Lampreia Restaurant

Damn, I made the mistake of waiting for Lampreia to open in it’s new digs and now it’s closed :(Guess the next time Im in the area I’ll have to hit up Bisato as a consolation prize.

The food is certainly 5 star, and the truffle macaroni is to die for. Order off the menu, get one of each and just rotate the plates around to try every last stunning creation.
The space is a bit dated. But, oh, get it while it’s going, it’s closing soon! (If not already).

4.5 Stars rounded up.
Usually I round DOWN but this meal was so incredibly different and unique that it was a refreshing change from other restaurants. Everything was very good and some dishes were outstanding (crab & apple, fois gras pasta, & kobe beef). We made our own tasting so we could pick all of the items we wanted and were very pleased. It ended up being $ 112 for 2 people with 2 $ 10 glasses of wine. Not a bad deal for this quality of food. Service was also excellent to no huge surprise since we were the only customers in the restaurant from 7p until 9:45pm.

My partner and I visited here on a Tuesday night and we were the only diners the entire time. It was a little sad, because our meal was thoughtful and exciting. We tried their 4 course tasting menu for $ 30, which was a great deal. The meal started with a small bite of oyster mousse with blood orange syrup, which wasn’t that great, but the meal only got better from there. We added an additional course to our meal because it looked so good: the grav-​lox cured kobe beef with horseradish crème. The next course was dungeoness crab wrapped in honey-​crisp apple with a cucumber gelee. It was lovely. Crisp, tasty, and really inventive. Next we had a celeriac soup that was poured over a green onion mouse, mozzarella, and cranberry gelee. It was also lovely. Our main was a ravioli with a soft-​poached egg in the middle, covered in goat’s cheese and then in provolone with a butter sauce. It was rich and really tasty. We finished with their house-​made tapioca with strawberries and a vanilla sauce.
I’m still very sad that other people weren’t there to also experience the wonderful food and atmosphere. Overall, a really unique and unexpectedly sophisticated meal!

I went here for a dinner once, and while I thought it’s a nice enough restaurant with a somewhat upscale ambience, pretty good service, and creative menu, I did think it was overpriced for what you get, and I didn’t leave the place completely blown away. Probably a good place for a business dinner, a romantic date, or a small group outing. Worth trying for sure, but not a place that’s on top of my list of «top restaurants in Seattle».

If I could give Lampreia a negative 5 stars, that would not even scratch the surface of our inexcusably pathetic experience at this restaurant!
To preface, we live in the SF Bay Area, where we know a thing or two about outstanding food. And let me tell you, this place ain’t even close.
First, our party consisted of two couples. We brought 2 bottles of wine and expected to pay corkage. We were told that the limit was 1 outside bottle per table. One bottle of wine? For 4 oenophiles? Seriously? Unfortunately, they were serious. Hmmm, one star deduction.
Second, when they brought bread to our table, the waiter wanted to charge us $ 15 to open a small bottle of olive oil to accompany the bread. We were starting to feel mildly insulted to say the least. Who comes to a restaurant like this and wants to be nickel and dimed for BREAD SERVICE? But as the waiter pointed out, we could then take the bottle of olive oil home (such generosity). We opted for butter, which thankfully didn’t involve a surcharge. Another star deduction.
Third, we all opted for the tasting menu, which, sadly, was a gastronomic comedy in 8 parts. Since we didn’t know which dishes we would have (it was a chef’s choice tasting menu), we asked our waiter for a wine recommendation. He paused, thought mightily, and said «I would recommend a white». Yes. He actually said this. Needless to say, we flew blind on our wine choices and hoped for the best, and yet another star deduction.
Fourth, our tasting menu had a feeling of mix-​and-​match ingredients. Out of 8 dishes, we had tomato gelee 3 times. Smoked salmon appeared 2 or 3 times. And so forth and so on. It became a game after a while, counting the number of dishes with a tomato gelee. Unimaginative and uninspiring preparations unfortunately presented.
Fifth, the waiter didn’t care one bit about whether we liked the food or not. When my wife didn’t care for the sea urchin and left most of it, the waiter looked at her plate, shrugged, and took it away, with not a comment or concern. Star deduction.
Fifth, the tasting menu was actually just 8 menu items served consecutively. I looked at the menu after our meal and calculated that the price of the tasting menu was almost exactly the cost of ordering all of our 8 dishes separately! This made me feel like I’d been cheated. If I had known that, I would have simply ordered what I wanted a la carte. A final star deduction.
Sixth, and last, when dessert was to be served, we asked our hapless, hopeless server what wine he would recommend to accompany the course. He again thought for a few moments, and said «I would recommend something sweet». Sigh. At this point, what could we say? We could only shake our heads in wonderment.
When the bill came, I was left to ponder whether the shared memories of the evening would be worth the $ 800 spent between the four of us. In the end, all we had was our collective laughter to ease our suffering. If this review saves even one person from being similarly fleeced, then this posting will not have been in vain.

