Tigertail

I just moved to Ballard and am in search of a new place. The kind of place where all the bartenders will know my name and I can start drinking at 3 in the afternoon, 5 days a week without judgment ;) Also, atmosphere and a decent happy hour are a must. I think I may have found that place in the TigerTail. The happy hour is great, $ 3 wells, beer specials and all kinds of tasty Asian inspired bites like pot stickers and spicy bar nuts. They also have a ton of vegetarian options which are often hard to find at a bar. The service is just the way I like it, attentive but casual, you never have to wait for a fresh drink. When it’s warm out they open up the garage door and blast the music creating a real inside/​outside semi patio kind of vibe. This place is right in my neighborhood and feels like home!

Normally, the drinks, the food, the prices are fair, but tonight was a sketchy experience at best.
A girl was bartending who I haven’t had before, in blonde ponytails. I ordered a drink I’ve had a number of times from the other bartenders, but it came out looking and tasting differently, a sincere disappointment since I like the drink.
It took a long time to finally get her attention and ask for the check, and during my wait I had calculated tax and tip. When she came to the table, she had not printed a bill, and she told me the amount, which I knew to be more than what it should have been. I looked skeptical and she told me she «didn’t bother to print it out». Now I did pay it without incident, but I will not be back. According to her math, I paid what amounted to a 14% tax on my meal. And I’m not 100% sure that the money ever went into the till, since there was no record of it. I know times are tough, and it wasn’t a huge amount of money, but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I hope it was a more honest mistake than it appeared.

Quite simply, a weird place.
The ambiance was nice, with St. Germain on the player, warm sunny evening & the garage style windows were open…
…that’s about where the comfort ended.
Weird food parings. Note: if one wants to put a burger on a croissant, maybe it could be shaped more like the pastry, instead of circular… it was ok. The kimchee though, you guys have to STOP calling it that. Bland and offensive to people who actually like kimchee (ME!)
My husband liked his teriyaki chicken skewers, but at $ 12 said it was overpriced as the flavors were basic. Oh! The vegan potstickers were really good (beautifully crafted), but the sauce was lame.
The vibe was part crusty skate punks who grew up a little in their sophistication + Ballard couples (old & young gen) out for an early date night… so an eclectic mix, which is good. Our waitress was nice, but a complete space cadet… when she asked if we minded that our food order would «come out whenever, and not at the same time…» I should have known we were in for a strange evening… and she didn’t disappoint us!
Tigertail isn’t bad… it’s just weird.
Too many options elsewhere for me to go back again (yummy veg pot stickers or not).

Disclaimer: I’ve only been to Tigertail for Happy Hour and I’ve only ordered one thing off the menu. Happy Hour runs from 3−6pm and includes the standard discounts ($ 1 off glasses of wines and drafts, $ 3 wells, some HH food) AND $ 1 drafts of Busch. I occasionally enjoy myself a Busch and can make it to a 3pm HH (for which I feel appropriate shame). But for $ 1, I mean, come on!
Tigertail is cute and pleasant with an islandy feel and big windows and lots of natural light. It’s also sophisticated-​looking enough to seem like the kind of place that wouldn’t have frat party beer on tap. The bartender was really nice and attentive, although there were only like 7 of us in there at 4:30pm on a Thursday afternoon so how hard can it be? Bottom line, if you get off early on a sunny day, Tigertail is a great place to gulp down a cold beer or five.

If their coconut rice is single, I’m marrying it.
The food is much better than you’d expect from a place that’s more bar than restaurant. never had a bad dish here, and the coconut rice is amazing. Boyfriend says the tofu vietnamese sandwich is top-​notch. a few vegan options as well that go beyond the usually salad/​potato standbys.

Who can resist a restaurant that has a ferocious looking «Tony the Tiger» as their welcoming sign! Add in good food, a nice ambiance and a full bar, and you’ve found yourself at tigertail. I have heard about this restaurant for some time now from my good friend Anna and her boyfriend, who claim this as one of their favorite local eats.
Last night we feasted on almost every plate offered at Tigertail. My favorites being the flank steak skewers, coconut rice, and vegetable curry. All were washed down with some delicious (and decent priced) wines. The wait staff was friendly, and the food just kept coming.
On the way out I spotted a book shelf full of board games and now can’t wait to go back for a night full of fun games and good food!

Delightfully hipster-​free for this strip of establishments, the Tigertail is a great place to knock back a few drinks.
Try the bourbon elderflower drink — the name escapes me, but it’s light and easy to drink. Also, the Saigon 66 (their version of a French 77) — another light summery drink that I could drink *way* too many of!
We’ve been here a few times, a mix of either large groups or just mano e mano. Always had decent service, and regarding the food — yes, I would agree it’s «Asian themed» and just get it out of your head right now if you’re attempting to try their food because it’s authentic. The Char-​sui pork is decent, and the potstickers I very much enjoyed. They had both meat-​based and squash versions that were quite good!
If you live in the area, it’s a nice atmosphere to mix in with a little Dray (right next door!), Reading Gaol, Molly McGuire’s and Tin Hat action.

