Dahlia Lounge

The Dahlia Lounge is a great restaurant. The crab cakes are definitely a dish to try. Although they are... more

The Dahlia Lounge is a great restaurant. The crab cakes are definitely a dish to try. Although they are small they are worth every bite. The salad ... more

Pricey, but Dahlia is VERY good. James Beard Foundation Award Winner. Doesn't always make it the best... more

I'd give it 4.5. They've got delicious and VERY freshly baked cookies (even at 5:45 pm, when they close at... more

Pricey, but Dahlia is VERY good. James Beard Foundation Award Winner. Doesn't always make it the best (didn't like Chef Mavro's at Oahu that much... more

I'm not going to lie. I was only interested in the donuts. Anyway, it was a Saturday night, and my boyfriend and I were driving through downtown looking for a place to eat. Since I work in downtown, I can honestly say I wasn't thrilled being in the area. We happened to pass Dahlia lounge and I remember someone raving about their donuts- I've only had their cupcakes from the bakery and those are little sparks of happiness. Again it was Sat night and since we didnt have reservations, I wasn't even sure we'd get in. The place was packed but the people at the front actually had an opening. Score! Anyway, with my mind on the donuts, I pretended to be interested in the rest of the menu. The waitress brought us a cute little dish slice of daikon with mushroom on top to wet our appetites...not bad! To start, my boyfriend had the bacalao to start, which he loved and I had the dungeness crab which was good as well. Shared the grilled bread salad, DELICIOUS. Main dish: king salmon for the boyfriend and spiced berkshire pork for me. We sampled each others dishes and everything was on point! And on to the glorious donuts!!!! They are as good as it gets folks! As far as the service goes, the place was packed and our waitress couldnt be as attentive as we'd like, but we didnt mind at all considering they were able to seat us immediately and without reservation. And they did keep our drinks filled. more

I grabbed an early morning treat here just a couple of days ago. I was overwhelmed with my options, and ended up deciding on the apple dumpling. So yummy, with a nice doughy taste and nut butter hidden inside. I will definitely be back soon to check out the chocolate mint cookies and also the pistachio topped pastries. If you have not been here, and are in the neighborhood, stop on in and grab something delicious! Pros: selection, taste Cons: street parking more

I have loved coming to the Dahlia for years and across a few locations! It's hard to pick a favorite... more

I have loved coming to the Dahlia for years and across a few locations! It's hard to pick a favorite because the menu is all about what's in season... more

We went to Dahlia Lounge for my birthday celebration. With an 8:30pm reservation on a Saturday night, we were not seated until 9pm. The mussel in chowder appetizer had great flavors, and the bread at the bottom of the dish was soaked with all the essence of that dish. I had the Pacific black cod, which was pink in the center when it came. I asked another server who passed by about the pink color. He said with a sorry smile on his face that their cod is usually cooked through and should not be pink. He took the dish back but 10-15 min later I received another cod that was even more pink in the center with very crispy outer skin. I inquired our server about the pink color, and she checked it with the kitchen. The reply I got was the fish was pink because it was very fatty, but it was properly cooked. So I ate the fish, along with the lemon grass and mashed celery root that had great flavors. They did not charge us for the cod at the end. I've never had a white fish that was pink in the center when properly cooked, and as far as I know cod is not very fatty on the fatty fish scale. It felt like very high heat was used to cook the fish, so the outer skin was very crispy but the inside was still pink (not done?). My boyfriend had the medium rare sirloin steak, which was very ""moo"" (rare) when it came. The creme caramel dessert was very dense and tasty. All the dishes had excellent flavors and were very tasty. Granted I do not know if fatty cod should remain pink in the center when properly cooked, but this still poked a hole in the overall dining experience. I probably will not visit Dahlia Lounge again, but will probably try Etta's (another Tom Douglas' restaurant) that is more specialized in seafood. If incident similar to ""pink cod"" happens again, I'll probably not visit any of Tom Douglas' restaurant ever again in the future. Pros: great flavors Cons: not seated promtply even with a reservation more

The coconut cream pie that is. Let's start from the bottom. The crust is a wonderful compliment to the coconut, a crispy brown crust with finely chopped nuts mixed in. The pie filling is firm but silky smooth, and packed with ribbons of coconut flakes. And the top? Why mounds of whipped cream of course, with a heavy-handed sprinkling of toasted coconut flakes, and white chocolate flakes. It's the perfect cream pie. I also bought a small piece of brown sugar cheesecake, which wasn't quite as good. I'm still deciding whether it was too salty, or just innovative. I lean toward the latter, because I did like it, but it wouldn't be suitable for everyone. Just know: If you hate the sweet-salty thing (think bacon and maple syrup), get the pie, or try a cookie. I hear they're fab! Pros: Amazing pie, nice atmosphere and staff Cons: A bit pricey, but a worthwhile extravagance more

Everything I've heard about Dahlia Lounge has been true. My experience there was amazing. This is one of my... more

Everything I've heard about Dahlia Lounge has been true. My experience there was amazing. This is one of my new favorite restaurants in Seattle. ... more

