these are words that could describe lots of things. a living room, perhaps. a neighborhood bar or coffee house. maybe even the giant, reliable station wagon that your grandma drove when you were a kid. these words, however, don't often come together so harmoniously for upscale diners. restaurants can be stiff, pretentious, or even boring...and everyone who has worked in the service industry knows that each and every interaction with a patron can tip the scale in one direction or the other. restaurateurs are always trying to toe the line between simple and sophisticated, between friendly and overzealous. i've just had my first experience where these descriptors came together seamlessly, and i'm happy to recommend stumbling goat bistro to all of you.
first off, the service was impeccable. when my mama and i arrived about 5 minutes early for our 6:45pm reservation we were greeted by a dressed down woman with a cute pair of horn rimmed glasses. she let us know that they had planned to seat us in a middle table (and gestured toward it) but asked if would we like to wait about 3 minutes as the couple cleared out of the window table? DUH. it doesn't take a food critic to know that everyone wants to sit by the window at any restaurant...even denny's! so we thanked her flexibility and kindly waited for the window table, which was wiped down and re-watered and ready for us in the 3 minutes promised. it felt good that she had gone above and beyond to make our dining experience delightful.
this visit took place during dine around seattle, so my mom and i were both definitely going to order from the prix fixe prepared menu. we were checking it out when our super friendly waiter (dressed to my liking in a blue floral button-down) let us know that there were specials for the night that were included on the dine around seattle menu. in my experience, this has never happened before. if anything, a waiter will inform you that they are not making the dish that you read about online and salivated over and are instead making another dish (which i'm sure is just as good, but has none of the build-up!). in this case, our waiter shared with us a whole other option for each course...leading me to change my mind about what i had intended to order. keep in mind, most other restaurants offer 3 choices for each course standard and stumbling goat was already offering 4-5. i was giddy with the choices and high on options. always a good start to a meal.
you know what else is a good start to a meal? COCKTAILS! and my mama and i love to try different one's when we go out to eat together. this time i had a muddled basil and pomegranate number that was nice and strong but not too sweet. my mom had a blood orange and grapefruit vodka cocktail that was super strong and tangy to boot. these were sipping drinks, and lasted both of us through our entire meal.
appetizers came out quickly, delivered to us by someone other than our waiter, who was equally friendly. we both went with soups. my mama (the vegetarian) had the cream of parsnip soup (which went amazing with the left over bread on the table) and i had a corona bean and pork jowl soup that was one of the specials for the day. my soup was rich and hearty but didn't feel to heavy. it came with a little cheesy biscuit on the side which i would have loved to see more of!
we both went with vegetarian options so that we could preform our favorite dining act: the mid-meal plate switch. mom had the vegetarian heirloom bean cassoulet and i had the truffle risotto (another special!). a cassoulet is a rich stew or casserole that is typically some combination of beans and meats. it is a french dish that is generally slow cooked. i get the impression that it's totally peasant food. but, peasant food is commonly nutritious and delicious. my mom's cassoulet came with beans (mostly chickpeas) and veggies galore. it was hearty and gave the impression of slow cooking. my risotto was plate licking fabulous. i don't normally order risottos because there is only one thing to eat on your plate...but it just sounded so good i couldn't pass it up. i was thrilled with the texture, delighted by the subtle truffle flavor, and my mom was super happy when it came time for plate switching!
for our dessert course we were stuffed full, but ready to go for it with our desserts. this is another point i will commend stumbling goat on. sometimes, restaurants give you such ridiculous portions you can't even think about really enjoying your dessert. this was not the case. we were satiated, but not past the point of indulging in something sweet. i had the brown sugar panna cotta with rhubarb compote. you may remember from previous posts that if you put rhubarb on something i will order it. this was no different and i was really happy with my choice. the brown sugar flavors came through, but were a supporting act to the star of the rhubarb. bravo. the cocoa nib brownie with fresh mint ice cream that arrived on my mother's plate was super average in looks, but definitely not in taste!! the cocoa nibs were peppered through the brownie, giving it fun texture and great crunch. the mint ice cream tasted nothing like that bright green mint chocolate chip you get at the grocery store. it was like biting into a sprig of fresh mint, and was very refreshing with the chocolate. all and all, we were happy with our choices and would love to return to stumbling goat again soon!!!
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