Sambar, Seattle: Chic Cocktails in a Cozy Seattle Setting
Search beside Le Gourmand in the Ballard area to find Sambar, Seattle, serving up cocktails, appetizers, and desserts in a chic but cozy venue. Due to its size, it's easy to miss the Market Street entrance to Sambar, Seattle but well worth the hunt.
Handcrafted cocktails are the star of the show at Sambar, with names as flavorful as the drinks they describe. The Passiflora holds gin, vermouth blanc, passion fruit, Batavia arak, and champagne; the Framboise d'Antan is made of rhum Agricole blanc, raspberry shrub, lime, and shiso. The Bete Brune's ingredients include amber rum, caramel water, fresh pineapple sirop, and orange bitters. A full wine list from neighboring Le Gourmand provides alternatives for non-cocktail drinkers and non-alcoholic drinks are available as well.
The limited menu focuses on small but complexly flavored dishes, like croque monsieur (miniature French grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) or tiny soufflés, such as the exemplary Souffle aux Orties, a twice-baked nettle soufflé accompanied by a lemon and shallot béchamel sauce and topped with Comte cheese. The soup and salad change according to the season, but always feature local ingredients. Regular customers often opt for the pomees frites, which are among the best in town.
Sambar's only flaw is its size, which is downright dinky: six small tables and some bar seating. In the summer, additional seating opens up in the backyard's highwalled garden area.
Spanish guitar music fills the air and, like so many restaurants, the art is produced by local artists. But it's been picked with a careful eye, contributing to the overall sophisticated feel of the venue. Other touches, such as cloth towels in the bathrooms or the hand-written bill, demonstrate the restaurant's attention to detail and its concern with providing its customers a unique experience that makes it a place for a special date or celebratory occasion.
HelloSeattle Tip: Sambar is not wheelchair accessible.
Posted on Mar 12, 2011 by Cat Rambo