I thought I wrote a review of this place when I ate here a few months ago, but I guess NOT.
Unfortunately, the dishes were so creative that I can’t remember the specifics of many of them. I had the tasters menu (around $ 150) with a nice combination of meats and veggies-​featured dishes, with a heavy emphasis on seafood. There were also a lot of pureed, but very flavorful foods and sauces. This might not be to everyone’s liking, but I was very pleased with everything I had — and the meals showed a tremendous attention to detail.
The service was perfect — not too involved, but always aware of my needs.
Depite not remembering the exact dishes, the experience itself was very memorable, and the cuisine was top notch. This is one of the few fine restaurants that truly deliver both an exquisite meal, along with exceptional service.
This is one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, so keep that in mind before you go, but if you like truly fine dining, you will find that it is actually a great deal.
Thank you Lampreia for a memorable evening.
PROS: EXCEPTIONAL FOOD. EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE. EXCEPTIONAL EVENING.
CONS: None really, although the pureed techniques used might not be to everyone’s liking. Oh, and it is pricey. Duh.

Scott Carsberg’s kitchen produces almost impeccable food. It is, as the web site promises, simple – simple in the modern haute cuisine/​showcase your ingredients/​Alice Waters kind of way.
In addition to an a la carte menu, Scott offers a five or eight course blind tasting menu for $ 90 or (if I recall correctly) $ 130 a head. I went with one companion and we had the five course tasting menu with (a la carte) cheese before the last course. Soon after we placed our order, the first course arrived and the timing of the rest of the meal was pretty spot-​on as well. The dinner began with crab meat wrapped in wafer thin slices of apple, garnished with a small dab of smoked sea salt. The crab was not the most flavorful I’ve had but it was tasty and pleasing in combination with the apple. Next was a thin slice of ox tongue with a paste of tuna and capers, formed neatly into a quenelle and garnished with a thin semicircular slice of a balsamic gelatin. Then there was something very rich and creamy that involved an egg yolk and sheep’s butter, but it was a but of a muddle and I don’t remember the details. The fourth course was a piece of beautifully cooked white fish. Shamefully, I don’t remember what kind. I want to say sea bass but I believe this is wrong. The only disagreeable thing about this dish was the garnish of a marinated (then braised or steamed) scallion: the whole plate was served only with a fish knife, which was entirely insufficient to cut the scallion. After the fish we were presented the option of having a cheese course before dessert. There were two options. Neither was a typical cheese plate with a few types of cheese and fruit/​bread/​nuts/​etc; rather, each was one cheese paired with something. We chose parmesan reggiano drizzled with 50yr balsamic. Reggiano and balsamic is, I’m afraid, not an inspired combination. Finally, we were each brought a different dessert along with a plate of petits fours. There was rice pudding with strawberry sauce and a small truncated pyramid-​shaped piece of very moist cake containing dried fruits and covered in something sort of like bavarian cream without the gelatin. Dessert was definitely the weakest course. The strawberry sauce appealed to me and the petits fours were clever – each had a unique taste and texture – but I’ve had better desserts all over the city.
So why two stars? (Note: Originally I had planned to give Lampreia three stars but Unilocal describes three stars as «A-​OK» and two stars as «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» Lampreia was definitely «Meh. I’ve experienced better.) Unfortunately, it is evident that Scott cares deeply about his food but has stopped caring about his restaurant on the whole. The dining room is fairly hideous, badly lit, and dirty: there is dust all over the exposed ductwork as well as covering the chandelier (which is woven with fake flowers – blech!). The waitstaff were polite but were fairly stuffy despite being young. On a Saturday night, there were only five occupied tables between approximately 7:30 and 9:30. The chefs could be seen in the kitchen, standing around. Toward the end of our meal, one of them (Scott, perhaps? Except this fellow had longer hair than the man pictured on the web site.) came out and sat down with a man who had come in alone – a personal friend, I suppose. But there were still other tables being served! Our waiter carried the tray on which our desserts were sitting over to him for approval and he barely glanced before waiving the waiter on. This was, to me, the ultimate evidence that the team in the kitchen at Lampreia is comfortable doing what it is doing but they are not striving at all and, worse, now that business is bad, rather than working harder, the head chef seems resigned to the restaurant’s failure.
We tried two bottles of wine, a Burgundy and a Pinot Nero, priced, respectively, at $ 90 and $ 32. The former was recommended. The latter was slightly tastier. Neither were especially charming.
In short, the food is good but could certainly be better if the kitchen were working harder and the atmosphere of the restaurant makes one wish to not be there.

