Kell's Irish Pub Review

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!

The Pike Pub Review

Jason here. I really like bar food. Particular appetizers, burgers, wings, and fries. However, most pubs don’t cater to gluten free, and when they do the appetizers are usually still fried along with everything else limiting my options. I was hesitant to agree to try out The Pike Pub for those very reasons, but I’m happy to say I was mistaken and this place has excellent gluten free options.

The menu is pretty expansive, and all gluten free options are labeled. To start I ordered a Bison Bacon Burger, with a side of fries. The fries were listed as gluten free, but I have found in the past that means nothing when it comes to fried foods. I asked my waiter, and he was very knowledgeable and let me know that only fries go in that fryer to keep them safe for that reason. He even let me know they would take off the Pale Ale braised onions which would not be gluten free. Having the waiter catch that made me feel very safe ordering off the menu, and I did not have worry about cross contamination.

The plate came out with a massive burger, and covered in fries. It also had two delicious pickle spears which I was not expecting. They were listed on the menu, so I must have been particularly absent minded that day. I love the burger, with plenty of crispy bacon and some sort of cheese I did not quite recognize. The menu listed it as Samish Bay Ladysmith cheese, but I’m not sure what that is. If you have never had bison burger I recommend you give it a try. I find I prefer the taste just a little bit more, and it has more of a solid patty consistency, as opposed to the ground beef. Ground beef tends to leave a fatty coating in my mouth, which bison does not. I’ve heard it described as sweeter, but that’s not been my experience. I think just having less of that fatty coating in my mouth brings out the flavor more.

Now that we have found a couple different places not too far from the convention center, I’ll feel more prepared when Emerald City, or PAX roll around and we are hunting for places to eat.

Kayleigh here. Despite always being on the lookout for gluten free restaurants with homey pub atmospheres, I had passed this one by so many times because I assumed it was just another tourist trap on the waterfront. But then I noticed it had actually won a few awards for their beers, and I decided it was worth giving the food a shot. The gluten free menu is mostly limited to sandwiches and pizzas ( a couple of the salads are also safe), but there are quite a few options to choose from, and being able to order actually gluten free french fries is such a rarity! Plus, they have some decent kimchi as a side dish option- who would have guessed?

Prime Steakhouse Review

Jason here. We took another trip to Redmond for a night out, and decided to try Prime Steakhouse.

Prime is a restaurant focusing on steaks, but also has a good collection of burgers and sandwiches. The best part is the menu itself lists gluten free options, which tends to entice me to try out a place.

The restaurant itself isn’t too large, or at least they section off various rooms so it feels more intimate then most places. I was able to hear the table conversation without too much trouble, but we had to speak up. 

Of course I can’t go to a steakhouse and not order a steak for the first time. I honestly not sure if I have tried a dry-aged steak before. At the very least I have never tried them side by side. With this in mind, I decided to order the top sirloin baseball cut 12oz dry age steak, with a side of baked potato.

The baked potato was well crispy on the outside, although I just scooped out and ate the fluffy potato inside. Pretty standard affair.

The steak was fabulous. I ordered medium and that’s what I got, pink with a little red. It was plenty marbled with fat, which just melted in my mouth like cotton candy. The most delicious sensation one can have when eating a steak. This is the quality of a high end steak. If it’s a low quality cut, the fat will turn chewy and stringy, and be tough to actually eat. Everything here just melted in my mouth, from the first to the last bite. I did not add one ounce of salt or pepper, and ate it exactly how it came out. Not wanting to waste a good steak by having to reheat left overs, I finished the whole 12oz there which I was a bit worried about when it came out. I ordered the smallest of the dry aged steaks, so be prepared for leftovers if you order something like the 24oz porter just for yourself.

It is a high end steak restaurant so you get what you pay for. I got a really top end steak, the meal is a bit on the higher end. Although my sirloin, wasn’t too bad. I actually ordered this cut for the size, not the price, but it worked out for me.

Kayleigh here. While most steakhouses can put together a gluten free steak meal with relative ease, Prime has gotten nearly the entire menu to accommodate a gluten free diner. I failed to ask if the sandwiches would be served bunless or if they had an alternative, but I think there are more than enough options regardless. All of the salads, most of the starters, and many of the vegetable and potato sides are gluten free by default, as well as (of course) the steaks. And if you’re like me and are the odd duck that orders a non-beef entrée, you are pretty much guaranteed to find something that tickles your fancy. The menu is not particularly large, but so diverse and well thought-out that I think anyone would walk out happy.