Gem Salad
Loulay

Loulay

600 Union St, Seattle, United States

Soup • French • Coffee • Cheese


"Loulay Kitchen Bar has been probably my first purist French Cuisine experience. Great service, super awesome food, paired with even better wines, the desserts, are to die for, I was in foodie heaven. This is my first visit here, on a cold evening in downtown Seattle. After quickly getting seated, our steward handed down the simple menu with an exhaustive wine list. After we chose our mains, we received help on what wines to pair our selections with. I went for Mary’s Organic Chicken, with Potato, Djon mustard. Chicken is a safe choice, primarily because it’s my first time trying French food, in a proper French setting. After a little long wait we were presented our mains, which looked impressive very French. Plating was done beautifully, the chicken was cooked nice firm, classic French techniques tasted delicious. The little roasted potatoes, with a mustard sauce as the base where the chicken rested, loved every mouthful, full of flavours experiencing classic French cuisine. Portions were large, but the greedy me, knowing how good French desserts are, shamelessly asked to see the dessert menu. The menu looked impressive having heard up the chefs grandmothers recipe being followed, wanted to order the Hot Chocolate. However was pulled between that and a Chocolate Sorbet. The already greedy self, decided to have both the desserts while my friend picked up a Valrhona Chocolate Torte. My Hot Chocolate came with a toasted brioche salted butter. The brioche was the perfect accompaniment to warm chocolate to be dipped into, the salted butter helped to break the sweetness from the chocolate beautifully. My second dessert, the Chocolate Sorbet was placed in the middle, within a circle made up of hazelnut, cocoa nibs, feuilletine, tiny globs of meringue. The vanilla milk was poured around the circle which helped swirl them up along with a spoonful of sorbet. Every spoonful makes a complex attempt to fool your palate on experiencing different textures of crunch with the super smooth sorbet. This place is special, first time am giving 5 stars to a restaurant, here in Seattle. Simple reason that they lived up to an expectation exceeded that with the dessert, even though it is a very expensive diner. I might just return to try their desserts, as they are hard to miss at a high price point of the meal."

Red Card Cafe

Red Card Cafe

4140 Morena Blvd Ste A San Diego, CA 92117, San Andreas, United States

Tea • Meat • Burger • Burgers


"It was refreshing to see another gastro pub opened on Morena, Red Card Cafe.... yet after visiting it yesterday I think they have a bit work to do to make the locals say 'wow ' and have them come back. I am giving 1 star for ambience, decor, style and and an overall presence, one star for a solid service, another one for good selection of draft beers...Total of 3 so far....and I would like to give 2 stars for food flavor, quality, price and overall value), but I am giving only one. Consequently, I cannot give the establishment 5 stars yet. The place is focusing on tapa style plates, gastro food, sandwiches and a few entries. There were four of us. We ordered Fish and Chips, Seared Ahi, Duck Fat Fries, Arancini, Char Siu Pork and Potato Pierogies. I wasn 't too keen to order pierogis as I am Polish and I know how potato Pierogies should taste, but my friends did order them and liked how they tasted. My friends also liked Arancini, Char Siu Pork and the Duck Fat Fries. I didn 't taste the first two but I thought that The Duck Fat fries were pretty good...just couldn 't justify paying $8 for their size. My tuna tasted good, it was tastily seared yet its texture made me think that it was previously frozen and it wasn 't a fresh catch; however, it came with a soft boiled egg interesting add on that I really liked), a yummy slow roasted tomato, roasted radicchio, which I thought should have been served with more citrusy/sweet dressing to diffuse its bitterness, as well as a big spoon of olive tapenade, which I thought totally didn 't belong on this plate. Instead of that tapenade I would personally put shredded jicama/tangerine/cherry tomato/cilantro combo with some lime, salt and pepper which would be a better addition to that tuna. Generally for $17 it was on the pricier side, but it was a good enough portion not too big and not small)....If it was smaller I would leave disappointed. My husband 's fish and chips and since he is English he really has high expectations when it comes to fish and chips. We thought that the meal was totally overpriced $16) considering its size. The fries were soggy and in our view not very nice. The server 's justification was the difference in type of oil being used...in my opinion no matter what oil you use they should be on a crispier side. Yes, when you have delicious Duck Fat Fries next to those fries its a tough gig. In my opinion both should taste great! How hard is it is to fry well french fries? Anyway, the fish I thought was very tasty but my husband didn 't think that its batter was as good as it should be. Also, the aioli that came with it was overbearingly over-salted. He immediately said that Dan Diego 's has way tastier and bigger Fish Chips for $13. Overall, I think that some dishes are overpriced value is missing) and that is 'hard to sell ' in a family oriented neighborhood.....like a hamburger for $17 or a small lamb sausage with fries Merguez) for $14. I do like the ambience, decor, and may come back to try other dishes. Anyway if I don 't come back for a meal, I will definitely come back for a drink. I bet the owners of Red Card will be observing their throughput and taking to heart the candid feedback from their customers....it is only beginning. If the owner is smart he/she will be adjusting both menu and the prices through learning, just like smart Bay Park establishments did Luce, Bay Park Fish, Dan Diegos). If the owner is smart he/she will not be offended by my honesty. Message is sent from My iPhone"