Hungrygrrl

Cobe and I were really just going for happy hour, just for a drink. But one look at the menu changed everything.

“Should we get something?” I asked, eyeing the hanger steak and lamb kebabs. Their menu is organized into little bites, all less than 10$, all sounding yummy. Cumin pork tenderloin with frisee. Chicken laab gai. Grilled portobello with butter bean salad.

I ordered a glass of wine, the waitress steering me towards a rioja. It was perfect: round and rich with toasty undertones.

There were a lot of older couples there, for such a swank place. Exposed brick, suspended bare bulbs—in New York this place would be mobbed. You wouldn’t get a table without jumping down the hostess’s neck. Here we just walked in. At 5:30 on a friday.

We ended up ordering the lamb kebabs with sumac hummus, spicy shrimp, and a smoked chicken and dried cherry flatbread. The shrimp came first, a nice mix of spices but a bit hard to peel strangely. They also fried up the heads. “Do people eat the heads?” I asked Cobe, pushing them to the side.

Next came the flatbread and oh my god was it good. I usually write off flatbread. It always seems to be kind of a filler, but this was perfect. Caramelized onions with shreds of smoked chicken and cheese and the most perfect dried cherries. An amazing combination of flavors– smoky and sweet and creamy. With this hidden depth. We fought over the last piece.

Then came the lamb, and I have to say I was disappointed.They were wrapped with roasted peppers which was a nice foil, but mostly just took away from the meatiness. And they didn’t have that beautiful crisp meaty crust. It’s not really fair to judge lamb kebabs when you’ve recently had them at Lola. Those were life changing. Everything else falls flat.

The hummus alongside was not bad. Cobe actually ate it, which means something as he turns his nose up at grocery store hummus. But compared to Ephesus? Not even close. I won’t even mention the baba ganoush which we left in a near perfect ball on the side.

So much more to try here though. I badly wanted to try the pear sorbetto with candied lavender but decided my stomach couldn’t handle it.

Next time.

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Black Bottle
2600 1st Avenue
Seattle, WA
(206) 441-1500
http://blackbottleseattle.com/