Revel – Back in Fremont!
Recommended by: Nobody. Our favorite Seattle restaurant, Revel, moved to South Lake Union temporally while it’s new digs were being built in their original neighborhood, Fremont. We reviewed their temporary location in this post, but now that Revel is in their brand new location, we were giddy to check it out.
Description on the Revel’s website: Originally opened in 2010, Revel is a lively, casual space filled with bright art and music offering a new approach to everyday Korean comfort food. The large butcher block counter in the open kitchen has always been the heart of Revel inviting guests to be part of the family.
Neighborhood/Type: Fremont
Address: 401 N 36th St, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank: Albacore tuna, fennel kimchi, escarole $18, Pacific cod, spicy tsuyu, hot ginger oil $17, Pork dumpling, mapo, pickled leek $14, Green noodle, chanterelle, spicy miso $16
Comments: It’s hard to believe that Revel’s been open for 10 years now. When it first opened a few doors down from it’s new current location, we remembered what a different experience it was to sit at the large counter with it’s open kitchen. It was both exciting to see the kitchen in action, but interesting to see how the dishes were made and put together. It was almost like a symphony.
When they moved to South Lake Union we were saddened knowing logistically that lunch was most likely the only meal we’d be able to eat at Revel. We’d occasionally meet up for lunch and were happy to see that they kept the counter with the open kitchen concept at the temporary SLU location, but there were far less seats. Instead of the long counter, it was more of a square and only two sides could be used for seating.
We visited the new Revel location on a Saturday evening. They don’t take reservations for parties under six, so we provided our cell# and headed next door to Aslan Brewing for a beer. When our seats became available, we were happy to see the long large counter with the open kitchen had returned and we were being seated there.
We are huge fans of Relay Restaurant Group, which is the creation of wife/husband chef team of Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi. The group includes Revel and Joule. Sadly, their third restaurant Trove closed down last year. And as you can see here, they are either a nominee or semifinalist for Best Chef in NW by the James Bead Foundation nearly every damn year.
And if you needed any further evidence of our love for Joule and Revel. One of their dishes was in our top 15 Of 2018 and three of their dishes made it into our top 10 of 2019 with one of their dishes being our #1 dish of the year!
Well, we are happy to report the quality of Revel’s dishes have not skipped a beat.
We tend to always order the same things when we come to Revel, but we changed it up this time. And Revel is always changing up dishes on their menu, so no matter how many times you come, there is bound to be a dish you’ve not tried before.
The pacific cod was a generous portion that sat on a layer of tsuyu, which is typically a mixture of mirin, soy sauce and fish stock(bonito based). The other three dishes we ordered were savory, while the cod dish was on the sweet side, which was a nice change up and good complement. There must be a good batch of Enokitake mushrooms in Seattle. This is the second restaurant we’ve seen this week that prominently features the mushroom in a dish.
Similar to what we said in our Trove(R.I.P.) review, the noticeable thing about Revel’s dumplings is that there is no wasted space between the wrapper and the filling of the dumplings. Normally with dumplings, there is the filling and then a bunch of space between the wrapper when the filling inside shrinks when it’s steamed. Not only are the dumplings on the bigger side, so you really get your moneys worth, but they are so tasty we don’t even use any of their dipping sauces.
The green noodle with chanterelle and spicy miso was actually a suggestion from our server at Aslan Brewing. She had eaten at Revel the week before and raved about the dish. She did not steer us wrong. Just the right amount of spice, ample bits of chantrelle, subtle flavors.
We had to order at least one of our favorite repeat dishes. You can read about the dish on our Best Dishes of 2019. This was our #1 dish of the year in 2019!
There were a couple of dishes that we will definitely order the next time we visit Revel. One was the Brick Chicken and the other was the trout with achiote fish sauce & leek oil.
Now on to the new space. It’s definitely more spacious than the previous Fremont location. There were times in the previous location, where you felt you were right on top of each other due to the tables being rather close together. No such problems here. Where before the bar area was in a totally separate room, the bar area now is right off to the side.
Where before there was a narrow patio in the back, the new patio is out front although not being used now due to the weather. The lighting is a lot brighter than before, which doesn’t bother us. Perhaps it’s the higher ceilings that make it feel less intimate than the prior location. Also, not a big deal to us, but just noting the difference in feel to us.
Overall we’re happier for the bigger space, which means less wait times and for the larger counter section with the open kitchen. I’m also grateful that Aslan Brewing is right next door so if the bar area is packed, we can have a beer as we wait for our table.
