Twisted Cork

Decent food selection but expensive, even during happy hour. Very friendly and professional staff. Have been to breakfast several times but it’s pricey for what they give you, but it’s high quality. Their managers are attentive and very nice– I’ve thrown a mixer event there around the happy hour time frame and they were more than happy to oblige us.

Place is nice. Crowd seems to be a bit, non-​Bellevue imo. If you park here make sure you know (and remember) which garage you parked in. It’s huge!

Not a bad place, I have been here many times: during an afternoon happy hour, late Saturday night, and a meet-​up.
Happy hour was great! Good prices and decent food. I had dessert: some form of apricot-​goat cheese bread pudding. It was DELICIOUS!
One evening I came to snag some late dinner: too bad my friend’s dinner (the burger) arrived 15 minutes before mine (watermelon-​arugula salad). I wonder how a burger arrived AND cooked faster than my salad…
Drinks were all tasty. There was one burbon drink… can’t reminder the name, but it was $ 5 and nicely poured.

**This is a review of Twisted Cork Corporate event catering**
We had one of our company events here, which consisted of company executives and very dear long time clients. The catering staff was very pleasant and extremely attentive. The bartender was a bit off his game, but the others made up for his shortcomings. Our menu had a starter salad, 3 entrée choices and desert (wine, drinks and coffee included).
The entrees were very well presented and cooked correctly. I have had many catered dinners before and they almost always overcook the steaks. Twisted Cork actually got their filets just right, accompanied by a deliciously creamy potatoes au gratin. The chocolate cake was also surprisingly tasty.
We had a great time mingling, and never felt rushed.

We went here for some late-​night small plates and drinks Saturday night. We went in not really expecting much, other than we had heard that the food was good. We started with a blood orange margarita which was very fresh tasting with lots of muddled blood orange – very nice. Slight bitter flavor from the pith but overall very nice. They also have a great happy hour and also a selection of $ 5 drinks which were a great deal. I had the sangria and it’s very good – on the sweet side with Peach Schnapps but very good and he had a bourbon and ginger ale Manhattan-​esque drink that was pretty good. Also a grapefruit margarita that had cayenne pepper and sugar rim. Spicy and interesting.
Now for the food! We weren’t really hungry but tried the duck confit sliders and they were fabulous! The small plates were half price and I can’t believe the quality for the price. The chef is very talented and thoughtful. Since the confit sliders were so good we were tempted by our server Whitney’s suggestion of the chili relleno which was fabulous as well. It was a stuffed Aneheim pepper lightly battered and pan fried (I believe) and garnished with amazing, flavorful, well-​balanced sauces. I can’t wait to go back here to try other menu items! We also tried some desserts – the lavendar crème brûlée was nice as well as a chocolate espresso dish. Excellent quality and presentation as well as service. Definitely worth a try. The people watching is entertaining enough but there was also great live music.

Great for breakfast.
$ 15 buffet breakfast. they’ve got eggs, sausages, potatoes, bacon, pan cakes, muffins, toast, meat, fish, fruits, all kinds of cereal… and more.
I think for a breakfast it a great place

The small plates on the dinner menu were the only items that interested me. I ordered the beef carpaccio and the foie gras terrine. The beef carpaccio wasn’t the best I’ve had, but it was good just not great. I didn’t like the capers nor the sear on the edges of the beef. I felt the carpaccio was slightly overly seasoned. The foie gras terrine however was VERY delicious, the next time I am back in Seattle I will be paying them a visit just for the terrine.
Because I was such a fan of the foie gras, I returned and tried their breakfast/​brunch items during my stay. We ordered three items: yogurt/​parfait-​very light and refreshing, slow roasted short ribs-​meat was tender and flavorful, and a mexican influenced benedict-​really enjoyed the mexican twist on this classic dish. (Sorry I don’t remember any of the dishes names)
Overall, I really enjoyed the food and the service was excellent! I’m surprised to see low ratings for this place, I am just going to assume most of those poor ratings were posted prior to their re-​opening.

Yeah! Twisted Cork was closed for months because it was bought by the parent hotel and under renovation. Well, now it’s open again, and it has a much better layout! Plus, the floors are wood now instead of carpet, which makes dancing on the much larger dance area with elevated stage for musicians a great dancing experience.
Every band I’ve seen at Twisted Cork has been great. Heavy on the funk, which I happen to love.

