Jason here. Ever since returning from Ireland we have been
on the lookout for a local pub, with live Irish music. While planning our next
outing we discovered a restaurant in Seattle near Pike’s Place named Kells which has live music nearly every
night and had people mentioning gluten free menu options, so they had us
covered on both fronts. In our brief research it looks like Kells also has
restaurants in Portland and San Francisco, so if you live in one of those areas
let us know how they compare.
We decided to head on a Sunday when Liam Gallagher was
playing, doing guitar and vocals. The live usually starts at 9:00 PM, so we
decided to make a day of it and hit up Pike’s Place for bit around closing
time, as well as head over to a local coffee shop to pass the time. Make sure
you get to Kells early though, so you can get a nice seat near the stage. For
myself, I enjoy being off near a wall where we can have a small table and seats
to ourselves without being in the middle of everything going on. Makes it
easier to just sit back with a drink and enjoy the music.
I ordered a bowl of steamed mussels to snack on thinking
they would make for a light meal I could make last. It’s a very generous bowl
of mussels, served in a butter broth. I let our waiter know I had a gluten
allergy and she was very informative, and made sure to leave out the side of
Irish soda bread. I don’t know what it is about steamed mussels, but I’ve had
terrible luck ordering them in other restaurants and having a piece of
crumbling toast put on top. This time I was finally able to enjoy my bowl of
mussels.
The mussels themselves tasted pretty standard, with not a
single bad one in the bunch. The mussels were cooked just right. (Over cooked
mussels tend to be chewy and lose their flavor)
As I finished up my mussels I ordered a side of baked
chips, which are just fries. I sort of made the false assumption they were
homemade potato chips, but that’s my fault. For fries they cooked right, with
the outside crunchy and inside fluffy. Again, they made a great food to partake
in slowly while enjoying the music. I tend to fresh fries either plain or with
a little bit of salt, and then as they become room temperature or cold switch
over to dipping in ketchup.
Finally, I ended the night with a dessert chocolate mousse.
The music was winding down, and the last song played just as I was finishing
up. Talk about great timing. If you like chocolate, you’ll enjoy the mousse.
Without being able to compare side-by-side directly, I want to say Kells Mousse
came in a slightly larger glass then I’m used to. Of course that could have
just been how I felt after all the fries and mussels.
Kayleigh here. Overall, the feel of the pub itself was very
similar to what we had experienced in Ireland- although the patrons were a
little more into having bachelorette parties and a little less into the live
music. We stuck around for a couple of hours and never felt pressured to finish
up eating to let more guests in. On top of that, our waitress was well informed
on which dishes were already gluten free, and was very good about going to the
kitchen and getting answers for all our questions. She even brought out the
cheese platter with the bread on another plate and the cheese with porter not
touching the other cheeses, so Jason could try some. Amazing service,
considering how busy the restaurant was that night!
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