Coho Cafe: Funky Atmosphere, Good Food
Tucked away in Redmond's Bella Bottega Shopping Center, the Coho Cafe serves up food and drinks in an eclectic northwest-themed setting. The restaurant shares parking with the shopping center, so the lots can get crowded in the evenings.
Between the outside area and the ample confines, Coho Café can seat a large number of customers. Like most Eastside restaurants, though, it can get busy and a spacious bar area provides a place to while away the wait or just enjoy their happy hour, which runs 3 pm to 6 pm and then from 9 pm to closing each day.
The dimly-lit restaurant is funkily decorated with light features adorned with forks and a salmon-studded blue and copper color scheme that makes it feel like fine dining without a formal chill. Attention to detail has gone into making the restaurant appealing and comfortable, and while it can get noisy when busy, it provides enough space that you never feel jostled or crowded.
The menu, which changes with the season, features Pacific northwest food such as pit roasted salmon with fried caper beurre blanc and seafood mixed grill with a lemon vermouth glaze. Try ordering a variety of the small plates, such as the edamame with spicy sambal sauce, roasted green chile corn waffles, and coconut prawns, along with bowls of the seafood bisque for an alternative, but just as filling, meal.
A dessert based on 'smores sounded promising, but turned out disappointingly dry and unappealing. Much more was delivered by the molten chocolate lava cake and Key lime burnt crème.
A selection of Northwest wines rounds out the menu, featuring local names such as Chateau Ste. Michelle, Columbia Crest, and Horse Heaven Hills. Wine lovers may want to check out the Monday night specials, when bottled wines are half price.
Service is unobtrusive and diligent, and the restaurant is family friendly, treating kids with the same courtesy it extends to its older diners. A children's menu, including grilled salmon and chicken breasts as well as peanut butter and jelly and grilled cheese sandwiches, is available.
For a pleasant after-dinner walk, head three blocks west to the Sammamish River Trail, which winds along the Sammamish River. Go south to walk past Redmond City Hall and its gardens and sculptures or north for a plainer vista.
The restaurant has a second location in Issaquah, which serves a Sunday brunch that includes dynamite Eggs Benedict and French toast.
HelloSeattle Tip: Combine dinner at Coho with a movie at the nearly Bella Bottega Regal Cinema in order to buy your tickets at a discount at the restaurant.
Posted by Cat Rambo
