Avalon

I love the Avalon this is where my girl friend and I go to enjoy the fantastic service from our «Bronx» Bartender who takes «Extraordinary» care of us food is always great and the service is always great. We love sitting at the wooden bar it a fun place for us to go and hang out and just relax.

I go to the Avalon Café for 2 dollar tapas Tuesday. I have been there 4 times now, and I always receive great service from Lynn and Shane the bartenders. The food is always fantastic. I have had everything from duck flatbread to tempura fried bacon. The prosciutto wrapped figs are to die for. I really enjoy this restaurant. Did I mention the place is immaculate?

Round 1 — came in for brunch. It was really good.
Round 2 — came in for happy hour. Sat in the bar area and the food was good.
Round 3 — came in for dinner. Meh. I’ve experienced better.
I came in on a weeknight and it was a little on the slow side. I ordered a few appetizers and everything was just ok. The duck flat bread was probably the best but the fish and chips were soggy. No crunch at all! The shoestring fries were good but the fish just didn’t cut it. The menu in the dining area is different than the bar menu. I thought the bar menu was much better.
Our server and busser were nice but very quirky. This review is really based on the food. I really want to give this place rave reviews but I can’t. I just hope the brunch didn’t go downhill because it was good a few months ago.
2.5 stars but I’m rounding up. If you are going to try this place for the first time, try the brunch or happy hour.

So we went back for dinner this time… not that impressed, I hate to say. I really liked the brunch but dinner fell well below expectations. We got a few things to share and none of them were great. My favorite was probably the smoked duck shortbread with figs but even that was nothing special. The shrimp wrapped in proscuitto were 2 shrimp and not that flavorful. The fish and chips had soggy batter but the worst part was the bread they brought out before our dinner — it was wet! Gross! I think I’ll stick with brunch and you should too!

My husband and I had dinner at Avalon last Friday night. We were delighted with the food, atmosphere, wine selection, service and value. It’s challenging to find a restaurant that exceeds expectations in all these dimensions — Avalon hits the mark!
We started with the grilled romaine salad. The extraordinary balsamic vinegar and grilled romaine lettuce made it special and different. We also enjoyed the skirt steak and pork; both were flavorful and cooked to perfection.
Service and atmosphere are very important to us. We found the atmosphere to be authentic and comfortable; not overly done like some restaurants. We also enjoyed chatting with Erin, our server, about wine; we respect her wine knowledge and appreciation for French wine.
We are fortunate to have Avalon in the neighborhood and will definitely go back!

Wish I could write about the food, but we left after sitting at our table for 15 minutes before getting menus.
Upon arrival with our 4 mo old baby, we were offered a spot in the bar or «wherever else.» Sat at a table in the dining room, we were brought water and silverware after about 5 min. 10 min later (after walking by many times) the waiter looked at us like we appeared out of thin air and asked if we’d been helped. Said «no» and the waiter got menus and asked what we wanted to drink.
We decided to leave rather than deal with the place any further. The one positive note was the nice lady who caught us leaving and asked if we needed a baby seat. We explained what happened (or rather, what didn’t happen) and she offered a free appetizer if we decided to stay. By that time we just decided to pass.
I always like to support local biz first and foremost, but the staff here needs to get their stuff together. Might give it a try sometime later. Sounds like brunch is good from the other reviews…

Loved it. Pure adoration.
My partner and I decided to try Avalon out for brunch. Everything was awesomely perfect. We started with beginets, which came with a bunch of dipping things including home-​made marionberry jam. Holy balls. That jam was fantastic. The beignets themselves were incredibly tasty, with lemon zest on the inside. I ordered a smoked chicken salad sandwich and my partner ordered chicken-​fried chicken. The sandwich was exactly perfect. The bread was hearty and toasted crisply. The chicken salad itself was incredible (I recall something about ‘blue cheese mayonnaise’) I was going to order a salad instead of fries, but I was glad I forgot. PERFECT fries. Shoestrings, cooked to a beautiful golden brown and sprinkled with truffle salt. We will be back. Oh yes, we will be back all right. I highly suggest you do the same.

