The Official Tiki Central's 'Hijack This Thread

W woofmutt Member Seattilite Telstar Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 2639	W woofmutt Posted posted on Wed, Feb 10, 2010 5:31 PM I am sorting through some old blog crap and came across my opinions of the Happy Hour at Seattle's Palisade restaurant in January of '06. It doesn't really fit in anywhere on Tiki Central though some uniformed types might call Palisade Tiki. Enjoy! Palisade is one super swanky joint, it's like a Las Vegas fancy Chinese restaurant in Seattle. Located down below the southern slope of Magnolia, Palisade is at the edge of the Elliot Bay Marina with views across Elliot Bay of downtown and Alki beach in West Seattle. A Las Vegas sized porte-cochere (look it up!) and a broad staircase make for a grand entrance. Inside, Palisade is a reserved yet over the top tropical Asian fantasy, lots of polished dark wood, an expansive open ceiling with some blown glass goo-gaws sitting on suspended round glass platforms. The focal point of the interior is a huge salt water pool and waterfall. The dining area is between the pool and the wall of windows looking out on the Sound, the bar sits slightly above it all. Over the bar there's a sort of ceiling/ledge with a baby grand player piano sitting on it providing the music for the restaurant. The lighting is low so as to not impede the view out the windows. The well done interior combined with the sound of the waterfall and the piano and the murmur of people makes Palisade feel like a movie scene. Or a swanky restaurant in Las Vegas. The bar menu has some interesting sounding cocktails, the Mango Margarita being the Happy Hour special. Sparky had one of those and described it with a shrug. Cookie had a Bloody Mary which inspired her and and Sparky to list off the better ones they'd had. I ordered a Tropical Itch because it had been reccomended to me by someone and because it's a classic Tiki/Chinese restaurant type drink (particularly when served with a bamboo backscratcher, as they do at Palisade). The Tropical Itch was just OK. It tasted like mango-orange juice with a little rum. Maybe a little rum. It was supposedly made with gold and dark rum but there was no flavor of either. The drinks did have the nicest presentation of any restaurant cocktails I can recall. The Mango Margarita was served in a Martini glass, one purple orchid at the edge of the glass, the Bloody Mary came in a tall glass with a big shrimp garnish, the Tropical Itch was in an oversized Hurricane glass with a wedge of pineapple, one of the purple orchids, and the bamboo backscratcher. Again, it was all pretty to look at. Cookie picked out some of the Happy Hour snacks. She and Sparky thought the snacks were "alright" but as they ate they talked about better food at other restaurants. I though the snacks were at the edge of inedible. The "Kobe Sliders" were actually "Kobe style" beef and were somewhat tough for ground beef. They were fried in butter and salted like it was cod being kept for the winter. The sliders were served on little buns around the size and quality of a Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner roll. Three bucks each for an over salted wad of greasy beef on a bland white bread roll. Some egg roll sorta things (also 3 bucks each) tasted like they were made with leftover turkey (it was pork) and deep fried in old grease. I've had better from the hot-to-go case at Safeway. The crab cakes were made with fresh crab, but they tasted like they'd been sitting in the fridge for a few days. They were essentially over salted greasy discs of crab. I had half of one (again, 3 bucks each), and though the crab cakes were small even that was too much of a bad thing. (The only reason I finished it was because it represented a buck fifty.) I skipped the Crab Rangoon, fried wontons with a little bit of something in them. I couldn't imagine it'd be any good after the other stuff so I figured someone else might as well suffer. Though we'd only ate a little food we felt full due to the enormous amounts of grease they managed to get into everything. Ultimately we agreed that Palisade is a swell looking place, it really feels like you're somewhere else when you're there. But if you're there have a beer, enjoy the views, then go somewhere else.

I am sorting through some old blog crap and came across my opinions of the Happy Hour at Seattle's Palisade restaurant in January of '06. It doesn't really fit in anywhere on Tiki Central though some uniformed types might call Palisade Tiki. Enjoy!

Palisade is one super swanky joint, it's like a Las Vegas fancy Chinese restaurant in Seattle.

Located down below the southern slope of Magnolia, Palisade is at the edge of the Elliot Bay Marina with views across Elliot Bay of downtown and Alki beach in West Seattle.

A Las Vegas sized porte-cochere (look it up!) and a broad staircase make for a grand entrance. Inside, Palisade is a reserved yet over the top tropical Asian fantasy, lots of polished dark wood, an expansive open ceiling with some blown glass goo-gaws sitting on suspended round glass platforms.

The focal point of the interior is a huge salt water pool and waterfall. The dining area is between the pool and the wall of windows looking out on the Sound, the bar sits slightly above it all.

Over the bar there's a sort of ceiling/ledge with a baby grand player piano sitting on it providing the music for the restaurant. The lighting is low so as to not impede the view out the windows.

The well done interior combined with the sound of the waterfall and the piano and the murmur of people makes Palisade feel like a movie scene. Or a swanky restaurant in Las Vegas.

The bar menu has some interesting sounding cocktails, the Mango Margarita being the Happy Hour special. Sparky had one of those and described it with a shrug. Cookie had a Bloody Mary which inspired her and and Sparky to list off the better ones they'd had. I ordered a Tropical Itch because it had been reccomended to me by someone and because it's a classic Tiki/Chinese restaurant type drink (particularly when served with a bamboo backscratcher, as they do at Palisade).

The Tropical Itch was just OK. It tasted like mango-orange juice with a little rum. Maybe a little rum. It was supposedly made with gold and dark rum but there was no flavor of either.

The drinks did have the nicest presentation of any restaurant cocktails I can recall. The Mango Margarita was served in a Martini glass, one purple orchid at the edge of the glass, the Bloody Mary came in a tall glass with a big shrimp garnish, the Tropical Itch was in an oversized Hurricane glass with a wedge of pineapple, one of the purple orchids, and the bamboo backscratcher. Again, it was all pretty to look at.

Cookie picked out some of the Happy Hour snacks. She and Sparky thought the snacks were "alright" but as they ate they talked about better food at other restaurants. I though the snacks were at the edge of inedible.

The "Kobe Sliders" were actually "Kobe style" beef and were somewhat tough for ground beef. They were fried in butter and salted like it was cod being kept for the winter. The sliders were served on little buns around the size and quality of a Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner roll. Three bucks each for an over salted wad of greasy beef on a bland white bread roll.

Some egg roll sorta things (also 3 bucks each) tasted like they were made with leftover turkey (it was pork) and deep fried in old grease. I've had better from the hot-to-go case at Safeway.

The crab cakes were made with fresh crab, but they tasted like they'd been sitting in the fridge for a few days. They were essentially over salted greasy discs of crab. I had half of one (again, 3 bucks each), and though the crab cakes were small even that was too much of a bad thing. (The only reason I finished it was because it represented a buck fifty.)

I skipped the Crab Rangoon, fried wontons with a little bit of something in them. I couldn't imagine it'd be any good after the other stuff so I figured someone else might as well suffer.

Though we'd only ate a little food we felt full due to the enormous amounts of grease they managed to get into everything.

Ultimately we agreed that Palisade is a swell looking place, it really feels like you're somewhere else when you're there. But if you're there have a beer, enjoy the views, then go somewhere else.

Post #510469 by woofmutt on Wed, Feb 10, 2010 5:31 PM