Sky City - 2006.05.25 -- *****

Sky City is the name of the restaurant atop Seattle's Space Needle. Typically, tourist attraction and good food don't mix. Yet in another surprising twist, this was actually a very enjoyable experience, not in the least because of the worthiness of its price. It costs a normal tourist 14 dollars to go up the needle, but that fee is waived if one dines at the restaurant, and free access to the observatory one level above is granted. Valet parking also receives a discount if validated from the restaurant.

We nibbled on tasty focaccia bread dipped in hazelnut oil while the sophisticated circular dining room took us on a leisure panoramic tour of seattle. It being lunch, and us already cutting out of our work conference, I felt bad to order a three course meal. So to compromise I had the seafood grill mix of shrimp, scallops, and salmon, accompanied by brocolini and polenta (or may have been a risotto cake, i forget). The food was great, probably not overwhelming enough to warrant a five star, but the great value counting the cost of coming up the observatory, the relaxing eye-feasting experience, and our waiter's great service really rounded out this place. This is one tourist trap I didn't mind falling into (or rather walking determinedly into, in this case).

$30 + $7 tip for one.