Manhattan
Name: LOT No.3
Location: Bellevue,WA
Meal: Manhattans, Bacon, Onion Dip, Salami Sandwich
Type: Gastropub
Every once and a while you stumble across a place that just clicks with you: it serves the right food, it makes drinks the right way, or looks the way a good place should. LOT No.3 in Bellevue met all three of those conditions. I found myself in Bellevue, home to a wide range of restaurants, looking at websites, trying to figure out where to go for dinner (and possibly grab the end of happy hour). My search came to an end the moment I saw bacon as a menu item at LOT No.3.
Apparently the place is pretty new (14-15 weeks) and designed with a quite appropriate focus on spirits. Any place the includes a section of specialized Manhattans clearly knows that they’re doing. I started with a traditional Manhattan, not too sweet, not too dry, just right. Tyler, the bartender, makes most his own garnishes including a scratch made mix of cherries. At his recommendation I followed that up with two of the appetizers specials, sweet onion dip with chips and bacon. BACON. They serve a plate of bacon, regular and candied. The chips and dip were also good, smooth and creamy but not too thick and heavy. The bar menu was exactly what a good bar menu should be: interesting, salty, and a just filling enough to make you want to order dinner.
Happy hour finished off with a different Manhattan, this one made with root beer bitters. Different yet great.
LOT No.3 is nice enough to include one of Seattle’s great ingredients on their menu, Salumi Salami. A Salumi sandwich on crusty bread with a local beer ended the meal. This was a meal that I was immediately impressed with and looking back it still holds up. I cannot speak highly enough of my experience at LOT No.3; it was great. This is a restaurant worth going pretty far out of your way for. Great food, only surpassed by great service.
Bacon, slab and candied.
More pictures after the jump. (more…)