Service as always was attentive, dish suggestions provided and taste profiles explained.
We’re so happy that Revel is back in Fremont. The dishes are as good as they’ve ever been. The larger space, means less wait time. Selfishly, the location is way better for us than it was when it was in SLU.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 5.00
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.75
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: We were raving about Revel and how the quality hasn’t changed to some friends. They had just tried a new Korean inspired restaurant in Queen Anne that they claim had some similarities to Revel called, Paju.
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goPoke
Recommended by: We discovered that the owner of Dochi is the brother of the owner of goPoke down a few blocks. We really enjoy the poke there, so it’s time for a revisit and review.
Description on the goPoke’s website: Authentic Hawaiian Poke and Desserts.
Neighborhood/Type: ID (International District)
Address:625 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
What we ate/drank: 12th Man Bowl – Salmon, spicy aioli ahi, spicy aioli salmon, fried garlic, edamame, ocean saled, ginger, krab salad, cucumber. Aloha Bowl – Sweet sirracheeahi, shoyu shaka ahi, mango salmon. Classic Salmon, spicy ahi bowl
Comments: goPoke opened in late 2016 right in the middle of the Seattle poke craze where poke places were popping up like mushrooms. We briefly mentioned the saturation of poke places in our Stop N Shop Poke post. Many poke places have since closed up shop. We also predicted that the only poke places that would survive will be the ones who emphasize quality and customer service and goPoke has both.
Poke in Hawaiian means “to cut/to slice” and is a Hawaiian dish of raw fish cut into cubes and typically marinated in soy sauce, green onion and sesame oil. At goPoke they have pre-designed bowls or you can create your own bowl. Like most poke places they have a Subway/Chipoltle model of picking your ingredients until your bowl is completed with your choices of rice, poke and toppings.
They make a concerted effort to keep line moving fast, but will allow you to sample the poke if you can’t make up your mind. That’s a nice touch.
Depending on how many choices of poke you choose for your bowl – 1, 2 or 3 are priced at $11, $13, $15 respectively. You might be thinking this is a little on the high side for poke. We agree, but the generous portions, various poke choices and quality fish definitely make the few extra bucks justified in our mind.
There’s also something comforting knowing that the owners originated from Hawaii and that they pretty much survived as a family selling poke there. So they must know what they’re doing. I encourage you to read this Seattle Met article that provides some background into the family history of the owners. Their father was a Ahi tuna fisherman and the children sold fish door to door. Their mother created and refined a poke recipe and they sold it at flea markets and small local shops.
A lot of poke places seem like they were opened as an afterthought. Like “Poke seems easy enough. I’ll open a poke place!” goPoke seems like a real sustainable business. It feels like real thought was put into goPoke. The ingredients are quality(that’s obvious), it’s always clean, there’s a Hawaiian theme(shaved ice w/li hing mui powder, Dole whip, keiki menu, Hawaiian Sun, span musubi), their assembly line process is efficient, the space is big, updated and airy for being in the ID(International District).
A true indication of a good business is the mood of the employees. They seem to be hard working, but genuinely happy to be working there and friendly.
We’re pretty certain that you won’t see anymore poke places reviewed here. Unless some new outlier brings something totally fresh to the poke Seattle landscape, goPoke, Stop N Shop Poke and Seattle Fish Guys are our defacto poke places in Seattle.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.65
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future:
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Dochi
Recommended by: After our Donut Factory review posted, a reader tipped us off to another doughnut(actually a mochi doughnut) place that opened in the International District called, Dochi.
Description on the Dochi’s website: Mochi donuts are a pleasant cross between the sweet and chewy Japanese rice dessert and the classic American fried donut. As you bite into the dochi, you will feel a slight crunch on the outside with a soft, and chewy center. They’re glazed with our many exotic flavors and delicious toppings you won’t find anywhere.
Neighborhood/Type: ID (International District)
Address: 600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
What we ate/drank: Cookies & Cream w/ Cookie Butter, Ube Glazed, Matche Oreo, Strawberry Shortcake
Comments: Very similar to when hot spots like Cinnaholic and Snowy Village first came to Seattle, there were massive lines, long waits and a billion Instagram posts when Dochi opened. Dochi opened in August of last year and now that 6 months have passed, we figured that it was safe to go now without the waits. Our hunch paid off. When we went this past Friday afternoon, there were only a few people ahead of us. A far cry from a line out the door and down the block as you can see in the attached video below.
