Hunt Club-Sorrento Hotel

11/30/09

Our new favorite spot...

by jennnn11 at Citysearch

...when it's time for Dine Around Seattle, that is! Otherwise, we flat-out can't afford it except for very special occasions. The Hunt Club is of course the restaurant in the Hotel Sorrento. Both are beautiful - a very well-maintained old building with character and lovely decor. We were there at Christmastime and the Christmas decorations were beautiful. We had lunch today, and my companion took advantage of the Dine Around Seattle promotion and had a green salad (very fresh greens, delicious vinaigrette), the "Hunt Club" (delicious club sandwich on fresh bread from Macrina bakery), and cinnamon panna cotta (absolutely to die for). I went for the crab cakes, which were perfectly prepared and paired with some sauteed greens. The portions are kind of small - a person with a larger appetite would definitely want an appetizer along with their meal. Personally, I really like their style of not automatically bringing bread to the table - it's free, you just have to ask for it!

The one negative was the valet parking. I'm not sure if it's always like this or if they were short staffed or what, but there were no valets! I ended up parking in the parking circle and bringing my keys to the front desk of the hotel. When we were ready to leave, we again had to go to the front desk. When the woman at the desk asked the valet to get our car, he snapped that we were "just gonna have to wait." Given that it hadn't been moved, we grabbed our keys (and paid our $7!) and got outta there.

It lost a star for the overly expensive food and parking and rude valet. However, we will definitely be returning to the Hunt Club in March for Dine Around Seattle!

• Pros: great food, excellent service, beautiful atmosphere
• Cons: Too expensive all around

08/05/09

Great atmosphere, great new chef

by jooz at Citysearch

We had drinks here, those turned into dinner and I have to say I was impressed with the new menu/chef at the Hunt Club. We had kind of a preconceived notion that the place was snooty, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth. Tasty app's and a casual atmosphere were great.

• Pros: Excellent Food, historic setting
• Cons: none

07/22/09

Lousy across the board

by bistecca at Citysearch

Four of us dined here on 7/10 and were incredibly disappointed with the service and food. As long time Seattleites who have dined at the Hunt Club many times over the years, it's sad to see this restaurant decline. This used to be a "special occasion" place, but that's changed. Specifics: Our waiter was unprofessional and indifferent. He did not greet us or tell us about specials or the menu. He seated us, then showed up and said "are you ready?". There were very few people in the restauarant (now we understand why), so they were not overly busy. Our wine was served in dirty/spotty glasses. We had to ask for bread and water refills. When servers showed up to deliver the courses (salad, mains and desserts) they put the wrong dish in front of the wrong person each time. The pork belly was so salty it was inedible, the venison stew was flavorful but dry, and the lamb chops were like leather. The server never came back to check on us after the food was delivered, so we never had a chance to offer feedback or ask for something else. This is a spendy restaurant - $25 and up for entrees - and there's no way they'll stay in business at this rate. There are many restaurants providing a much better experience, thus we'll take our business elsewhere.

• Pros: Sadly none
• Cons: Terrible service and food