In a part of Seattle that’s known for its Thai restaurants, finding a good place to eat, that is reasonably affordable, can be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately not far from the “Center of the Universe” in Fremont there is a Greek restaurant by the name of Costas Opa.

An unassuming restaurant from the street it isn’t until once someone is inside that the its true size is made apparent. The main dining room is a slightly raised area under a large skylight flanked on two sides by booths. The overall feel is a warm hominess, with Costas Opa’s blonde wood furniture and high-backed booths and soothing Greek instrumentals piped in through a hidden sound system. It was in one of these booths, that abut the windows of the restaurant, that I was sat. If ever you are in Fremont looking to kill some time, a booth here is a perfect place as it gives you a great vantage point for people watching.

Costas Opa serves breakfast on the weekend while during the week the focus is on lunch and dinner for Fremont workers and residents. I had stopped in for an early dinner, which starts at 4 PM, and ordered their Gyros ($10.75) plate.

The Gyros plate comes with a cup of soup for a starter and I from my four choices I picked a Beef & Vegetable. This may not have been the proper choice while having a goodly amount of celery, carrot and white beans the soup itself was bland needing heavy salting. Plus, to steal a quote from the 80’s, “Where’s the beef?” There was a shocking lack of any sort of meat from my Beef & Vegetable soup. While I furrowed my brow at this I didn’t let it have too big of an effect on me. After all, I came here for gyros, not soup. But I was to see that my Gyros plate was to fall not too far from the tree, speaking from a culinary standpoint, from the soup. The overall plate was attractive looking but most of the dish lacked any significant flavor. The one standout was the vegetables. Well really vegetable as it was mostly zucchini with a few pieces of green bean thrown in here and there. But the tomato sauce with mint and oregano that they were cooked in was very flavorful. By contrast the potatoes needed a good dash of salt and lemon; while the gyros meat, which arrived lukewarm, was helped by a healthy slathering of the provided tzatziki sauce. The mixture of ground beef and lamb that is typical the typical gyro meat was moist and tender though. If you were looking to make an actual gyro sandwich from your Gyros plate you would be well advised to order an extra pita. While the one provided is crispy, golden and buttery it was also well hidden beneath the meat and was a half piece at that.

While not the most outstanding of Greek dinners, mine from Costas Opa was none-the-less filling and overall satisfying. Though I may never be a regular I will at least know that there is one more restaurant in Fremont that I can turn to that isn’t Thai.

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The promised rain for the Seattle area disappeared, the sky, blue and clear, held a warm and shining sun as I drove toward Belltown after work. Today’s review was to be a special one. You see I’ve reached something of a milestone for the site, the fiftieth restaurant reviewed. In order to properly recognize this event, and the wonderful afternoon, I choose a restaurant that, I hoped, would provide a suitable dinner to mark the occasion. The restaurant was to be Cascadia.

I arrived just as the restaurant opened and was asked if I had a reservation. As the evening grew older I would realize that if one doesn’t have a reservation, finding a table could be difficult. The restaurant filled-up quickly but was never loud or distracting due in part to the voluminous that Cascadia occupies. Twenty foot tall ceilings, floor to ceiling windows up front and a glass water wall, separating the kitchen from the dining room, allows the noise from the many diners to dissipate into the ether. The staff was professional, polite and very knowledgeable about the food that they served. After a few moments reviewing the menu, and a very in-depth explanation of two entrees, I placed my order. The Warm Kobe Saku Beef Carpaccio & Crisp Oysters ($15.00) was to be my first course.

Warm, thin slices of a delicately marbled beef were presented, overlapping, down the middle of the plate. Served simply with a quick sear, to crisp the outer edges, and a sprinkling of course sea salt, the beef was rich and buttery. Well aged the flavor was almost too intense. Add to that the two plump and juicy, tempura battered, oysters. A light, gossamer coating of tempura effectively sealed in the essence of the salty oyster, its rich, smooth texture protected from the heat of deep-frying. Both the oysters and the carpaccio were very rich and had it not been for the accompanying tandoori salsa, a light mix of sweet vegetables and curry/cumin sauce, it would have been too much. While possessing a dark spiciness the salsa was a light touch that helped to temper and cut through the buttery, fatty richness of the twin stars of Kobe Saku beef and crisp fried oyster.