I am actually giving this 3 ½ stars because on some occasions it has been incredible and on others not so much. The thing is in this economy and the amount of wonderful restaurants in this city, you have to have a little extra to make a real nice impression. And a little extra is not a little extra attitute, which is what the waitress showed us last Friday at about 8:30…
They were out of a lot of the things we wanted on the menu. There were 4 of us and we ended up ordering the beef skewers, edamame, chicken skewers and potstickers and a couple rounds of drinks. Everything tasted really good, the chicken skewers though were very, very bland. And again, the server frankly, well… was bitchy.
I don’t think I will be coming back for a while. If you haven’t tried it, it is worth going though. When they actually have what is on the menu, it’s a great little spot!

Saigon 66 = decadent & delicious gin/​champagne/​lemon cocktail.
sake variety i can’t pronounce = yum-​mm. nice sake menu with a wide variety to meet your taste & budget.
small, welcoming, out of the main Ballard strip. nice getaway for a casual night with friends. We only had some spiced nuts to snack on but the potstickers looked quite good.
PLUS — there is a Tetris game and jukebox; we didn’t jump on but for sure will get our game on next time!

Tigertail has been open for a while now and the other night i finally got the chance to check out their dinner menu.
Cute place with a nice bar. Seems like a good date spot if you can get a table by the window. The bartender was really attentive when we sat down and provided us with drink menus right away.
I went with the Hatsumago, which at $ 13, I would have expected more than I got. The decanters here are a bit small. or maybe i was ruined at Rain, where I got what seemed to be a large bottomless decanter for $ 5. I dunno. Nevertheless, it was tasty and subtle and was a good accompaniment to our meal. He went with a beer.
We had the spicy nuts (great, but not hard to screw up), the miso soup (not good– very bland, luke warm, and the broth seemed strange), the curry vegetables over coconut curry sticky rice (pretty tasty), and the rainbow chard potstickers, which were absolutely divine in flavor and consistency. Unfortunately, they were also $ 10.
Everything here for me was just fine. The prices were a bit high for what it was. I won’t say I’ll never be back. I’m just not in a really hurry to return.
Someday I might like another order of those potstickers though. So who knows.

The Lamb Pot stickers here are damn good. The outside was perfectly crispy and the lamb/​veggie mix inside made it truly a superior pot stick experience.
The skewers are pretty good, the flank steak was nice but the green tea chicken was a little boring tasting.
The service was awful. My friend and I walked in at the same time as another group and they were being served their food before he took our order. Then after waiting 20 minutes longer than the other group, he served one of our dishes to them. It was almost comical. Plus we were the only two groups of people in the restaurant. Too bad cause the food probably would have brought me back but dingleberry server ruined it.

I actually had a great experience at Tigertail with two of my girlfriends. We went on a Thursday night and the place was only half full. We seated ourselves by the window in a great pillowed corner. We had service right away and I started with the infamous Pacific Rim Job. It was pretty damn rockin. I then told the guy I was craving a Bloody Mary so he mixed me up an Asian inspired fusion with Sriracha. AMAZING!
The food was decent. We had the veggie potstickers and the tofu skewers. I think a Lark alum should be stepping up to the plate a little more, but I’m sure there is a bit of a growing curve. We’ll let it slide this time.
All in all… great drinks, fast service (our experience), and a chill environment… yet another winning Ballard institution!

I went to Tigertail for the first time last week. A friend of mine told me that the place was always completely empty and it would be perfect to go on a first date. So I did exactly that! The staff was very cool and attentive while we were there. It was pretty empty but by around 11pm on a Thursday all the tables were full. The Asian-​fusion theme has been a little overdone but I thought the specialty drink list was pretty solid. I had to have the asian-​style margarita, the Pacific Rim Job, strictly because I am immature and just wanted to order it. It was good but a little on the sweet side. If you like drinks with lemongrass in it then this is your spot! Virtually every drink on the specialty list has it as an ingredient.
I didn’t have any of the food but it looks promising. It definitely smelled good. I know this because once they started cooking the entire place filled up with meaty-​bacon smells. I mean so strong that I walked outside and smelled it on my clothes.
If the Seattle Weekly still had the category of Best Place to Cheat on Your Significant Other in their best of issue then I would vote for Tigertail. At this point it is flying way under the radar.

Tigertail is our laundry time hang out. They start serving food at 4 whereas the Tin Hat and other bars down the street start serving at 5 or 6. So, our time away from the nearly teenage kids on the weekend to do laundry can now also involve a few drinks and tasty bites that won’t ruin dinner.
The first time we went we tried almost everything on the menu. And we are sooo very glad they left behind the butternut squash potstickers. That was the only thing we didn’t like on that outing. Next time around was after a terrible experience at Il Giardino next door. And I have to say that I love the nuts. Spicy and sweet, no peanuts, and tasty bits of coconut and we do use our fingers. Mmmm.
The pork belly melts in your mouth like it should. The chicken satay with a tea and citrus marinade is an aromatic, delicious bliss.
Service is up and down, when we go we kinda want to be left alone. But that’s just us. I can see how the service here might put some folks off, but we’ve never been ignored or treated rudely. Adequate and happy to share info. That works for me.

