Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RAVE: The Bohemian
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October 13, 2008 at 3:08 am #588367
coffeegeekMember4 of us went Sat. night. The food was excellent, the service was great, live music was pleasant, friendly bartenders. Lamb chops and scallops dishes were wonderful. Yam fries and roasted garlic apps were super tasty. Highly recommended, GREAT JOB Bohemian!!
October 13, 2008 at 5:09 am #643361
JanSParticipantmy daughter really liked it, too. I’m going there for dinner this coming Friday…nice to know in advance how much I’ll enjoy it :)
October 13, 2008 at 5:11 am #643362
LuckieParticipantI was there Friday night. Loved it. The lamb chops were the best I’ve ever had. I love the atmosphere too, warm and inviting.
October 13, 2008 at 6:08 am #643363
BonnieParticipantOh good! We’re going next week. Can’t wait!
October 13, 2008 at 4:28 pm #643364
WSBKeymasterThis post on a food blog has a photo of a “raclette” from a recent Bohemian visit:
the description sounds utterly irresistible.
October 13, 2008 at 4:38 pm #643365
addParticipantWe were there a couple of weeks ago, too, and totally agree with the reviews of those yummy mini lamb chops!! Raclette was quite good, too. We enjoyed it, service was friendly and efficient and the bar looked like a cozy place to get a bite. A nice addition to WS!
October 15, 2008 at 6:15 pm #643366
vincentMemberI give it a solid meh. They had just over a dozen cocktails which were all sweeter versions of the originals. ( sugar rim!) Its pricing for food was a little steep considering the bohemian name. I did think the fries were decent, but they were inferior to the pig irons version.
With the wide space in the middle and the waitress forgetting what we ordered twice, I have to wonder what direction they were trying to go with the restaurant, it seemed like it was trying to do too many things at once.
All in all I really feel like its a solid 5 / 10 its busy now because its new but I would be afraid with prost opening next door, its going to see a strong dip in support. These could all be growing pains though, and I will probably check up on them later after they are a bit more settled.
October 15, 2008 at 7:15 pm #643367
cjboffoliParticipantThank god for Vincent! I’ve been sitting here scratching my head at all of these rave reviews. The famous “SUSO” (Seattle Undeserved Standing Ovation) is in full effect!
Everything we had at the Bohemian was underwhelming and overpriced. The only point I agree with is that the owners are nice people. We met them. They are. But I can’t say we’re in any rush to go back there.
October 15, 2008 at 7:31 pm #643368
villagegreenMembercjboffoli – so what did you have? could you be a bit more specific in your criticism. I’ve been considering trying it for dinner – I like it for happy hour beer and snacks, but will probably switch over to Prost once it opens.
you seem to be a tough critic, so what WS establishments would you recommend for happy hour and/or dinner? I’ve yet to try Shadowland’s happy hour menu, but am thinking of giving it a try soon. Does Spring Hill have a happy hour?
October 15, 2008 at 7:52 pm #643369
cjboffoliParticipantvillagegreen: The garnet fries were the only thing we liked. They were crispy and not too oily or limp. They would have been better salted. And it was a bit stingy to only offer one sauce with the fries and to charge extra to get all three. They could have left the lavender honey off the plate (the two sweets didn’t work together) and emphasized the ketchup and aioli which were both house-made and very tasty.
Beyond that we both had sangria which was horribly bitter. We tried the “misty isle meatballs” which were bland, both inherently and because they completely forgot the dipping sauces that were supposed to come with them. The belgian endive salad was prosaic and perhaps the most over-priced item on the menu for what we received on the plate. And the raclette (with dry-aged sausages, cornichon, capers & potato) was just downright strange and overpowered by the capers.
Shadowlands is OK. Another case of super-nice owners and uneven food. And I have a hard time eating there without having to suck on the copious amounts of cigarette smoke that come blowing in the front door (from customers) and the back (from the kitchen staff).
I’ve been to Ama Ama a few times for happy hour and it is OK. But then again, half of West Seattle seems to be steering clear of the place simply because they put “Oyster Bar” on their sign which makes no sense to me.
I think I heard a rumor that Spring Hill is adding a happy hour menu. I’m really pleased that Mark and Marjorie Fuller are adding to their wine list some not so well-known Walla Walla Valley wines like Steve Brooks’ Trust Cellars.
October 15, 2008 at 8:38 pm #643370
vincentMemberSeattle has what I refer to as the hobby restaurant disease. Too many people with disposable income from stock dividends or startup cash outs who decided they will fulfill their dream and open up a restaurant or bar. Its the Sarah Palin of restaurants, all folks and yuppers, with out all that elitist “chef” influence.
Its admirable to want to start a venture, but too many people get lost on some dreamy concept to pay attention to things like menu, drinks and otherwise, or consistency.
Window dressing and decor does not a fancy restaurant make. If you have to overcharge for food and kill volume over time, maybe your whole concept has issues.
ps: Seattle is beginning to get a bit of a rep as a cocktail town, and the cocktails at bohemian failed, terribly.
