Brunchtime Seattle : Portage Bay Cafe & ART Restaurant & Lounge– Four Seasons

It has been a while since a restaurant review has been posted here at Mirch Masala. I have been pretty busy lately and have been mostly concentrating on making and photographing something blog worthy and somehow managing to post at least one recipe a week. Going at that rate I don’t think I will write a full-fledged restaurant review for a long time. Also, after reading Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food I have been very skeptical about writing any reviews at all. The amount of trips made to a particular restaurant, the kind of observations made – most of the time I don’t even do half of that.But I want to put it out somewhere – the new places we try out, whether I recommend it or not, what I like and not like about it etc. So, consider these as just pure personal recommendations from a friend who has dined at a restaurant and sharing her experiences / views with you.

Because of these various reasons, I have decided to start writing mini reviews – just including what we ate, whether we liked it or not, whether we will go back there or not etc ad of course some pictures. That way it will be a quick list for someone wanting to know where to dine in Seattle and surrounding areas.

Portage Bay Cafe We thought going to Portage Bay on a weekday ( a holiday weekday! so maybe that counts as a weekend) will be a good idea as we will be able to avoid the crowd, but we were totally wrong. The place was packed! We had to wait for 20 mins before we got a table – not complaining. We were super hungry and ordered the Goat Cheese Omelette -Organic baby spinach, mushrooms, green onions and Laura Chenel goat cheese. Garnished with nicoise olives – $12, the Rancher’s Breakfast - 

Three organic eggs any style, your choice of pepper bacon, black forest ham or Isernio’s chicken-basil sausage and two organic pancakes or two slices of challah French toast. Includes a trip to the toppings bar – $13, with the sausage and the pancakes and a

French Toast – Three slices of organic challah bread are dipped in organic egg batter and grilled – $10. I thoroughly enjoyed the Goat Cheese Omelette and AJ had a hearty breakfast with the Rancher’s breakfast he ordered.

The French toast was meant to be shared but what with so much food that we ate already, we had to box it. The best part of the brunch was the trip to the toppings bar – mind you, only one trip allowed and you can take all you want but you have to eat all you take! Overall it was a great experience although I would have liked it a little less crowded – but I think we just ended up being there at their peak -est time.

Price: $$ (10-15 per entree)
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Food: 3.5/5

Overall: 3.5/5
Will I go there again? Definitely!

ART Restaurant & Lounge – Four Seasons

ART is the place to go to if you have out of towners, you show them around the Pike Place Market and want to head in to a fancier place to eat – modern chic is how it can be best described. This place has lovely breathtaking views of the bay as well. We went here during a sunny Sunday with some friends, of course with a trip to the market later.

Between the four of us we ordered the

Crab Cakes -sweet butter, cured lemon, garlic, chives 15,

Three Egg Omelette -choice of three fillings:

ham, smoked salmon, aged cheddar, fresh herbs, vine-ripened tomatoes, mushrooms, grilled onions, spinach, peppers 15,

Eggs Benedict -applewood smoked bacon, hollandaise sauce 15,

Smoked Salmon Benedict -hollandaise sauce 18 and shared the

Belgian Waffles -warm maple or chocolate syrup 14. The food was fresh and tasty but best of all I liked the little tomato tartlets and the roasted potatoes that came on the side. Overall the food was ok, nothing that knocked my socks off,the prices a little on the higher side for the kind of food and the quantity of food served but the view totally compensated for it.

Price: $$$ (15-25 per entree)
Ambiance: 4.0/5
Food: 2.5/5

Overall: 3.0/5
Will I go there again? Maybe