canlis | seattle, wa

After a lovely, quiet little wedding amongst the trees in Seattle, we were whisked off to Canlis, a little restaurant in Queen Anne in Seattle, WA. Luckily we were all dressed up from the wedding since Canlis is one of those places you need to dress up for. Jeans will get you a frowny face (and probably a polite request to leave). The restaurant seemed to be tucked up into a hillside, as the room we were in had really lovely views of the river and lake below us. The restaurant felt like a cozy home with fireplaces warming the kooks and cranny’s of the building.

I adored the view from the restaurant – so pretty and tranquil. It was nice watching it go from evening to dusk and watch the city lights pop up behind us.

As we settled in for the evening, we started to get a few appetizers coming our way as we drank a little, enjoyed each other’s company, and reflected on the day (such as, “Holy crap, Alyssa  got married”).

One of the first things brought out were these very large shrimp. The were buttery and just a little spicy. Cooked perfectly. I adored these. I think I ate like 4 or 5. All of the appetizers were brought round on pretty trays from our servers. Fancy.

Duck confit on a bit of fig. I’m pretty sure there was a fancier name for this, but I don’t remember what, if any. Sweet, herby, delicious. Just one little bit in your mouth to make it sing and then it’s gone, while you wait for another round of treats to swing by you.

Mushroom tart. So cute! I sadly only had one of these. I could have eaten at least 5. The tart was buttery and crisp, very much like puff pastry (which it probably was, but made in store). I love mushrooms like no body’s business. Excellent.

Terrible, out of focus photo. In any case, this is teriyaki beef. Very sweet, kind of smoky flavor to it. I felt like it stuck to my insides after I ate it, but that’s not a bad thing. Tender, sweet, and delicious spoonful of goodness.

Alyssa told me they weren’t originally planning on having a salad, but that she really enjoyed this a lot. It’s an Arugula Watermelon Tomato Salad – you can sort of see the watermelon in cubes tucked under there at the left and a large heirloom tomato peeking out at the bottom. I’m not a big tomato fan, but I really liked this salad with the heirloom tomato. The watermelon wasn’t even weird once you started eating it. They were diced small and just added a little bit of sweetness to the salad as a whole. Very light and refreshing.

We had three choices for dinner: the Salmon, the Chicken, and the Tenderloin. I went with the Kobe-beef tenderloin. This is by far one of the most tender steaks I’ve ever eaten in my life. Cooked perfectly, every bite was delicious melt-in-your-mouth good. It had some really delicious mushrooms underneath and a sweet sauce reduction underneath it all. I can’t say enough good things about this steak! I loved it.

J & Alyssa decided to forgo a “traditional wedding cake” and instead had Raspberry Cheesecake. A mighty fine selection, if you ask me.

The cheesecake was really creamy. It had a sour cream layer on the very top and the rest of it was smooth and delicious. The fresh fruits on top were a nice compliment and I liked that it was the fruit itself and not a compote. I ate the berries first and then ate the cheesecake since I like my cheesecake plain. I’m a cheesecake purist or something.

The server was stellar. The atmosphere was terrific. It was a lovely way to wrap up a day full of wedding-ness. The only sad part was the part where I had to leave to go to bed to get up at 3:30AM the next day to catch my flight home. Sadness on that note, but happiness for everything else!

Canlis
2576 Aurora Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 283-3313