All I can say about this place is «WOW»! My new favorite restaurant in Seattle. Though the proud and passionate chef might consider it an insult it felt like a little piece of Thomas Keller’s French Landry here in Seattle, right down to the freshness and innovation of the food, the precision of the seasoning and textures, the «spot-​on» perfection of how everything was cooked, the professionalism of the wait-​staff and even right down to the way plates were put down on the table in a synchronized manner. With all that said, Chef Scott really delivers and comes through standing entirely on his own two feet.
I easily got a reservation there with little notice for a Saturday night. The place is small and quiet. The service was polite and supremely efficient. We each ordered a cocktail before dinner and then went for a glass of wine with dinner. We were told the corkage fee is $ 35 and as we like New World wines (their wine list is predominantly Old World) we might bring a bottle of Cayuse next time. They brought us freshly baked bread that had a slight sourdough tang. Served with farm butter. We were offered a $ 12 bottle of olive oil which we passed on.
We decided to go for the five course tasting menu and leave ourselves in the chef’s hands. Courses were: Amuse bouche: beet and avocado mousse on a tiny savory crust, 1. Dungeness Crab served in paper-​thin tube of cantelope with cantelope balls and tiny strips of mint with a wine gelee, cold foie gras in a chocolate-​hazelnut coating with hot brioche (seemed more like piping hot pita wedges to me) and a kumquat, 3. a sheep’s milk cheese ravioli with a yolky egg inside the top and bathed in a nutty farm butter, 4. a perfectly pan-​seared piece of sea bass with a row of tiny dollops of whipped, spiced sweet potatoes and a spring onion, 5. a wedge of pecorino baked on a plank with truffle honey (we got this served with a glass of 1968 Madeira), 6. Two desserts: A 65% cacao chocolate torte in a milk chocolate sauce and vanilla/​yogurt/​raspberry concoction. Of course they served a platter of tiny, delicious cookies (lemon, cinnamon, peanut butter, chocolate and coconut.
Almost without exception everything was perfect. The salt and pepper on the table was absolutely extraneous as every bit of food was seasoned perfectly. The spring onion served with the main fish course was a bit tricky to cut and eat and the yogurt dessert was probably my least favorite dessert in recent memory. But otherwise one would really have to work hard to find fault with this place.
Not inexpensive but a good value for the splurge. The chef was in the house last night and we did see him circulating. He seemed to say hello to a few regulars but left us alone. He seems to have a reputation for being prickly which is understandable considering the artistry at work there. But in two hours of observation he did not exhibit any overt «Soup Nazi» behavior.

Sadly it’s been 8 months since I ate here, so my review isn’t going to give many of the food details. $ 980ish with wine pairings, a couple of scotches, the full tasting menu, and desserts; including tip for 4 people. It was absolutely worth it.
The executive chef went out of his way to make us feel comfortable, it was a dead night so we had the place to ourselves. Waiting for another big deal to justify going again.

