Roasted local carrots and fennel with yogurt

Bone marrow

Roasted trout

Braised pork shoulder 

Roasted mad hatcher chicken

Dinner party peeps

This third restaurant installment from Renee Erickson is another winner for Seattle. The Whale Wins is a picturesque open setting that promotes a wonderful dinner party experience. The menu advocates a meal that is to be shared with your friends for optimal enjoyment. Sharing is caring, right? The food is a compilation of seasonal vegetables and fresh local protein, wood fired and executed with Southern European and English influences.

Partaking in a family style meal, we ordered quite the collection.  Our first dish was the local roasted carrots and fennel served with yogurt. I’m a fan of the wood fired vegetables and wished I ordered more. There’s always next time though! The other starter was the Painted Hills bone marrow, which was pretty rich and succulent.

For the main shared dishes we got the trifecta of the roasted trout, braised pork shoulder with winesap apples, and the roasted mad hatcher chicken. I can’t speak for the party, but the main entrées performed very well. The roasted trout had a nice char and a citrus pop for a balanced taste. You can’t go wrong with the braised pork shoulder, and to couple it with apple, it made the perfect combination. The roasted chicken was good, but I definitely rank the trout and pork shoulder heads and shoulders above.

If you get excited like I do for the Boat Street Café and the Walrus and the Carpenter, then the Whale Wins will not disappoint.