Travis and I just enjoyed a fantastic meal at Daniel's Broiler - Leschi, which is right on Lake Washington. While it was already dark out when we went to dinner (we had 7:30 reservations), the view from the window at our table was still great! We had a great view of downtown Bellevue, all lit up.Everything about Daniel's Broiler was top notch. I will start off by saying that we will definitely be returning. I had made reservations this morning after a man at work highly recommended this place as the steak place in Seattle. (More on that later.) The woman who took my reservation was extremely helpful, and when she learned that we had recently moved to Seattle and that we were celebrating Trav's birthday, she was very excited that we had chosen Daniel's. I recommend mentioning if you are celebrating a special occasion when you make your reservations.
When we arrived at the restaurant (after a neat drive along the waterfront), we were promptly greeted by the manager as the hostess was seating another guest. (Way to step in! :) ) Our server was Austin, and he was a great help to us as we were deciding what to order. He also helped select a wine for Travis that would go well with his steak. He also reminded me how much I like sparking water, and I ordered some of that for me.
Because it was a special occasion, we went all out with our food choices. (Well, we didn't get lobster...) We started off with bacon-wrapped scallops as our appetizer, and Travis loved them. I can't say I am a huge fan of scallops (it's a texture thing), but the bacon wrapping did give them a nice crispy texture. The hot bread and butter was also delicious and very fresh.
While the restaurant had several seafood daily specials, Austin strongly suggested we go with steaks for our main course, as that is the real specialty at Daniel's. It's 100% USDA prime corn-fed Midwestern beef...youm. Travis ordered a 16 ounce (yeah, that's a pound) rib eye, and I ordered the 9 ounce filet mignon. I really liked that Austin didn't scold me for ordering my filet well done. I just don't like pink meat, and I am not "ruining" good steak by ordering it well done. So there. Along with our main courses, we also got mashed Yukon gold potatoes (very creamy, quite tasty...they also brought out toppings for the potatoes, which Travis used, adding fresh bacon bits, chives and butter to his mashed potatoes) and an order of broccoli to share. Plenty of food all around!
The steaks were awesome. They apparently broil them first at 1800 degrees, which puts a char on the steaks and seals in the flavors. Then they grill them to the preferred temperature. My filet was great - I'd say it's in the top 5 steaks I've ever had. I also really enjoyed the potatoes, though if I had known they'd have a Parmesan cheese garnish on top, I would have asked them to hold off on that.
After our meal, Austin brought out a special treat for Travis: an Alaskan silk cake tartlet thingy (I don't remember what it is really called, and it isn't on their menu online, so "Alaskan silk cake tartlet thingy" is what I call it.) It was a chocolate silk swirled with white and milk chocolate on a graham cracker crust with white chocolate shavings around the side. And the plate said "Happy Birthday" in chocolate, and they had put a birthday candle in it. So Travis blew out the candle and went to town on the ASCTT (see above). I secretly wanted some Key lime pie, but decided I was full, and I could just sit back and watch Travis enjoy his birthday cake.
Before we got our bill, Austin's manager (I'm sorry, I didn't get his name, he was also quite nice) came to our table and told me that he heard we had been referred to the restaurant by a colleague. He gave me a gift certificate to pass along to my coworker as a thank you for recommending the restaurant! This is a really interesting marketing move. I mean, sure, I cou
ld hold on to the gift certificate myself, and never tell this coworker. (I wouldn't do that.) But from the restaurant's perspective, it's a win-win. If I use it myself, it means we liked it enough to go back. If I give it to my colleague, he'll be excited that his recommendation had benefits for him, and might be inclined to recommend it again. Win-win.
ld hold on to the gift certificate myself, and never tell this coworker. (I wouldn't do that.) But from the restaurant's perspective, it's a win-win. If I use it myself, it means we liked it enough to go back. If I give it to my colleague, he'll be excited that his recommendation had benefits for him, and might be inclined to recommend it again. Win-win.I definitely recommend Daniel's Broiler. It's on the expensive side, but...we really enjoyed the atmosphere, the service, the food and the location and thus we were okay with spending the money. It is a really great find for us; we will bring people who visit us in Seattle to this restaurant in the future.
-SKH
We had the guy behind us take our picture. He kind of gave me a funny look, but still took the pic. Thanks, dude!
The band made the flag!
Within the first nine minutes, the Irish had scored twice. They looked really good at the beginning, but then had some terrible looking drives as well during the rest of the game. By the way, Dad just loved the HuskyTron - I admit, it really is pretty impressive. That screen had awesome clarity. We should get one.
By the end of the game, the Irish emerged victorious, and it was pretty evident that Husky coach (and former ND coach) Tyrone Willingham was going to be out of a job soon. (