I have come to understand that this restaurant is not for everyone, but it was made for me.
The food is refined, suave, inventive and funny, intellectual and animal at the same time. The restaurant is quiet and melts away so you only really feel the presence of the food, the company you’re with, the chefs in the window, and the wait staff when you need them.
The menu changes seasonally and has changed through the years, reflective of new interests, inspirations, and ideas the chef, Scott Carsberg is working with. This is not a business so much as a venue for him to practice his métier. For instance, there is no table turnover. It’s yours for the evening. Relax, savor, luxuriate.
Yes, it’s pricey, but I’ve never regretted a cent. It’s my husband’s and my hands-​down favorite splurge.
Mr. Carsberg will reemerge a few blocks away with a new restaurant. I’m excited to see what he does.

I’ve been to Lampreia in the past. It was a very ‘hot restaurant to go to in the 90“s. I thought it was very impressive then. I had the opportunity to go again recently. Unlike many other restaurants that were popular years ago, Lampreia has actually gotten better. The food is not only inventive it is delicious. I have eaten extensively all over the world. Scott Carsberg is as fine chef as I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. It is great place to dine

Oh Lampreia. You flirted with me and acted coy with your website showing mouth-​watering pictures but no menu. You drew me in with promises made in other people’s reviews. You made my heartbeat quicken with an efficient booking over the telephone.
But ultimately you broke my heart. Mainly because you promised so much but the date was nothing special. The fall was greater because the pedestal had been set so high. Maybe it was my fault for unrealistic expectations…
On my recent gastronomic tour of the USA, I had been eagerly looking forward to Lampreia as a shining example of cutting edge cuisine with innovative combinations and visually stunning presentation. When I discovered there was (deliberately) no menu on the restaurant website, I did my research on Unilocal and
. Much was promised and expected.
I arrived eagerly and the greeting wasn’t the warmest. At most of my USA restaurants, they made me feel that they knew I was coming, most even acknowledging that I had come from London to dine with them. At Lampreia, I received the ‘have you booked?’ as soon as I walked in and it especially irks me in places which are completely empty! Lampreia remained largely empty that evening and maybe the lack of energy in the dining room also detracted from my experience there.
As you can tell, I’m struggling to identify what was missing, the X factor. Service was efficient but there was a lack of warmth. I always try to engage the staff in some conversation about the food and restaurant, which then breaks the ice for a more relaxed time but I never felt I was never more than yet another customer that evening. At other restaurants, I’ve been offered a tour of the kitchen or there has been extra information offered about the provenance of the food and about a cooking technique once they realize that you have a particular interest in food.
One positive point before I sink completely into a sea of negativity — I wrote that I liked their salt and pepper pots in my notebook. No real effort to tell me about non-​alcoholic drinks once my server told me that they didn’t do freshly squeezed OJ — some places have it but the classiest places that don’t figure out that they have oranges and a squeezer and on a quiet night, it may be possible to introduce those 2 elements to each other.
I was determined to still enjoy the food and went for the 8 course tasting menu. I think the best thing about the food is the superb presentation but the flavour wasn’t always as promised. I’m going to describe the dishes and just hope that the ‘Lampreia trademark police’ won’t try and sue me — I noted from a previous review that taking photos wasn’t allowed!!!
1. Crab wrapped in thin apple slices with apple gelee.
A promising start and interesting combination I hadn’t seen before. The sweet crab was well complemented with a hint of sweet and ever slightly tart apple.
2. Corn veloute (poured from a jug) with rhubarb jelly and smoked salmon dumpling.
Dish worked well in single mouthful of all 3 elements together. My mood was beginning to lift at this point.
3. Copper River salmon, lemon dill caper sauce, white asparagus.
The white asparagus was tasteless and didn’t really contribute to the dish. Sauce was tangy and slightly overwhelmed the delicate salmon.
4. Black squid ink pasta sheet, fava & braod beans, salami, pepper vinaigrette orange sauce.
Quite an unbalanced dish. I felt I wanted more salami as it was the only thing on the plate with a distinctive flavour.
5. Speck, asparagus panna cota, fontina sauce, 2 pieces of shaved asparagus, 50 year old balsamic vinegar.
I was grateful to have tried the 50 year old balsamic, something which I may never try again — it was nice and sharp but a little more watery than I had expected — I’ve tried a 10 year old which was more syrupy. Overall I liked the flavour combination but the shaved asparagus was again tasteless and seemd to be there more for decoration.
6. Ahi grade tuna sashimi, avocado, passion fruit sauce, roe, lemon crisp.
Again the frustrating quality of great sounding ingredients failing to deliver its promise. The tuna was too salty, the avocado and roe tasteless and I tried hard but couldn’t find any passion fruit flavour on the plate. The lemon crisp though was amazingly delicate.
7. 5 spiced duck, saffron infused fennel, pequille pepper potato purée, fruit jam.
It’s easy to overcook duck and though nicely flavoured with 5 spice, it was a little tough. I thought the fruit jam was too sweet — the duck needs something a little tart to cut through all that richness. Potato purée was nice and light.
8. Strawberries filled with lemon mousse topped with strawberry gelee, strawberry coulis & strawberry crisp.
A nice light dish to end the meal. An old classic combination delivered.
The petit fours were lovely — peanut butter, Venezuelan chocolate, lemon, cinnamon with peanut butter being my favourite.
What a shame.

