. There are some other herbs as well that I can't really tell. I tried one slice without any lime juice and I have to say it did taste better with the lime wedges squeezed on it. They served it with lime wedges for a reason I guess. Forget sashimi, this crudo is fantastically flavorful that it rid off the strong taste of the Caipirinha I had with it. For something like this crudo, even those who squirm at the thought of eating raw food will ask for more.---------------$8.50

For main course we had their special 'Asian-style Mahi-mahi', The Pacific Grill 'Lobster Bake' and 'Halibut and Caviar'.

Let's start with the Mahi-mahi. So, I was told that it is a tropical fish, then how is it that in all my days back in Malaysia, I have never come across this fish. That besides the point, let me just say that the Mahi-mahi last night was nothing less than exceptional. I remember 'the piece of block' served at Oceanaire last year's Mother's day. It was a piece of Mahi-mahi cut into a thick block served a little shy from cold on a barren plate - that's when I knew that I wont be coming back there. Cheesecake factory 'fish of the day' has most often been the Mahi-mahi as well, cooked in 2 different ways grilled and another in Marinara sauce. I tried both, twice, utter disappointment. And yesterday Josh and I finally decided to give the Mahi-mahi its last chance and to our delight it has claimed a great reputation in our palate. The Pacific Grill Mahi-mahi is apparently seasonal, therefore I am very glad we came last night. Cooked with multiple Asian herbs served on a perfectly portioned bed of rice, this dish is a must try. Stereotype would have you believe that 'Asian-style' equals to 'spicy' or 'hot' but I can assure you that this dish is neither bland nor unbearably spicy. All four of us unanimously agreed that it was the best fish we've had in a long time. Ivar's Acres of Clams has got nothing on this Mahi-mahi.-----$32.00

Lobster Bake. The lobster bake consist of a medium sized lobster tail, cracked open for convenience, chopped red potatoes, scallops, Manila clams, mussels, PacGrill's own special sausage, artichoke heart and an out of place corn on a cob.It seems almost disappointing that the broth used for this dish is the same as the one used in The Steamers. The downside is, with all the other stuff in this dish, the broth did not taste as good anymore. The sausage and the corn on a cob definitely brought this dish down. Josh's sister,Mary, said the corn tasted like as if it came straight from the refrigerator. I don't even understand why would there be a sausage in bowl of seafood anyway. The dish would have been better without those two. Nonetheless this dish taste good for what it's worth. Definitely no something any of the four of us would try again but maybe there is someone out there who thinks having sausage mixed with four different kind of seafood is a great idea.-------$28.95

Halibut and Caviar. I definitely would rather have the Halibut without the 'sevruga' caviar on top. If I had a say in making this menu/dish, I would serve it without the caviar and slash the price because we know that one teaspoon of caviar on top of the halibut (which did absolutely nothing to improve the dish as a whole) probably make up 20% of the dish's price. Aside the unnecessary speckle of caviar on the halibut, everything else about the dish was amazing. The fish itself was tender, not chewy like some halibut I've had. Perfectly seasoned as it should be considering the nature of Halibut being bland. good portion, served on a bed of one of the finest mashed potato I have tried in Seattle. The mash potatoes was not too creamy, not too thick, greatly seasoned and would leave you scraping the dish for more. The asparagus on the side was just asparagus, Nothing really special about it. It didn't taste bad, it was not great either.------$32.00

DESERT

Julia Child's Brownies. It is more of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream served with Julia Child's brownies. The brownie itself is over-portioned by the ice cream. Nothing special about this dessert, though I can see how people would think that the brownie is slightly better than Betty Crocker's.-----$8.50

Crème brûlée. It was like any other Crème brûlée I have tasted in countless places. It made me wonder why I was stupid enough to order it. I was expecting it to be different I guess.------$8.00

Sorbet du jour. We had 'Margarita Mango'. Definitely one of the best Mango flavored sorbet/ice cream/gelato around. And I thought Whole Food's Malaysian Mango Gelato was great, until last night. Margarita because they put the sorbet in a salt rimmed glass. The salt didn't really do anything. Too bad the sorbet isn't technically made by PacGrill but purchased from the Olympic Mountain Ice Cream & Sorbet.----- $6.50

Wrapping up.

The food: PacGrill is good for their dishes but I will have my desert elsewhere. Definitely a place to come again for business lunch or just dinner. 9/10

The ambiance: classy, enough room between tables, music is neither loud nor too subtle, comfortable for a feel good dining experience or even for business lunch. 7.5/10

Price: Except for the dessert everything else is well portioned and priced. 8.5/10

Service: I had one of the most unfriendly server in my dining experience. Maybe because I was wearing shorts and fitted t-shirt and not some fancy dress shirts like what she usually gets. I tipped 20% nonetheless. 5/10.

p/s: PacGrill is VERY generous with their alcohol. You really just need one cocktail drink for the entire dinner. the Urban Bourbon will send you to bed earlier than your usual time.