Seabird

"Absolutely a Michelin level experience from a Michelin star chef ! 10 star service and creative unique spot on dishes."

"Dinner at Seabird on Sept. 30, 2023, was superb, exquisite, and extraordinary! I dined solo and was so entertained by the food and the kind staff that I am proud to say I wasn’t even tempted to become a zombie phone scroller. I started with the cucumbers goma-ae and was delighted by the crunchy texture. Cucumbers are not usually a go-to vegetable for me but Chef Grant Rico somehow transformed them into the cooling sensation of biting into a dreamsicle on a hot summer day. For reasons that I will chalk up as mystical, they were creamy and cool. And don’t get worried by the word “sand” on the menu. Goma Ae is a common Japanese side dish that added umami pizzazz to what I usual eschew as a boring vegetable. Next, I had the steamed cabbage and crab dish. Once again, this dish made me rethink my relationships with a vegetable I feel “meh” about. Steaming the cabbage brought out the tenderness of this hearty vegetable and pairing it with crab felt like seeing someone wearing Manolos with REI hiking pants that zip off at the calf. In other words, this is a dish only the few, daring and talented could pull off and Seabird did it with grace. To me, this dish felt like an intentional mix of couture (the crab) with humble wilderness readiness (the cabbage). For my main, I had the roasted sablefish with delicata squash, roasted kohlrabi, cauliflower, brown butter. The sablefish was flaky without being mooshy and oh-so-tender. For me, there was just the right amount of fat with the fish to bring out its richness without overwhelming it. The bites of the main dish were like a multi-lingual conversation in my mouth including but not limited to Japanese and Quichua and Danish. No component was fluent in another’s language, but they all understood each other and worked together to create joy in my mouth. Dessert was seaweed ice cream. Yes, seaweed! And it was paired with a foam that made me feel I, too, am made of a cloud. In summary, I adored my meal, the service, the cozy and amber ambiance, and I even got to say hello to Brendan McGill. As I stared at the moon on my return ferry to Seattle that night, I felt very elemental and grateful to live in a beautiful region with talented creatives who aren’t afraid to take risks in food and make it taste mighty fine to boot. Thank you!"

"This restaurant is incredible. Excellent service, wonderful food, and inventive dishes! We were visiting from across the country and this was the best meal during our trip. Also, finding such upscale and beautiful food in an unpretentious, calm environment is so hard to find."

"Perhaps the nicest restaurant we’ve ever been to. My husband and I were visiting from NYC. We’ve been to some really good and some really “fancy” restaurants over there. Here at Seabird, the food was incredible. Plating was stunning. The dishes are all local. Flavorful. So creative. Staff was wonderful. So friendly, knowledgeable about every single dish and its components, and knew which oyster types to suggest to my husband who loves Kumamoto oysters. Our water was refilled promptly. Our plates were taken away and replaced with fresh ones timely. Drinks were also good. What I loved about this place, besides the fantastic service, was the vibe. Moody inside, Douglas fir (I think) table tops, gorgeous decor, plates were ceramic and wood, and above all, the fact that you could dress up to come here and be fine, but you can also show up in jeans and a sweatshirt and not feel out of place. Definitely no frills and there’s just something so special about a fine dining experience that doesn’t feel stuffy or pretentious. It was just amazing and it wasn’t trying to be anything else. Pricey, but a wonderful experience. I truly had a genuinely lovely time and plan to come again on our next trip. Another thing. We had not been impressed with the Seattle culinary scene— there are very few, if any, vibey spots like Seabird, and surprisingly, every seafood place we have been to has not been it— the fish has been dry and nothing has been special. Seabird completely changed my mind about this. It is the only restaurant that has the ambience we were yearning for and the fish was most definitely not dry. PS we had the king salmon wrapped in seaweed with nettle sauce, kale rabe, crispy dulse. We had 12 oysters. The seaweed focaccia wirh wakame butter. The butter poached halibut with roasted carrots, leek vinaigrette, and squid ink chips. Also had the chocolate tart and the toffee pudding. My husband ordered a few drinks but I can’t remember which. The seaweed wrapped salmon definitely has a strong seaweed taste which is an acquired taste but it was still delicious. I suggest the halibut for something more “basic,” though it was far from it— so good. 10/10 would recommend. It’s one of the best."

"We finally got a reservation and I see what all the noise is about. The food and service are amazing. We had the clam dish and seaweed bread which combined together perfectly. The flavors in the clam dish are 2-3 Michelin Star level IMO. The halibut main dish was artfully prepared and the mole was out of this world. My only recommendation is to provide a wine bottle list when seated and make the beer pours a full pint."