Great Fried Chicken at Hollywood Tavern, Says the Times

Seattle Times critic Providence Cicero made the trek to Woodinville for a meal at roadside grill-inspired The Hollywood Tavern. The Woodinville Whiskey-adjacent bar and resto from the Huxley Wallace Collective features collaborations with the local booze, like the Oil Can, "a high-performance blend of rye, amaro and root-beer bitters." While almost all the snacks and entrees get a nod from the reviewer, including a "terrific" burger, she advises diners to drop everything and eat the fried chicken, in any form its served -- but especially on a biscuit with gravy, cheese sauce, and eggs. While service is "not quite in sync," the "terrific" burger and not-to-be-missed soft-serve ice cream dessert.

Charles Mudede from The Stranger reviewed Ethiopian restaurant Shewaber, formerly Mesob, which moved from its original location way back in the day. While the review is more of a lesson on the changing Seattle landscape and its effects on the way neighborhoods welcome restaurants of astounding quality, his love for Chef Zufan Abebe's food is obvious. The forcedly nomadic restaurant currently rests at 12th and Main, and Mudede recommends you go there and meet the friendly proprietor. He ordered the kefto and zilzil tibs, which "easily feeds two people," and gives some love to the salad dressing, which has a "strong punch."

Meanwhile, Seattle Weekly's Nicole Sprinkle stopped by Filipino pop-up Lahi when it took temporary residence in Queen Anne's Grub on Monday night. Kraken Congee pop-up alum Irbille Donia spends most of his time cooking at Aragona alongside Lahi sous chef Justin Legaspi. But this week, the chefs tackled the task of bringing a little-known cuisine to the quiet neighborhood. Sprinkle highlights several aspects of the five-course meal, especially a take on dinuguan, a traditional Filipino savory stew of pork blood and offals. "The braised pork tongue in a blood sauce was the highlight of the meal, and came with delicious accompanying bites of pickled sweet peppers, currants, and calamansi tapioca," she writes of the course. The one criticism? Everything was too pretty, she says, urging the chefs to make at least one of the one-pot meals "essential" to the cuisine. Perhaps they'll do so on the next Lahi pop-up, coming once monthly to Grub.

In the Seattle Magazine world, Ethan Stowell's Mkt. got serious props from Allison Austin Scheff, who stopped by to check it out for the mag's print edition. She lauds the slow-roasted vegetable salad as "roundly satisfying, with a silken soft-boiled egg adding heft and sourdough croutons bringing crunch." The tiny few-seater requires diners to think ahead and make reservations so they can enjoy beverages from the "well-edited" wine list or one of the few cocktails. Crowds will love the scallops with pork shank, says the reviewer, while food geeks will be turned on by the "tender" lamb tongue.

— Julia Wayne

· Grub [Official]
· The Hollywood Tavern [Official]
· Mkt. [Official]

[Photo: S. Pratt]