For the main entree I had settled on a dish that would provide a lighter touch to my palate, the Ahi Tuna Poached in Olive Bouillon ($26.00). The Ahi arrived in a tall-sided plate floating in an olive flavored broth and topped with a fresh vegetable salad. The tuna was promised to be cooked to a medium rare but, instead, turned out closer to rare. This, however, was not a problem for me as I enjoy my tuna a little closer to sashimi anyway. My first bite was a forkful of tuna, carrot and celery from the salad and one of the crispy fried calamari rings that studded the dish. The meatiness from the tuna was very evident but tame compared to the beef in the first course. The savory elements of the dish were brought together in tuna and crisp calamari. But to counterbalance the savory profile of the dish were sweet sun-dried tomatoes, olives and the fresh spring celery salad. It was this salad that I keep remembering as adding the biggest contrast with its crisp, fresh crunch.

Not to let the evening off there I choose to have dessert at Cascadia. As some people know I have a thing for lemon. Its tart, sweet character is perfect, I feel, for ending a meal. In scanning the dessert menu I saw, almost immediately, something that held great promise, the Pucker Power ($9.00). Yes you read correct, Pucker Power was the name. It was described as a lemon meringue custard cake and was very much like a light lemon muffin atop a crisp, flakey pastry base. Having a light lemon flavor it was not overly powerful but was an interesting way to get the experience of lemon meringue pie without the actual pie.

Cascadia turned out to be an excellent choice for my fiftieth restaurant review. The service, atmosphere and most importantly the food, were all top notch. Prepared with great care towards not overpowering the sense with too much of a good thing, the chef was never heavy-handed in his preparations. But be forewarned, Cascadia is not inexpensive. When the check arrived, for just myself, with drinks, tax and tip, came in at over $100. So if you are looking for a drop-by, casual dining experience you should really look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you have family in town, friends who are really into food or are planning a romantic evening for two, I would highly recommend you call and make reservations to try Cascadia for yourself.

On one final note as I wrap up this special fiftieth restaurant review. I’d like to thank everyone who has inspired me over the past eight months to make this website what it is today. From those who provided persuasion to start the site to those of you who provide positive feedback and encouragement as well as all the new visitors who have found me. I hope you all enjoy reading my reviews as much as I enjoy bringing them to you. Keep watching the Robotic Gourmand, as I will be making upgrades, adding features and expanding on the usability of the pages found here. I hope you will be reading when I post my one-hundredth review. Thank you all!

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An unassuming restaurant sits at the corner of Stone Way and 45th ST in Wallingford. Set on the first floor of a medical building it’s easy to miss the Mexican restaurant known as Beso Del Sol.

It was nearly a year ago when I first tried Beso Del Sol for lunch; a few months later it would be happy hour. That happy hour would be the last time I visited until recently when I made the conscious effort to stop in for an early dinner. While there was only one table seated when I arrived, a large party of around eight people, I still found that I had to wait. Wait for someone to come to the front to greet me, wait for my server to come take my order and a longish wait for my food. It seems as though service would not be a highlight of this restaurant either.

With a slant toward Southwestern U.S. Mexican cuisine, Beso Del Sol featured many items in the fried or heavily sauced and topped-with-cheese variety, the kind of Mexican food I like. So I ordered one of the “house specials”, the Beso Del Sol Enchiladas ($11.55). What arrived were two standard enchiladas squeezed onto a plate between soupy, runny refried beans and some, quite surprisingly, tasty Mexican rice. The enchiladas were buried beneath a pool of rich red sauce and melted cheese. The sauce itself a chunky mix of spices, bits of tomato, onion and green chilies. As for the enchiladas, the corn tortillas had some good flavor but the cheese and olive filling left much to be desired. Just barely there the cheese oozed out almost immediately and the olives were missing from nearly every other bite. Surprisingly I found the Mexican rice to be the one standout of the meal. Fluffy and soft I contained tender bits of carrot and onion while just faintly seasoned with cilantro and tomato.

I think there is perhaps a reason why it took me nearly a year to return to Beso Del Sol. Reminiscent of a ChiChi’s restaurant from the 1980s, it seems as though the only winning points would be with Beso Del Sol’s happy hour. At least then you can have drinks to occupy yourself with while you wait for your food.