October 16, 2008 at 7:53 am #643371
JanSParticipantguess it’s really subjective….what you like I might hate, and vice versa. Or maybe my tastes are just a bit more plebian than others, who’s to say? But..your experience wasn’t good, cjb’s wasn’t good…and I have talked with people who absolutely loved it.
It’s a new place, and I’m sure that there are kinks to be ironed out. I haven’t been yet, but will try it out on Friday evening. I can guarantee you that I”m not a food snob. So I’ll let you know what I think.
I loved Spring Hill, everything about it. Others disagreed…too cold, too noisy..too snobby. I thought the food was great.
No one on here ever talks about what I think is the very best restaurant in West Seattle bar none…The Phoenicia…but if you don’t like mediteranean food, you might not agree…yes, it’s all subjective.
October 16, 2008 at 8:48 pm #643372
angelescrestParticipantI love Phoenicia: oh, that dipping sauce! And Ephysis (sp) last night was–and has always been–wonderful in our opinion. (How do you spell it?)
October 16, 2008 at 8:52 pm #643373
CaitParticipantEphesis, I believe. I just remember being 15 and drunk and laughing at that sign for a long time, trying to pronounce it. It’s biblical… which is a bit ironic given my little back story. But I’ve always wanted to go there – it looks cozy!
October 16, 2008 at 8:55 pm #643374
CaitParticipantOne thing I can say about the Bohemian is that the folks that run it are fantastic! If you’re reading – hello from Cait, you’re favorite ceramic cup dealer! I’ll be in very soon! :)
October 16, 2008 at 9:21 pm #643375
beachdrivegirlParticipantPersonally for drinks and apps I think the Bohemian rocks! I personally love the coffee shop turned wine bar vibe that I got when I ate and drank there. Its my personal preference sounds like CJ and Vincent just perfer a different vibe of a bar when they go out.
October 16, 2008 at 9:48 pm #643376
vincentMemberbeachdrivegirl: Beato’s wine selection is amazing, and there flights are affordable and generous.
Jak’s of all places has an excellent wine selection as well, again with generous pours.
This is starting to turn into the direction of the ultimate cop out of *agree to disagree* so lets stick to west seattle and break it out.
FOOD:
Ama ama has much better prep and pricing than bohemian.
WINE:
see above, beato and Jak’s are superior to the service and selection I saw.
COCKTAILS:
West 5 is a pretty good gold standard for the neighborhood. Shadowland is making steps to serve real cocktails as well.
October 16, 2008 at 10:13 pm #643377
CaitParticipantMmmm Jaks. Every single birthday in my family is celebrated there. The skewers are TO DIE FOR. Although it took me a long time to quit ordering their amazing burgers. I’m a burger fiend. Not unlike Jughead. No joke. My boyfriend is the same way only with white russians, which he swears are absolutely the best at Jak’s. (It’s a strange way to judge a bar, but “how the white russian goes, so do the rest of their drinks” in his opinion.)
An hour and a half until I can go home and ya’ll have me hungry. THANKS! lol.
October 16, 2008 at 10:17 pm #643378
beachdrivegirlParticipantJaks is the best food and drinks (right behind La Rustica) in town. Ama Ama is great, too. For happy hour, brunch, and dinner. All great food. And IMO I thnk Beato’s food is mediacore at best. I tried it once after it wa recommended to me and was not impressed. I do agree they had better wine but if I need to eat to I would not go tot Beato.
October 16, 2008 at 10:44 pm #643379
cjboffoliParticipantbeachdrivegirl: In my case “vibe” has nothing to do with it. At the end of the day it has to do with the flavor, texture, freshness, creativity, and value of the food. I can overlook bad service (and admittedly the staff at the Bohemian can be forgiven for their opening week clumsiness). If something tastes good I’m going to go back. Nothing I had at The Bohemian makes me think it is worth going again. But with that said it looks like there are lots of people in West Seattle who love it. So maybe I’m not the demographic they’re after.
October 17, 2008 at 2:49 am #643380
swthistleMemberWe tried Bohemian last week. When we walked in we waited too long at the door before we were acknowledged by the waiter (as he was at the first table) felt a bit strange just standing there. He was the one who ended seating us and waiting on us, and he did a nice job. The room is cozy and warm, I thought how nice it would be for an Italian restuarant. We ordered the tapenade and cracker/breads. The olive tapenade just seemed oveerpowering with ? maybe fennel? the other one I’m not really sure what it was, and the quality of bread was poor. He ordered the steak it was good, the potatoes and asparagus tasted yummy it was a nice bistro style presentation. I ordered the lamb med rare and it was so overdone. But what was disappointing was the total lack of a dessert offering. We had the creme brule it was ok, but really no other option. They have taffy 25cents on their dessert list that seems strange. We also had a bottle of wine and a cappacino. We enjoyed being out that night, but this week on date night we didn’t go back. Another note: the waiter mentioned that was their slowest night since they had opened 3 weeks earlier.
Yes we are looking forward to Prost! opening soon. I wish Bohemian the best and we’ll try them out again in a few months.
October 22, 2008 at 5:50 am #643381
BonnieParticipantA group of us went tonight and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. We had a great time, great service, great food. It was hard to hear my friends across the table so the acoustics weren’t that great. My only complaint.
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