04/20/09

food was good but the pacing was off

by apetra

we had a nice meal but we ordered the cheese plate to start and it came with the meal..........i was very annoyed. The serverd didn't offer to take our meal away so we could enjoy what we wanted to start with ... for the price I would expect them to know what the heck they are doing.

03/24/09

Glad we have this place around!

by Wallingfood

I have eaten at Tilth several times, both for brunch and dinner, and the food is always excellent. Service seems better than it used to...much more friendly and casual than when the place first opened. Cocktails are not to be skipped -- I had something with "poodle" in the name that was genius mixing alchemy. Nice wine selection too. The menu has the option to go small or large with each dish, so you can order a nice variety of things to taste without stuffing yourself silly. I love the use of the sous vide technique, which they usually have for one or two dishes. I generally don't order dessert, but at my last visit a tiny little chocolate-toffee concoction was brought on a little spoon for the perfect taste of something sweet at the end of the meal. Very grateful that Wallingford has a place like this around!

• Pros: Exquisite food, fresh ingredients
• Cons: A little cramped and noisy. Not a good for intimate dining.

02/06/09

One of the better meals I've had in a long time

by GolfGirl73

My one and only experience at Tilth was a couple of weeks ago and I am still raving about the meal. A couple of friends and I had been wanting to go after reading the many positive reviews and decided to share plates. We started with the mushroom soup poured at the table over a dollop of creamy goodness, the porcini creme brulee and the crostini. The crostini with chevre and roasted hazlenuts was a favorite. If The creme brulee was wonderful and came with frisee and porcini salt. The bean cassoulet was by far and away the night's favorite dish - smoky, rich and savory. The hanger steak with brussel sprout leaves was good and cooked to order. The least favorite dish was the sablefish with chickpeas. Don't get me wrong, it was good but the fish was very pungent and a bit flavorless unless eaten with the chickpeas in each bite.

For dessert we had the Theo chocolate ganache cake and the brown butter and almond cake. Both were great but I am partial to chocolate anything.

Overall the service was very good and what I would expect from an upscale restaurant. The tables are close together so there is not a lot of privacy but overall the ambiance is quaint and cozy. My only complaint about the atmosphere is the restaurant gets very drafty when people come and go as they forgot to pull the second door shut before opening the main door. Try to sit towards the back if you can! Another word of warning, if you are going with a big appetite or are expecting large portions, you will be disappointed.

• Pros: Innovative menu, local ingredients, friendly and knowledgeable staff
• Cons: A bit cramped and drafty

01/11/09

not impressed

by tweyel

I recently visited Tilth and was drawn to it based on the reviews it received. I loved the atmosphere and the service, but the food left very much to be desired. I was not impressed by the menu and the fish dish I ordered was missing any sort of flavor, had an awful texture, and was paired with a heavy fried chickpea something and cauliflower! Not only but it had a wierd cucumbery sauce that just didn't make sense. I am not normally a complainer about food...but this was seriously awful. The duck sliders were ok...the butternut squash soup was fine...and the wine was blah (at least the one I had). I was so sad and disappointed. I would not go again, it was not worth it.

• Pros: cozy dining, nice staff
• Cons: disappointing food

11/14/08

Mediocre food and service

by josiebainbridge

My husband and I were recently drawn to Tilth Restaurant because of the great reviews it has received. However, we were really disappointed with the very very tiny portions at very very high prices. My warm prawns "entree" was underdone and cold in the middle. The pace of the service was random. The acoustics were terrible and we had to talk very loudly to hear one another above the noise in the room. It didn't help that our waiter jumbled his words and spoke softly. When I finally told him that I had a very difficult time hearing him, he seemed highly annoyed. I wouldn't go back to this restaurant. I found it unnecessarily pretentious for what it offered. There are so many great options in Seattle to eat fabulous food that has been raised by local farmers. My two cents.

