Seattle Dining Authorities Dish on the Year’s Best Meals

As is tradition, Eater closes out the year by surveying local food writers on various restaurant-related topics. Readers, please feel free to chime in with your own thoughts in the comments section below.

Today’s second question: What was your best meal of 2016?

Providence Cicero, food critic, The Seattle Times

So many come to mind — Copine, Canlis, Bateau — but the meal that sticks with me most, the one that kept me in thrall plate after plate, was the mid-summer 7-course tasting menu at Tarsan i Jane.

Angela Garbes, food writer, formerly The Stranger:

Back in March, I tried to order a Bateau burger to go, but they wouldn't let me. So I sat at the tiny bar by myself and caught up with the bartender, an old friend. The chef de cuisine, who I worked with at another restaurant, gave me a tour of the kitchen and showed me how exactly how they get the patty so crackly and crunchy. It was a reminder that people, ultimately and always, are what make a restaurant.

Surly Gourmand, "world’s greatest food writer":

The omakase at Sushi Kashiba is probably the best restaurant meal I've had in the past THREE years.

Allecia Vermillion, senior food and drink editor, Seattle Met:

I finally had a chance to sit in front of Shiro himself for omakase at Sushi Kashiba. There’s a reason that man is a legend. Also, dinner at San Fermo on Ballard Ave was just right — comforting, welcoming, legitimately lovely food.

Bethany Jean Clement, food writer, The Seattle Times:

Omakase at Wataru...though it would’ve been even better without the VERY loquacious, braggy, mansplainy-about-sushi-and-all-things-Japanese lawyer seated next to us.

Chelsea Lin, food and dining editor, Seattle magazine:

Whenever superlatives are thrown around, I always default to sushi. I spent my birthday dinner at Wataru's omakase counter, where the chutoro and anago were so good I nearly teared up. It doesn't hurt that the overall experience is so intimate and charming. Kotaro Kumita can do no wrong in my eyes. A close second would be a casual lunch I had with the chef/owners at Aahaar, an Indian restaurant absolutely worth trekking to Snoqualmie for, even in the snow.

Leslie Kelly, senior food editor, Allrecipes:

Sitting at the bar at Matt's in the Market one perfect July evening, showing off the knockout view to out of town friends, the seafood was super fresh, but it was a summer ripe tomato gazpacho with burrata that was the freaking showstopper, the chilled soup poured into the bowl by the server, the dish perfectly capturing the season.

Jackie Varriano, editor, Zagat Seattle:

You do realize this is an impossible question, right? I don’t think I can narrow it down to just one, but some of my favorite meals were eaten at the Chef’s Counter at Scout, pink guava ginger beer and fried chicken sandwiches at Rachel’s Ginger Beer/Sunset Fried Chicken, Sunday night feast at Café Munir, deep dish from Windy City Pie and congee topped with lamb at Stock in Ballard.

Nicole Sprinkle, food writer and critic, Seattle Weekly:

The sake-marinated black cod with thyme oil and crab apple cream along with lievito e pepi (spaghetti with cracked pepper and toasted yeast butter) at Vestal.