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!

I was in Seattle for work and for the first night, we had to run around, literally, to do work/team stuff. It was fun and all, and then they fed us as we bowled, but seriously, the food at Lucky Strikes (crappy chicken nuggets and pizza) was pretty damn bad. I mean significantly terrible that I actually chose to go hungry. And that rarely happens!

Which is why after all that was over, I had to go get real food. I fell in love with Liberty during my first visit to Seattle, so I went back there again, and I actually got up the nerve to get food! It is slightly unnerving to go to a hipster bar for cocktails and order sushi. But it had to be done, because I was starving! What did I order? I can’t remember. A couple of rolls, one of which may have been a red roll, and the other which had raw carrot in it. Also, some random dish with seared and sliced tuna on top of seaweed salad. It was supposed to be a bed of veggies, but it ended up being a bed of seaweed salad. But it was delicious nonetheless. And I had an amazing limeade. I still love this place. It’s just so laid back and comfortable. Please Liberty, open a Philly satellite location!

After finally getting back to Seattle, it was time to have my first meal here. So I headed over to the international district to have some japanese food at Maneki. This place is old. I mean like really really old.

How old you say? Try over 100 years old. Yeah, I said it. This place has been around for more than a friggin century. That’s an accomplishment if I’ve ever heard one. It was Seattle’s first sushi bar. As well as Seattle’s first tatami rooms. As well as Seattle’s first karaoke bar. That’s a lot of firsts! It’s actually run by japanese people. They speak japanese to each other! It’s authentic, and popular, and that’s why I had to sit at the bar, even on a quiet Sunday night.

A couple of delicious sushi rolls… Tasty and adorable, with little sprouts and all. Yes, you don’t even have to ask, it was extremely fresh!

One of my favorite japanese dishes of all, the agadashi tofu. Why do I like this so much? I like tofu. I like dashi. Put them together! The grated daikon was an especially tasty touch.

Tempura udon. I always crave bowls of noodles, and udon is a particularly favorite noodle of mine. This bowl wasn’t particularly exciting, as the broth was kind of bland, but it was just fine. The tempura was great though, especially the sweet potato. Not only is this place old and good, but their prices are great! It’s some of the most afforable sushi and japanese food you’ll find anywhere. It certainly isn’t fancy, but who cares about fancy, just care about the great food!