Canlis - Seattle

We celebrated a special occasion at Canlis this week and overall I was disappointed. The service is good but not great, the view is stunning, cocktails and wine were excellent but the food was seriously lacking. For the exceptionally high prices and the addition of a James Beard nomination this year, I expected a top notch culinary experience on par with fine dining in New York and San Fransisco and it was not that. Staff greeted us at the door and hung our jackets. We were about 15 minutes early for our reservation so we enjoyed some cocktails at the bar. We had a lemon drop and a martini. Both were excellent. We were then brought over to our table and and had the gorgeous view to look out on. The chef sent over some gifts from the kitchen. I do not know exactly what these were. They looked like artful tree branches with matcha powder and there was creme fraiche. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the taste. My husband has malbec with his dinner and I had the chardonnay. We both enjoyed our wine very much. The remaining courses were fairly forgettable. I had the radish with poached oyster, the crab, halibut as a main course, the soufflé, the chef sent macarons to the table and I had coffee to finish. The halibut was by far the most disappointing dish I tasted. The fish was cut exceptionally well but the plate was almost completely white. The only color was the crab sauce that was added to the dish table side. The fish was almost completely bland. There was little to no taste at all. Absolutely nothing I had that night was anything special. While the presentation was nice, food should taste good! At this price, food should taste amazing and we a truly satisfying and memorable experience. I do not think we will return.

My problem was that we had high expectation given prior review of Canlis. Everything about the restaurant is average, not great and certainly not good value for the money. Compared to other high end restaurants in other metropolitan areas, Canlis lacks in culinary experimentation, food presentation, menu development and basic taste. There are many other and better choices to showcase the Seattle culinary expertise. The menu lacked imagination and the presentation of the food left much to be desired. The desert was all but tasteless. The wine list was solid, though, but very expensive, even for a high end restaurant. This was one of the most expensive meal we have ever had (and we have had dining experiences at the old Noma, Amass, Fat Duck, Bæst etc) for a food experience that was average at best.

First, I want to say that service there is EXCELLENT! I have had the best service everyone I go there. The best patt was when my daughter was able to go into the kitchen and choose her ice cream with th e server. Nice touch! With that said, the selection of food was less to be desired... or more of a select taste. Presentation was excellent however. We will reserve a return visit for sure... when we are up for trying something out of norm.

Great experience celebrating a Birthday! Amazing view, good service, good food, and classy.

Off the chart good. Our server was one of the best we ever had.