• Pros: Cute setting
• Cons: small portions, bad acoustics, spotty service

11/04/08

Wonderful Ambience, Amazing Food and Great Service

by wseattlek

We recently went to Tilth for a work dinner and all enjoyed this cozy this location. Food is creative and amazing. You have to order a lot of plates in order to get "full" if you are used to consuming large portions, but it's worth it to try the chef's creations. Wild Alaskan shrimp special was impeccable. Wine list and service was also paired well. Server was great and very informed on menu choices, pairings and serving sizes. Will dine here again in a heart beat!

• Pros: Cozy location, Great Service, good special occasion dining, Very "seattle"
• Cons: Very small plates, a bit on the expensive side

10/28/08

wonderful wonderful food

by barzdukai

We went on a Monday night that features prix fix with local producers, and it was a wonderful meal of comfort food that was elegant, delicious and beautifully executed. The service was excellent, enthusiastic with a personality. We will definitely go back.

• Pros: quality of the food, quality of the wine pairings
• Cons: street parking

09/10/08

summer's last hoorah

by foodieloo

I have dined at Tilth occasionally since it?s opening, after some recent reviews I was hesitant to revisit; none the less, in anticipation of fall foods pending arrival, we wanted to enjoy the end of summer food, and Maria Hines has such a prefect and delicate touch with food. We arrived a little early for our reservation, our table was not ready, but the manager seated us at a table outside with some bubbles. Inside, our dinner was FABULOUS! The staff recommended the artichoke plin, and it was exactly the ?end of summer? expression that I was looking for, finished with lemon, it was like eating sunshine. our entire meal was lovely, well paced and ample. I also compliment the small but diverse wine list, and fun beer selection. overall I pleased we returned and looking forward to my next visit to celebrate fall foods.

09/08/08

Tilth; A Fancy word for Dirt

by annieb4wsu

I had been hearing many good things about Tilth for some time and decided to give it a try for their Sunday Brunch. At first we were very excited as the atmosphere is charming, there?s outside seating and they were able to seat us fairly quickly. But as our meal went on things went downhill fast. After waiting for over 45 minutes for our food my sister was served some thing different than what she had ordered. I'm not talking ?over easy? instead of ?sunny side up,? I?m talking something completely different off the menu. When the mistake was noticed, there was no apology and no attempt to right the matter. After that we had to ask for pepper three times, the third time I actually had to get up and find a server?because apparently they only have 1 pepper grinder for the entire restaurant. Of course all of these things are minor but the pretentious attitude of the staff completely ruined our meals. Not only was the staff disorganized and stuck up but the food was at best mediocre?. not to mention the prices are outrageous. $3 for 1 cup of coffee? Granted we may have caught them on an off day, but I will not be returning to Tilth to pay top dollar for terrible service. If you ask me, Tilth is completely overrated and you?re better off skipping it.

• Pros: Cute Decor, Outside seating
• Cons: Service, Price, Mediocre Food

08/15/08

A Lovely Evening

by sleepyhorse

My girlfriend and I went to Tilth last night after reading about it in the NY Times. We got there a little late for our reservation, but they still had a table for us in spite of being busy. Our server was a guy named Jonathan and he was friendly and prompt in taking our order and bringing our drinks out. My girlfriend couldn't decide between two wines so he just had another waiter bring out both for a taste, which was really nice. Our food came out in waves and was brought by a different person each time. Everything was wonderful, especially the homemade ricotta gnudi and mini duck burgers. Our first three plates came out in rapid succession, but then there was a lag between those and our other three. In fact, one plate somehow got lost in the shuffle, so they ended up sending out a melon and feta salad while they got it ready even though we didn't ask for it nor were we particularly upset. Though we ordered all half plates, the serving were all just right sizewise though dessert was an exception. Both our desserts were great but were really small, leaving us wanting more. Kinda a bummer, but as Jonathan and another hilarious server were clearing our table, they mentioned how good the bourbon corn ice cream was and when our check came, two small spoonfuls of the ice cream arrived, again without asking.

Overall, the servers were all warm, friendly and knowledgeable, the food was phenomenal, and life was all good.

• Pros: great service, killer food, nice location, patio seating
• Cons: smallish desserts