Travel

Seattle: Marjorie

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Over the weekend, OJ and I were in Seattle. We’ve been trying to get one meal in the city on our last few trips — this time it was Marjorie in Belltown. It’s a funky little place (in a good way) with what you might call a “New American” menu. We lucked out because it was warm (for Seattle in June) on Saturday and since the sun doesn’t go down until 9:30 pm — it was a great night for sitting out on the side patio sipping a mojito. Well, except for me — I was sipping a Bordeaux blend from Whitman Cellars.

I love that they play a random mix of music (on elementary school record players!!) – so we’re talking vinyl here. I think we heard Billie Holiday and an artist singing in Hindi and they definitely had a Donna Summer album in the bathroom. Service is friendly and there’s no rushing you out to turn over tables. We had a 6:30 pm and didn’t leave until 9pm-ish.

Food-wise, Marjorie is doing the local, organic thing and everything was quite good, but let’s start with dessert, shall we? The photos tell the story and it starts and ends like this, “Mmmmmm…..”

Meyer Lemon Cake

Bourbon Bread Pudding w/ Butterscotch Sauce

But getting back to the main courses…you can go for a couple of small plates or a larger plate. I went for the shrimp and grits and the blue cheese souffle. Shrimp and grits was solid — good portion of shrimp — 4, I think. Grits had bits of smoky bacon in them. If I had one complaint about the small plates, it was that the blue cheese souffle was a tad small (even for a small plate). And even so, how about a little more greens to balance the richness of the souffle?

Shrimp and Grits (background)
Fallen Point Reyes Blue Cheese Souffle (foreground)

Here’s the highlight of the mains — the hangar steak. This is “medium” btw. A nice portion of protein alongside roasted asparagus and fingerlings. Doesn’t get much simpler and that’s what made it so good. No crazy sauces, just a bit of au jus. All well prepared.