I was in Seattle for work and I only had one free night. Other nights were booked, booked, booked! So with my one night of freedom, I headed out for a quick bite at Dahlia Lounge in Belltown. In the same way that Philadelphia has Jose Garces, Seattle has this Tom Douglas fellow. He has a handful of restaurants in downtown Seattle and he’s an actual chef. He’s won a bunch of awards and is rather famous! I really had no idea, I just picked the place randomly!

The place is rather ginormous. Man, the tables did not stop! And I think there was even another dining room which I could not see. This is no teeny tiny mom-and-pop operation. I don’t know how to describe the menu. I would call it fresh and organic american, heavy on the seafood, and with a definite asian influence. Complimentary bread. This was the second place during my trip where they sprinkled sea salt onto the butter. Why doesn’t everyone do this? Because I’m definitely a fan. Is this a west coast only phenomenon?

I got a couple of little starters. In the front is the ahi tuna with yuzu kosho and avocado topped with some roe. This was only so-so. It tasted fine, but it wasn’t really all that interesting. I also got a Taylor shellfish oyster with a daikon mignonette. This was great! The mignonette I could have eaten with everything and the oyster was super fresh and delicious. I also liked the long and peppery breadstick that I got with these two dishes.

For my entree, I got the pan roasted alaskan black cod with braised escarole, black eyed peas, pickled green tomato, and smoked ham hock. This was delicious! There were two pieces of buttery soft and flaky cod that just melted in my mouth. All the non-fish parts were awesome too. I loved that there was ham hock in this because it’s a fish dish, yet there’s so much pork in it! And it all worked so well together. Ham hock was an odd touch, but much welcomed. The black eyed peas were fantastic and so were the tomatoes. And the braised escarole was the perfect green for this. It was a nice southern influenced dish. I could have eaten many more of these! I was at the bar and the bartender was nice and attentive. And my food came out super fast! So from what I could tell on this tuesday night, they run a pretty tight ship here!

Stopped by Elevation Burger for a quick lunch the other day. I challenged P to get the 10 patty elevation burger, but he declined. Yes, you heard me, you can get a burger here with 10 hamburger patties. Then the manager proceeded to tell us that some college kids had been having burger eating challenges, and that the current record was 18. This came about because NBC’s Aditi Roy had done a story on Elevation Burger and had eaten 8 herself. Whoa.
I’m a rational human being, so I just got a cheeseburger, and only one. I did get extra caramelized onions, because the regular portion is just too small, and these onions are just too good! So ask for extra, and they will oblige! They serve a good burger here. I’m a fan of it. I skipped the fries because I didn’t like them the last time (they’re made with olive oil and kind of limp and lame) but I did get a coffee shake. Good shake!

Elevation Burger has been open right near my house for only a short while now. It’s a chain that serves only organic, grass-fed, free-range beef. And their fries are cooked in olive oil. What’s good is that despite these better ingredients, it’s not at all more expensive than the other burger chains (think Five guys). I just got a cheeseburger. You can pick any topping for free, except blue cheese, that’s extra. I loaded mine with caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Nothing too exciting. I would have loved sweet peppers but they didn’t have any. They offered me their hot pepper relish to try. It was really spicy and not very good. The burger comes on a potato roll.

So what was the verdict? I liked it. I wasn’t blown away or anything, but it is a good burger. The meat isn’t obviously better tasting to me (I can’t tell the difference between this patty and a five guys patty), but it is a good burger. The caramelized onions are amazing, but they need to put more of them on! The portion was a bit puny. The fries? I wasn’t a big fan. The olive oil makes the fries soggy. And gives them a slightly strange flavor. I prefer a crispier fry. And a less greasy fry. For a local burger spot for me, this is now my go-to spot.