Really, really wonderfully delicious. Everyone else can tell you about the food. I ate here long enough ago that I don’t remember the exact menu well enough to comment meaningfully.
But man, what weird service.
Creepy, inexperienced and really really young waiters who kept repeating themselves, describing everything as «_​_​_​_​_​finished with _​_​_​_​», awkwardly over-​enunciating consonants, and one whispering the menu items loudly into the ear of the other, who would then repeat them, phrase by phrase, to us, who of course had already read the menu *and* heard the loud whispers. Just plain bizarre.
Can’t figure out why a place that runs well above $ 150 a head wouldn’t be staffed exclusively by seasoned professional career servers. I felt like I was watching Bartleby the Scrivener for dinner.
From the looks of it, most other folks seem to have had a better roll of the dice with the service. I’ll write it off as a freak occurrence.

Funny, someone (here) mentioned the «static» website of this place. That is true! What is up with that? The website is terrible and it doesn’t list the menu…
That said, I guess I kind of like the idea of a total culinary surprise, which was the case just last night when I had the 5-​course tasting dinner. And what a wonderful surprise it was.
All of the dishes were so pretty to the eyes and so refreshing to the mouth. Nicely done! Chef Scott Carsberg offered three very unique dishes (crab wrapped in thin apple slices, beets and egg with salmon roe and foie gras with fruits) and a succulent main course (sea bass) and ended it with a warm cherry gratin. YUM.
I shall return… again and again.
Did I mention the flawless service? Knowledgeable and gracious waiters?
You will not be disappointed!

so. lampreia. how to explain this experience…
first off, they have the lamest web presence ever. i mean, jesus, what marketing genius thought that a static page (that doesn’t have any links/​buttons/​whatnot) would be a good way to publicize a restaurant? sure, they’ll show you a picture of the chef but they don’t even give you a bio or a chef’s statement or whatever. stupid. i prefer to stalk my food before dining, ie: i like to peruse a place’s menu online so i know what to expect.
so, loads of critics love this place but user reviews are all over the place. the thing is, seattle still isn’t used to being a «city» so Food with a Capital F is a pretty new concept here. that being the case, you get 2 common & opposing types of reviewers here:
1. people who think paying anything over $ 20/​entrée is an abomination. these are the people who think quantity amounts to quality & also think cheese comes in one flavor: yellow. i don’t give a rat’s ass if i sound pretentious because, c’mon! you DO NOT go to the olive garden or the claim jumper for a special occasion or, according to some, ever.
2. neophytes who watch too much food network & think that any restaurant that has the words «black truffle», «coulis», or «clafoutis» on their menu HAS to be good. also, in seattle, if you go with the «small plates» format these same people will kiss the hem of your garment.
i will be the first to admit that i’m a little bit of a sucker when it comes to presentation &, as a result, probably enjoyed veil far more than it warranted. still, it’s not like i won’t eat in dives, as long as the food is good.
but this place, they clearly think they are above the fray because, get this: after i tried to take a picture of the amuse bouche, i was told, in hushed tones, «we don’t allow pictures».
what the fucking hell is this bullshit? seriously. their food is too precious to have it’s picture taken? is their food like, the culinary version of say, sean penn, telling the paparazzi that they can’t take pictures of his famous ass?
whatever.
in addition to this absurd prohibition, we also had the william shatner version of a server. while the guy was young & handsome, he seemed to think that he was a performance artist & not a waiter. he didn’t merely recite the specials, he enacted them with a dramatic, pained expression, his eyebrows in constant motion, his hands carving small, strange shapes in the air, as if he were doing an air-​guitar version of soap carving. he probably needed all the extra movement to get his message across because the actual timbre & volume of his voice was much like a «who» (as in, «horton hears a»). i couldn’t hear a goddamn word that guy said.
imagine a guy, hands doing mini tai-​chi, eyebrows trying to express torture, his voice barely above a whisper as he paused & gulped like he was about to burst into tears. so, while i didn’t know what the specials were i kind of just assumed they were the most tragic dishes in the world.
here is that gloomy litany:
amuse bouche:
avocado tartlett w/​beet gelee
1^st courses:
foie gras w/​fall flavors*
kobe carpaccio
polenta something or other
cheese & tomato wafer w/​aged balsamic
2^nd courses:
smoked duck breast on cedar plank
truffle gnocchi w/​lemon*
apple taquito stuffed w/​crab*
main courses:
saba glazed duck breast*
seared seabass*
lamb loin*
desserts:
pistachio parfait*
goat’s milk yogurt w/​figs
lemon tart w/​strawberry sauce
chocolate dumplings
the amuse bouche was okay but nothing spectacular & not at all a great introduction to what turned out to be excellent food (the asterisks denote the especially good dishes according to the table). there was a lot of unusual preparations & combinations, plus beautiful (but not at all ostentatious) presentation.
unlike many of the user reviews, i did not find the quantity at all lacking but i can see how the atmosphere can be a letdown: totally innocuous décor with the most pathetic attempt at centerpieces that looked like xmas tree ornaments handmade by church ladies on top of the oppressively hushed dining room.
still, for me lampreia was a winner because all i really care about it how the food tastes. if i get a little performance art in the process, that’s just a bonus.

