Palisade executive chef Chris Bryant popped out to introduce the menu

 

“While Palisade will always be a great special occasion restaurant,” says Seattle Dining!, “the company wants it to be a spot where guests dine regularly–several times a month.”

That’s a bit of a reinvention, since the tonier Restaurants Unlimited location sits there by the marina at the base of the Magnolia bluffs, looking, with its expansive timbered interior (complete with salt water ponds), like it’s about to make you pay through the nose (happily) for stuffing yourself to the gills with Pacific black tiger prawns, Dungeness crab, Maine lobster, New York steak, or Ellensburg rack of lamb.

So you can imagine our surprise when the SunBreak Lunch Team dropped in at Palisade as guests for a holiday get-together, and discovered something called the Magnolia Lunch that’s worth the trip–a three-course lunch for just $15. (There’s a First Seating dinner menu that’s a prix fixe $29, also three courses.)

For starters, you have your choice of two salads or the soup of the day.Seasonal Baby Leaf Lettuce Salad with green beans, cucumber, marjoram onions, baby tomatoes, in a vinaigrette

Choose between a hearts of Romaine salad (Caesar dressing, shaved Asiago), baby leaf lettuce salad, or the soup of the day. The spiced yam soup was delicious, not overbearingly sweet, and of a hearty consistency. Cold weather blahs, you’ve been yammed.

Spiced Yam Soup with candied pecans

For an entrée, you have a fresh fish selection (Washington sole at the moment), Dungeness crab BLTs, a Kobe burger (warm brie, pepper bacon), or chicken sateh.

Washington sole crusted with Parmesan and Asiago, with wild mushroom quinoa, asparagus, and tomato relish and lemon butter sauce

You are not likely to go wrong with any of these choices; and in fact you may end up returning solely for the chance to sample what you didn’t last time. Also, let’s hear it for portion control. This is a three-course lunch you can enjoy, and then return to the office after, without needing a nap.

Chicken Sateh, on coconut peanut rice noodles, with cucumber macadamia nut sweet chili salsa

The chicken sateh may seem like the “safe” choice, but the combination of flavors makes it a stand-out. For dessert? A trio of crème brulée or chocolate decadence cake.

That would be the Chocolate Decadence Cake, yes.

Trio of Crème Brulée (Grand Marnier, chocolate, vanilla bean)

I eat lunch nearly every single day of the year. Thinking back, this has to rate in my top five, just in terms of the quality of food and service. When you take the $15 price into account, it’s easily number one.