Dochi is not from LA, not from SF, not from NY, nor Hawaii, but a transplant from the hotbed of Japanese food, Orlando FL. Orlando?!?! Yes, you read that right. This combination of Japanese mochi and the American doughnut originated in Orlando.
Dochi is actually located in the food court of Uwajimaya. It’s actually in the location of a former takoyaki stand, so that tells you how small it is. For those of you not from Seattle, Uwajimaya is the defacto Asian market in Seattle that’s been in business for close to 100 years. It’s a small little stand and only open Thurs – Sun. Their hours on Sat and Sun are 12pm – 6pm and Thurs and Friday are 11am-2pm, so you have a limited time frame to come here.
The small booth has three workers – order taker, packer and cashier, so the line moves pretty fast.
On the day we went they had four choices available- Cookies & Cream w/ Cookie Butter, Ube Glazed, Matche Oreo, Strawberry Shortcake. Our understanding is that the flavors are always changing. Each dochi is $3 and $16 per half dozen. We got 2 of each flavor, so they charged us for a half dozen and two additional dochi.
The dochi come in a Tiffany blue colored box, which upon opening you see, “You Deserve This”. Genius marketing implying that this is a special treat. This is not a flimsy box either. It’s pretty sturdy, which also adds to the feeling of the dochi being something special.
The main differences between the dochi and your regular doughnut is the texture and it’s unique shape. Dochi is not like a cake or raised doughnut. It’s crispy on the outside and very chewy like mochi. Although it’s chewier than a cake doughnut, we’ve never had mochi doughnuts and were expecting it to be really chewy and gooey like regular mochi.
We really love the shape of the dochi. It’s like 8 doughnut balls that are connected together. You can either eat it as a regular doughnut or tear it apart and divide the 8 little doughnut balls to share. This design is great for our daughters. We can tell them that they can have three balls which is basically 3/8 of a dochi and they can easily measure it out for themselves.
It’s a little food stand, so the dochi are not made on site. If you have the opportunity, microwave them and it’ll make your eating experience much better. If they open a real brick and mortar location with a kitchen, these would be great fresh out of the oven.
We had about 10 taste testers who ate portions of the 8 doughnuts we got. Here are their cumulative rankings:
- Matcha Oreo
- Cookies & Cream w/ Cookie Butter
- Ube Glazed
- Strawberry Shortcake
As mentioned, we love that you can easily portion out the doughnut due to its shape and the taste of the doughnuts are fine. Is it better than Top Pot, Mighty-O, Tempesta, General Porpoise Doughnuts, Half N Half Doughnut Co or The Donut Factory? Nah. Would we wait in line for 15 or more minutes? Nah. Would we make a special trip to the ID(International District) and deal with traffic or parking for it? Nah. But Dochi will definitely be a regular stop whenever visiting Uwajimaya for groceries and I think it’s uniqueness does make a good pick up for out of town guests.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: N/A – It’s just a stand.
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: 4.50
Bang for the Buck: 4.00
Overall: 4.35
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: We discovered that the owner of Dochi is the brother of the owner of goPoke down a few blocks. We really enjoy the poke there, so it’s time for a revisit and review.
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Seattle Mealpal Review
Recommended by: A co-worker recommended the service and provided me with a promotional deal that came out to $3.52 a meal.
What is Mealpal and How Does It Work?
Mealpal is a subscription meal service that currently exists in downtown Seattle for lunch. You pay a monthly fee and it allows you to reserve a lunch from a restaurant in downtown.
Once you reserve your meal, you go to the restaurant at your allotted time of your choosing and simply pick up your meal by scanning a barcode. You don’t have to wait in line! You can reserve your meal as early as 5:00pm the day before up until 10:30am that day.
You have the option of a 12 or 20 pack and the meals must be picked up within a 30 day billing cycle. If you do not pick up your 12 or 20 meals during this 30 day period, you are out of luck. You lose those meals.
Due to a referral from a current Mealpal user I got a promotional deal that made each meal $3.52. That’s damn good in downtown Seattle! Even the normal price of $6.39 per meal is pretty good considering the numerous options and also considering you don’t have to wait in line to get your meal.
I was skeptical of whether the portions would be smaller than normal and if the actual meals would really match the meal pictures on the app. So here are the results:
Tuk-Tuk Mobile Feast
Pork Fried Rice, Actual price – $10.00. This was my first meal I got through Mealpal. It was at a food truck down the street from my office. The portion was big. It was spicy and flavorful, but not much pork. It was well seasoned though .I would get it again.
