Chandler's Crabhouse

05/11/2008 Posted by MBWM

Unlike most any other type of cuisine, when it comes to seafood restauraunts, it's all about location, location, location. Chandlers offers average food in an above average setting, at prices that few people would tolerate if not for it's nice lakeside views and outdoor dining options. ( note to City Search editors, the dinner meal prices are no longer in the $$ range. On our recent visit, entrees started at about $30 and went up quickly to over $70). Having grown up along the Gulf Coast, I love and appreciate good seafood. Chandler's Crabhouse falls somewhere in the middle of the pack when compared to local options. The restaurant, though not a chain, is one of a family of locally owned steak and seafood restaurants, and it has a vaguely coorporate feel to it. The interior is a slightly dated mish mash of generic, clubby steakhouse ( painted beadboard, uncomfortably tight booths ) and hotel lobby contemporary ( soaring glass rotunda ). In keeping with the decor, the menu doesn't seem to know what it should be. For example, my father ordered grilled halibut, which inexplicably came covered with an odd strawberry compote of some sort. My mother, who is 5'4", had the half order of 5 stone crab claws. They came presented atop a huge, gallon sized bowl of shaved ice about 14' in diameter. It was almost comical. Embarassed sitting there in a bib, unable to see over the huge pile of ice in front of her, she asked the waiter if there was something he could do to help, but he just laughed it off as if she must have been joking. All in all, our meals were OK, but they tasted like something from a kitchen rather than the hands of a chef, and at the price, there is much better to be had in Seattle.

09/19/2006 Posted by alicianoele

Last Friday, I enjoyed dinner at Chandlers Crabhouse on a 6:15 p.m. reservation with two friends. Although the parking situation was a tad confusing (do you -have- to valet park?!), the hostesses were gracious and warm upon my entrance to the restaurant. Our server Leigh Anne proved to be equally personable, and quite informative as well. I would request her section in the future. After joining my table, we immediately busied ourselves with a serious menu review. For the appetizer course, I chose the Caesar salad with Dungeness crab addedcompletely delicious! Mia went with the incredibly rich Dungeness crab & artichoke dip paired with slices of herbed Foccacia breadtasty, albeit a little bit salty in my humble opinion. Lisas choice was Dungeness crab leg cocktail, which earned fine marks. Moving on to appetizers, Mia and I both splurged on the filet & King crab9 oz. of beefy goodness accompanied by a whoppin half pound of King crab (thats two ginormous legswatch out for the spikes!). Mashed potatoes and asparagus were also on board. Lisa opted for the Dungeness crab and Bay Shrimp Louie, a hearty salad packed with seafood, boiled eggs, and vegetables. The meal was quite good, although we were a bit dismayed to be dressed in goofy crabhouse bibs by our server. I believe Lisas reaction was, This is one of -those- places?! That aside, we enjoyed the meal. The healthy servings filled us up, and the three of us could only share a desserta delectable flourless chocolate torte. Now, heres my thing about Chandlersthe service was great, the food was very goodbut given that our bill was $290, I am not entirely sure that the experience was $290 good. I guess for that amount of money, I would have expected something a little bit more extraordinary. I would go back, but in the future I think Id keep to entrees under $40 per plate.

Pros: Excellent service, great Caesar with crab, overall good food

Cons: Price exceeds the experience, crab bibs