New Options for Your Consideration
There have been many new restaurant openings in the second half of 2024. We are trying to catch up with a few before addressing many new openings set for 2025.
A New Spot on Broadway
After a few tries we finally got to Chandelier Lounge Bar & Kitchen, 416 Broadway East, 206.420.2014, https://chandelierloungeseattle.com, just a few months after they opened in late September. This restaurant, opened by the owner of Bites of Bangkok on 15th, occupies the location vacated when Boca’s Restaurant and Bakery closed due to the untimely death of its owner. The new lounge has a very upbeat, even glitzy, appearance amply decorated with chandeliers to live up to its name.
We got there for happy hour and ordered mostly off that discounted menu. We sampled popcorn chicken, grilled shrimp, lobster ravioli, the hand cut pomme frites with a capers aioli and we ordered the drunken mussels from the dinner menu. Of those our favorite item was the popcorn chicken, and we would order that again. The other dishes ranged from good, in the case of the shrimp, to ok for the rest, except for the mussels that were downright disappointing.
Starting with the mussels, they were prepared in a garlic cream sauce and arranged artfully, but it was a surprisingly small serving for a main course and the mussels themselves, Penn Coves, were tough (overcooked) and did not taste fresh—a major faux pas in Seattle. However, the garlic toast served with the mussels was excellent. The Popcorn chicken was tasty, moist, and fresh and accompanied by a nice dipping sauce. The shrimp was seasoned and grilled and served fairly rare. The ravioli was smooth and creamy and easy to eat, but the lobster flavor was very weak.
We finished with their Crème Brulee which was excellent, with rich and very smooth custard under the sugar crust and a little berry sauce on top. We would order it again or maybe just stop by for dessert. We were there during a dry January, so we did not sample their featured drinks which we understand to be one of the strong points of this lounge. They did not have any featured mocktails, but they assured us they could make dry versions of any of their cocktails. (We did not try that.)
The happy hour items were reasonably priced. The mussels were not expensive, except for the small portion size. From our experience, stick to the happy hour menu. They have two screens, one above each of their two bars, so this would be a location to consider for televised sports events. We plan to go back in a non-dry month to check out the cocktails, probably accompanied with popcorn chicken and custard.
A New Dim Sum Option in an Old Location
Many of us who like Dim Sum have had to try many restaurants over the decades in search of an ever-changing favorite. For many, the House of Hong was that reliable destination for Dim Sum in the International District for decades. House of Hong closed early into Covid. Late last Summer, Diamond Bay Restaurant, 409 8th Avenue South, 206.485.7281, opened in that location. It may be hard to recognize since the large open space next door has been developed which may contribute to the very tight parking situation.
Diamond Bay serves Dim Sum until 3:00pm. We got there early on a weekday and the large dining room was full before Noon, but it was emptying out soon after 1:00pm. As is common in many current dim sum locations, there are no carts rolling through the aisles from which you can choose as they pass by. Instead, one fills out an order and it is delivered item by item. We ordered steamed spare ribs, siu mai (steamed pork and shrimp dumplings) har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), money style tripe, soup dumplings and Portuguese egg tarts. These did not arrive in any particular order. For example, the egg tarts were the second item to arrive. The sui mai and the har gow were both very good and individually large (compared to many others we have tasted). We would order those again. The soup dumplings were also good, but not as infused with broth as we expected. The tripe was rather bland and under seasoned compared to what we have had elsewhere. The spare ribs came with cubes of taro and were also on the bland side plus the bone and gristle to meat ratio was high—not enough meat; we would not order them again. Finally, the egg tarts, apart from being delivered at the beginning of the meal, were quite good. There was a choice between Hong Kong style and Portuguese, and the latter was fluffier, both crust and custard, than the traditional style. We will happily order those again.
Overall we found Diamond Bay to be good and reasonably priced, but not outstanding. We expect to go again but we will still be in search of a current favorite for Dim Sum.
Another New Happy Hour Spot in Maui
1111 Nikkei Sushi, 108 Wailea Ike Drive, Wailea (one block uphill from the Wailea Shopping Center) has opened, providing another option for Sushi and/or for happy hours near the commercial heart of Wailea. We stopped by to check out the happy hour offerings. We found a very modern décor and we had the place to ourselves except for one pickup order. They clearly have not established a following yet.
They publicize their burger, but we stuck with happy hour appetizers and tried the sticky shrimp (on their recommendation) and the shrimp siu mai in broth. We enjoyed both. The shrimp arrived on a bed of chopped cabbage and it was indeed sticky. As might be expected, there was a sweat sauce on the batter and though the cabbage, also. The siu mai were on the small side, but there were six of them, so it was still a good value. The broth was de minimis and served more as a dipping sauce than a soup.
Nikkei Sushi did not appear quite ready for prime time during our visit. They had been open for four months and they did not have their liquor license yet, so we were not able to sample any of their planned featured beverages. And, the computer was not yet programed with happy hour prices (25% off) for the food we ordered (but they did revise the bill). We might try going back after they get their liquor license because what is a happy hour in Maui without a Mai Tai option?
Dining Out is brought to you by Christopher Howard with the help of friends and family. Comments and suggestions can be sent to chh@f2t.com or 206.669.5956.
