Mindy and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary a few days later than we originally had planned. We originally had planned on going Sunday but I was hired for a catering gig so we decided Tuesday was another great day to go. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it was worth the wait!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge!!!

Tom Douglas in my opinion is the king of the Seattle restaurant scene. He has 5 restaurants (Lola, Palace Kitchen, Serious Pie, Etta’s, and Dahlia Lounge), 1 bakery (Dahlia Bakery), a radio show (Tom and Thierry in the kitchen), 3 cook books (I love crab cakes, Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen, and Tom’s Big Dinners), a rub and spice line (Rub with Love), his own line of kitchen tools (available through Amazon.com), and designs custom kitchens for a real estate developer.  Tom is all over the place!

I’ve been told numerous times that we needed to visit the Dahlia Lounge and I have been reading his cook books for a long time so yes, it was time!

When we walked in the warm atmosphere took over and we went from worrying about the day’s work to instant relaxation. As we were looking over the menu we were brought these little bites of awesomeness. I say that because they were awesome and I forgot what they were called.  Weeee!

We were looking over the menu and we noticed the Sea Bar collection of items:

Kona Kampachi with white miso and eggplant
Dungeness Crab with apple gelee and celery leaf
Dahlia Smoked Salmon with hot mustard
Puget Sound Geoduck with spicy melon
Ahi Tuna with yuzu kosho and avocado

How do we decide on one????? Oh, there is a sampler platter? YES PLEASE!

I’ve never had geoduck before but let me just tell you……..I’m a huge fan now! The flavor is amazing and it has a kind of steak texture to it. Fantastic!  We destroyed the entire platter and ordered another appetizer that sounded exciting

Kalua Pig served with young coconut, hoisin,  poached egg, and chili ketchup.

I am pork’s number one fan so any variation is always appreciated. This appetizer should be made into a full meal because it was so freaking good I gave the server a hug, not kidding. I was ready to order three more of these but the main course was on the way and I knew I wouldn’t have much room left.

Lemon-Scallion Dungeness Crab Cakes with wok seared vegetables, shrimp paste, cilantro, mint, and lemongrass aioli.

Mindy has been hounding me to make crab cakes for quite some time but I knew Tom Douglas makes the best crab cakes out there……the guy wrote an entire book about them! I knew I needed to have her taste the crab cakes at the Dahlia Lounge before I start making my own at home so this was another reason we came to the Dahlia Lounge for dinner. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Seared Rare Yellowfin Tuna with bacon fried satina potatoes, dill pickled green beans, and chopped egg mayo

Look at the size of those tuna slices! I ate every little bit of it and was at critical food mass. The tuna just melted in my mouth when I bit into it and it was super fresh! I was waiving the white flag and could eat no more. I was full. The server told us he was going to bring us something else and we both said no at the same time. SOoooooooooooo full and I couldn’t even……..

Damn you!!! Ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I’ll eat it but no more after this. That was the best ice cream I’ve had in a long time. It was the perfect cap to the evening so we received the check,

paid, and went home extremely happy.  I’ll be back for sure to try the rotisserie roasted 5 spice duck with stir fried pea vines, sweet n’ sour peach, and sesame seed buns. Oh, I’ll also be back to try the wood roasted lamb saddle with barrel aged feta dumplings, slow cooked rapini, and heirloom tomato relish………and the…..you get the point.

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME THERE!!!!! GO NOW!!!

Eric