Showing posts with label Bamboo Bar and Grill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bamboo Bar and Grill. Show all posts

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 ord
ered 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, b
ut when he found out they used sweet pickles instead of dill in the tartar sauce, he opted for the pasta.)

I was actually disappointed w
ith 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.

Bamboo Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon

Bamboo Bar & Grill on Alki

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

 
For two main reasons, my core group of friends and I have been dining at Bamboo Bar & Grill regularly for the past few years: 1 - Ryan gets his Microsoft Passport discount and 2 - we know the manager and she usually buys us a round of shots (which really means that one of the four or five of us will get the extra shot as I rarely drink). We do owe getting to know the manager to Ryan who is generally very, uh, specific with the wait staff.

Bamboo offers a cheeky ambiance with the Tiki touches you'd expect from a tropical, beach fare restaurant (read: palm tree and island scene painted walls along with several large-screen LCD TVs) and is patroned by everyone from well-to-do beach-goers to Rednecksville sharing their life stories at the bar. They've even started their own version of American Idol every Thursday night at 9:00 PM. That said, the food is always good and, thanks to the company, it's always an enjoyable dining experience.

Over the years, we've sampled just about everything including the Pork Egg Rolls, Macho Nachos (for low-carb, ask for just a few chips and extra meat and cheese), Coconut Prawns (really great sweet dipping sauce), and the Onion Rings (extra crispy, giant-sized, served with tartar sauce). We've also seen most salads, probably a third of the sandwiches, and things like the Chicken Fettuccine and Halibut and Chips.

As for burgers, the half-pound monsters are generous, the long cut fries are crispy and fresh, and their spicy ranch and dill tartar sauces make for solid condiment choices which is why we have at least one burger order every time we dine. Tonight, we had three: two Green Chile Burgers (the roasted green chilies and pepperjack cheese certainly hit the spot) and the "plain" Cheese Burger (for extra mmmm, go for the added bacon). The Shrimp Salad (complete with tomatoes, eggs, avocado, green onions, black olives, and bay shrimp) was Brian's choice.

Overall, the fare is consistent, well-portioned, affordable and, from what I've seen, the drinks are well-poured. Bamboo is a great anytime restaurant where a casual environment and amazing location would more than make up for generally average to good food.
Bamboo Bar & Grill on Urbanspoon