La Medusa

La Medusa is always a wonderful treat. Cozy, delicious organic food (there must be a nonna hiding our the back int he kitchen somewhere — it is all so authentic and different to the run of the mill Italian restaurants that are everywhere. Great wines and fantastic service always.

So not quite sure if I caught them on an off night but the experience was unpleasant.
To start off our party heard they get a little busy so we made a reservation. When we arrived the guy at the front told us our table wasn’t ready and to go sit in the corner. No apology, no nothing. Just go sit in the corner. At this point I probably would have left but someone in our party really wanted to try it.
So just shy of 30 minutes after our reservation we were finally seated. After taking our orders the only thing note worthy was they forget several items we order and we had to flag them down to get all over of order.
The only saving grace to the disappointing experience was the rigatoni with sausage was pretty delicious. Not delicious enough that I will probably ever be back but enough the evening wasn’t a complete waste.

Tonight, my friend and I had the opportunity to dine at La Medusa. Chef Gordon treated us to a selection of his choice dishes (please forgive me for not remembering the names): a delicious cheesy rice croquette; a marinated & baked cheese platter adorned with potent peppers; a crisp and fresh red lettuce salad adorned with delicious beets and radishes, and shaved parmesan on top; a stuffed eggplant with anchovies (don’t be afraid of the anchovies — they’re subtle and perfectly enhance the dish); and two varieties of pasta. I had the spaghetti marinara with hand-​rolled meatballs; my friend had the bowtie (?) pasta with a cheesy white sauce and mushrooms. Each dish was at the same time familiar and simple, yet elegant and a new experience for us. The cocktails were expertly mixed as well.
I wish I lived in Seattle, as I would be certain to visit La Medusa much more frequently. Please go in my place.

My wife and I had dinner last night at La Medusa. What a great place — I don’t know why we hadn’t been in a quite a while. The food is wonderful and the service is just right; friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.
We had the cranberry bean starter, which was vegetarian, and it was amazingly rich is flavor. I need to figure out how to duplicate it. For a main we split the rigatoni with lamb ragu, which was flavorful and cooked perfectly.

Dining out with 15-​month-​old twins can be filled with trepidation, but it’s important (for everyone) to do it often enough that it becomes routine. I called at 6 for reservations at 7, and let them know we had toddlers and would need high chairs. We arrived to find everything already set up for us, including plastic kid cups and plates. Our server was excellent, explaining each dish on the menu, and even offered to bring the girls’ noodles with butter and cheese out right away. I ordered the perciatelli con le sarde, hubby ordered the rigatoni with sausage, and my mom ordered the campanelle with taleggio, fonduta, treviso and pine nuts. Everything. Was. Fantastic. We all had bites of each other’s food, and even the kids’ food was delicious.
It surprises me that they are not listed as kid-​friendly, because they did great with our kids and are clearly prepared to handle them. For a nicer restaurant, it was a pleasant surprise,
We were too full for dessert, so I guess we’ll just have to go back. Again and again.

