Dahlia Lounge

Donuts were AMAZING. I got the eggs Benedict. Very good, but the potatoes were a little disappointing. Pretty salty and I could not finish them due to that.

Another Tom Douglas restaurant to try. I particularly like this restaurant because of its ambiance, low lighting and lounge-​like, but classy and upscale without feeling as if you’re out of place if you’re not in cocktail attire. The crab cakes are a must have. Stuffed dates are definitely a must try depending on your liking of sweet and savory. And you can’t go to a Douglas restaurant without starting with his classic Dahlia bakery bread and finishing with his coconut cream pie. If you could only choose 1 dessert, go with the made to order doughnuts. They come with sides of jam and vanilla mascarpone – which is so decadent, I could eat it on its own. I enjoy making a dinner out of appetizers, and communally sharing them tapas-​style to try out the rotating items on the menu. Lunch offerings are a little limited, so I’d definitely recommend dinner, happy hour, or late night bites.

We came for one thing — the coconut cake! It did not disappoint. Bonus for no meringue (just more a whipped topping). It was delicious and the server was super cool about us plopping down in the bar about 25 mins before closing!

Everything we had was delicious. Perfect ratio of flavors, every bite was scrumptious!

Had salads, entrée and dessert. All was quite good they gladly split the salads to share which is nice. The fried chicken and scallops were really good. My dark Choclate desert fell a little short in presentation but still had a great taste. Great night out.

One of our favorite restaurants. Good food, good service… but last nights oyster order was a sad and expensive disappointment they were over the hill, dry, and tasteless. I am kicking myself for not sending them back. They must have been in the fridge for weeks.
Somebody is not watching in the kitchen.

Staff is great, food is excellent! Not quite my décor taste, but super cozy spot in Belltown. Check it out!

After researching dining in Seattle, I knew I wanted Dahlia Lounge to be one of my splurges. Having just arrived, this was our first taste of Seattle, and it did not disappoint!
Despite getting turned around and arriving late for our reservation, they still held the romantic booth I’d requested. Our Server, Rich, was prompt and knowledgeable. AND at least three people kept our water glasses full the entire night, a must after a full day of air travel!
The drinks were fun, the appetizers were delicious, and our Entrees were divine! The flavor combinations were an inspiration!
And the culmination of the meal, The Triple Coconut Crème Pie, was out of this world!
Ohh and the LANTERNS! I STILL want those lanterns… the Fish ones especially! Beautiful Place… Truly an experience worth every penny. and it was a pretty penny!

Best brunch we’ve had in a while and this was after running a half marathon.
Let’s just say lots of good food but regardless what you want to get do get the following:
— Donuts. OMG they’re good.
— Crabcakes. Tom Douglas wrote the book — keep it real here.
— Oysters. You’re in the Pacific Northwest, it’s never too early for oysters.
Wash it down with a Bloody Mary (or a virgin tomato juice with Bloody Mary mix).

I am such a fan of Tom Douglas, and I feel like this is one of the classic experiences. I’ve been here twice now… both times for Seattle Restaurant Week. The service has always been impeccable. My most recent visit involved an amazing pork chop. That was over two weeks ago and I’m STILL thinking about it. Cooked to perfection, a perfect BBQ dry rub, and delicious veggie accompaniments. I love coming here to have delicious food served in a perfectly refined style with amazing service. Great place for a special evening.

After researching where to go for our trip, we were excited for this Tom Douglas establishment, highly rated on Unilocal and other lists online. It probably fell the flattest.
The hostesses were super nice but our actual waitress was just so-​so. Not really sure why. Let’s just skip to the food… for appetizers we ordered the clams & fries to share. Clams were good, but I felt like there were a lot of empty shells. Fries were tasty but I didn’t care for the curry ketchup. Entrees was the most disappointing part of the night. I ordered the crab cakes w/​saffron rice, others in our group ordered the halibut, and the steak.
My entrée was alright, the crab cakes didn’t have that much flavor to them, but I will note that there is a good amount of crab in each cake, not sure if it was worth $ 38, must be the saffron rice. What was really disappointing was my sister’s steak. It was SO SALTY. You would think for such a highly praised restaurant that they know start off with a little because you can’t take too much salt away. That was clearly the case here. Our friend ordered the halibut and it was just dry. Luckily I decided not to order drinks here, but those who did didn’t find the cocktails to be anything special either.
It was a unanimous agreement that Dahlia Lounge definitely did not live up to it’s hype.

