Spring Hill is a trendy restaurant located in West Seattle’s Junction. The restaurant is getting a lot of attention from the press, so I made the long trip from the east side to West Seattle to check it out.

Unless you know where to look, Spring Hill is a little difficult to find. There is only a small, minimalist sign to look for that is easy to miss. However, the interior offers a lot more to look at. I know this is a subjective matter, but I think that Spring Hill has one of the best interiors in Seattle. The overall look and feel of the restaurant is simplistic, yet a lot of attention and care was given to every piece of furniture. In fact, I’m quite sure the booth seat that I sat on was custom designed and made for the restaurant. It is quite a trendy place – perfect to bring a date.

I also like the open kitchen. Everything is clean and orderly. And looking at the chefs and cooks work makes for good conversation topics. Next to the kitchen is a bar which looks quite nice but I haven’t tried it.

The service is, no doubt, very nice. You are greeted warmly and led to your seat. They check your coat and ease you in. Everything from ordering to receiving your food is done very professionally and there are no complaints there. We ordered several dishes and three servers brought them out and placed them on the table simultaneously. One of my friends ordered a dish late, and they were able to accommodate it without a hitch. I must note that they didn’t fill my water glass as frequently as I’d like, but nobody does. (It is a pet peeve of mine.)

On to the food. Overall, the presentation of the dishes is nice. As far as I can tell (as an untrained person), a lot of thinking went into the preparation of each dish. However, given the interior and presentation of food, I think the taste could’ve been better.

On one visit, I ordered their duck’s eggs benedict and my companion ordered a quiche. The portion was a lot larger than what I expected. I enjoyed my duck’s eggs benedict but it didn’t blow me away.

For dinner, the portion sizes are a lot smaller. I think my favorite dish was their crispy veal sweetbreads. It literally melts in your mouth. It’s a nicely portioned appetizer for several people.

I had high hopes for the 1/2 beef burger. However, I found the patty to be way too salty. It’s a shame, really. If they went easy on the salt it would have been the perfect burger.

I also found the beef steak hot & cold dish to be disappointing. I’ve taken a liking to raw meat (which is an acquired taste, I suppose). But the cold beef given to me was underwhelming. I kept thinking about the cheap raw meat dishes I can easily find in Korea.

The wood grilled boudin blanc sausage was pretty good. Although… it’s really just a piece of sausage. If I were to return to Spring Hill, I’m not quite sure what I would want to get next. Perhaps I would order the 1/2 burger again and ask if they can go easy on the salt (unless it’s prepped that way).

Given that I only had one dinner at Spring Hill, I am certainly willing to go back again to give them another chance. The service and interior is too good, in my opinion, to outright reject them. Perhaps they had a bad night but I just did not find their food very enticing. I’ll post an update when I get to try them out again.

I have several foodie friends, including a chef and owner of a restaurant, whose passion is in eating and cooking. There was a point in time when I could not understand why they would spend so much time talking about food. But after several years, I have come to share in their interest. I don’t cook much (although I am known to make a decent red wine reduction sauce) but I do like to dine out. So while I sort out what I exactly want to write about in this blog, I’ll review a few restaurants in the Northwest.

Actually, there are quite a few places to write about: Tilth, La Spiga, Ray’s Boathouse, Brasa, ROTI, Flo, and Dhalia Lounge are just a handful that immediately come to mind. But I do not wish to write outdated reviews stitched together from distant memories. Instead, I will write about restaurants as I eat out. This brings us to the first restaurant, Chantanee.

Chantanee is an upscale Thai restaurant in downtown Bellevue. It is located on the first floor of the Key Center (108th and 6th). On weekends or on weekdays after 5pm you can park at the Key Center parking lot and get your ticket validated. However, if you decide to come in for lunch on weekdays I suggest that you park in the Barnes & Noble lot on 110th. The nice folks at Barnes & Noble will give you parking validation for two hours, no questions asked. If you need more time, you can get an additional hour at Starbucks in exchange for a latte.

Back to the restaurant: it is an upscale Thai restaurant with an excellent, modern interior. The staff is very friendly and attentive. I have been to Chantanee twice (all within a week!) and in both visits found the place busy. Not to worry though; there are plenty of seats. I was always greeted and seated immediately upon my arrival. There were times when I felt they’re a little too attentive, however. Being asked whether the food is to my liking gets a little annoying after the second time.

The food definitely matches the interior and service. Every plate is clean and presented well. I don’t remember the last time I was served Thai food and really took my time studying and enjoying the plate before eating. And of course, the taste does not fall short of presentation.

If you enjoy eating meat, I would recommend their wok fried dishes. I tried their crispy garlic chicken which is essentially boneless chicken married with out-of-the-world garlic sauce. The dish only comes in family size ($14), which is basically dinner portion for a hungry adult. I also tried their Tom Kha soup, which is served on a porcelein pot and burner to keep it warm. Sharing a wok fried dish and a soup between two works well.

If you happen to go to Chantanee at lunch time, I would also recommend that you try their combo menu. You get Phad Thai, two crispy wantons, and rice along with your choice of several dishes. It’s a nice sampling of what they have to offer for $10.

On a side note, I did not know about Chantanee until about a week ago. This is because whenever I crave for Thai food around Bellevue, I always go to King & I without second thought. Their food is excellent, but my primary reason for going is because of the Passport Card discounts that I get. You can’t beat buy-one-get-one-free offers. But I do think Chantanee’s pricing is pretty competitive especially given the quality of food and service that you get. I highly recommend that everybody try it out.