This is absolutely my newest favorite brunch spot right now. I have returned to this establishment twice within the past 4 weeks and I cannot stop raving about how delicious and cost-​effective the food is at Avalon.
The first time that I ate here I ordered the Duck Confit Benedict. This benedict has to be one of the best that I have had in a long time. The duck was flavorful and juicy. The bread was soft and gooey. The eggs were poached perfectly. And the Hollandaise sauce was out of this world. Plenty of places serve hollandaise sauce where it is unbalanced. It is either too creamy and bland so that you cannot taste the lemon or the suace is too tart ant the lemon is just overpowering. The hollandaise sauce at Avalon is perfectly balanced. The side of potatoes that came with the dish was perfectly seasoned. There were also nicely roasted on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside. MMMMM! No need for addtional ketchup, salt, pepper or tabasco sauce. They’re potatoes stand on their own. The portions were just right too. I didn’t take any home and I was completely full! The bottomless cups of strong hot coffee are an automatic plus. I received all of this for just $ 12.00. During this first excursion we sat outside on their front deck since it was a beautiful day. And I have to say that we were never neglected by the staff. Oh and side note, I tasted my friend’s special Marionberry butter and it was on point!
The second time that I dined here was this past Sunday. IT was raining so we sat inside for breakfast and all that I can say is WOW!!. The inside is gorgeous, quaint, and comforting. It felt like home with calming pieces of art and complimentary furniture pieces. The experience was quite different from the sitting outside. The bar décor is awesome too. This time I ordered the fried egg flatbread with pancetta, sundried tomatoes and freshly –chopped basil. We also shared an order of beignets. Although the flatbread was not what I had expected in terms of plating, it was still quite appetizing. It looked like a thin crust pizza with 2 fried eggs on top. But when you you eat it all together, you can taste the freshness and flavor of each ingredient. The egg was creamy, the pancetta was smoky, the tomatoes and sauce were sweet and the basil was spicy. I would have finished the whole thing but then I wouldn’t have been able to taste the beignets. Now the beignets aren’t comparable to how they do it at Café Du Monde in New Orleans, but it was still sweet, doughy, fried and delicious. Again it went well with my bottomless cup of coffee. This was all for $ 13.60.
The only downside was that we ordered the beignets as an appetizer and it came in time for dessert. The waitress was nice enough to communicate with us and apologize, but we saw that a table that ordered after us got their beignets first.
Defintiely returning here again and again when I am in West Seatlle or willing to make that drive over the bridge and fight traffic.

The Best Restaurant You’ve Never Heard Of!
I’ve been driving by this restaurant n West Seattle for two years. I finally went tonight and was stunned (stunned!) at the quality of the food and service.
Here’s what you need to know: this place is the equal or superior of any California Ave. Spring Hill or Ovio Bistro (R.I.P.) or Ballard/​SLU spot.
Simply put, we had crabcakes and smoked duck flatbread, which were outstanding (by Seattle foodie standards). Our four entrees (Scallop Salad, Chicken Provencal, Pork Tenderloin & Salmon Risoto) were all universally delicious, perfectly done and memorable. For dessert we had a perfect a blackberry/​rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream.
The service was personal and prompt and full of good recommendations.
We will be coming back here soon, and bringing more friends

I’ve stopped into this little West Seattle spot a couple times based on the recommendation of a good friend and let me tell you I’m glad I listened! Both times have featured outstanding food, exceptionally friendly interaction with the staff and overall an excellent time.
Last night’s dinner, however, made me actually break out the Unilocal chisel to engrave a review into stone. I was in a bit of a pickle trying to figure out which entrée to order for dinner when the Special was mentioned by the bartender. Yes, that’s right… it was Special with a capital S.
I’m sure most people have played Angry Birds at this point. Let’s just say the porchetta is quite similar to the black bird from that game because it is simply The Bomb. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned, served with new potatoes and squash. The best part is that the juices were slowly being absorbed by the potatoes while I ate and just made things better. If you’re a hasty eater, you’ll miss out on this little bit of tastiness.
Then they insisted I try the blackberry rhubarb tart, and who can say no to that?
After a couple meals at the Avalon, I can safely say I am glad I gave up being a vegetarian to enjoy what they offer here. This place may be one of those spots that routinely gets described as a «hidden gem», but it really needs upgraded simply to Gem.

