The Lakehouse Bellevue

I feel like it has been far too long since we had  nice formal date night out, so I put in a special request with hubby for one and he completely delivered!

The Lakehouse in Bellevue is a new Jason Wilson restaurant that I have been hearing some buzz about, just opening this past spring. It is a very posh venue that shares a building with the W Bellevue, and when it finally popped up on a Seattle Eater article naming the top new places to try I knew this is where I absolutely wanted to go. Reading about the restaurant it is a Northwest farm-to-table concept, but made to be sophisticated and modern to match the Bellevue setting it is positioned in.

Finding the place was easy if you know that the restaurant is in the same building as the W. It was very Bellevue pulling up to the valet behind *multiple* Lamborghinis. Just a quick trip up the elevator and you are there, which was good news for me as I cannot navigate a pair of stilettos like I used to in my twenties! (haha)

Walking in, I knew this place was for me. Very modern and fresh, with a little bit of an earthy/farm feel coming back to you from the succulents growing on the walls. The Seattle restaurant scene tends to favor exposed pipes and cement a little too much for my taste, so the sophisticated and finished feel was welcome!

If I were to come straight out and rave about anything though, it would be our waiter. We read the menu through and thought a few things sounded good, but then asked him questions and his explanations made them absolutely come to life! He took quite a bit of time with us and made excellent suggestions… he obviously new the chef’s style of cooking and the menu in and out.

In regards to the food, I am not sure there is an item on the menu that we DIDN’T get! I attribute this somewhat to the waiter’s incredible descriptions of everything on the menu, and also to the fact that we were a full table of hungry foodies!

The small dishes that stood out to me especially were the roasted cauliflower and the grilled octopus – both were extremely tender, flavorful and well executed. In regards to entrees, I think the winner was the “Slow Cooked Mishima Ranch Zabuton”… a dish that needed full explanation to us because we were unfamiliar with all those ingredients, but the just of it is that it is a very slowly cooked fatty waygu steak. This paired with their mashed potatoes (like, creamiest, yummiest, mashers ever) was heaven. We shared dishes amongst the 7 of us, so we all got to try a little of everything!

These aren’t even all of the dishes the group tried! Truly, bless all my friends for allowing me to pester them for pictures of their food before digging in

My only critiques would be that a few had ingredients come out cold that should have been hot (quinoa with the scallops is one that comes to mind), and the hard boiled eggs seemed quite over cooked.

These are small critiques though, as our experience in-all was wonderful… especially for a restaurant in their first year of opening! Jason Wilson is a wonderful chef and this restaurant is a very welcome addition to the foodie scene here in the Northwest.

Thank you to my wonderful friends and sweet hubby for a great birthday celebration!

X.O. – Abbey Co.

The Lakehouse Bellevue – 10455 NE 5th PL, Bellevue, WA 98004 – (425) 454-7076

All pictures are my own, taken with an iPhone 6 Plus

Dress is from Nordstrom Rack, and my bag is Kate Spade