Lotte Hotel Seattle: Charlotte Restaurant
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Welcome to the new Lotte Hotel Seattle! Lotte Hotel is the largest hotel group in Korea and is now expanding globally! The hotel in downtown Seattle is now home to one of the newest fine dining restaurants, Charlotte Restaurant! I had the opportunity to be invited as a guest to try out the menu before the hotel’s grand opening, which is scheduled for September 24th, 2020!The Charlotte Restaurant menu is heavily influenced by the Pacific Northwest. I will anticipate the menu changing as the season changes and incorporating the beautiful, fresh seafood and ingredients that our region has to offer. The restaurant is led by Executive Chef Alexander La Motte, who is in charge of the culinary program for Charlotte Restaurant. La Motte has over 15 years of culinary experience. He will combine his modern American style with Lotte tradition of using fresh and local ingredients.
The Atmosphere
When you first step off onto the 16th floor, you are greeted by what I believe to be the front desk for the hotel. Everyone who works here is so nice. Very polite and attentive. When you turn the left, you walk into the lounge portion of the restaurant. This seating area is wonderful for cocktails after work or night cap for when you are enjoying a stay at the hotel. Plenty of seating to go around and beautiful floor to ceiling windows to bring in all the natural light a panoramic views of the city.
From the lounge, you can continue to walk towards the actual sit down side of the restaurant. The decor of the restaurant may be a little different than what you’re used to for fine dining but also keep in mind, Charlotte Restaurant also service lunch and breakfast services too. The light hardwood tables and chair offer a warm welcome to all ages. I unfortunately did not get too many photos of the interior but overall, I didn’t mind it.
The Food & Service
Our servers came by and made sure our table was arranged with the appropriate silverware we needed for our dinner and this is when the magic began. First and foremost, I want to say that our server, Daniel, was phenomenal. He was so sweet and kind. He made sure our questions were answered if we had any about the menu, and eventually he warmed up to us and we began to get to know more about him. I highly recommend when you dine here, to ask for Daniel! Tell him Niki sent you :)
We started off with cocktails of course and the selection they had was great. The Smoking Barrel was a fun way to kick off the meal. The presentation is an influencers dream. Reason for being called Smoking Barrel is because it literally has smoke when they first bring it out to you. A smoke gun is used to add the smoked sage. Once the smoke is put into the cocktail, they put a glass covering over it and when they get to your table, they remove the cover and the smoke effect happens. When you take that first sip, the scent of the herbs with the taste of the Spanish Brandy blends well together. Along with the Brandy, this cocktail also includes amontillado sherry, mitro, pineapple demerara and smoked sage. Along with that, we also ordered a take on an old fashioned called Gold Fashion. This had Tottori Japanese Whiskey, saffron tincture, angostura, and black lemon bitter. I’m an old fashioned kind of gal and this one did not disappoint. I’ve actually never had Japanese whiskey before but this was so good. It was smooth and strong. It had the right bite and the right amount of spice.
There were so many starters to choose from and it was to choose but we ended up going for the dungeness crab and the mushroom soup that Daniel recommended to us.
The crab almost looked like a dip you would eat with either crackers or bread. Our bread didn’t come out on time for the crab for us to try it out together so we ended up having a taste without it. I will say, it was a very refreshing dish. Meaning, it didn’t have a saltiness or spice to it. You can taste the crab and the apples and the veggies. The puree under the crab was light and not overpowering. I almost forgot the squash was hidden away under the crab because that too, had a very subtle and light flavor to it.
The mushroom soup was fantastic. I like my soup base to be thick and this didn’t disappoint. Every spoon full was thick and creamy and held quite a bite of flavor. It was hearty and felt very homey as I continued to take each bite. The huckleberries were a nice add to balance the saltiness and the savory. I would have never paired the two in my mind but it worked here.
One of my favorite parts of dining is getting other smalls plates to share! Never going to pass up a chance to order more for the table to try! Another reason I did that is because the menu surprisingly didn’t have a choice sides to have with the main course, which was okay. I didn’t mind that.
In addition to our starters, we also ordered a pasta dish and the grilled octopus.