I haven’t been to this place for a while, but I’m really surprised to see the mixed reviews it received.
I remember having the 7-​course meal there, and the taste of the food was exceptional. This is one of the more formal restaurant in Seattle, so it’s not good for groups. It is perfect for couples, or max of party of four.
I’m going to need to come back there again… soon.

This is definitely a formal environment. The food is superb though, and expensive. My favorite dishes are the crab wrapped in apple, and the Foie gras. The fish is always cooked to perfection. Probably the best restaurant in Seattle.

After a rather not so great day I decided to treat a freind to lampreia to make an attempt to make myself feel better. I have to say, it pretty much worked.
Started out with a classic martini, and then my freind and myself decided to «splurge» and go for the tasting menu.
Quite an adventure, well worth it. We also went with the ½ glass wine pairing– definitely a good choice.
They started us out with this incredible concoction of cantelope and dungeness crab served in this interesting tube with little tiny cantelope balls on top in some really tasty sauce that reminded us of vanilla marmalade. Amazing– I would go back again and again for this delicious dish. Paired with a nice half glass of champagne– refreshing and complex notes of honey and cinnnamon. We both greedily gobbled up this dish.
our second course was very interesting– a copper river salmon dish that I could only describe as a very rich omelletee, with a egg /​/​squid
outside and a creamy salmon inside– very tasty, very rich. They paired this with a sangovise rose’ that was very fruit forward and good.
Third– yes! the foie gras! wow. simply wow. buttery and complex, the foie gras chilled with a coating that had the consistency of chocolate.
not sure what the wine was, at this point because we both were just gobbling the foie gras in extacy.
fourth course– 5 spice duck breast with mashed sweet potato with 4 different dipping sauces– oh this was sooooooo good, so flavorful, tender and incredible. excellent.
next we decided to go with a small course of cheese that had been roasted on a cedar plank and drizzled with truffle oil and honey. really tasty!
finally dessert was a combination of several desserts in small portions, with a interesting assortment of mini cookies.
overall, the service, food and presentation were some of the best I have ever had in seattle. Congrats Lampreia, you get my hearty thumbs up.
ill be back, with more freinds!

Ate with a group of four, dined late, alone, two nights later.
I’m sure the chef/​owner imagined me a paid critic, the delta between these meals was enormous.
His obsequious presence was unnerving.
No host, no server, just him. And me.
Not bad food, mostly ok, but really weird.
I sense a great sadness here.