Actual meal
- Closeness To Mealpal Pic: 5/5
- Portion Size: 5/5
- Meal Overall: 4/5
Pasta Casalinga
Pasta Al Pomodoro, Actual price- $11. The actual meal looked nothing like the picture on the Mealpal app. Nonetheless the meal was delicious and filling. It was a bit of a walk to Pike Place Market, but worth it.
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 2/5
- Portion Size: 5/5
- Meal Overall: 5/5
Hurry Curry of Tokyo
Braised Chicken Curry Bowl, Actual Cost – $13. This looks like a smaller portion than what’s served in the restaurant based on the Yelp photos. Although the portion size does look similar to the photo on the Mealpal app, but the toppings were non-existent. It was spicy and flavorful.
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 3/5
- Portion Size: 4/5
- Meal Overall: 4/5
Athena’s Food Truck
Lamb/Beef Sandwich w/ fries, Actual Cost – $10. This is one case where I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of lamb and beef when comparing the actual meal to the photo on the Mealpal app. You can also see that the toppings on the fries in the Mealpal app were not present in real life.
Mealpal photo
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 4/5
- Portion Size: 4/5
- Meal Overall: 4/5
Mamnoon Street
Chicken Shawarma, Actual Cost -$10.00. The photo on the app looked nicer, but the actual portion was rather large. The shawarma itself was a bit bland, but filling.
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 4/5
- Portion Size: 4/5
- Meal Overall: 3.5/5
Mamnoon Street
Chicken Shawarma Salad, Frites, pickled pepper, romaine, tomato, and roasted garlic sauce -$10.00 . This was the first place I made a return visit to. More so, because it was close to my work rather than the food being good the first time around. I got the salad version this time around.
Mealpal photo
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 5/5
- Portion Size: 4/5
- Meal Overall: 3.5/5
Citrus Thai
Chicken See-Ew, llat rice noodle, “gai lan” broccoli, egg and see-ew sauce sauteed with chicken. Actual Cost- $8.95. The chicken was plentiful, but the taste was lacking a bit. The photo from the Mealpal app looks vibrant and fresh compared to the droopy actual meal.
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 3.5/5
- Portion Size: 5/5
- Meal Overall: 3.5/5
Poke Alice
Alice’s Special Bowl – Half & Half (brown rice & kale); (2) Cucumber, seaweed, onion, crab salad; (3) Salmon, shrimp, scallop (1 scoop each); (4) Medium spicy with cilantro aioli; (5) Furikake, ginger, green onion masago, seaweed salad. Actual Cost- $11.99. The portion was huge. The quality of ingredients I felt were subpar in comparison to other poke places.
Actual meal
- Closeness To Pic: 3.5/5
- Portion Size: 5/5
- Meal Overall: 3.5/5
Summary of Seattle Mealpal meals:
Pros to using Seattle Mealpal:
- The cost of $3.52 during the promotional deal is definitely the number one benefit of using Mealpal. Even the non-promotional price of $5.99 or $6.39 is a darn good deal for downtown Seattle.
- Your meal is ready when you get there. There’s no waiting.
- There’s a variety of choices, both in the different types of cuisine and in restaurants.
- Discovery. I went to many new food trucks and restaurants I would have never have visited or didn’t even know existed before participating in Mealpal.
- I liked the feature on the app/website that shows what meals co-workers, who also signed up for Mealpal, ordered so I can get ideas.
Cons to using Seattle Mealpal:
- I did this during a month in which the weather was mild. I don’t know if I’d participate during the cold, rainy, dreary months.
- The meals could have been prepared awhile ago. Anything with egg will be overcooked and cold.
- There are no alterarations to the meals. If I didn’t want onions in my fried rice, there’s no way to signal.
- Some meals from the more popular restaurants sell out quickly since there is only a certain allotted number of meals available per restaurants.
- Only lunches are available. No dinners. Also, meals are only available on work days, so weekends and holidays are not available.
Seattle Mealpal Savings
Summary:
I won’t participate in Mealpal every month, but might do it once in awhile. Mealpal does have the ability to put a hold on your account if you want to take a break. Personally, I’m a creature of habit and content going to a small number of restaurants near my work. I also bring a lot of my lunches from home. I’ve also have business trips often and do take longer vacations which would also preclude me from doing Mealpal during these months.
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