Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Seattle: Dahlia Lounge

After searching for penguins at the Woodland Park Zoo on the 2nd day, we met up with Mikol who stayed behind since he was feeling sick for dinner at Dahlia Lounge in downtown, a restaurant by local celebrity chef, Tom Douglass.

So who is Tom Douglass? Well, he was the recipient of the James Beard Award in 1994 for Best Northwest Chef. If you don't know what the James Beard Award is, it is sort of like... the Oscar of the culinary world. He also beat Masaharu Morimoto in an Iron Chef America so the man's got some skills.


Dahlia Lounge
2001 4th Ave
Seattle, WA 98121

dahlia lounge
Cool neon sign. Seattle businesses use a lot of neon signs for some reason.

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Manny's Pale Ale, a great local Seattle brew. Seattle's got a lot of great microbrewery.

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Rustic bread. Dahlia's also got a bakery right next door, selling everything from rustic artisan bread, pastries, desserts, salads, and sandwiches.

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Connie started off her night with the Tsuyu Broth with Hudson Valley foie gras, shittake dumplings, and scallion. It seriously tasted like liquid mushroom hahah. Nice hint of foie gras.

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Mikol ended up ordering the Sea Bar Sampler, which had 5 small plates of seafood appetizers.

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Ahi tuna with yuzu kosho, avocado, and tobiko roe. Delicious and great textures too.

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Dahlia smoked copper river salmon with hot mustard and sesame. Salmon was great. I'm not a fan of hot mustard though :P

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King clam sashimi with pickled beet and fresh horseradish. Subtle sweetness from all the ingredients.

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Halibut ceviche.

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Dungeness crab with house kimchi, radish, and tofu. The kimchi was actually legit and the tofu gave it a creamy texture rather than the texture we're all used to.

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Puget Sound oysters with daikon mignonette. Fresh caught oysters from the bay 10 minutes away with a sauce made with daikon, shallots, and vinegar? Yessir. Connie and Mikol approves.

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Connie's entree: Pan roasted king oyster mushrooms with cheesy truffled potato, josh hyatt's greens, fennel crumbs, and grape must syrup. She went mushroom crazy that meal.

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Diana ordered the Tom Douglass's famous Lemon Scallion Dungeness Crab Cakes with New Bay spiced cauliflower, pickled asparagus, watercress, remoulade, and bacon salt! Bacon salt!! Tom Douglass is known for crab cakes. One of the best crab cakes I've tried.

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My Rotisserie Roasted Five Spice Duck with Hong Kong style noodles, bok choy, snap peas, mung bean sprouts, and pear jam. I'm not kidding when I say this is one of the best duck I've ever had, anywhere. That noodle too with the sauce was like crack. I couldn't stop eating it. The pearl jam is similar to the orange sauce Chinese restaurant gives out but 100x better. One of those times when I wish I could eat Chinese food everyday, and this was done in an American restaurant!! Really speaks for the versatility of Tom Douglass and his chefs.

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Freaking delicious crispy skin.

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We wanted donuts since Giada DeLaurentis raved about it on Food Network but they were sold out :[ Settled with another one of their famous dessert, Triple Coconut Cream Pie with white chocolate and toasted coconut shavings. Not gonna lie, it was damn good. The toasted coconut totally made the difference.


Dahlia Lounge is a great option if you're looking for fine dining in downtown Seattle. Menu can change depending on the season. It's a relaxing atmosphere and doesn't require you to dress up. You can if you want but I prefer to stick to my tees and jeans if I can!

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