The Trouble With Tartar Sauce

Bamboo Bar and Grill - Tropical Bar Fare (3.5 Stars)
http://www.bamboobarandgrill.com

Despite being the primary place in Alki (or even West Seattle) where Ryan, Chris, and I dine, it had been almost two months since we last ate at Bamboo. As always, manager Sarah was there, gave us big hugs, got us caught up on her man news, and instructed us to come for lunch as she apparently hired and impossibly cute bartender to work days. (It's now only a matter of time until we attend brunch.)

Sarah guided us over to the bar and our waitress decided we were youthful enough to deserve being carded. Aaaah, the naivety of kids these days! Ryan ordered his usual 25-ounce Manny's beer and we began perusing the menu. (I stuck with the really hard stuff: tap water on the rocks.)

Ryan finally decided on the Chicken and Sausage Fettuccine. It usually comes with chicken and Italian sausage, peppers, mushrooms, and onions in a rose sauce, but Ryan asked them to replace the rose with their Alfredo sauce. The waitress commented that was a really good suggestion and she wanted to try it. The serving was quite large with plenty of sauce covering green and red bell peppers, garnished with a handful of parsley, and left Ryan commenting, "It was delicious". It's tough to go wrong with pasta and I have to admit: I wanted to order that!

With the recent Keg Halibit and Chips review, I was hankering for some crispy breaded fish and tartar sauce. (Ryan was actually going to order this, but when he found out they used sweet pickles instead of dill in the tartar sauce, he opted for the pasta.)

I was actually disappointed with the thinness of the fillets for Bamboo's Halibut and Chips as the ratio of breading to fillet was nearly equal and the fish seemed slightly overcooked because of it. The breading was actually very light and crispy, did not taste oily, and well-covered the fish. Unfortunately, it leads one to believe it came from a freezer bag and wasn't made from scratch (though I didn't actually ask for confirmation of that). The entree comes with a very sweet tropical "coleslaw" that has pineapple, carrots, and cabbage, along with a sweet dressing. I wasn't prepared for such a sharp contrast to how coleslaw is usually prepared, so it took me a few bites to start enjoying it.

Along with my fish, and instead of the "chips" (which is probably why the plate above looks so empty), I ordered Bamboo's House Side Salad. Side salads are generally safe bets and this proved to be no exception. Their ranch dressing is very good and I like the almost deconstructed serving of lettuces with a thick slice of cucumber and tomato, along with black olives and thinly sliced red onion.

Chris was actually able to join us later in the meal, so we had their regular Cheese Burger ordered and waiting for him when he showed. As mentioned before, their burgers are actually quite tasty (though the thick-cut fries were the first thing to go missing from his plate). Despite how the picture looks, the top of the bun is actually covering the tomato, lettuce, red onion, and pickles that come standard with all of their burgers. Chris polished off the burger in record time amidst group work chatter and talking about the two-week vacations he and Ryan were due to start later that weekend.

Despite an underwhelming fish entree, both Ryan and Chris' menu choices were strong enough to retain Bamboo's 3.5 Star rating.