Boat Street Cafe

Dining dilemma: It's date night. You're tired of trendy Italian restaurants and Pacific Northwest cuisine. Where can you enjoy a romantic evening that feels "grown-up" but not stuffy? 

Seattle.net solution: Boat Street Café 
 
Quick and Easy
Why go: You can't afford a trip to the South of France 
Highlights: Leek soup, roasted pork chops, amaretto bread pudding
Service: Casual, but professional
Forewarning: Reservations strongly advised; difficult to find and parking is a challenge.

Boat Street Café's odd location adds to the mystique of this much loved, but often overlooked, French bistro. Who would expect a charming corner of France to be hidden in the daylight basement of an edgy, urban building?  Even if you locate the building, it's still a challenge to find this petite restaurant. A small sign with an arrow points to a cement ramp, which leads to a small garden courtyard.  Through rustic, wood-trimmed windows you will glimpse an intimate dining room that glows with the light of flickering candles and looks like a movie set for a French film. Welcome to Boat Street Café.

There is nothing nautical about this gem of a restaurant (the name is from the café's earlier location near Lake Union), but it has a well-earned reputation for its charming character and serious French cuisine. Colorful silk lanterns and giant paper parasols suspended from the ceiling add a bit of Alice-in-Wonderland whimsy to the rustic, yet elegant, whitewashed interior. Tables are made of rough slate, while oak floors and white wooden chairs add a touch of French country.  Boat Street's simple menu focuses on provincial-style French cuisine with an unpretentious creative flair.

The food is both beautifully prepared and presented, but although I desperately wanted to love my meal as much as the ambiance, not everything at the Boat Street works.  The limited menu may challenge you to be more daring about what you order, but it's a lovely opportunity to try something different.  To start, order the silky caramelized leek soup, perfumed with sesame oil and topped with crispy shoots of spring garlic. The Boat Street's mousse-like chicken liver pate or a beautifully presented plate of pickled fruit and vegetables are also good choices. A selection of cheeses, served with the café's crusty bread, is always satisfying. Unfortunately, an artfully arranged head of butter lettuce was drenched in a sharp, heavy Dijon dressing.

Entrees are the true stars at Boat Street. A giant juicy pork loin rib chop is perfectly roasted and served with roasted potatoes, plump pickled raisins and a crispy kale gratin (even if you don't think you like kale, you won't be able to resist this).  If you order the flan made with Spanish piquillo peppers and chevre, you won't mind waiting a few extra minutes for this gorgeous custard, which arrives like a savory puffed cloud in a soufflé dish.  Meat eaters will devour the generous portion of skillfully roasted rib-eye steak served with potatoes and an olive tapenada. Two small crab cakes, served with a peppery banana puree, were uninspired and overpriced at $28. Unfortunately, the kitchen was unwilling to serve an appetizer portion of the crab cakes.  This attitude underscores the service at Boat Street, which seems friendly and professional but makes little effort to be personal.
Desserts at Boat Street are divine, especially the Amaretto-kissed bread pudding served with a luscious rum butter cream sauce. There's also a dark chocolate pot de crème and an exquisite Meyer lemon curd tart. Perhaps we had overstayed our reservation, but no one offered coffee or an after dinner drink. Although it wasn't a perfect experience, the Boat Street Café is definitely worth another visit.    

Cost :
Starters:  $9.00–$12.00
Entrees:  $16.00–$30
Desserts: $8

Hours:
Dinner (Tuesday–Sunday)
(Boat Street Kitchen, which operates separately from the café but in the same location, serves lunch and brunch Monday–Sunday)