Got a message from the owner apologizing for what has happened. He also informed me that the server has been let go, so I’m assuming that they know who I’m talking about and probably has had recurring incidents with other customers (Though, I feel really awful that it needs to come to that). He also offered to give me a gift card which is a nice gesture from the restaurant to make up for the bad experience.
I really appreciated the message so I’m willing to try the place again sometime soon. Hopefully it will be a much better experience.
Will keep you Unilocalers updated!

More like 2.5 stars.
My friends and I went here during the «Dine Around Seattle» promo for lunch. A three course lunch for $ 15. Score! I mean, who has 3 courses for lunch anyway, but the price point is perfect for a splurgy lunch without breaking the bank.
Reservations were made to collect OpenTable points, but were not needed upon arrival. It was a bit confusing to find the place because it’s tucked in the back, limited signage (only found right NEXT to the place), and the directory available in the building was so not helpful.
We were seated at a large booth on a slightly raised platform. The venue is nice, kind of classy business bar feel. The booth table was quite large so throughout our stay, the servers would be sprawled across the table to reach the person sitting in the center/​furthest back.
The appetizers were either caesar salad, fried calamari, or lobster bisque. We ordered 2 calamaris and 1 bisque. The bisque was apparently pretty thick and filling. (I had a lackluster bisque experience years ago so I never order it.) We were offered bread with olive oil/​balsamic vinegar halfway through our appetizer. The calamari was a good portion and rested on some plum sauce. I really appreciated having plum sauce rather than the typical aoili, so I very much enjoyed it.
The entrees were either lamb sliders, steak salad, fish&chips, or chili corn ravioli. We ordered 2 salads and 1 ravioli.
The steak on the salad was cooked to order but the greens were just chopped romaine, no mesclun mix or herbs. They did a good job chopping the romaine, the pieces were all bite-​sized and equal, but it was just ‘ok’ admitted my friends who ordered it.
I, on the other hand, ordered the ravioli against my better judgment. (Would have ordered fish&chips but that would have been too much fried food, and I was skeptical of the sliders, thinking they would be mostly bun.) There were SIX pieces of ravioli. The sauce was nice, it was creamy, a little spicy, colorful, the corn gave a nice pop when you bit into the kernels. but SIX pieces. Even if that’s the appropriate portion size, couldn’t there have been a side salad with it? Or some steamed veggies on the side? Something. The plate was extremely light.
Dessert was a cupcake pair or white chocolate cheesecake (this is different than on the Dine Around website). We all ordered the cheesecake and it was the best thing we ate.
I also decided to order some lemonade, about midway through the entrée portion, a server came by to clear the small plates and asked me if I was drinking lemonade and I said yes. He brought out a refill.
Which I was charged for.
Very annoying. That’s my fault for not reading through their fine print, though, but still. very annoying! Say the refill isn’t free or something. One probably had to read their regular menu to learn about the refill option, when we were clearly only viewing the «Dine Around» special menu. Ugh. And the lemonade wasn’t even very good. It tasted thin and too tart. I paid $ 7 ($ 3.50ea glass) for it? Great.
Oh well. My friends also thought the place was very «meh.» We paid our bill and went to wander in Bellevue Square for the rest of the afternoon. Should have gone to Monsoon East for the lunch special if we trekked all the way to Bellevue.

Is this a joke?! How the heck has this place stayed in business the last 3 years?! At 0/​8, you’re basically paying to NOT eat.
I can honestly say this is the worst restaurant I’ve eaten at in recent memory. My siblings and I thought it would be a great place to take my mother to for her birthday and boy, were we sorely mistaken. We left the place with a $ 210 hole in our pockets and hungry stomachs.
First course: «Hey, these crab cakes are pretty crabby!»
Second course: «Is this a joke?!» Pepper crusted ahi translated into 2 nubs of fish, miso seared lamb loin was 3 measly thin slices of meat, and the king salmon was bland and took about 3 bites to finish.
Third course: «This pear sucks.» Poached pear could’ve benefitted from a touch of sugar, cupcakes tasted like they were recently defrosted, and the pumpkin ice cream sandwich was the only bright spot of the entire meal.
The lobster bisque was so salty it burned your throat on the way down and everything we were served was lukewarm at best. Kinda like it sat out for a while before it made its way to our table.
All in all, don’t waste your time or your money. Mediocre food at ridiculous prices. Arggg… I’m still bitter about this so called ‘meal’. I could’ve spent $ 7 and eaten a salad that would’ve been more filling than the scraps of food we were served.

