The one and only sit down list restaurant we ate at on this trip was Etta's Seafood. Esthetically, the restaurant was nothing special just a well put together and nice place with a sizable bar area. We sat down and I ordered a bloody mary which had a pickle in it instead of celery. A little different but a good addition. I tried to order everything off the list but they did not have the mussels which was a little disappointing.
Food wise, I ordered the tuna sashimi and a shrimp roll. My mom ordered the crab cakes and Virginia ordered the burger. The burger apparently took 15 minutes to make so I expected it to be wonderful but in reality it tasted like an ordinary burger. It was actually overcooked so maybe 15 minutes was a bit overzealous. The crab cakes which were on my list were a little odd. The best word I could think of was stringy. Instead of lumps of crab it seemed like they shredded the crab over a cheese grater. The texture of the cake was jarring and outweighed the wonderful fact that the cake had almost no filler. I really don't think that I would order the crab cakes a second time.
So now to my meal. The tuna sashimi, a list item, was really great. The crispy pita type bread was a great holder for the tuna and the wasabi. The soy marinade for the tuna made it a little salty and which was balanced out by the spiciness of the wasabi and the sweetness of the butter on the bread. A truly great appetizer which I was thankful for after the disappointing crab cakes. By far the best part of the meal was the shrimp roll. It appears that it is only on the brunch menu but this was a dish I would eat again. Just like the crab cakes, the shrimp roll was filled almost entirely with sweet shrimp. I truly appreciate a restaurant that knows not to add filler (Breadcrumbs) to its seafood dishes. The bread was toasted and crispy which always goes well with a savory and creamy shrimp filling. A great shrimp roll at a somewhat unremarkable restaurant.
Overall Etta's is not my favorite seafood restaurant in Seattle. In reality, it tries to hard to be upscale without the food chops to back it up. The biggest problem I had with the meal was the burger. How pretentious is it to say that you burger takes 15 minutes to make and then bring out an overcooked and mediocre dish. One that Virginia did not finish and I did not have them wrap up (A rare sight indeed). They didn't even give you ketchup to use on the waffle french fries. At its price point ~$35 per person, I would not go back. In a city with fantastic seafood, you can get it better for much much cheaper.
Rating: 5/10
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