Bahama Breeze - Southcenter

Normally I do not patronize corporate style chain restaurants, but due to the necessity of bi-monthly trips to Southcenter, I have frequently dined at Bahama Breeze.  My last visit to this restaurant was on February 14, 2010 so this review will be pertaining to that experience.  http://www.bahamabreeze.com/

My son, Angelo, and I were there [out of necessity] around 4 p.m. on February 14th.  We were surprised at how crowded the establishment was, until we realized that it was Valentine's Day and many families were celebrating the occasion with an early dinner.  Seemed like an odd place and time for such a celebration, but who am I to judge?

I love the decor at this restaurant...very much a Caribbean theme, and the bar is very cool - has the appearance of being outdoors on a covered patio (despite being located in a corner of the large Southcenter parking area).  They usually have live tropical themed music playing out here and it has just a generally festive ambiance.

As always, we were greeted enthusiastically and seated fairly quickly.  Our waiter was attentive and also enthusiastic...might be part of the job training?  My favorite part of the experience was the waiter mistaking us for a couple!  My son quickly put this notion to rest by saying "this is my MOM, dude!".  Nevertheless, he earned a good tip by this alone :-)

Both the food and drink menus are extensive and tantalizing.  Always a difficult task to decide what to order.  I generally tend to order seafood, so on this occasion I decided to give the Seafood Paella a try.  Paella has been a disappointment at other restaurants, so I did not have high hopes.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised when my order arrived.  The paella was beautifully presented, hot and very tasty - full of seafood, chicken and sausage combined with a savory saffron rice. 

My son was less adventurous.  He ordered the oak grilled chicken sandwich and chose french fries as his included side dish (he could have chosen fresh fruit salad or vine-ripened tomato salad or yellow rice with black beans).  Judging by how swiftly he consumed it, I would assume it was quite adequate and he shared that it was excellent.

This was probably my fifth or sixth visit to Bahama Breeze and I can honestly say I have never had a bad meal at this establishment.  It may be a chain restaurant, but they do it VERY well.  In the past I have sampled numerous appetizers and dinner selections.  One appetizer that stands out in my mind are the tostones with chicken - awesome!  The coconut shrimp are also pretty compelling, although the satisfying crunch of the deep fried coating never fails to fill me with guilt. 

So - this will probably be my sole corporate chain style restaurant review, but I do feel this restaurant is unique in that category - very good quality, selection and value to be had here. 

The Root Table - Ballard

Tuesday after work we headed down Market Street in Ballard to try out The Root Table (http://www.roottablerestaurant.com/) for happy hour. Got there about 5:30 and were immediately seated by a very nice young man who doubled as the bartender.


The furnishings were very unique - loved it! All of the tables appeared to have been made from giant split logs and the chairs, lighting, candle holders, menus, etc. all had the same theme. The table we were seated at was a big uncomfortable, only because the log that held up the table was rather large, affording us little foot room. I compensated for that by moving my leg around the log and resting it on my companion's lap :-) I was especially happy that there was a little space heater right next to our table - it was very chilly out so was nice to be warm!

We ordered the bartender's special drink - a hibiscus infused vodka/soda combination. Very tasty and with a good sized splash of vodka. We enjoyed our drinks as we perused the extensive and tantalizing happy hour food menu.

Decided to start with Roasted Duck Spring Rolls ($5), Market Street BBQ Chicken ($6), Roti & Curry ($5), Sweet Basil Mussels ($6), Blanket Shrimp/salad ($6). Several of these came with different dipping sauces. The plates arrived promptly and we practiced dueling forks over the variety of culinary choices.

Roasted Duck Spring rolls were delicious!!! Bits of duck mixed with greens & vegies and wrapped in rice paper made a healthy and [hopefully] low cal snack. We quickly wiped these out!

The BBQ chicken was tender and very flavorful. Consisted of several large pieces - finger licking good!

We could have done without the Roti & Curry - billed as Asian style pita bread served with house curry. The sauce, like all of the sauces, was flavorful, but the pita bread not so great.

My favorite was the blanket shrimp, served on a bed of a yummy salad. These were black tiger prawns stuffed with marinated ground chicken and wrapped in a fried (?) wonton. I could have scarfed down dozens of these - SO good!

The mussels were decent and came with garlic bread to dip in the sauce, but they were a bit larger than I prefer.

Our attentive waiter/bartender came back to clear away plates and we ordered another round of the hibiscus infused vodka cocktails together with another order of the roasted duck spring rolls and an order of Cajun calamari ($5) with dipping sauce.

I wasn't a big fan of the calamari, basically because it was breaded and fried, but I thought it tasted fine!

Our tab for all this succulent nirvana came to around $50 - pretty good deal for all we had to eat!

Altogether a positive experience and I'm definitely looking forward to a return visit to try some of the other tasty sounding appetizers...not to mention the dinners, which we barely glanced at!