Second time back to this Sicilian themed anchor restaurant for the Columbia City area. Yes, the food is intensely flavorful, in the Sicilian style, rather than subtle, as some low scoring reviewers have complained and servings are large but those are problems I like to have. We sat at the same table so that only one of us had a clear view of the menu boards as others have noted. Not a big problem. The board changes several times a week so it represents the most efficient way to handle that variability rather than printing something new several times a week.
This time we reigned in on our small plates which, like many places, are the stars of the menu. We repeated the baked cauliflower au gratin which is twice baked rather that steamed for the first cooking so that caramelized surfaces on the florets are in the center of the dish as well as on the surface. That was unique in my experience and made a significant difference. It was 1.5 cups and we saved ½ for a second meal. The baked Caciocavalo was sliced unevenly this time so that the thicker part had a crust and the thinner part melted. We still would repeat both at another visit.
We decided to try two pastas, the rigatoni puttanesca and the perciatelli con le sarde. Both were 2 cups cooked pasta, more heavily sauced that northern Italians serve but in line with what we saw on a recent trip we made to Sicily. All pasta is house made which drastically shortens cooking times and both of these are extruded macaroni. That may be the reason some have found their pasta different from the slower cooking, thoroughly dried commercial pastas. Rigatoni was 1.5″ long by ¾″ wide with densely flavored, fresh stewed tomatoes, anchovies, garlic and peppers. The perciatelli was 6−8″ long by ¼″ wide, hollow pasta that I had not eaten before. This was again a fresh tomato base but much less tomato flavored with fresh fennel, onion and shredded canned sardines baked at the last with seasoned bread crumbs. It was dryer that the puttanesca, as I expected. This sauce is almost always there but served with different pastas. Again, we had to save ½ for a later meal.
We finished with zabaglione with house brandied fresh cherries. This is usually a dense pudding of egg yolk, sugar and marsala served warm but this was whipped more than usual and served cool which works better in the summer. I don’t know if it’s served warm and heavy in the winter but would bet on it.
If I had a choice of 4 ½ stars I would pick it although I would have trouble expressing my complaint. I pick 5 stars since its rating is 4 on Unilocal largely due to those who find the food too heavily seasoned or had a row with their server. That seems too low. We have had the same delightful server twice but she seems like she might be the pick.
2 of the 4 red wines offered by the glass had changed over the 2 weeks between our visits and we were told that it is common to have frequent changes to tweet the offerings.

It’s ok, not great.
We had a reservation and came in about 15 minutes late, and the host complained and said ‘I called you I wasn’t sure if you were coming or not’ in a clearly annoyed tone. *eyeroll*
The place also had a really strong ‘frying oil’ aroma.
The table we were seated at was at such an angle that only one person could (barely) read the menu. I had to read aloud the options to the other patrons or they had to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room and rush to pick so they could sit down. I don’t get the board thing –it’s stupid.
Got a watery martini, the cauliflower, and the arancini to start. The cauliflower was good, probably the best dish of the night which is disappointing because this dish exists at about half of all restaurants right now. Not so original.
The arancini was not good, the rice was gummy and it just wasn’t flavorful.
For mains we got the zuppa de pesce, rigatoni with pork sausage, and spaghetti puttanesca.
The spaghetti had an odd texture, I’ve never had homemade spaghetti before, it tasted gummy. Maybe it was overcooked. The sauce was weirdly seasoned. The capers and olives were MEGA salty and it was really unappealing. And of course when you didn’t get a piece of olive or caper, the dish tasted bland and undersalted. So they should be rinsing their capers and olives more.
The zuppa de pesce was strange, there was no tomato, which surprised all of us. The broth was really bland — it really just tasted like lightly salted hot water. No white wine, lemon, or herb flavor was discernible. You did get big hunks of herbs on occasion but again, a uniform herb flavor would’ve been better. The seafood was good, but the dish was just so plain.
The Rigatoni was excellent! Great flavor all around.

Lovely neighborhood restaurant with an Italian influence. Creative dishes with a focus on sourcing locally and seasonally. Good, friendly service. The small plates are generally the best the three times we’ve been. The mains are good.

I tried La Medusa for the first time tonight with a couple of girlfriends. I had a headache that kept me from being hungry, but rather than be annoyed by me taking up space without ordering food, our friendly server helpfully offered herbal tea, which turned out to be the perfect thing. She also gamely learned how to make French 75s when my friends requested cocktails off-​menu — and they were good!
Eventually my appetite came back and I had the simple chicory salad (with bread crumbs, pecorino, and mustard seeds) and sampled my friends’ dinners, two kinds of handmade pasta, one with squid ink. The one with squid ink was so good that I ordered a box of it to take home for later.
I really enjoyed my experience at La Medusa. The atmosphere is that of a cozy little European café, and the food and service are both great. Recommended!

