Sky City at the Needle

but i wouldn't go again. the service was great - friendly, attentive, fast. but the food was nondescript and WAY too expensive. the lobster bisque was good, the salads were good, but the entrees were only fair. great, romantic view but be prepared to drop $50 per person on a simple meal. more

Try the revamped Space Needle Restaurant Sky City. While it is not cheap ($25 minimum order per person,) we enjoyed a delicious meal on a spectacular September evening. The service was great, our pork chop, crab cakes and Cesar salad were excellent and best of all, the view. A definite for out-of-town visitors or if you need a visual reminder of why Seattle is a great place to live. more

When I asked local people about eating at Sky City, they were all adamant about one thing. "Don't!" But being the good traveler that I am, I wanted to check it out for myself. Apparently they haven't had the best rep in the past. But everyone deserves a chance. It was a party of three. We started with the Foraged Mushroom Soup (which we never got), and the Sesame Crusted Ahi, as well as the house mixed greens. Now Ahi, I'm picky on. I grew up on an island where it flowed a plenty. And so that's the Ahi I'm used to. But although this wasn't the best grade of Ahi I've seen, the taste was there. And the presentation was your basic, clean restaurant style. The mix of blue cheese, pears, and the huckleberry vinaigrette was a delightful palate pleaser. Wish I knew what the soup was like. Now for the entrée, I figured since I'm in the Northwest, why not salmon. The Alderwood Smoked Salmon came with quinoa. That interested me, so I ordered it. Honestly, my fish was a little mushy and the whole dish was good, but nothing special. We ordered a smoking dessert, literally. It was an ice-cream sundae presented over a bowl of dry ice for effect. Well, the ice-cream was no grand Tahitian vanilla bean or anything. Plain old vanilla with a boring chocolate syrup. Disappointing. For the price we paid, we didn't really get a meal on par with it. But the view was spectacular. I guess that's supposed to be the clincher anyway. more