Once upon an evening in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, while trying to find a completely different restaurant, our heroine of this story chose to settle for a little place called Szmania's rather than circle the block a second time. If settling were consistently this successful, I would recommend we women do it more often. Since that is not the case, I do think rather than settling on Szmania's a concerted effort should be made to cross the Magnolia Bridge and explore the artistry of ingredients that comes together on the plates here. I know that the area is a bit out of the way for those of us not dwelling in the vicinity, but I assure you this place is worth it. No, really. It was so good that we ended up eating there two weekends in a row, which is not at all how we roll as a couple who pride ourselves in trying new places and new foods.
Pretty much everything on the dinner menu sounded good the first time we were there so it was really hard to narrow it down. Jacob (yes, he has a name in this posting) ordered the Grilled Fallow Deer (seasonal
offering) and I had the Gulf Prawns. Both dishes were food coma inducing. The Sineann Pinot Noir we ordered was so good, we ended up ordering a second 1/2 bottle and taking some home. The dessert we chose was some sort of triple nut tart of awesomeness. This was the best place we had eaten at since moving to Seattle in October. Now, we have eaten at a lot of fantastic restaurants both here and back in Phoenix, so to say that this was comparable to our absolute favorite place in Phoenix (Vogue Bistro in case you are curious-seriously the best place in the Phoenix metro) is a huge deal because that means the food was a step above excellent. Plus the menu has some really interesting and unique offerings, which is what we enjoyed about our previous restaurant crush.
Upon our return the next week, we opted to order off the Happy Hour menu since it was in fact Happy Hour. Go figure. Side note: why is it "happy hour" when it usually lasts for more than 60 minutes and the name implies singular? Anyway, Jacob ordered some sort of crazy gourmet hot dog packed with toppings galore and I had the ground steak and Gorgonzola sliders. We shared the curry dusted oysters, which exceeded our taste expectations. I joked about moving to Magnolia just so we can go to Szmania's regularly but then visions of what my commute would look like quickly squelched that desire.
It is no wonder this place has successfully stayed in business for 22 years, a rare feat in the ever-changing landscape of the restaurant industry. This place is absolutely inspired and I would recommend it to the masses time and time again. Plus, the price point is outstanding considering the ingredients. I managed to get a coworker to go try this place with his wife within a week of our last visit and he agreed that Szmania's is a great dining experience. Don't miss out on taking advantage of their current special: Happy Hour 3 course meal for $20.12 that rotates weekly.
Enjoy and you're welcome!
http://szmanias.com/index.htm
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