Flying Fish and Shakespeare Date Night

Flying Fish and

Shakespeare Theater

He Said:

Flying fish, flying fish, flying fish where do I start with you?

For those that have been living under the proverbial rock for last few years, South Lake Union is going places, and going places FAST! In the four short years that I’ve resided state side, I’ve been amazed to witness it go from industrial, boat repair wasteland to Paul Allen, SLUT serviced, glass bathed fun-land.

With new whiz-bang and funky building popping up every day, Amazon setting up shop in and it becoming a world-renowned hub for bio-tech companies, the flood of business and residential investment has opened up scores of opportunities restaurateurs and daters alike.

One of the more famous, or should I say infamous restaurants to open up in South Lake Union has been the relocation of Belltown icon the Flying Fish. On the corner of Westlake and Thomas, while I wasn’t able to patron the old location, it did come well reviewed so I expected good things from the flash new restaurant. We had driven past it a few times not long after it opened and it seemed to always be jammed to the rafters so when the opportunity came up for a date night there, i jumped on it.

The first thing to strike you about the new Flying Fish is the ultra modern design that you’ll find synonymous with South Lake Union. With a clubby-esk feeling bar and a large open space for seating my first impressions were pleasing. Dismally though, this was the high point for the Flying Fish. The large open seating space I mentioned is unfortunately jammed with 5 too many tables. We really felt like we were on top of the other patrons and this was exaggerated further when Mandy’s right side neighbour had what I think was a hilarious coughing fit. Usually Mandy and I are all for dinning in close proximity with other patrons as it somehow makes it more intimate, but this doesn’t work at the Flying Fish. The bright lights that they employ and the echo of a new building take away the romance.


Decor aside, the next sticking point for the Flying Fish is the service. I’m not sure if the management there has access to interweb and Yelp but it seems to be a common problem for them there. We waited 20 minutes for our order to be taken and half an hour at the end of our meal for our check to arrive. The salt in the wound for Fishes was again the large open room we were in. For 20 of the last 30 minutes we were able to stare head-on at our waiter as they chatted away on the side with their work colleague. Frustrating much? This all could be washed away though with a good meal but alas the Fish let us down yet again. While it wasn't bad, it was definitely not worth the trouble.

After the disappointment of the Flying Fish, our night turned for the better as we headed up to Seattle Center and Seattle Shakespeare Company’s rendition of Chamber Cymbeline.

It was my first encounter viewing one the bards' performances and while I’ve never been a Shakespeare kind of bloke, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. Shakespeare rates highly on the romance scale so you’ll be doing yourself a favour by booking some tickets, lads.

I’ll admit that I’ve put this off for a while now because I didn’t think I’d ever understand the poetic nature of the speech. I was worried I’d look quite the fool talking about the play afterwards and not know what the bloody hell happened.

Well I’m happy to report that after 20 minutes or so you actually start to understand what the actors are talking about and genuinely appreciate the show. The Seattle Shakespeare company puts on a great show as well with fantastic set design coupled with an intimate theatre. A great finish to the evening.

Cheers!

Brett

RATINGS:

Flying Fish // 300 Westlake Ave N Seattle, WA 98109 // (206) 728-8595
Shakespeare Theater // 305 Harrison Street Seattle, WA 98109 (in the Center House) // (206) 733-8222

Romance: Flying Fish: 2 // Shakespeare: 4
Cool Ambiance/Interior: Flying Fish: 3 // Shakespeare: 3
All Around Service: Flying Fish: 1 // Shakespeare: 3
Cost: $$$ = entrees from $14 - 22
Would we recommend it? Flying Fish: For a working lunch, yes. Very cafeteria-like. // Shakespeare: YES. Very fun and artsy.

Seattle Date Night: Date Night on the Water

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.

***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!