This was the best place I have eaten in the Puget Sound area. Staff was outstanding, attentive… WITH a personality, humor, knowledge, etc. So fabulous.
I am so sorry I do not recall the waiter we had that night… he was lovely though. Helped up find wine within our price range with NO embarrassment, helped with menu choices… and was an all around fun addition the the evening. Thank you so much for having this kind of staff.
This was indeed my best meal out in the area.

Looking at some of the other reviews and they just don’t make sense to me. I have been here about 3 or 4 times and always with a sizable group of friends (4 — 10) and have had nothing but excellent service and a good time. They usually have some great live music during the weekend (it can get loud so a front row seat may not be the best for some).
As for the food, it is very good. I’ve mainly stuck with their appetizers which have consisted of oysters, scallops, calamari and the crab bisque. Let me tell you, the calamari is some of the best I have ever had, definitely a great starter.
I like the atmosphere of this place, not too many 21 year-​olds roaming around, more of a business casual sort of environment that is a great place to unwind after a long day or start a weekend night. Overall, I would recommend this place to anyone who wanted my opinion — which is apparently anyone reading this site. That is all.

Alright, I gave it a shot. .. TWICE to be exact. The first time I walked in, it was COMPLETELY empty on a weekend for brunch. That should’ve been my first clue to turn around, NOW! But I was there with some friends, so we thought we give it a try. It’s located in fancy Downtown Bellevue in the Hyatt, so it seemed like it should be good! The brunch fare was nothing to rave about. Honestly, can’t even remember it. It got the job done, but that was really it.
I discovered it was on the Passport Lifestyle card, so since it was a deal, thought I’d give it another shot. Maybe I went on an off day before, right? Again, COMPLETELY empty when I went on the weekend for lunch this time. I ordered the Dungeness Crab and Bay Shrimp on Focaccia. EWWWW, the sandwich was soo fishy tasting and the amount of mayo they smothered it with was disgusting! NEVER AGAIN!

Omg! we went here for my best foodie friend sothy’s birthday, and it was magnificent!!! The executive chef came out, and made rounds around the restaurant to ask everyone how they were doing, and how their food was!!! Freaking five stars!!! So personal and it made everyone in the restaurant feel special! Loved it!
My friends and I ordered family style, and just went nuts!!!
— the beets salad was good… I Know hahaha
— gnocchi with lobster — decent — not the best I’ve had but the flavors were good
— the CIOPINNO!!! SERIOUSLY! AMAZING!!!
— seafood linguine… so much garlic and flavor and alot of seafood!!!
— the rest was kind of a blur after our many rounds of shots hahahha
so I can’t remember much but those dishes stood out the most!
btw they didn’t charge us for cutting/​plating fee for our dessert which were mini cupcakes, and two large red velvet cakes we brought earlier and they stored in the fridge for us! score on customer service!
all in all the best!!!
fyi: my girlfriends and I have passport cards and used it at o/​8 so buy one entrée and get one free!!! so if you are on a budget and wanted to try a new restaurant still! come right in!!!

Unlike many we had the reverse experience.
No waiting, seated immediately, great/​friendly/​knowledgeable server.
However, it was the food that wasn’t so great. We got a fancy, shmancy Bellevue Collection gift certificate burning a hole in our pocket so we had to spend, spend, spend.
On the menu:
— Scallop Ceviche (Yuzu, Red Onion, Chives, Citrus, Plantain Chips)
— Raw oysters (Raspberry Mignonette Ice)
— Mixed green salad
— Pan Seared Scallops over Vegetable Root Hash, Sautéed Pea vines, Blood Orange Gastrique
— Ginger Soy Crusted Alaskan Halibut
In the glass:
— 2005 Efeste ‘Big Pappa’ Cabernet Sauvignon
— 2006 DeLille Cellars D2 Red Blend
The scallop ceviche lacked oomph and tartness. Very generous portions, I never thought I’d get tired of eating scallops, but this time, I did.
On the oysters (and I freakin’ love raw oysters), they put a freakish/​frozen raspberry «Mignonette Ice» which almost made me spit it out the first bite – oysters should not be crunchy. Again, first time I ever didn’t really want more than six.
The rest of the meal passed with little incident, but little notice as well. It was only the conversation and company that made the evening.
I’d *much* rather spend this amount of money ($ 100+) on something with some fireworks. In my mouth.