Since I had a great experience at Dahlia Bakery, I knew I had to try Dahlia Lounge. I was on a mission one workday to try this restaurant. I took a bus on 3^rd Ave and made my way towards Belltown.
I was seated at a booth in the bar area. I wanted a window table but you can’t always get what you want, ya know? I had previewed the menu prior to coming in so I ordered the Dungeness crab cake right away. I also ordered the Workshop Bread and Made to Order Doughnuts with the intent of sharing with folks in the office. I’ve had the Doughnuts from Dahlia Bakery before so I knew what to expect. The crab cake entrée was good. Service was definitely slow, hence the restaurant name «Lounge.»

Head Up: This review is only about desserts and a drink
So I had my heart set on going to Dalhia at some point during my weekend in Seattle and boy am I glad I didn’t miss out. The ambiance is fantastic, dim, intimate but still private (you’re not elbow to elbow). Beautiful restaurant!
We only went for dessert and drinks and that was beyond satisfying! I had their sparkling violet martini that was incredibly good! I thought it was going to be sugary but not at all!
We ordered the staple coconut crème pie and also the doughnuts and both were DELICIOUS! The pie is so fluffy and light but tasty! Yum!!! And who doesn’t love deep fried dough?! The doughnuts are like a large doughnut hole, but so incredibly soft and moist and they come out warm in a paper bag the server shakes up in cinnamon sugar and serve fresh with a scrumptious vanilla mascarpone that I could finish alone! Also a tasty peach jam that was really good especially if you like fruit filled doughnuts.
If I went back, I would struggle to try something new even though I had two more deserts I wanted! I have to shamelessly get them both again!

Okay we had 8 dishes and dessert. Mixed feeling about it; for its price, I expected all the dishes to have consistent above the average flavor and presentation, the presentation part is alright, but the taste in Asian fusion dishes are lacking her and there, there’s not coherence between the ingredients in some, or lack of depth has singular tone in others. For instance, the eggplant curry are basically grilled eggplant (no flavor) layered on top of curry sauce. The duck confit was supposed to be Peking duck (or some kind of Chinese duck dish), but the skin and meat are so dry. The famous Peking duck is known for the crispy skin and juicy layered pieces of meat with fat together.
Now here’s the good:
best oysters I’ve had
Coconut cream pie is yum

I absolute love this place’s brunch. It was outstanding. I’m always on the lookout for the best eggs Benny and this one impressed with its jalapeño hollandaise. I scooped up some with a spoon on its own! :) The bacon was crispy and the Parmesan crusted potatoes came in substantial glorious chunks. The place is ambient and perfect for conversation in big or small groups. Get the eggs Benny for the hollandaise alone and whatever dish you get make sure the potatoes come with!

YUM! I came here for dinner and it was delicious! Definitely on the pricey side, but I got a very well cooked meal.
First, the ambiance here is great. Nice wooden furniture, clean, and dimly lit. Next, the service was great. The waitress was very fast and gave good suggestions. Water was constantly being filled, table was cleared quickly, and utensils were changed a few times.
The food was awesome! We started off with some oysters and the clams. Oysters were fresh and the clams were so flavorful! The portion size of the clams was also pretty impressive. For the main course, we had the crab cakes and the peking duck. The crab cakes were a great pick, however, it was the duck that blew me away. Such tender and flavorful meat and you get two large pieces too! Would definitely recommend if you like duck. For dessert, we got the doughnuts made to order and the coconut cream pie. Personally, I liked the doughnuts more but because I’m not a huge fan of coconut. Both were well made.
Come here if you want to treat yourself to a nice meal! Definitely worth a try.

Truly a Seattle staple. Tom Douglas gets little wrong at his flagship restaurant. An honest northwest menu with seafood and fresh veggies. You can’t go wrong if you are a local or a tourist.
I recommend getting a seafood sampler to try the areas fresh shellfish And other seafood. The duck entrée is close to masterfully cooked. Crab cakes are a safe bet as is any fish dish.
Finally end of with coconut cream pie, if you would like to leave earlier ask for it to go or visit the bakery next door to pick it up before heading out.
A bit overpriced but always a safe bet.

***Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge has been around for a while, but it is still serving excellent food like beef tartare with Japanese influences, a great dungeness crab cake with well prepared and seasoned vegetables and amazing fried-​to-​order beignets that are warm, light, pillowy, and perfectly sweet from a dusting of cinnamon and sugar***
Like Suzanne Goin in Los Angeles and Paul Kahan in Chicago, Tom Douglas is one of Seattle’s best chefs and restaurateurs with many restaurants in the city. He opened his first Seattle restaurant Dahlia Lounge at the end of the 1980’s and eventually won a James Beard award for it. Dahlia Lounge definitely looks like a restaurant that has been around for a while. Like San Francisco’s Boulevard or Spago in Beverly Hills (before its redesign), Dahlia Lounge has a slightly dated décor with its old-​fashioned walls and its slightly ugly booth backs.
The food at Dahlia Lounge is not dated though. While not as creative as the country’s best restaurants from acclaimed chefs, Dahlia Lounge’s food feels fresh and, despite being around for many years, the kitchen here seems to still have high standards and a strong attention to detail.
I started with their beef tartare. The beef tartare was seasoned with seaweed purée and pickled ginger. It was topped with tobiko and then garnished with kewpie mayo and a side of crunchy and light taro root chips. The beef tartare was great. It was rich, moist, soft, and seasoned nicely, which helped the beef flavor really come out. Tobiko added a nice texture contrast to the soft tartare. The taro root chips were good and a nice alternative to the toasts often served with beef tartare.
For my entrée (I went for lunch), I had their dungeness crab cake, which came with crispy kennebec potatoes, asparagus, herb sour cream, arugula, and sweet peppers. Like the beef tartare starter, everything on the plate was good and went together very well. At first glance, the portion of crab cake to the rest of the plate seemed small and stingy, but I did not mind given that I went for lunch and the vegetables were so hearty and nicely prepared.
The crab cake was excellent. It had a great crispy top and avoided the two issues that often plague crab cakes – greasiness and too much filler and breading. This crab cake had an abundance of thick chunks of perfectly seasoned, moist and sweet crab meat.
The herb sour cream provided a great and not too strong dressing for both the crab cake and the vegetables. The asparagus was tender and I loved the sweetness of the peppers and subtle bitterness and pepper flavor from the leafy arugula. The crispy potatoes with tender insides really helped make this a filling lunch entrée.
Dessert was excellent. I had cinnamon and sugar beignets and they were some of the best beignets I have had to date. They were warmer, lighter and more pillowy than the beignets I recently had at Michael Mina’s StripSteak in Las Vegas. The beignets also had a great and even dusting of cinnamon and sugar. The beignets were served with sweet strawberry jam and creamy whipped mascarpone cheese.
Service was very good – quick and friendly.
Prices are about what you would expect to pay given the high quality ingredients used and this restaurant’s reputation. Their lunch menu features both more budget friendly lunch salads and sandwiches under $ 20 as well as more entrée-​like presentations (like the crab cakes) over $ 20.
I was unsure about how I would like Dahlia Lounge given its long tenure in Seattle. While there are parts of Dahlia Lounge that make you feel this restaurant’s age, the restaurant serves high quality and delicious food that can compete with other good upscale restaurants across the country. It is a good option for a weekday lunch in Seattle and their beignets are a must order given how rare it is to find made-​to-​order, hot desserts in restaurants these days.
Pay parking lots are available.

I went to Dahlia Lounge with my mom and cousin on the last night of our Seattle vacation. It was our favorite restaurant we went to!
The atmosphere is elegant and trendy. I loved the low lighting and jazz music. The decorations and art on the walls were beautiful.
We split shrimp pot stickers, cilantro & lime prawns, crab cakes and an artichoke hollandaise roasted chicken with asparagus. It was all phenomenal! I don’t think you can go wrong with anything on the menu.

Dahlia — a beautiful bushy intricate flower. I guess I was expecting something closer to magic than just ‘meh, not bad, but not outstanding’.
I came for SRW, the hostess was pleasant and friendly.
Appetizer: Lightly cured salmon with ruby beets, kumquat, hazelnuts, yogurt, mint 2/​5, it was really too simple and plain. Or maybe I just don’t like how the salmon came in very small bits, like it had fallen apart. Yum to the beet & the hazelnuts. There were also random bits of salt that made the bite extremely salty — nay.
*I’d recommend the Duck liver mousse instead, I tried some of my friends and it was pretty good.
Entrees: Wood grilled skirt steak with chimichurri, roasted carrots, queso fresco, pepitas, cilantro 4/​5, seasoned really well, a large portion (about 7 pieces of skirt steak) and a hefty serving of carrots. I was happy with the taste. :)
Dessert: Buttermilk panna cotta with semolina cake, honey, lavender, and rhubarb 5/​5, YUM! I’d eat that again in a heartbeat. A nice finish to a meal, the buttermilk panna cotta was very creamy but almost melted in your mouth and was light as well. A nice touch of honey, the semolina cake was a little dry but eh. I appreciated that the lavender wasn’t too overpowering! :)
*I do not recommend their Triple coconut cream pie, my friend got this one and was severely disappointed, as was I. Maybe it just wasn’t a good night for it?
All in all, it was really just okaaay, nothing spectacular.