Fresh Bistro

So I was hoping to enjoy an evening out on Wednesday around 6:15pm, January 27, 2016. One of my friend who was there first got us a table. I asked to see if was okay to look for her. The White bartender/​manager – John Schiffman, asked me to «step aside» and «make a reservation.» It was not crowded or booked. I politely told him that my friend already got us a table. He refused to listen because an Asian guy can’t know/​or be friends with a middle-​aged White woman. I had to really exert myself to get heard.
When my friend saw me and waved her arm, that’s when their guard went down. A couple of people I was with (who were White btw) said they’ve never had such a hostile experience at a restaurant before. I told them that’s still a reality for some of us, even in a liberal city like Seattle.
On the upside, the food was great. I had a great time never the less. Mr. Schiffman needs to treat everyone with respect regardless of background, or the company needs to let him go and have someone more customer-​service friendly working the shift.

Came here for brunch and we got the chicken fried steak, which was really good, and the French toast, which was not bad but not as good as the chicken friend steak. The service was excellent.

We have been here repeatedly the past couple of months and the quality is good! Our favorite is the mussels (moules frites), best mussels ever had (anywhere in the world, even Belgium or France). We’ll definitely be back; too bad they are closed on Sunday for dinner ;-(One of our go-​to places in West-​Seattle!

Loved the menu here. Went based on Unilocal reviews and the foods was excellent – I highly recommend the pumpkin soup. All three of us ordered it and loved it. Great mix of spices and cream, and the perfect thing to warm you up from the Seattle rainy weather. My only complaint is the service. Took forever to get our food and the waitress was slow. Food was amazing, though. They bring you bacon cheddar biscuits that are delicious. I also recommend the mussels, which have some small spicy sausage mixed in the broth. They ran out of the lamb burger, so we didn’t get to try it, but it must have been good. The diners near us seemed to enjoy theirs! Reasonably priced and lots of vegetarian, gluten free options but still plenty of protein on the menu.

3.5 stars
The fiancé and I walked in here after checking out the west Seattle farmers market and fortunately, they were able to seat us pretty quickly even without a reservation.
I got the sopes and I enjoyed it for the most part; however, the pork was kind of boring and not particularly flavorful. Meh. The sauce and sopes itself was decent tho.
I tired my fiancé’s chicken fried steak and although it wasn’t what we were expecting, it was pretty decent. The gravy was different but yummy.
I think I’d come back, especially since I like relatively close.

3.5 stars
I came here for brunch and got their banana waffle with bacon. The waffle had just the right amount of crunch — not soggy at all, but not stale either. The toasted nuts were an delicious addition to the waffle too. The bacon was way way too salty, so I didn’t finish it. (I KNOW! WHO LEAVES BACON ON THE PLATE?!) my friend ordered the eggs Benedict with dungeness crab meat. I normally love eggs Benedict but for some reason, I didn’t enjoy it as much this time… I think it was just a little bland.
A little pricey for my taste, but definitely delicious food with great service. I also love the ambiance of the restaurant — modern and industrial.
Would come back again for brunch.

This place has been on my list for quite some time and I finally got to try it last night! We had the fresh bistro salad which was the highlight of our meal :) the egg was cooked perfectly (semi soft boiled) with delicious pumpkinseeds bacon and pickled onions and peaches!
Our entrees were a tad too oily… sometimes simpler pure flavor is better. Our quail and lamp chops were tender but again, the sides were soaked in oil. So less oil would have made this much better!
The shrimp with foam looked really popular along with their brunch menu!

Just came in from out of town and ordered take out. Lamb burger was perfect for my craving.

We’ve avoided this place for some strange unreasonable reason. Pictures sold Monkey on this right away and was happy to come in and give it a shot.
Monkey do:
SWEET POTATO DUNGENESS CRAB EGGS BENEDICT — great without hollandaise! asked for eggs to be poached hard and when it arrived-​soft, they were happy to fry them well. Okie-​doke. Stinkeye to the kitchen. Still, good stuff.
SOPES — Grub! Filling, delicious and looking forward to returning.
House-​made DOUGHNUTS — meh.

The Alaska junction has really changed since my high school days. It’s starting to feel like Ballard in a way with all these condos and apartments. With that said, quality restaurants have moved in. I really liked the interior and the fact they have outdoor seating as well. The service was awesome and the host was really nice. The food was definitely fresh. I came here with a family member to celebrate a birthday. They gave her a key lime dessert with a candle. Very cool and unexpected!

Sophisticated taste and fresh ingredients!
Interesting menus. It’s good to go with friends or family or date!!!
Highly recommended here!!!

Came here for brunch with my friends. Service was really good so was the food! All of my friends ordered the crab Benny and I got the chicken fried steak because I was scared my allergies might start acting up with the Benny. Chicken fried steak here was so good! Did not skimp on bacon and I love that. My plate had a good contrast of flavor and the steak had this amazing crust on the outside! Yummm. Will definitely be back for dinner or HH

So this review may be a result of poor ordering and misguided expectations, but I was very underwhelmed by Fresh Bistro.
We opted to go the small plates route ordering most of the dishes recommended here: the foam prawns, the sweet potato crab cake, bahn mi pork sliders, the mandarin salad and the vegetable tempura… what I didn’t expect was that half the dishes were fried and everything tasted roughly the same. No creativity in flavors.
The food was serviceable, but in a city of so many reasonably priced, tasty options — this would not be anywhere close to my top:
The pork in sliders was a bit dry and I didn’t like the use of hamburger buns vs. French Bread. Different texture and flavor than the best parts of traditional barn mi. The prawns were Ok, but really just tasted like tempura shrimp. The tempura vegetables were pretty good except for the sweet potatoes which breaded potato chips instead of having that nice crispy outside/​soft inside touch, the crab cake was very dry and bland, even the bread served with butter had decent flavor, but was cold and stiff. Everything felt like it had so much potential, but not a single dish impressed me tonight.

