After a day spent exploring the Pike Place Market as well as the Seattle Space Needle and the (very cool) Chihuly Glass Museum, we were ready for our first Seattle dinner. My new husband (!) had done a lot of research on where to eat, and when he read me the menu at Radiator Whiskey, I was in. Mike found them on the Eater Heat Map for Seattle (one of my favorite resources for New York City) and the description really got us: “Snout-to-tail cookery and lots and lots of brown liquors…” There was also mention of eating a pig face (something I very much enjoyed in the past at both Cannibal in NYC and Girl and the Goat in Chicago) though we came to find out you had to call ahead to enjoy such crazy deliciousness. Either way, we were sold.
They had their house whiskey and some specialities in a very awesome tap behind the bar.
The space was casual and felt like the exact type of place you would enjoy pig face and brown liquor in Seattle. I don’t know exactly what that means, but if you go, it will all make sense.
The kitchen is pretty open in the center, so you can watch the magic happen.
And just in case you aren’t satisfied by gluttony, there are other attractions right outside the window.
We started with some cocktails. We ordered the Frisch and the King’s Calling. Sadly, the menu isn’t online so I can’t recall their exact combinations, but I can tell you that they were mixed by someone who knew exactly what they were doing and had a fine appreciation for whiskey.
One item that just looked too tempting was the tater tots with a fried egg on top. The flavors here were good, but the wetness of the egg took away from the crispness of the tater tots. Fortunately, the flavors were good enough that this mattered a whole lot less than I would have thought.
Mike got the turkey leg confit which came with some great roasted potatoes. (Stay tuned… confit will be a very reoccurring event throughout the honeymoon). This was very, very good. Rich in flavor and lots of great textures. Even under that sauce, the skin was crispy.
And then I got the fried pork chop which came with chicarrónes. I loved this dish. The pork was so flavorful and the crispy outside was perfect. Looking at it, you would expect it to be dry and lacking in flavor, but it was just the opposite. I was pretty infatuated with this dish in fact (though I think the whiskey could have made me even sweeter on it).
I really, really loved our meal at Radiator Whiskey. I thought it was especially well cooked and well conceptualized. The cocktails were perfectly balanced. I like whiskey but I find it a bit “much” on many occasions, but this made it totally drinkable and enjoyable. And perhaps we’re just totally Manhattan-ized, however, I thought the total bill of $62, including tax, for the 2 drinks, 2 entrees, and 1 side was a steal. Highly recommended.
Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10
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