Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Revel

First was Coupole, then there was Joule, and now we can Revel in the latest restaurant from that golden couple of Seattle fusion cuisine: Seif Chirchi and Rachel Yang.

At first I walked in thinking it looked a little cold with its modern design, fairly bright lights and a bit of a draft, but the food brought all the comfort the decor lacked. 

You gotta love a place that has a sauce tray that they bring to the table. (Mr. Pants inserts comment here that I'm such a saucy girl). I do love the sauce. 

We ordered the the shrimp, mint and edamame pancake - so many textures, soft and crispy pancake, crunchy, salty pickled carrots, cool mint, sweet shrimp, nutty edamame, it all worked. 

It was cold that night so we felt we had to dumpling-up. We got two kinds of dumplings— a flavor-packed chorizo and Delicata squash dumplings with pecans and Earl Grey ricotta — something I couldn't resist trying.  The Earl Grey ricotta was extremely subtle, but still innovative. Neat stuff. 

I got the short rib rice bowl (all rice bowls come with a silky egg yolk)  sambal daikon, and mustard greens.  Fantastic.  Their rice bowls are everything I could ever want in a bowl.  This is what I want someone to make for me every rainy weeknight. 

Mr. Pants got noodles with Five Spice duck meatballs, lacinato kale, and smoked chili.  We swapped halfway (we always do) and I loved his as much as mine. 
This meal was intriguing and excellent, and it make me want to return to Joule, to compare restaurants. 
Yang and Chirchi are gifted indeed.  Revel, as the name suggests, is a revelatory pleasure. 

Highlights: FOOD. ALL OF IT.  I'M NOT KIDDING. 

Disappointments:  Slightly dimmer lighting would help make the space feel warmer.  Maybe they have done this already since our first visit. 

Mr. Pants: Reveling in the experience. Har Har. No, seriously.


Revel on Urbanspoon