Restaurant News: Time to taste Seattle Restaurant Week lunch and dinner deals, through Nov. 6 – My Edmonds News

Sankai SRW SushiCAlifRolll

Seattle Restaurant Week (SWR) is back this fall, running now through Nov. 6.

Restaurants will be offering special menus of $20 lunches, $35 and/or $50 dinners. Menu offerings can include takeout, delivery or on-site dining.

Here is a quick list of our area participants — what meal(s) are offered, the pricing and hours for SRW specials Most dinners are  Sunday-Thursday, 4-9 p.m., but please see the specific listings for hours, and the luncheon hours too.

Anthony’s Home Port-Seafood: dinner ($35)
(Note that proof of COVID vaccination is required)

Bar Dojo-Asian: dinner ($35)

Fire and the Feast-Italian: dinner ($35)

Mar-ket-Seafood: dinner ($35 or $50 options) or lunch ($20)

Salt and Iron-Pacific Northwest: dinner ($50)

Sankai-Japanese: dinner ($35)

The Loft-Mediterranean: dinner ($35)

The Potlatch Bistro-American: lunch ($20)

I do love Seattle Restaurant Week. I’m always excited to see what our local eateries can put together to tempt locals out to dine. While I cannot accomplish visiting every one of our restaurants that participate, I get in as many tastes as possible.

Right out of the gate, on Sunday we dined at SanKai. Hubby and I are huge fans of sushi, so could not pass up an opportunity.

Sankai SRW SnugWarmSeating

We were outside in the individual tented structures, where a small heater kept us nice and cozy in spite of the inclement weather and wind Sunday evening. I ordered a pot of hot tea, in case I needed a hand warmer, a nice green brew with floral-jasmine tones.

Sankai SRW GreenTea

The first course offered four different choices:

Corn Kara-age: Fried corn tossed with a garlic soy glaze

Sankai SRW SalmonKAtsu

Salmon Men Chi Katsu: This menu item called to me. It featured panko-breaded, chopped salmon patties and was served with a delicious spicy tartar sauce. So yummy it was hard to keep hubby from swiping forkfuls.

Sankai SRW Albacore

Shichimi Albacore: Flashed seared crusted albacore tuna over green papaya salad was served with a garlic Ponzu.

Octopus Wafu Ceviche: Octopus in onion and bell peppers pickled with lemon and lime juice and a chili garlic sauce, also tempted… maybe have to come back a second time?

Entrée choices were even tougher.

Vegetable tempura served with yuzu salt and a bowl of rice.

Sushi combination: Hubby loves sushi so his was an easy choice. This combination offered a generous seven-piece set of nigiri, plus a California roll. He even shared!

Salmon: Lightly salted and roasted salmon collar served up with rice and miso soup was another option.

Chirashi bowl: This was a contender for entrée choice too. It offered eight pieces of sashimi, plus an egg omelet and veggies on a bed of sushi rice. As I did hope to snag a bit from my honey’s platter, I went for the beef…

Sankai SRW GuidonBeefBowl

Gyudon: The thin slices of rib eye and onion were braised in a ginger soy sauce and served up over generous portion of steamed rice. Garnish of peppers, plus pickles made each bite special.

Sankai SRW MisoSoup

Miso soup arrived first, and the warm broth set up taste buds for the gingery base of the main dish.

This truly fit the bill for my entree choice.

Dessert was the easiest decision of the evening.

Coffee Jelly? Nope! As much as we both love Mochi Ice Cream, it was had to pick a flavor: Pumpkin? Mango passion fruit? Chocolate, vanilla, or espresso? In the end, round balls filled with ice cream just didn’t compare with the description we saw next…

Opera Cake: Layers of almond sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, layered with a ganache and coffee, French butter cream, and then covered with a chocolate glaze. There were even tiny glitters of gold leaf atop each slice, plus choice berries.

Sankai SRW OperaCake

We’d queried our waiter: “Just how big those pieces of cake? And were they shareable, or not?”

He gave us wise advice: “Each of you should have your own slice.”

I have perused the other menu offerings in Edmonds. Here are some highlights that I aim to take in before Nov. 6:

Bar Dojo’s spread includes the Shiitake Mushroom Kobe burger. Created originally for the James Beard competition, the blended shiitake mushroom burger isn’t always on menu. This juicy burger sits on a toasted Macrina brioche bun, accompanied by melty smoked gouda, sriracha mayo, arugula, five-spice tomato jam, pickled red onion, and shoestring fries.

Bar Dojo also offers starters like Coconut Shrimp with a mustard seed, shaved coconut crispy outside, and a chiffonade of mint and sweet Thai chili sauce. How could I go wrong?

Dessert at Bar Dojo? My favorite course of any meal and the SRW choices sound delish. Pumpkin Spice Crème Brulee or maybe a Matcha Flan with fresh berries?  Even more intriguing: a gelato created from red miso and topped off with a sesame brittle?  I’m so there.

Bar Dojo’s Chef Luis kindly posted a picture of all the dishes, even desserts, offered for Seattle Restaurant Week:

BarDojo SRW Spread

Anthony’s Homeport has upped their game a bit this time too.

A new addition to the starter menu is called Tropical Nachos, featuring Oregon shrimp, toasted macadamia nuts and a mango-pineapple salsa. Sounds like a tasty way to take taste buds on a tropical vacation.

There’s also an entrée of char-grilled Columbia River Steelhead basted in roasted apple ginger butter. The fish sits atop an almond basmati rice pilaf, paired with seasonal vegetables.

Dessert items include petite fire-roasted apples in a bread pudding with Makers Mark caramel sauce and candied pecans, topped off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

— By Kathy Passage

tn 500 5849 e1521776552355A specialty gourmet food broker for over 30 years, Kathy Passage has in-depth knowledge on food and the special qualities of ingredients used in the exquisite products she helped bring to market. Kathy brings this unique perspective from the “other side of the plate” to writing about the food and restaurant scene in Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.