"Near-Perfect Consistency" at Pomerol; 2.5 Stars for Shiro's

In their November issue, Kathryn Robinson of Seattle Met reviewed Fremont's Pomerol. She describes the dishes from Vuong Loc as "archetypal French cuisine" with a "reverence for meats." She has this to say about the food:

The results are highly composed plates of unapologetically traditional fare—glistening short ribs over cauliflower puree with shallot confit, slices of lamb leg on an anise-fennel-carrot braise, moist pan-roasted chicken in a lush sherry sauce—executed with a seasoned hand and near-perfect consistency. (And when it isn’t, as in a tragically overcooked starter of chili-rubbed octopus—it’s graciously addressed on the bill.)

The Seattle Times' Providence Cicero revisited Shiro's Sushi, now without famed chef Shiro Kashiba. She awards the Belltown restaurant 2.5 stars and notes that even without its founder the restaurant "turns out to be remarkably unchanged since The Seattle Times reviewed it last in 2007." Cicero describes the "pristine" seafood but says, "Items from the a la carte menu met with mixed success." She also wishes the restaurant would swap out the tired and worn decor.