Dahlia Lounge

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tedwin

Joined 7 years ago

First Timer and Coming Back. Went to Dahlia Lounge on Dec 08, 2006. Ordered the mussels with pancetta chowder as an appetizer and it was wonderful. The mussels were tender, not gummy. The french bread that came with it was perfect. I wish they served this type of bread instead of the pathetic flimsy bread offered that came with rock hard butter. I'm definitely going to their bakery soon to buy that french bread. Then I had the infamous crab cakes. You get two crab cakes with a side of veggies. Unfortunately, one of the crab cakes was slightly burnt on the bottom but otherwise was tender. If you desire to have crab cakes without any fillers and just taste the sweetness of dungeness crabs then this if for you. The accompanying fig molasses was an excellent complement to the sweetness of the crabcakes. Tom's world famous caramel dessert was creamy yet light. It looks like a flan but tastes 100x better. The icewine offered is truly exquisite. Service was impeccable with constant refilling of water glass and prompt removal of dishes. This is one of very few fine dining restaurants that I will definitely come back. Bravo to Chefs Tom Douglas and Erik Tanaka!!!

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kddf

Joined 7 years ago

What happened. This used to be my favorite restaurant......I also went for my Birthday we had a lovely waitress........ The food was greasy and so disappointing (crab cakes) !!! Although thebread salad always good and the cocunut creame pie yummm. The Lamb was fatty and the only meat was the size of my thumb!!! I expect so much more from what once was my favorite place for special occasions.....

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spudsocks

Joined 7 years ago

Came for the coconut creme pie, stayed for the cookies. Everyone knows that this spot is known for it's Coconut Cream Pie, and that is Out of This World--especially since you can buy it in small "bite-size" portions to enjoy it anytime. BUT. The chocolate cookies are the best in town, I think, and that's the reason I keep coming back. They're big (plate-sized) but unlike many of the larger size, they're moist and chewy with just the right ratio of chocolate chips to make them worthwhile. My god. Entirely delicious. Do yourself a favor and have one today.

There are also a bunch of sandwiches and salads--very resonably-priced--that look yummy, but I haven't tried them yet.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Seattle's new crop could learn a thing or two from Tom Douglas' sage experimentation and mass appeal.. The Scene
The Dahlia has rightfully earned its iconic status on the Northwest dining scene. The space blushes a deep crimson; Chinese lanterns hang from brawny exposed beams. Somehow, owner Tom Douglas keeps brilliantly reinventing himself.

The Food
Chances are still being taken with the revolving menu: Grapefruit zings in the scallop ceviche here; fresh coriander jousts with smooth white cheddar there. It's innovative without being frivolous: foie gras with lavender-caramel and fig; white gazpacho, thick and rich with hazelnuts, and refreshed with mint. Entrees, at best, are stellar versions of classics: flat iron steak, juicy and rare, with green beans and melting blue cheese. Desserts should never be passed over; if you're too full, grab something to go from the adjoining bakery.

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shinidapooh

Joined 8 years ago

Good ambience, service, and food presentation. We dined there on my b-day, it was quite lovely and sweet. Our waitress made it a perfect night! I believe her name is Murleen, she is very friendly and thoughtful throughout the whole time. We had a seafood sampler - which was cute, but both of us had diarrhhea later that night - and we believe it was caused by the raw oyster or sashimi. The main course - salmon and crab cake was good. I believe you must try the crab cake (both coconut milk and scallion Dungeness) if you are going to Tom's restaurant. The dessert - triple banana cream pie and chocolate chocolate chocolate was good too. Pie wasn't too sweet, chocolate was flavorful. It was a nice restaurant for special occasion, for $130 for two people, you got what you pay for.

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food_is_good

Joined 7 years ago

We'll be back, definitely.. We dined at Dahlia last night. Wait staff was friendly, knowledgable, attentive, efficient. I'm not sure what happened to the other reviewers with bad experiences but we didn't run into any problems. After sitting down a server brought us a sample of cucumber drizzled with melon vinaigrette that was a fresh starter, and a nice surprise! We ordered the crab cakes and fries with aioli and curried ketchup as appetizers. True, you get only 3 really small crabcakes to share for $14, but they are pure crab and the beauty of the dish and the tantalizing coconut curry sauce makes up for that. They were browned nicely on the outside and are delicately moist inside. We took our time and enjoyed them immensely. The fries are slightly addictive. I loved the mustard aioli and my husband loved the curried ketchup, although it was a little too perfumy for my taste. The thinly sliced red onion on top added a nice bite, should you choose to eat them. For entrees, I ordered the duck and my husband ordered the strip steak. The duck arrived on a beautiful rectangular slate plate with 2 decent size portions of 5 spice duck set upon kung pao bok choy with cashews. In one corner was a dish of nectarine chutney, and in the other was a dish of hot sauce. 2 triangles of dense scallion pancakes took the 3rd corner. The duck was mouthwatering and for the first time in my life, I really liked bok choy. I would take a piece of duck and dip it lightly in the hot sauce and then take a bite of the chutney to balance it out. The flavor combo was to die for. My husband's steak came on a plate already sliced, which didn't bother him, but I could understand that bothering some people. It was perfectly cooked, topped with a thin row of julienned greens and peanuts. The side was fried rice that came in a separate bowl and perhaps wasn't the best compliment to the steak, but was still good.

Our 2 desserts were on the house, the donuts for my birthday, and the chocolates for our anniversary. Yum.

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mrizvi

Joined 7 years ago

Tomato soup and hamburger from heavan!. We ate at the Dahlia lounge for lunch. The service was great. The tomato soup and hamburger are to die for! Possibly the best burger in Seattle! The soup and burger are only available at lunch.

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SouSou

Joined 7 years ago

Forget the coconut cream pie. Food quality is top notch. My husband and I generally recomend this place for out of towners; however, recently I stopped by to fill a coconut cream pie craving I was having and was disappointed with what I had gotten, especially when the woman that was working the counter claimed that people flew out from NY to have it! It was one of those miniature pies, which was wayyyy overpriced for what it was - mostly whiped cream and barely had the taste of coconut.

But please keep in mind the food is simply fabulous.

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dotgirl

Joined 7 years ago

Good, but I've had better. My husband is a fan of Tom Douglas, so we decided to try out the Dahlia Lounge. It was a fairly average experience. None of the entrees jumped out at me - they all seemed to be a little too much "cedar planked salmon with pomegranate" - just things thrown together for the sake of being "different".

The ambience was ok, but the service was terrible - it took forever to place our order, one of our entrees came out before the other, and we were shuffled back and forth between different servers, none of whom seemed to care if they actuall *served* us.

The quality of the food was good, and the desserts were quite well execute - although nothing really striking.

Overall, I'd say the banality of the food coupled with the terrible service has put this on our "We'll eat somewhere else, thanks" list.

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denles

Joined 7 years ago

Yummy but rude. The desserts are absolutely deeee-lish! The shortcake biscuits are to die for (but twice now I have bitten into a biscuit and found it semi-raw -- substitute chef, perhaps?)! The creme brulee is out of this world! But the staff is R-U-D-E. I go there almost every morning on my way to work and twice now they have been extremely rude just because I got there at 7:29 -- even though their open signs were out! The second time I waited outside until 7:30 and was ignored. Don't go there if you want a place to sit because there are only two tables and they are outside. Bakery is very small -- only room for maybe 3-4 people in line. The lunch sandwiches are decent. Similar to the prepackaged sandwiches at Starbucks. Good but not stellar. Tomato basil soup is good -- never had the bread, although it looks tasty.