Outdoor Dining at Steelhead Diner

July 29, 2009

Tucked back behind the main dining areas at the ever-popular Steelhead Diner in the Pike Place Market you’ll discover a small outdoor patio with just about four tables and a couple of overhead braziers to keep away the cool Northwest chill. Peekaboo views of Post Alley (depending on where you’re sitting) tantalize at this secret aerie; if the floor were just a few inches higher, you could even see Puget Sound.

Steelhead Diner Spring Mix Salad

But chef and co-owner Kevin Davis’s food is enough of a view. Here’s the Steelhead Diner House Salad–iceberg lettuce kicked up to the highest notch thanks to the addition of chopped hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, red onion, avocado, crispy bacon, and blue-cheese crumbles with Lorenzo dressing (the best Thousand Island you’ve ever tasted, more like a Remoulade sauce).

Steelhead Diner Grilled Alaskan Salmon

And here’s the nightly salmon dish–Copper River king the night we visited–perched on a pond of herb-rich green sauce enlivened with tender artichokes and preserved lemon. Yum!

Steelhead Diner Whole Idaho Rainbow Trout

Whole Grilled Idaho Trout couldn’t have been prettier, served with roasted chestnuts and swimming in a pool of cracked-sage brown butter.

We paired our fish with Mark Ryan 2006 Chardonnay, whose fruit comes from two renowned Washington-State vineyards: Conner Lee and Stillwater Creek. This not-overly-oaked white is balanced, yet focused, with pleasing citrus and tropical-fruit flavors and medium mouthfeel that enhance seafood entrées instead of overwhelming them.

Steelhead Diner Chocolate Mousse

Dense Chocolate Mousse and strong cups of decaf brought our outdoor repast to a sad, but inevitable end, and made us hungry to head back to Steelhead Diner soon.

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