Elliott's Oyster House - 2006.05.23 -- *****

I was more than a bit skeptical when I was told we were going to one of the top ten seafood restaurant in the country, naturally, even if it is in watery Seattle. Then, when its central wharf location was revealed, I could only think of a tourist-packed place riding the wave of amateur opinions and mass hype. Yet the flow of my analysis was reversed when I was met with a huge oyster bar, and I mean literally a full bar. A cascade of aquariums were brimming with oysters from all over the north west coast and japan.

We sat in a semi-private room and started with a double order of their Celebration platter: oyster, cocktail shrimps, snow crab claws and dungeoness crab chunks. Other appetizers included crab dip, clam chowder (very excellent), and my order of Spicy Ahi Poke featuring a perfect balance of sweet, savory and a hint of spiciness. The tuna was fresh beyond comparison and I got to try some interesting "sea asparagus" as well as hijiki seaweed. For main course I avoided the messiness of eating a 2 pound dungeoness, smartly, though we all still had to wait in the end for those coworkers that did don the crab bib. Since I read about the recent arrival of wild salmon in the Alaskan Copper River, I opted for the king version prepared rare. Comparing with my coworker's sockeye salmon from the same area, the king was noticibly richer, living up to its name.

Decent sides, fairly good desserts. Truly commendable for its various fruits of the sea. The few shells of oysters I had from the platter had been marvelous, it was too bad I couldn't properly sample a good selection from the bar. When I make so many comparisons of seafoods from elsewhere to Elliots in the weeks after this meal, its a fine indication of its quality.

Glass of wine, ahi, salmon, dessert. ~75 + tx + tip.