Worth the drive to Columbia City for an intimate, neighborhood Italian experience. La Medusa is usually crowded so definitely try to reserve in advance. It’s a small restaurant, with menus updated daily on the chalkboard. Service is friendly and helpful. There’s a really interesting Italian wine list and they do serve cocktails as well. I had the cavetelli with pork ragu which was lovely. The classic spaghetti and meatballs was great too (they were out of the squid ink spaghetti which I’d love to try next time). The menu is mostly pastas but they do generally have a couple proteins like duck or seafood. The appetizers are fun and great to share. I highly recommend the cauliflower gratin (kind of like cauliflower mac & cheese), and the salads are refreshing and well prepared. I’ll definitely go back!

Big flavors and big servings at this cozy Mediterranean-​Italian spot. Love their changing seasonal menu and the intimate vibe inside the space, which in spite of being quite tight, we found to be surprisingly child-​friendly.
We shared several of the small plates, some excellent oysters, vegetable sides, and pasta dishes, and really enjoyed them all. The vegetable dishes (grandma’s greens) in particular were hearty and memorable and were the kind of thing I wish more places would serve up. I’m glad we shared the pasta dishes because all of them were so powerfully flavored that it was nice to be able to experience a range and give our taste buds a break between bites. Also worth noting that we only ordered one main dish per person but all felt completely stuffed by the end of the meal– no skimpy portions here! Great value for your money here on all fronts: quality, quantity and service.
I feel lucky to have such a great, welcoming spot in our neighborhood and am looking forward to going back. Perfect date night location– with lots of good, affordable wines!

Italiano!
What a cute little neighborhood Italian restaurant. I wish there were more places like this around the city. The pasta and dishes were really fresh and tasty. We had a great double date there.
We started with the baked cheese and it was delicious (and deadly!). Also had the shigoku oysters and sauteed kale, which were good. My friends ordered the rotisserie chicken and it was juicy and flavorful. I got the squid ink pasta with clams and it was delicious. My partner got the spaghetti with meatballs and it was a little more tart than we were were use to but I liked it. We were too stuffed to have dessert!

this little gem should be given serious consideration for anyone looking for great italian food in Seattle or a great meal while poking around the Columbia City neighborhood. Great staff, amazing food and a very comfortable non-​pretentious atmosphere. The squid ink spaghetti is to die for… must have!

Bougie, hella overpriced, boring.
Maybe it’s because I ordered the Wednesday Farmers Market meal, and there isn’t a lot of time for perfecting recipes when you vary the menu every week, but my food was bland and super expensive for the ratio of goodness: dollars. I ordered the meal mostly because of the dessert — buttermilk biscuits — and they were cold, hard, reminiscent of badly baked bisquick. Ya know, the boxed stuff?
I don’t get it.

How does a restaurant that has been pumping out good food for thirteen years or so in Columbia City end up with a buzz seemingly out of nowhere?
It takes a long while for the rest of us to catch on apparently. La Medusa was not even on my radar, but then I read an article about the place and ended up with a craving for homemade pasta –paleo diet, adiós!
We booked a reservation here for a simple dinner which I recommend –the space is small and many that arrived before and after us without reservations were sent away. While a long way from my home, this spot turned out to be worth the adventure.
This is a cozy locals spot with a giant framed chalkboard menu, which, if you can’t read this tome due to the angle of your table (we could not) they suggest you take a photo on your smartphone. But what did they do thirteen years ago? On the menu are some great homemade pastas (which they are known for), salads, mains and appetizers.
We had a three cheese pizza (not always on offer, but they were making several types of pizza the night we stopped in) a simple salad, a savory but simple pasta dish with anchovies and breadcrumbs, and a really excellent spaghetti and meatballs with a fresh marinara. I realize spaghetti and meatballs sounds incredibly simple, but to make it well takes some skill –every component has to be terrific. My dad who loves to cook, used to make a mean spaghetti and meatballs when I was growing up. His specialty was baking tons of parmesan in the meat and making sure he perfected his homemade marinara sauce. That’s a close approximation of what you’ll get La Medusa. I haven’t encountered a plate of pasta that tasted this close to his pasta, possibly ever.
Our server was polished, although service can be slow. Come here with time to linger over your meal, or you may become restless.
The one disappointment was dessert: the lemon rind infused canoli, which was simple and tart, and did not have quite enough sweet (my opinion) although it was housed in in a perfectly crisp shell covered in pistachios. Normally, I’m a huge canoli fan. If you don’t like a sweet dessert, you may appreciate this one.

