I promised that I would do a review of
Canlis and here it is. Since I've lived in Seattle I've heard raving reviews of Canlis but couldn't justify the $$$$ 4 dollar sign pricetag. We had talked about going for several years but didn't make it there until we knew we would be leaving {to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary coming up in August}. As I mentioned, Jake and I spent a week exploring our beloved city including Riding the Duck, visiting our favorite restaurants, going on the Seattle Underground Tour and just soaking everything up including friends and family. It's really impossible to get enough time to see everyone you want, and I'm sorry if we missed you! You are definitely in our thoughts and on our list for our first visit, which is of course TBD at this point. We love you friends and family!!
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| Where the valet magic happens! |
Anywho - back to Canlis. We made reservations a couple weeks in advance. And they had to take our credit card info to hold the reservation. I guess you get charged $50 per person if you cancel your reservation too late. So keep that in mind. Anyway, we definitely did not cancel. We arrived a little early and pulled up to the valet guys waiting in the parking lot. They took our car but didn't give us a ticket or anything. I had read about this previously so I wasn't surprised. Somehow, they secretly know who you are and at the end of your meal, they have your car ready and waiting! There must be some sort of elaborate communication system between the different hostesses, servers and valet guys - I don't understand it - but I do like it! Very impressive and I felt very special.
As we were getting seated, our server pulled the table away from the booth {it was on wheels!} and I had never seen that before, so it was nice and I didn't feel like I had to "squeeze" between the booth and the table. Yes, I am an 80 year old lady inside a 28 year old's body. Now that we have that cleared up.... We had a really gorgeous view of Lake Union including Gasworks Park but it was hard to get a picture of it based on our angle. So you will just have to imagine it!
We perused the menu which basically had two options - either a 3 course menu {app, main course and dessert} or a 4 course menu. We both agreed that we wanted to try the 3 course menu for $85 bucks a pop. We originally thought we didn't want to get wine so we could keep the price tag down but we threw all caution to the wind and got a $50 bottle of wine! Woohoo! Sidenote: we had no problem finishing it.
After we ordered, they brought us each out these 3 amuse-bouche.
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| Morel Mushroom Tart, Salmon Creme Fraiche, Fried Egg Yolk | | |
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For our appetizer, we both tried the Canlis Salad! I have heard amazing things about the salad and it did not disappoint! The recipe can be found
here. A couple surprising ingredients were mint and a coddled egg (dressing). Definitely try it if you haven't had it before.
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| The Canlis Salad |
For the main course, I had filet mignon and Jake had the halibut.
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| Filet Mignon |
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| Halibut |
Our dinners were exquisite. I really really enjoyed my filet mignon - the sauce was very flavorful and tasty and I just wanted more and more. The piece of meat was kind of small, but that's usually the case. Overall, the filet mignon was my favorite part of the meal {second, only, maybe to the dessert, which I can't even pronounce let alone spell}.
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| My dessert (Mille-Feuille), with a special message for our 2nd Anniversary |
The dessert we each ordered was made up of milk chocolate, bananas, caramel and peanut butter. I found the details on the Canlis website and it's called Mille-Feuille. I think it's french! Our server took a photo of us with our special desserts! So fun!
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| Canlis for our 2nd Anniversary |
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| The best smelling hand soap I've ever used! I even looked it up on Nordy's and ordered some for myself! |
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| Bathroom selfie! |
After we finished our dessert, we sat there for a good 20+ minutes and reveled in the view, finished our wine and just enjoyed each others' company. Overall - it was an amazing dinner and I can't wait to go back. Our server was very helpful and attentive. I remember my dad telling me that he judged a restaurant by how often they refill your water -- and let's just say our wine and water glasses were never empty! I just told Jake that I want to eat at Canlis everytime we go back to Seattle. This could get expensive. But, life is short.