The short ribs were fantastic alongside a root veggie gratin and sour Kale. The people here are really nice and appreciative of the low number crowd on a Tuesday night.
For dessert I had the chocolate profiteroles with an amazing local ice cream called salted caramel, which was topped with fresh whip cream and a semi sweet chocolate sauce… yum!

We brought Mom here for mother’s day dinner (the night before) and it was pretty good. When I read the story of how the restaurant came to be, I guess my expectations may have gotten a little inflated. The food was good, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t phenomenal. I felt like everything looked right and the description on the menu was spot on but when I actually tasted each item, it was just ok. I had the salmon risotto and found the salmon to be a bit on the overdone side and the risotto, although tasty, left me feeling like something was lacking. I asked the others at my table how their food was and I got the same response, just good but not a lot of flavor. I think that with time and more recipe testing Avalon can be much better. To be fair, I will probably give them one more try.

We went to the Avalon a few weeks ago and had a good time. We had appetizers and some wine. We were there awhile and the wait staff never did come to see if we would like dinner or drinks. The waitress came with our bill before we asked (which was fine) but what was really strange is that around 9:28pm they started shutting the lights off and blowing out the candles (there were about 3 groups in the restaurant) and they literally kicked us out. The strangest part was that I had to use the restroom so I asked my friend to wait for me and when I came out nobody was around. She said they made her feel uncomfortable so she left to wait outside. When I came out someone said ‘Oh! I didn’t realize anybody was still here!’ and let me out the door. 9:33pm by this point.
While the appetizers and drinks were good I’m not sure if I’ll return.

I really, really want this location to work. Not sure if they’re going to make it. The ambiance is a little raw but this is understandable in a newly opened place. Man the food needs a lot of work. We’ve been here twice and probably won’t go back for quite a while. Lentil soup was a bowl of lentils with some raw yams and/​or potatoes in it. Ravioli looked like frozen and was not cooked through. Raw pasta in the teeth… ouch. Salad was warm (how’s the rest of the ready to eat food being stored?). Salad had bagged blue cheese sprinkled on it. Pasta sauce had nuts mixed in. Soggy nuts. Ouch. Last time the ribs were very bland. Aranchini were made out of something other than arborrio. Bland fried rice balls was all.
Servers were great but owner was pretty overbearing. Needs to move to the background. Maybe monitor what food is coming out of the kitchen.
Unfortunately, too many places around with food being so marginal. Luna Park Café has been in the same place for decades. Food is great. I hope they turn it around. Smaller portions if necessary but, definitely better ingredients and better preparation needed urgently.

APPETIZERS
We started with appetizers on Friday, splitting the smoked duck flat bread, crab & cod cakes and the romaine salad. Healthy portions considering the price, and presentation is simple but elegant. The crab/​cod cakes are a unique break from the pure Dungeness fare most often seen around these parts. Great fish-​to-​breadcrumb ratio, and while I don’t usually love cod the blend worked surprisingly well. The romaine was served halved but otherwise intact, lightly dressed. The real hero on the app menu is the smoked duck flatbread. More of a small pizza, this rich, delicious treat is worth the trip alone. Subtle, gooey cheese provides a base for slices of cooked pear and delicate, smoked duck. We loved this so much, we went back the next night and ordered it again!
DINNER
Having addictive personalities, we decided to take a stab at a full dinner. After our second smoked duck starter (yeah, THAT good!), alongside capable Manhattans from the bar, we went the entrée route. She had the butternut squash ravioli. Smallish portion, but if you’ve had some smoked duck flatbread it’s just the right amount of pasta heaven. Squash ravioli is a somewhat me-​too dish; everybody serves it! But this ravioli is captivating. I’m a meat lover, but I’d order this entrée without hesitating. I thoroughly enjoyed my cut-‘em-with-a-fork short ribs, but I’d fall short of saying I’d order them again. Tasty, but unremarkable, especially for the price.
BRUNCH
Cap it all off with Sunday Brunch. I had the Duck-​Ham Eggs Bennie, my chum had the short rib hash and we both had a serviceable Bloody Mary apiece. Nothing remarkable although, as with the dinner entrees, portions were a little on the spare side. Both dishes were served with a puzzling side of spiced pear.
Altogether, this place is a positive for the neighborhood and we’ll look forward to returning and supporting Avalon. It’s the perfect place to pop in on the way home for a snack and a delicious cocktail. If there were a 3.5* I would give it, and would bump to 4* with a bit more zip in the ribs and a notch up on portion size. One tip: if you’re noise-​sensitive, eat in the bar. The main dining room doesn’t have much to absorb noise, and at capacity it gets noisy!

