Seattle Find: Palace Kitchen

For me, Palace Kitchen was a real find considering I was able to end up there while simply passing through Seattle. As a bonus, it served the best squash blossoms I've ever tasted.

Having recently put Mrs. Yi on a plane in Portland, I was in Seattle alone at peak season on Saturday, August 12, 2006, perhaps the busiest day of the year. For making dinner plans, I relied on Fodor's Pacific Northwest. From the review, Palace Kitchen seemed perfect in terms of what I was seeking, just as it turned out to be. Mention of a 45 seat horseshoe bar was particularly enticing. Without reservations, I arrived at 5:30, and was easily able to grab one of those seats.

In terms of taste, texture, flavor, and preparation, Palace Kitchen's squash blossoms had much in common with those featured on this site's June 14 post. Yet the flowers were larger and accompanied by substantial stem, a plus in every respect. My other dish choice from the menu was "Manilla clams roasted in the fire" (burning in an open kitchen just beyond the where the horseshoe curves) "with real Spanish chorizo, lemon and wine." They pleased me more than any other Manilla clam dish I ever tasted.

What a place! You can learn more by going to Palace Kitchen's website at http://tomdouglas.com/palace/index.html