August 2, 2009:
Date Night ON The Water - Literally!
She Said:
Brett has found a new summer hobby in the Northwest -- Stand Up Paddleboarding -- and decided, for this week's date night, to take me out on the water this afternoon so I could try it out! The day was perfect -- Seafair Sunday, which means everyone and their mother was out on the water, and day 147 of Seattle's 90+ degree sunny days. Both those ingredients make a great recipe for fun on seattles infamous Lake Union.
There is a handful of places to rent these stand up paddleboards, but we decided to head to the Northwest Outdoor Center, who just recently started renting the SUPs, so not a whole lot of people know about it yet, and we had no problems renting 2 boards on short notice! (NWOC, located on Westlake Ave. near China Harbor restaurant, is known mostly for their kayak rentals. Paddleboards are only $13 an hour!)
We showed up and were fitted immediately with life jackets, given our boards, and were on our way! Unfortunately, we aren't able to bring much along with us, so i was unable to get any photos, but here's a few of Brett on a previous Paddleboarding outing with his friend Jon, to give you an idea of what it is.
Basically, you stand on a surfboard-type contraption, and row using a long oar.
I was intimidated at first, especially since it was a bit choppy on Lake Union due to the high traffic, so i stayed on my knees until i got comfortable (insert crude joke here) ... then, about 10 minutes in, i stood up and was off (it's all about balance!)!
Was so much fun, Brett was a great teacher (and was, for the most part, pretty patient with me and my slow paddling!). We went all the way around Lake Union and into Fremont area... A little over an hour on the water. Our arms got so tired and we were desperate for water, so we headed back in. The whole thing cost us only $30 bucks! What a GREAT way to spend an afternoon! (Note: Be sure to bring bottled water with you if you can. We could have stayed out much longer had we only had some sort of hydration... it's an AMAZING work out!)
After working up a solid appetite, we decided to stick with the 'on the water' theme and headed to Ivars at Northlake, over by Gasworks Park.
They have a fabulous outdoor deck, and the most amazing happy hour (Sundays through Thursdays, 3.30pm to close) which includes $3.50 draughts, and half-price on many of their signature dishes.
[We had a fabulous view of all the boats returning home from Seafair!]
We ordered some great fru-fru drinks ($7.50 each) to celebrate summer, and ordered a couple of dishes off of the happy hour menu. Pita points to start (with hummus, pesto, and olive tapenade, $7), I ordered the Salmon Tostada ($6) and Brett ordered the 'world famous' fish and chips ($7). We sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view, the drinks, and the company.
About 5 minutes in, our pita arrived, and we devoured it. For $7, It. Was. Fabulous!
Our waiter came by to clear the table, and asked if we were ready for our mains. We enthusiastically nodded, and he was off.
About 10 minutes after that, our food arrived. Brett's fish and chips, and my... errrh... salmon Ceaser salad??? Ummm, not what i ordered... not even CLOSE to what i ordered... but the waiter was off before i could say anything.
[whoops]
Brett dug in while i sat tight until our waiter returned so i could alert him of the mistake... 10 minutes later there was still no sign of him, so i actually headed inside to find him. Once i did, he was terribly apologetic, and promised my tostada would be out in minutes. I brushed it off as no big deal (he was busy, it was hot out, maybe he was hung over?)... and headed back to the table to help Brett finish his fries.
My tostada finally arrived, and it was good.
Nothing spectacular, and Brett did want me to mention that his fish and chips were no way 'world famous', and he bets that not one of his friends in Australia have heard of their glory, but they were okay... None of the dishes really blew us away, but hey, there was outdoor seating, it was inexpensive, and it filled the gap after an afternoon of paddling.
HOLD THE PHONE.
Our check arrived, and, after the Big Tostada disaster of 2009, our bill included the Ceasar salad on it (for $10), but not the tostada (only $6). Brett wasn't willing to alert our waiter to this mistake for only $4, but i was amazed that he hadn't made sure that, after his first mistake, that the rest of the meal was flawless... which includes NOT charging us for his mistake. Typically, a fine dining establishment would've comped us for something... or at least corrected the mistake on the bill... no such luck here.
So, i had forgiven the mistake, but after being charged for it, i just can't let that slide without mentioning it on the blog. Hungover or not, that's a major faux-pas.
So, for the most part, it was a GREAT weekend date!!! I highly recommend paddleboarding to every single one of you -- you will absolutely love it! And trust me, if I can do it, you certainly can! But take our advice -- if you head to Ivar's for a post-paddle snack, be sure the waiter writes down your order, so you get exactly what you want, and don't get charged for his mistake.
Brett has found a new summer hobby in the Northwest -- Stand Up Paddleboarding -- and decided, for this week's date night, to take me out on the water this afternoon so I could try it out! The day was perfect -- Seafair Sunday, which means everyone and their mother was out on the water, and day 147 of Seattle's 90+ degree sunny days. Both those ingredients make a great recipe for fun on seattles infamous Lake Union.
There is a handful of places to rent these stand up paddleboards, but we decided to head to the Northwest Outdoor Center, who just recently started renting the SUPs, so not a whole lot of people know about it yet, and we had no problems renting 2 boards on short notice! (NWOC, located on Westlake Ave. near China Harbor restaurant, is known mostly for their kayak rentals. Paddleboards are only $13 an hour!)
We showed up and were fitted immediately with life jackets, given our boards, and were on our way! Unfortunately, we aren't able to bring much along with us, so i was unable to get any photos, but here's a few of Brett on a previous Paddleboarding outing with his friend Jon, to give you an idea of what it is.
Basically, you stand on a surfboard-type contraption, and row using a long oar.