The small plate seem to be where it’s at. We shared the crispy calamari salad and the duck flatbread. Both were really tasty and seemed to be fair value for the price. I’d definitely order them again.
The entrees however were pretty disappointing. The potato crusted fish was done well, though it might fit better in an upscale fish and chips pairing rather than with the bland gremolatta sauce. The scallops weren’t cooked right and were paired with a really greasy roasted cauliflower and fennel side. I seriously wondered if the chef tasted the food before sending it out.
Additionally, the timing of the food was a little fast. We’d gotten our entrees before even halfway finished with the appetizers. Seemed a little weird.
Nevertheless, we’ll give Avalon another shot, but probably stick to the small plates at the bar.

Just had Sunday Brunch and I’m unimpressed. Wait staff was excellent, but hampered by slow kitchen. Fourty-​five (45) minute wait for what should be quick to prepare breakfast food [e.g. omelets] to a 3 top in a half full restaurant. Espresso was bitter Starbucks like. Ordered sourdough toast, got wheat, even though final printed tab said sourdough. No, I didn’t bother to correct them, because I was hungry after the wait. I realize this is a brand new restaurant, so I will try again for dinner another day after they have «worked out the kinks» in their kitchen.

It kinda saddens me to give this place a so-​so review; the people there are so nice, but they have some work to do!
There’s nothing horribly wrong, but at the prices they are charging there’s nothing terribly right. There’s really no point of view here. I know that they’re trying to bring a fine dining restaurant to a neighborhood that doesn’t have one, I just wish that their skill set matched their ambition.
Had some happy hour items there on a slow week day evening. As another reviewer mentioned with the chorizo meatball slider, you get only one lonely slider for $ 5. Not too far away at Hudson, I can get 3 sliders for $ 6. Not fair you’re saying Hudson is casual, Avalon is fine dining, but there’s another problem. The solo slider didn’t really taste like anything. It didn’t taste or look bad, it just was kinda blah. No spicy, garliciness that I associate with chorizo. Just a generic tiny burger that I could get for 99 cents at the Wendy’s drive-​up window. The arancini were fine, about the same as half a dozen other places and the cod and crab cakes fine, too. The fries however were anemic and limp, not crisp and golden brown. I’m not sure what was going on there since the cod cakes and arancini were a nice golden brown, but you A) shouldn’t let those fries out of your kitchen and B) shouldn’t serve them to your guests if the cooks try to let them out of the kitchen.
I hope for these folks, I really do. But I think that they want to regroup and think about what they’re trying to accomplish. Get an attitude and point of view! Just trying to be a ‘fine dining’ establishment won’t do. They’re too many options just up the way on California.

Avalon opened just a few weeks ago. Located on Avalon near Luna Park Café. Positioned as rustic Pac Northwest cuisine.
For dinner, I ordered the lentil soup (but they were out of it), Duck Flatbread, and Short Ribs. The flatbread was a disappointment (too sweet, too much balsamic vinegar, too little duck flavor), but the short ribs, served with turnip gratin and sauteed kale were delicious!
The service: very friendly.
The ambiance: a bit noisy because there was very little in the décor to absorb sound, the seating is not very comfortable.
Overall, I would come back for the ribs dish and to try their other Pac Northwest dishes!

Last weekend I was visiting Seattle. Plane got in at 9am and I was feeling Brunchy! That happened to be the first brunch at new restaurant, Avalon in West Seattle.
Delicious!!!
I had the duck bacon eggs Benedict! O.M.G. My friend had the French toast with lemon ricotta. Another O.M.G.!!
Beverages and Bartender (Mary, I think) also Fantastic — since I didn’t drive & my friend is preggers, I drank for all of us! Great Bellini, fresh OJ for the screwdriver, and the sexiest espresso machine you’re likely to see.
*I will go here every time I’m in Seattle.