Close, but no Il Corvo
Some of my favorite dishes included the Arancini, Dragon Beans, meatballs (not the pasta) and squid ink
The reason why it’s not higher rated — some dishes just weren’t top notch like the spaghetti
And while several dishes were tasty, I was impressed
Il Corvo remains as the Seattle Italian restaurant to beat

I have wanted to go to La Medusa for years, and it did not disappoint. This restaurant — with its bold, southern Italian flavors of sardines, eggplant, baccala, etc. — was a welcome change from the sometimes too precious northern Italian cuisine that is prevalent in Seattle.
Let’s talk about what we loved: arancini or stuffed rice balls filled with cheese and in a hearty dollop of sauce, and baccala fritters that were salty, cod bits of goodness. Our pastas — mine in fonduta with broccoli and pine nuts, my husband’s in sardines and a red sauce — were outrageously good. The cannoli — light and not too sweet with crunchy shells — were the best I’ve had in Seattle. The only less than perfect bit was the beef tartare, which was on the flavorless side.
The servers and kitchen staff were also friendly but down-​to-​earth. The room was comfortable, not too loud, felt festive but not boisterous; fine dining but not stuffy.
The only problem: broken air conditioning. In Seattle summer 85-​degree weather with no windows and hot, heavy food, that is tough to swallow. But here’s how good the place was: we stayed anyway.
We look forward to going back when the A/​C is on!

Love this place! The food is delicious and affordable, the wine list is full of great and affordable choices, and the service is friendly, but not annoying. Our server, Alix, made an amazing meal even better.
We started off with a bottle of nebbiolo, which was a great complement to our meal. And continued our meal by splitting an arancini, or is it an arancino because we only had one? I digress… YOU MUST HAVE ONE NO MATTER WHAT IT’S CALLED! Seriously, if you’re here and you don’t get one you’re missing out.
Onto our entrees… I went with the campanelle with taleggio, asparagus and pine nuts and the bf had rigatoni with lamb sausage, fava beans, tomato and red wine. We both ended up full and happy.
I was so full, but we just needed to try dessert. I had two baby cannoli (yum) and the bf had the hazelnut-​brown butter cake & sweet cherries (he said yum, but I’m allergic so we’ll have to take him at his word).
Best part? We can walk here from our apartment!

Second time around and it was still good. The food here is excellent if you order right and we had a great bottle of primitivo. Service was great. This is quickly becoming a local favorite for me and it doesn’t hurt that it’s only 2 miles from home.
This time I came with my husband and we ate:
Bread and olive oil — good stuff
Arancini — not impressed. They were the size of tennis balls but risotto had no flavor.
Cavatelli with beef & pork sausage — sausage was just ok and the pasta shells reminded me of little basketball bugs so I just mentally didn’t like it.
Pan roasted black cod with mussels and clams — winner this time! Cod was delicious and the vegetable broth and combo of veggies with the seafood was perfect.
Grilled asparagus with soft cooked egg — ok, I’d recommend the cauliflower gratin instead.
Definitely some good food here but you just have to order right.

Delicious! What a wonderful time my husband and I had on our first visit here together for one of our date nights. Service was very friendly. Loved the ambiance = wholesome, comforting, cozy, warm, and lots of love.
We had:
– bread with olive oil, was okay.
– cavatelli, was okay
– chicory salad — LOVED IT.
– grandmas peas — LOVED IT
– perciatelli con le sarde — I ordered this… but my husband ended up eating it.
Would totally go back.