Nell's Restaurant

We recently ate here and had a nice enough dining experience but if my partner and I hadn't been totally caught up in a great personal conversation we would have likely to be miffed. I will say though that I think there is a silver lining to this review. The guy who was our waiter, Colin, is a very nice young man and he is also in charge of the wine list for Nell's. Sadly, there was a representative there from Buty wines that night who hogged a lot of his attention so we were left to wait for the first 5-10 minutes without so much as a hello from Colin. We were given water but that was it. Once we got our beverages (martinis) ordered, and received, things seemed to be going along just lovely. We both ordered from the $25 pre-fixe menu, which had some lovely offerings, and the first courses came along just fine. I'll point out that the standard menu also looked divine and we plan on eating here again to try more options in the future. To start, I got the kohlrabi soup and Michael got the liver terrine - both which were very good. We also ordered wine with dinner which was lovely although I'm sorry to say I've forgotten already which one it was from the menu. Our main course was to be the trout (for me) and the pork (for Michael). This is where it got dicey again. Two tables that had come in significantly later than me and Michael both ended up getting their meals ahead of us (they ordered after us) and one of them was actually about done with their dinner and leaving when Colin noticed and mentioned it to the kitchen staff. According to him they just shrugged their shoulders and then put together our dinners. No explanation, no apology, just a "oops" and a shoulder shrug. Thankfully Colin is more adept at being a professional waitstaff person and he quickly tried to make amends. Unfortunately I had to send back my trout for further cooking as about 3/4 of the interior of the fish was uncooked when it came out to the table. I would suggest if you like a less well done piece of pork that you make sure to order to taste - they cook it medium there. It was still good and Michael hadn't given a specific temperature request to Colin. The re-cooked trout was lovely so I am willing to go here again. The desserts choices we got with our pre-fixe dinner were grapefruit with mango sorbet and honey (me) with a macaroon and for Michael the cinnamon creme brulee with a chocolate cookie of some sort. All very good. Colin gave us a dessert wine with our desserts as a way to make up for the missed timing of our dinner. As I mentioned earlier in this post, we ended up being fine with it since the two of us were having a very meaningful personal exchange throughout the 3.25 hours we were here. Yes, dinner took THAT long but we did enjoy it. It almost reminded me of dining in Europe where the pace is much more mellow and dinner isn't limited to an hour at most. I'm okay with that as it forces those at the table to really spend some quality time together... Another positive is that you can use www.OpenTable.com to book reservations. more

On the spur of a Wednesday-evening-moment we rang up Nells to see if they could squeeze us in. She said, can you get here in 15 minutes and we said yes. When we slid in the door, the room was rosy and bright but pretty quite. Within 30 minutes every seat in the house was filled. Nell's is hopping and I don't think the 25 for $25 promotion - a price fix three course offering for $25 - hurt. We were offered a choice from three appetizers, entrées and desserts, which we were asked to choose all at once. My husband chose the white bean soup, duck confit and hazelnut chocolate torte. I went with the celery root/walnut/frisse salad, wild mushroom risotto and poached pear with goat cheese ice cream. We added a half bottle of pinot blanc from WillaKenzie, an Oregon winery. Dry and fruity - really enjoyable. I'm a fan of celery root, so I was looking forward to the salad. The salad was a base of lightly dressed, blanched celery root julienne topped by frisee and surrounded by a scattering of toasted walnut halves. The dressing was very light and did not overpower the three main ingredients. Nice crunch mix. The soup was spicy, warming and just the right thing for a blustery Seattle night. White beans, pancetta and diced veggies in a mild garlicky broth with a kick of red pepper. I wish there had been leftovers for lunch! By the time we were ready for entrées the open kitchen was putting out plate after plate to satisfy 78 seats filled within 30 minutes. We enjoyed our wine while we waited for our entrée. I appreciated the time for conversation, but some might become impatient on a Wednesday. My risotto came in a large flat bowl, a mound of creamy, al dente risotto with big chunks of chanterelles, lots of butter and cheese and topped by quickly sautéed rapini - a nice bitterness to the creamy risotto. I would have licked the plate if no one was looking. It went beautifully with the wine. My husbands duck confit was a leg sitting on a layer of carrot puree and sautéed baby brussel sprouts. A demi glace was drizzled over and around. The meat was not as rich as I expected with confit, and, well, my risotto was better. What can I say. Again, there was a long spell before dessert. Our waitperson was clearly running at a million miles an hour. My pear was poached in a ruby red sauce, dressed with a scoop of goat cheese ice cream with two buttery, buttery rounds of herbed shortbread. The shortbread was the winning element. The pear was good, the ice cream was -- different. Good different. This is the choice on the menu for those who look for something with a touch of richness, but not too sweet. That was a good balance to the incredibly rich chocolate-hazelnut cake. One bite made my heart beat faster. Really really rich, setting in a pool of cream Anglais and a scoop of ice cream. Mamma mia. We would have enjoyed coffee, especially with the torte, but none was offered. All in all, it was a great spur of the moment "date with the spouse" dinner at a nice but not pretentious restaurant. The 25 for $25 offerings in town are always a great chance to check out new restaurants, or familiar ones we have missed for a while. I always think fondly too, of this location, formerly Saleh al Lago. I had my last dinner before becoming a mother there, nearly 21 years ago. I still remember where I sat. And the calamari is still on the menu. I should have tried it! :-) more

There are many great restaurants in Seattle but very few of them match service with the product. Usually you get three star service with a four star restaurant, and sometimes this comes as a five star price. Where can you go for an affordable meal and get amazing service and just succulent, delicious cuisine? The answer is Nells. Located right in Greenlake, this smaller restaurant gives AMAZING, nearly perfect service that Rivals any restaurant in Seattle and couples it with great, delicious cuisine. The ambiance is slightly understate as this is a nicely converted stripmall installment, but don't let that fool you. You feel like a VIP the moment you walk in. Everyone is extremely friendly and executes with perfection from arrival to departure. I recommend the strawberry rhubarb if it's in season for dessert - out of this world. Great wine list and the menu always has a super selection. more