Black Bottle in Belltown

[David Sloo]

Other posts have praised Black Bottle for 1) the quality of the small plates and 2) being open and lively until 1:30 in the morning.

Black Bottle should be booked on both counts. Here's what I found: a noisy, spare gastropub which might have been hipper-than-thou about a decade ago but is welcome and delicious now. The crowd wasn't exclusively in bowling shoes, but it was also not all engrossed in the menu. There were regulars at the bar, greeted by the bartender by name. There were small parties of fashionistas -- but who knows what palate lurks behind Chanel lip gloss #13?

Yes, you can go just for drinks, although you'd be making a mistake.

The menu (see link) is wide ranging. From looking around, the dishes almost all feature fresh, clean greens. Good frissee with the artichokes. Good daikon spouts and shiso with the hanger steak.

In detail: the hanger steak is cooked as specified. I specified rare. It came, as they say, bloody and barely warm in the center but cooked at the outside, even though the piece was the diameter of a large hen's egg. The steak and sauce are quite salty -- it would overpower like a double shot of soy sauce if it weren't for the grated daikon (under the pre-cut slices of steak) and the mound of mixed daikon sprouts and chopped shiso -- not minced, but chopped to daikon-sprout size. My neighbor at the bar tried mine, then ordered one medium-rare, and indeed it was just pink in the center.

Second, the sardines are butterflied (and beheaded), lightly battered and crisped. I know: I have been cited by others for Undue Love of Sardines. But these were delicious and a reasonable introduction for any pescivore willing to graduate from salmon and tuna. The citrusy sauce is sour and would in fact seem unpleasantly so on most any fish without sardines' moist, strong, slightly oily quality.

I witnessed and tasted the artichoke hearts and greens, which were flavorful but not explosive. Good quality materials, though. My neighbors were enjoying their spinach and tomato flatbread. (When coming up with a new name for pizza, couldn't the Menu Hacks have chosen something that wasn't equally vague? We've gone from a word 'pizza' that means everything from foccaccia to an eggy calzone to a word 'flatbread' that means anything from lavash to pita to Neapolitan slices.) At Black Bottle, the flatbread is somewhat flat -- maybe a finger thick. It has on top of it the ingredients that you asked for.

I note now from reading the menu that every dish includes at least one ingredient with a strong flavor. I think this is great; no doubt there are hounds who will describe the approach as 'lacking subtlety'.

The plates are not tapas size -- more like moderate main courses without side dishes. I think this puts Black Bottle into the affordable but not austere bracket. You could have three dishes and a glass for about $30. Three dishes and two glasses would feed two people of moderate appetite.

I had an old fashioned before starting. The bartender did not bat an eye, he made it correctly from memory in front of me, two people at the bar asked him while he muddled if he was making a manhattan. He explained that old fashioneds were, in fact, quite good, too.

All plates are $8. All deserts are $7.

Black Bottle
2600 1st Ave (at Vine), Seattle, [phone]

Link: http://www.blackbottleseattle.com/

[terrier]

I've raved about Black Bottle before, back in October.

http://chowhound.com/pacificnw/boards...

Unfortunately, I'm now in the Yogi Berra camp: "Nobody goes there anymore - it's too crowded."

It's deafeningly loud and packed, any night of the week - we've been turned away at 8:30 on a Tuesday, not even a "you can wait if you want" - and on the times when we've lucked into seats at the bar (forget a table anymore), the food hasn't equalled our initial visits (presumably from a time when the kitchen was less rushed).

I will give them one thing, though - they still make fine drinks.

[Susu]

Black Bottle is expanding -- both their space and their menu -- within the next couple of months. From what I understand, the acquisition and remodel of the space next door, which will increase the restaurant's size by 60%, will also include a bar/waiting area that will be more congenial than the current 2'x2' space by the front door.

I have found the chef and management very receptive to concerns about the quality of the experience there, and so while the restaurant has gotten almost impossibly trendy (these days, I don't go before 9 or 10 pm unless it's a Sunday or Monday) there is still a small community restaurant feel. I.e., the restaurant wants to keep its regulars and loyal customers happy.

*** disclaimer -- my partner works there ***

[terrier]

This is good to hear! Now if they'd consider some discreet changes to the acoustics, I'd be thrilled. It shouldn't take more than hanging some textiles on a wall or tucking some acoustic foam in inconspicuous spots on the ceiling or at the top of some walls. Some places get creative with this, like Marjorie, but I think it could be done in a minimalist style not out of character with the restaurant.

It's a real echo chamber now and when it's full I find it's impossible to have a conversation with more than one other person - dinner for 3 or 4 becomes a game of telephone or turns into 2 separate parties at the same table talking into each others' ears - not convivial. This is not to say I'd prefer the place be quiet, just that there's fun loud (Palace Kitchen) and there's too loud.