Went to Dahlia Lounge on Dec 08, 2006. Ordered the mussels with pancetta chowder as an appetizer and it was wonderful. The mussels were tender, not gummy. The french bread that came with it was perfect. I wish they served this type of bread instead of the pathetic flimsy bread offered that came with rock hard butter. I'm definitely going to their bakery soon to buy that french bread. Then I had the infamous crab cakes. You get two crab cakes with a side of veggies. Unfortunately, one of the crab cakes was slightly burnt on the bottom but otherwise was tender. If you desire to have crab cakes without any fillers and just taste the sweetness of dungeness crabs then this if for you. The accompanying fig molasses was an excellent complement to the sweetness of the crabcakes. Tom's world famous caramel dessert was creamy yet light. It looks like a flan but tastes 100x better. The icewine offered is truly exquisite. Service was impeccable with constant refilling of water glass and prompt removal of dishes. This is one of very few fine dining restaurants that I will definitely come back. Bravo to Chefs Tom Douglas and Erik Tanaka!!! Pros: Service was impeccable, No filler crab cakes Cons: Free tasteless, no texture bread with rock hard butter more

This used to be my favorite restaurant......I also went for my Birthday we had a lovely waitress........ The food was greasy and so disappointing (crab cakes) !!! Although thebread salad always good and the cocunut creame pie yummm. The Lamb was fatty and the only meat was the size of my thumb!!! I expect so much more from what once was my favorite place for special occasions..... more

Everyone knows that this spot is known for it's Coconut Cream Pie, and that is Out of This World--especially since you can buy it in small ""bite-size"" portions to enjoy it anytime. BUT. The chocolate cookies are the best in town, I think, and that's the reason I keep coming back. They're big (plate-sized) but unlike many of the larger size, they're moist and chewy with just the right ratio of chocolate chips to make them worthwhile. My god. Entirely delicious. Do yourself a favor and have one today. Pros: chocolate chip cookies, coconut cream pie, everything else looks amazing Cons: can be extremely crowded at lunchtime more

We dined there on my b-day, it was quite lovely and sweet. Our waitress made it a perfect night! I believe her name is Murleen, she is very friendly and thoughtful throughout the whole time. We had a seafood sampler - which was cute, but both of us had diarrhhea later that night - and we believe it was caused by the raw oyster or sashimi. The main course - salmon and crab cake was good. I believe you must try the crab cake (both coconut milk and scallion Dungeness) if you are going to Tom's restaurant. The dessert - triple banana cream pie and chocolate chocolate chocolate was good too. Pie wasn't too sweet, chocolate was flavorful. It was a nice restaurant for special occasion, for $130 for two people, you got what you pay for. Pros: ambience, setting, waitress Cons: small portion more

We dined at Dahlia last night. Wait staff was friendly, knowledgable, attentive, efficient. I'm not sure what happened to the other reviewers with bad experiences but we didn't run into any problems. After sitting down a server brought us a sample of cucumber drizzled with melon vinaigrette that was a fresh starter, and a nice surprise! We ordered the crab cakes and fries with aioli and curried ketchup as appetizers. True, you get only 3 really small crabcakes to share for $14, but they are pure crab and the beauty of the dish and the tantalizing coconut curry sauce makes up for that. They were browned nicely on the outside and are delicately moist inside. We took our time and enjoyed them immensely. The fries are slightly addictive. I loved the mustard aioli and my husband loved the curried ketchup, although it was a little too perfumy for my taste. The thinly sliced red onion on top added a nice bite, should you choose to eat them. For entrees, I ordered the duck and my husband ordered the strip steak. The duck arrived on a beautiful rectangular slate plate with 2 decent size portions of 5 spice duck set upon kung pao bok choy with cashews. In one corner was a dish of nectarine chutney, and in the other was a dish of hot sauce. 2 triangles of dense scallion pancakes took the 3rd corner. The duck was mouthwatering and for the first time in my life, I really liked bok choy. I would take a piece of duck and dip it lightly in the hot sauce and then take a bite of the chutney to balance it out. The flavor combo was to die for. My husband's steak came on a plate already sliced, which didn't bother him, but I could understand that bothering some people. It was perfectly cooked, topped with a thin row of julienned greens and peanuts. The side was fried rice that came in a separate bowl and perhaps wasn't the best compliment to the steak, but was still good. Pros: Artisitc food, good service, ambience Cons: parking, pricey more

We ate at the Dahlia lounge for lunch. The service was great. The tomato soup and hamburger are to die for! Possibly the best burger in Seattle! The soup and burger are only available at lunch. Pros: Great hamburger more

Food quality is top notch. My husband and I generally recomend this place for out of towners; however, recently I stopped by to fill a coconut cream pie craving I was having and was disappointed with what I had gotten, especially when the woman that was working the counter claimed that people flew out from NY to have it! It was one of those miniature pies, which was wayyyy overpriced for what it was - mostly whiped cream and barely had the taste of coconut. Pros: Food, and atmosphere Cons: disappointed by the coconut cream pie more