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Restaurant reviews are biased. Yes, you read that correctly. The reviews you’ve read on this website over the past weeks and months, are biased. While I’m no slouch in the kitchen, while I keep up on my culinary skills, I have no professional expertise. I’m not a chef. So when you read a review, good or bad, you are basically reading my opinion. An opinion, which is tainted with the part of the country where I grew up, the ethnicity of my parents, and my own personal likes and dislikes when it comes to food. While I try to keep an open mind about everything I taste, I have to admit my mind is colored with past meals that have, to me, defined a dish. So it is with Fish & Chips. Especially when an establishment, such as The Pacific Inn, claims to have Seattle’s best.

Let’s start with the restaurant itself. I’m using some heavy artistic license here because The Pacific Inn is less a restaurant and more a fixture. A fixture that grew out of the sidewalk at the corner Stone Way and 35th Street, it seems utterly ancient. And while I’m sure there are older buildings in the area, you’d be hard pressed to convince me so. It is a hard place with dirty walls, wobbly booths and tar stained windows from a time when smoking was allowed in restaurants in Seattle. But I came for one reason, and one reason only. No matter whom I asked or what I read, everything and everyone pointed me to The Pacific Inn as having the best Fish & Chips ($6.99) in Seattle.

The three fish filets that arrived (When they finally did arrive) looked delicious enough. A golden brown crust studded with chopped herbs and what appeared to be bits of panko breadcrumbs. Here is where my bias comes into play. To me fish & chips should be made with a beer batter, not breadcrumbs. The seasoning should be; a little salt and maybe pepper. What is it with adding herbs to the crust? Let the flavor of the fish stand on its own. Well, after one bite I realized that they couldn’t do that. The fish, while flaky, was dry and flavorless. The only real flavor came after a liberal squirt of lemon and a healthy dip into tartar sauce. The “chips” were a little better. Not the limp, soggy fries one normally gets but crisp and fluffy, although definitely not fresh made.

Was this the best of Seattle, really? I choose to disagree. To my way of thinking fish & chips should be large, fat planks of Cod. Fresh, juicy bits of fish that have been dunked into a beer batter, quickly fried and salted and served in newspaper with crispy fries. What I found at The Pacific Inn was nothing more than a pale shadow of what this meal could have been. My advice is to take a short trip to The George & Dragon Pub for your fish & chips. But of course, that’s my opinion.

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One drawback to reviewing restaurants is that, eventually, I’m bound to have cause to write a bad review. So it was with my visit to The Capitol Club.

To begin with, my presence wasn’t even acknowledged for the first five minutes I was in the restaurant. Once some finally came out from the back they seemed astonished by the fact that I was actually patronizing their establishment. Once seated it took nearly as long to get my drink and dinner order placed. I’m usually lenient when it comes to service, especially early in the evening but I was getting definite “don’t be here” vibes. What makes the service up to this point especially bad is that, aside from a woman who was picking up a to go order, I was the only person in the restaurant portion. When the time came to pay my bill, my server’s doppelganger showed up. While I still had food on my plate and a half glass of wine I was being asked, “Are you finished with your plate?” My jaw nearly dropped. When I was done eating my server was back at my elbow in a heartbeat. Nearly as fast as she whisked away my dishes she was back with the check. Where was all this energy when I was hungry and wanted food? So, in summary, service was very poor.

As for the food, it wasn’t a knockout but also wasn’t the worst I’ve ever eaten. I opted for the Lamb Shank ($19.00) and got exactly what I ordered. This was bone-in eating for sure. Not to say I’m squeamish about such things. After all I am the person who’s favorite meal was a whole fish with the head still on. But my hopes for the meal were one of less anatomy and more presentation. No matter, the meat fell off the bone quite readily. Lamb has a reputation for being “gamey” tasting if not prepared well. I’ve had both good and bad lamb, mine at The Capitol Club fell somewhere in the middle. Not overly gamey but stringy and overly fatty. It required a lot of help from the sauce on the plate. The sauce was the star to the dish. A spicy, rich Merlot sauce, I tasted hints of cinnamon, garlic, pepper and, I believe, cardamom. I soaked everything in it; bread, lamb, escarole, tomatoes and eggplant. It was these last two items that I felt the plate could have used a little more of. While slightly overdone they still retained a good bit of flavor and I found myself focusing on eating all of them I could find.

Had it not been for all the lamb mucking about on the plate I’d probably give the food a nod for the vegetarians out there. But as it stands the so-so lamb makes it an okay dish for carnivores. One thing is for sure; get your food to go.

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