A solid three.
Add major points for opening a non-​Irish-​pub, non-​punk-​rock bar on 65^th St., within, as a friend put it, stumbling distance of my house.
Add points for the ginger lemondrop. The first one I had was delicious; the second, less exciting; the third, better. Hmm. Remove points for inconsistency.
Add points for the simple, stylish, adult, non-​pub, non-​punk décor.
Remove points for tiny portion size on the manila clams, but add points for the sauce and currants, which made bread-​dunking a joy.
I’ll come back to this when I’ve had a proper meal. But I’m inclined to agree that there’s something fundamentally wrong with stuffing potstickers with kale and cream. Wouldn’t that just make them fried ravioli without tomato sauce?

I don’t get it? If I were hanging out at a rooftop bar in Tokyo, Seoul, New York or maybe even at a trendy place in downtown Seattle I would understand the portions and prices of food offered at the TigerTail?
Frankly, I don’t understand how they can offer a small plate of Potstickers the size of 50 cent pieces that taste like bread dough and charge $ 12.00? After we spent $ 50 after tip on three beers and three plates of small appetizers, we went to Dick’s Drive In to satisfy our appetite. If the food were stellar, maybe I could justify the price for the small plates (that are really small). After two visits, you can bet that I won’t be eating there unless it is on someone elses dime.
On the plus side, they have a good selection of Beer, nice atmosphere and helpful wait-​staff.
Reality check «TigerTail», even though Ballard is slowly changing, it is still Ballard.

May need to redo this review after eating — but came in last night for a drink with some friends.
The waitress was kind of snotty, and they were out of a beer that was on the menu, after they had already crossed a lot of things off the menu. Also, they had two different drink menus? Some had the same stuff on it? I was way confused.
The lighting was cool, and I liked the mural in the bathroom, however if this is the coolest thing about the place, is it really that great?
They also wouldn’t start a tab because there was 7 of us at the table.
NOT COOL, Tigertail. Not cool.

This spot has a lot going for it. Not only is it a great place to just hang out at the bar and drink a couple of pints, its also a great place to sample amazing food, sake, and beer.
The food: small plates… as is the new fad in the seattle dining scene but they leave you wanting to order more because that first dish was just so good! I had the char-​sui served cold with a soy dipping sauce, spicy mustard, and sesame seeds. I had to order another one! The satay was ok but the coconut rice wrapped in banana leaves that came with it, reminded me of nights in bangkok.
The beer, wine, and coctail selection… well formulated… adventurous, and not too fufu. But careful of the chinese whisky! it bites back!
I

I am with you T.L. This place is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO dissapointing.
Our waitress decided that talking with her friend was WAY more important than even giving us the «be right with you nod»… that is all I need, just a «hello, i am going to be slow, but i acknowledge your existance.»
The waitress finally came over. My wife wanted wine so she asked the waitress if she could recommend one as she didn’t know any of the four they had.
«no, I don’t know anything about the wine»
hmm. ok.
I realize that all the art on the far wall looks like Daniel Johnston originals. There are probably a good 15 – 20 of them. The only art in the whole place… so I ask «are those Daniel Johnsten originals?»
«I don’t know who Daniel Johnston is».
hmm ok.
Lady… you have 4 wines, and 1 artist… even if you aren’t a wine buff or an art buff… that really isn’t too much to ask if you know… anything… please?
Fine so we get our beer and wine and have some time to admire the place. The physical space really wasn’t that bad to be honest, but our opinion had already been tainted by the service. We Hoped the food would make up for it.
We had the potstickers, pork and a side salad each. When the food came out, I thought the portion sizes were not great, but if the food was going to be good… then it could be justified.
The pork wasn’t too bad… the salad was just a salad… but I can honestly say, without exageration, that the potstickers was just about the grossest thing I have ever eaten. I thought I was on Fear Factor or something. They were absolutly overcooked, and if i didn’t know better, I would say that they were stuffed with sewege. I am not joking. Both my wife and I took a bite and both of us gagged and spat it out…
Anyway, the second star is for the décor… but the wait staff and food were horrible.

This place is great. I just got back from the grand opening of this place that is down the street from the tinhat. This place has a big asian feel to it. The food isn’t yet available, but will be served in the next couple of days.
The atomosphere is great. Fun place that is totally ballard but has it’s own feel to it.
Great beers on tap, has the likes of Sapporo, Rogue, Elysian, etc.
Nice bottle selection, including the great Hitachino beers.
The staff is awesome. It is nice to see peopole that are not yet jaded about their job.
Check this place out, it is really fun with good beer. I can’t wait for the food.
Oh and the music selection that was playing is top notch.