Great atmosphere. Friendly staff (we had multiple waitresses check up on us). Kitchen is in the open so it smells great. Happy Hour is all night Monday-​Thursday at the long table which is like bar seating.
We had the Braised Pork Belly Banh Mi Sandwich with egg. It was pretty damn delicious.
The Shiso Honey Pecan Prawns was good as well. It’s like a deconstructed honey walnut prawns from Chinese restaurants. The prawns were not over cooked and the Sriracha foam was a nice touch.
The Wagyu-​Lamb Burger was amazing. Cooked medium like I asked. So much flavor In that burger. It’s a must.
The food is slow to come out but it’s cooked to perfection.
I don’t care about this but they offer a lot of gluten free options :).
Definitely going to come back for Monday Steak Night!

Before I chose this place went on line and read the reviews, one of the Unilocalers work in my building so I decided to ask her opinoin. She said the food was great but service was slow, another co-​worker went there and said love the food can’t complain service was good. Saturday made reservation on line just in case it was slammed. Got there early with my girlfriend, host greeted us and I told her had reservation at 7 she said my table was ready «very nice». Our waitress was awesome My girlfriend order a glass of Treggiaia 2010 Sangiovese and I order red beer on tap.
For appetizers Artisan Cheese Plate and Braised Pork Belly Banh Mi Sliders
excellent choices of cheese to go with your wine, Pork belly sliders HOME RUN you gotta try atleast one.
Entrée’s Pan Roasted Duck Breast and Neah Bay Black Cod both dishes was great duck was cooked perfect the cod was excellent both dishes I would order again.
Overall for the first time going there it was great, Food was great service was great and the ambience was great

Really competent fresh /​chef food in West Seattle.
Will try a few more meals there!

My review is for the brunch– the Hawaiian Breakfast is out of this world good– def. recommend it. My husband had the Sweet Potato & Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict which he thought was delicious and thoroughly enjoyed

I have to say this first: I was really impressed by the friendly, professional staff. They were so authentic and warm — but not invasive. It was such a breath of fresh air to see everybody communicating so well, with respect and humor. I wish everyplace could have a team like this, but I’m glad to know for sure one place that does. Whatever is happening to keep these folks so capable, and happy, please keep it up. It really shows.
Secondly, the décor and overall impact of the space were great. Really handsome place, but not fussy or overwrought. We were in for brunch, but I kept staring at the large, attractive bar area. I definitely want to go for a beer some night soon.
And as important as the above, the food was spectacular. I had the «classic American breakfast,» so it could’ve been quite dull, but it was not. Each item was prepared absolutely perfectly. It looked great, and tasted better. I didn’t know such bacon was even possible. The potatoes were heaven. The espresso was awesome. It was all the best.
This is probably the most perfect place I’ve been one a couple years, so I’ll definitely be back with friends. I was actually stunned by it.

Yum!
I went with a few friends during restaurant week but because they have happy hour all night Monday-​Thursday, half of us did restaurant week and half of us just ordered off the happy hour menu.
I pretty much liked everything:
Truffle Smashed Fried Potatoes ($ 4): delicious, nice crispy skin, full of flavor
Northwest Seafood Chowder ($ 6): full of seafood and very rich and creamy
Shiso Honey Pecan Prawns ($ 9): really interesting to try sriracha foam; shrimp were large and well cooked
Pork Belly Banh Mi Slider ($ 3): very good, but look out for the jalapenos as some of them are very spicy
Sweet Potato and Dungeness Crab Cakes ($ 10/​Restaurant Week Menu): I think these are good if you like sweet potato but overall, I felt it was too sweet and not «crabby» enough
Grilled Bistro Steak ($ 23/​Restaurant Week Menu): perfect. the steak was well seasoned and perfectly cooked. the potatoes pava was out of this world
Cast Iron Apple Bread Pudding ($ 7/​Restaurant Week Menu): i remember that this was fine, just nothing spectacular
I would say the DO NOT MISS items are the truffle smashed fried potatoes, the shiso honey pecan prawns, and the grilled bistro steak. And, if you’re there during happy hour, with $ 3.50 wells and $ 2 cans of Rainier, you can’t go wrong. I wish it wasn’t in West Seattle because it’s a bit hard to get to, but definitely worth the trip!

We have been here for steak night, and it is fabulous.
Saturday, we did a double date. Greeted nicely, and I strongly suggest making reservations.
Open kitchen structure.
Dh ordered a $ 2.50 rainier beer.
Appetizers: We ordered lobster mac and cheese (bow tie pasta & lobster claws with gruyère I believe), ahi tuna tartare (with mango and avocado), mussels and truffle fries (huuuuge portion), and honey pecan prawns (sriracha foam on top).
For the entrees, I and a friend’s husband ordered the fennel crusted halibut and the others ordered the pork (fresh homemade cornbread accompanied). Big plates filled with seasonal foods beautifully plated.
Dessert: apricot Crème brûlée, Hawaiian peach bread pudding with pecans, and lemon strawberry shortcake.
We will be back! Such a fun restaurant.