I was intimidated at first, especially since it was a bit choppy on Lake Union due to the high traffic, so i stayed on my knees until i got comfortable (insert crude joke here) ... then, about 10 minutes in, i stood up and was off (it's all about balance!)!
Was so much fun, Brett was a great teacher (and was, for the most part, pretty patient with me and my slow paddling!). We went all the way around Lake Union and into Fremont area... A little over an hour on the water. Our arms got so tired and we were desperate for water, so we headed back in. The whole thing cost us only $30 bucks! What a GREAT way to spend an afternoon! (Note: Be sure to bring bottled water with you if you can. We could have stayed out much longer had we only had some sort of hydration... it's an AMAZING work out!)
After working up a solid appetite, we decided to stick with the 'on the water' theme and headed to Ivars at Northlake, over by Gasworks Park.
They have a fabulous outdoor deck, and the most amazing happy hour (Sundays through Thursdays, 3.30pm to close) which includes $3.50 draughts, and half-price on many of their signature dishes.
[We had a fabulous view of all the boats returning home from Seafair!]
We ordered some great fru-fru drinks ($7.50 each) to celebrate summer, and ordered a couple of dishes off of the happy hour menu. Pita points to start (with hummus, pesto, and olive tapenade, $7), I ordered the Salmon Tostada ($6) and Brett ordered the 'world famous' fish and chips ($7). We sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view, the drinks, and the company.
About 5 minutes in, our pita arrived, and we devoured it. For $7, It. Was. Fabulous!
Our waiter came by to clear the table, and asked if we were ready for our mains. We enthusiastically nodded, and he was off.
About 10 minutes after that, our food arrived. Brett's fish and chips, and my... errrh... salmon Ceaser salad??? Ummm, not what i ordered... not even CLOSE to what i ordered... but the waiter was off before i could say anything.
[whoops]
Brett dug in while i sat tight until our waiter returned so i could alert him of the mistake... 10 minutes later there was still no sign of him, so i actually headed inside to find him. Once i did, he was terribly apologetic, and promised my tostada would be out in minutes. I brushed it off as no big deal (he was busy, it was hot out, maybe he was hung over?)... and headed back to the table to help Brett finish his fries.
My tostada finally arrived, and it was good.
Nothing spectacular, and Brett did want me to mention that his fish and chips were no way 'world famous', and he bets that not one of his friends in Australia have heard of their glory, but they were okay... None of the dishes really blew us away, but hey, there was outdoor seating, it was inexpensive, and it filled the gap after an afternoon of paddling.
HOLD THE PHONE.
Our check arrived, and, after the Big Tostada disaster of 2009, our bill included the Ceasar salad on it (for $10), but not the tostada (only $6). Brett wasn't willing to alert our waiter to this mistake for only $4, but i was amazed that he hadn't made sure that, after his first mistake, that the rest of the meal was flawless... which includes NOT charging us for his mistake. Typically, a fine dining establishment would've comped us for something... or at least corrected the mistake on the bill... no such luck here.
So, i had forgiven the mistake, but after being charged for it, i just can't let that slide without mentioning it on the blog. Hungover or not, that's a major faux-pas.
So, for the most part, it was a GREAT weekend date!!! I highly recommend paddleboarding to every single one of you -- you will absolutely love it! And trust me, if I can do it, you certainly can! But take our advice -- if you head to Ivar's for a post-paddle snack, be sure the waiter writes down your order, so you get exactly what you want, and don't get charged for his mistake.
***UPDATE! I just received the kindest email from the general manager of Ivar's on Lake Union, apologizing for the lack of service we received while in his establishment -- it was the nicest display of customer service -- I've promised him we'll return to try them out again. Just wanted to update you all, because to me, this is huge -- apologizing for the lack of service and thanking us for our feedback so they can continue to improve. This is a sign of a good restaurant, and a good general manager.
Thanks again, Ron!***
RATINGS:
Ivar's Restaurant
401 NE Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 632-0767
Romance:
2.5: would be very romantic at night, and was great with the view of the water.
Cool Ambiance/Interior:
3: cool interior--VERY northwest. They have an actual Whale Penis (called the whalemaker) inside the restaurant. That thing is huge!
All Around Service:
1.5: Huge no-no with the Tostada Disaster of 2009
Cost:
$$ = entrees from $8 - 13
(If it's not happy hour, prices are considerably higher. We highly recommend hitting it up during HH)
Would we recommend it?
2.5: Maybe they were having a rough night… but truly, there are too many other GREAT places in the city, we probably won't be back anytime soon.
Another cool thing about this Ivar's, is you can actually boat/kayak/paddle/row up to the dock outside, park, and head in that way. If we had rented the paddleboards for the entire day, we certainly would've taken advantage of this!
Ivar's Restaurant
401 NE Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 632-0767
Romance:
2.5: would be very romantic at night, and was great with the view of the water.
Cool Ambiance/Interior:
3: cool interior--VERY northwest. They have an actual Whale Penis (called the whalemaker) inside the restaurant. That thing is huge!
All Around Service:
1.5: Huge no-no with the Tostada Disaster of 2009
Cost:
$$ = entrees from $8 - 13
(If it's not happy hour, prices are considerably higher. We highly recommend hitting it up during HH)
Would we recommend it?
2.5: Maybe they were having a rough night… but truly, there are too many other GREAT places in the city, we probably won't be back anytime soon.
Another cool thing about this Ivar's, is you can actually boat/kayak/paddle/row up to the dock outside, park, and head in that way. If we had rented the paddleboards for the entire day, we certainly would've taken advantage of this!