Anytime I see ‘squid ink’ anything on the menu, I have to get it. I’m not sure as to why. I’m probably attracted to the color of the squid ink when it’s mixed into pasta dough. It’s that deep, dark, black color that’s really beautiful when cooked with vegetables that are vibrant. It compliments each other nicely. The pasta itself was light and delicious. The citrus mixed in with the natural saltiness of the seafood was well balanced. What really made the dish for me was the serrano chillies. It had a really great amount of heat added to each bite. Don’t worry for all my non spice lovers, the heat was bearable and won’t have your tongue on fire :)
You can never go wrong with a grilled octopus and this was no exception. My favorite part is the extra crispy ends :) The octopus came with brussel sprout leaves, greek yogurt, and some figs. Eating each item alone was good but when you took a piece from each item not he plate and combined it into one bite, it’s an explosion of flavor in your mouth! And I’m not kidding. The flavors were all there. The tartness from the yogurt, with the veggies and the charred octopus just worked. Hands down, one of my favorite dishes of the night!
For the main course, we opted to get the Porterhouse steak for 2. Man oh man. You guys have no idea how much I loved this steak. You can tell it was been aged for a while and the seasoning was great. I caught a hint mustard or something along those lines and I was in heaven. It’s funny because when I eat steak anywhere else, I have to have my steak sauce on the sided. But the quality of steaks at fine dining restaurants are on a different level. The steak was cooked to a perfection, a nice medium rare. It also had the right amount go fat. I usually would cut my fat out but this Porterhouse didn’t need that. Every bite was tender and juicy. Because of the amount of fat that was on the steak, I never had a dry piece.
Like I mentioned earlier, there was not an option for additional sides for the main course but the steak did come with a plate filled with different components to combine into your delicious one bite. If I remember correctly, there was a celery puree, a streak of pureed veggies, mushrooms, charred broccolini, and a parmesan crisp. Take a piece from each category and put on your steak then BOOM! The flavor attack comes at you again! It’s genius. Such a fun way to combine different flavors that are great separately but are phenomenal when combined!
To end the night, we had to get dessert. If you ever go out to dinner with me, dessert is always a must :) The restaurant had a fairly large dessert menu to choose from which ranged from different cakes/pastries to ice cream and sorbet. I went ahead and got the chocolate velvet. This was a decadent, smooth chocolate mousse set on top of what looks to be chocolate ganache. Along with the chocolate mousse, you were give raspberry sorbet to help balance the richness from the mousse with the tartness from the sorbet. Honestly, I love raspberry and chocolate together so I couldn’t complain about the flavor combo. The mousse was really rich for me so I couldn’t finish it all but in small bites, it helped healed my soul and was delightful.
Fine dining is something I think everyone should experience at least once. You get to have an appreciate for the hard work and art put onto each plate. You may have noticed me talking earlier about how each dish had different components that when eaten separately, they taste great. However, when you combine each item of that dish into the perfect bite, the meal itself now feels more complete and you can taste everything how it was intended to taste. What I’ve come to learn about fine dining is about how all the details on the plate combined, gives you a flavor blast to your pallet that is unexpected. It’s not about how much is on the plate but more about the quality and ingredients. People may poke fun at how things are plated with streaks of sauces or how the portion sizes are too small, but to me, its about the individual ingredients and how well they all compliment each other. Every bite is worth it.
Not only was the meal fantastic but our service from the whole staff, including Daniel was great as well. If I could, I would request him every time for our dinner service because he was that great. He made us feel comfortable and relaxed. He had genuine conversations and we really got to know him as a person too. Some people were wearing suits and more dressed up than we were but Daniel didn’t make us feel out of place. Though he had his mask on, his smile and laughter was bright and he made us smile from beginning to end and we really enjoyed his company.
Charlotte Restaurant and Lounge overall was a phenomenal experience and I am so happy they are here. Opening up a business right in the middle of a pandemic is risky and scary but I hope for nothing but the best in Charlotte’s future! I cannot wait to come back to try them for breakfast and lunch!
And don’t forget, Charlotte Restaurant is located on the 16th floor of the Lotte Hotel in Downtown Seattle! Why not book a stay and enjoy a date night at this darling place! That doesn't sound like a bad staycation to me :)