Sugar pumpkin soup with pepitas, sage, and cardamon creme fraiche - nice fall flavor.

Fresh ricotta gnudi with balsamic brown butter, Brussels sprouts, and squash.

Neah Bay coho salmon with marinated escarole, walnuts, and apple soubise - cooked nicely rare.

Carleton Farms pork belly with braised cabbage, hazelnuts, and stone fruit jam - one piece of pork belly was perfectly crisped, the other was fantastically fatty.

Chocolate hazelnut torte with caramel sauce and tart cherry gel - rich and sweet.

Ménage a poire: pear panna cotta, pear sabayon, and saffron-poached pear - a welcome contrast to the rich torte.

Your bill will show that your three-course menu runs $28 for the food, which includes a going-away treat, like these mint truffles.

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Whenever Seattle Restaurant Week rolls around, I wonder which of the many restaurants I’d like to give a try. This week and next, Sunday through Thursday, there are over 150 restaurants participating. All offer a three-course menu (appetizer entree, and dessert) for $28 (drinks, tax, and tip are extra); even better, a good number will feed you a three-course lunch for just $15.

While the restaurants tend to be especially busy for this two-week period, and though the three-course menus are limited–typically to three choices in each category, with the option to order additional items from the regular menu–Seattle Restaurant Week is a great (and affordable) way to check out a place that’s been on your must-try list for too long. For me, that meant finally getting to Restaurant Zoë.

The fairly new space in Capitol Hill boasts an open kitchen and a door that opens to a garden courtyard, while the dining rooms feel both classic and contemporary. Despite a fairly full house, service was spot-on; the food was quite good, and with some of the entrees running a la carte for close to $28 alone, absolute a good value. From the opening focaccia bread to the chocolate truffles accompanying the bill, dinner at Zoë was enjoyable–and sure to turn some newcomers into regular customers. That, in some ways, is what Seattle Restaurant Week is all about.

Check the slideshow above for a look at some of the dishes (two rounds of three courses) from Zoë’s menu for Seattle Restaurant Week.