I travel frequently down the border with my mom as a short mother-daughter get away every month. My mom usually has a system she likes to do when she's down there, so as much as having Seattle to be one of my favourite cities in the world, I don't often to get to explore as much as I'd like to in Seattle. It's nice to visit other places in Seattle that is out of the ordinary for me when I am with Michael and friends. Michael was ever so kind to drive myself and the bestie down to Seattle. We spent much of our day gallivanting around the adorable state of Washington.
 |
| Bastille |
This "French" place that I read about was called Bastille Cafe and Bar located at 5307 Ballard Ave NW.
Judging from the older looking buildings, Michael thinks Ballard Ave is located in the older, lower Seattle. The street is made out to be their version of Vancouver's Gastown. The brick buildings, cobble stone streets, all made it looked like there was a lot of hip and fun restaurants and bars around the area too.
 |
| A great cafe and bar! |
Bastille says they have "damn good French food," and the bestie and I would agree. They were even comparable to we have shared in France. For starters they have the Dijon mustard sitting next to the salt and pepper. They serve water in a glass bottle. These little minor details are pretty authentic touches. We have never come across a French restaurant in North America that has paid such detailed attention. Michael said that he can tell the restaurant has gone well under the knife to update the restaurant in a rather older building.
We all thought the restaurant got rather dark during dinner time. As a matter a fact, a little too dark that we joked we needed a flashlight. Michael asked us if dining in the dark was part of French culture. Bestie and I agree that the restaurant is made out to be a very home and cozy ambiance which is in a lot French cafe and restaurants in France. But dining in the dark, we think not so much. Perhaps the darkness is just to push a more romantic vibe. Well a little menage et trois can't hurt anyone.
 |
| Lamb Merguez |
It's fair to say that we had a little difficult time deciding on what to eat. For myself I thought as much as everything sounds delicious, I didn't want to get anything heavy that I could fall in to a deep food coma on our way home. Michael settled for the Lamb Merguez ($18) from their specials menu which was a juicy lamb sausage served with broccoli. Michael said that it was a good portion and had a good consistent portion of vegetables that went along with the sausage. The sausage had a lot of natural flavours and the veggies add a pleasant crunch in there. He really liked how the sausage kept all of the natural lamb taste without overpowering seasoning. Perfect.
 |
| Croque Monsieur |
For myself I got the Croque Monsieur ($11) which is essentially a French grilled cheese sandwich. It is served with Duroc ham and aged comte and mornay sauce. I also got frites served with aoili on the side for dipping to share with the BFF. Croque Monsier is such a french classic, my last meal in France with my BFF was a croque monsier, we got to enjoy this sandwich a cafe right next to the Eiffel tower. How cheesy.
The sandwich was a delight to chow down, but I felt that there was something in there that was missing, I can't quite put it there but it didn't feel very croque-y. I felt the ham tasted like Montreal smoked meat and I would assume they were prepared the same way. The cheese was smothered everywhere and surprisingly I didn't feel so full that I had fallen in to a food coma after my meal. It turned out to be a pretty light sandwich! I was just bothered by tough corners of the sandwich was a little tough to chew.
 |
| Frites |
As for the frites ($6) we liked how simple it was made to be, it was very lightly seasoned with salt. The bestie and I just muched away and dipped them in a combination of Dijon and the aoili.
 |
| Fusilli |
Last but not least, my BFF ordered the Fusilli ($16). It was pasta with a nice simple vegetarian sauce. It was really tasty and filled with flavours. Her favourite was having the pistachios in the dish which added a unique element to the dish. It was served at a good portion, too!
Other than our perfect meal, it was a pity we didn't get a glass a wine to wash down the dinner since we didn't get to spend the night in Seattle. We all really enjoyed our time at Bastille Cafe, the ambiance is fantastic, the food is delicious, and our waiter was amazing. Parfait!
Follow me!
No comments:
Post a Comment