Palace Kitchen – Seattle

Part of the local Seattle chef Tom Douglas cluster of restaurants, Palace Kitchen is located in downtown Seattle, offering “rustic”, grilled fare.  After extensive Yelp research, it seems the roasted chicken was a fan favorite, and we saw numerous references to the hamburger. We added mussels as an appetizer as well. Our server was super friendly and took the time to describe how many of the dishes were prepared and cooked.

Puget Sound black mussels steamed in the fire~extra virgin fish sauce, beer, lime, lemongrass aioli, cilantro

The key to any seafood dish was the freshness of the mussels themselves, and we were not disappointed. What was more amazing was the size of the mussels, which were about 2.5 inches in length. Normally mussels of that size become mealy or mushy, but these were perfectly steamed and not overly firm. Normally fish sauce can be a very overpowering flavor, but was balanced well against the other flavors, with the lemongrass aioli giving the dish a nice touch of fattiness.

 Palace Kitchen rotisserie chicken – rhubarb-blood orange compot on a bed of mashed potatoes and greens

Admittedly, I was doubtful when we first decided to order this. I mean, how differentiated can rotisserie chicken be besides the spices and seasonings you rub on the outside. I can pick up one at Costco for $6. But, often, the simplest dishes are the hardest to pull off well.  The waiter said the chicken was the most popular and most ordered dish, and the restaurant received a lot of grief and negative feedback when they took it off the menu (they normally rotate menu items on and off based on season and availability). The chicken is brined with salt and a bit of brown sugar for 24 hours before being roasted over applewood.  This made the chicken moist throughout, including the breast, with subtle hints of the applewood and sweetness in the mouth.  While not the most amazing chicken, I would rank it in the mid to high mid out of all the chicken dishes I have had.

Palace Burger Royal – 1/2 pound handground chuck, dahlia bakery onion bun, fries

The burger came on bun from Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Bakery (of course) and a pile of fresh cut french fries.  While tasty, I expected a little more from what is touted as a “gourmet” burger.  It would definitely rank below the ones we had at Holsteins in Vegas, but I appreciated the fact all the underlying ingredients were of high quality and super fresh. The fries tended to be a bit on the soft side to suit my tastes (on a similar level as In ‘n Out fries sometimes are), but again, appreciated that it was cut fresh (or at least tasted that way).

Verdict:
Palace Kitchen is a good place to stop in to sample the work of local celebrity chef Tom Douglas, who elevates your typical grill fare up a notch. We went for dinner, but the kitchen stays open til 1am and I think the bar goes on even after that, so if you need late night eats, this would be a good place to get it.  PK slots nicely between the fast casual and the a more formal dining experience. We were satisfied with our meal and glad we sampled it. While nothing stood out as being very differentiated or extremely noteworthy from other restaurants we have sample, food was well prepared, satisfying and appropriate for the price point and location.