After having a great meal at Rondo, we decided to head over to Tamari Bar a couple of weeks later to try out Rondo's sister restaurant. We visited during Happy Hour, which is quite generously timed, going from 4:30-6PM, then again from 9PM to close. Each dish on their Happy Hour menu is a dollar or two cheaper than normal prices and I believe the portion sizes are the same as normal.
We got there about 5 minutes before opening and there was already a small line forming in front. Regular occurrence for Sunday dinner, or is it because of Sakuracon? At any rate, the restaurant kept filling up slowly and by the time we left at 5:30, it was super crowded.
Service is utilitarian but quick. The servers supply a menu with the daily specials, while the main menu is accessed via QR code. The restaurant doesn't have wifi, which kind of irks me. In my opinion, if a place requires internet to access the menu, then they should supply wifi.
Osaka Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry ($17) - It seems like a much smaller portion as compared to Rondo due to the plating. Firstly a bed of rice, medium grain but cooked perfectly, with shredded nori to add color and a slight umami. This is then topped with a fried chicken katsu. The meat is tender, in some portions almost similar to fish in flakiness and tenderness. It's breaded with breadcrumbs rather than panko and is crisp in the naked areas not covered by curry. For some reason, they either don't season or very very lightly season both the chicken and the breading, resulting in a flavorless combination, with the seasoning only coming from the sauces and toppings above. Firstly shredded mozzarella cheese, melted and stretchy. Then there's a ladleful of curry on top to melt the cheese. It's exceptionally flavorful with curry spices, filled with minced/ground beef that's robustly beefy rather than weaker grocery store ground beef flavor, and includes tomatoes and crushed almonds for their umami boosting properties. They drizzle ra-yu across the dish - a bit of complex smoky spicy and finally add fried garlic slices and fukujinzuke as palate cleansers. The main problems with this dish as follows - 1) Unseasoned chicken and breading. 2) Not enough curry for the entire dish. 3) They put the curry on top of the katsu, sandwiching it between the sauce and the moist rice - the liquid soaks into the breading and quickly diminishes the crunch factor (Note: the menu states "curry topped with crispy chicken cutlet" but in actuality it's the total opposite). I would pick the tonkatsu curry at Rondo over this one any day. (4/5)
Tamari Bar Poutine ($10) - Fries are nicely crisped up in the fryer then tossed with salt and nori flecks, giving lots of umami. I wouldn't say the fries are especially fluffy inside, but I think they work well in the dish, especially with the meat mixture on top. The topping is a spicy and fragrant chili oil and ground pork mixture, similar to what could be found in dandan noodles, but no mala. The oil soaks into the fries, making them orange and translucent. Parmesan is shaved on top, boosting the salt and umami further. Do I consider this a poutine? Not really, but it's really good! (5/5)
Wagyu Tendon Umami Shoyu Ramen ($16) - Deep, robust beef flavored broth to start, mixed with a lot of black pepper giving a peppery bite and some chili that gives some warmth and a burn down the throat on the first sip. The ramen is a little on the firm side, so the bounciness isn't quite there. Other than that, toppings include sliced garlic chives, napa cabbage, beef, and pork belly. The menu says they have beef tendon included (and only beef tendon), but there's definitely pork belly and no beef tendon... Both the beef and pork belly are exceptionally tender and basically fall apart in the mouth. The pork belly is fatty with some lean meat bits. Interestingly they score the fat. The beef comes thinly shaved in some portions, and basically fat with a thin veneer of meat in others. Sliced fried garlic gives a refreshing slight bitterness and sweetness to the dish. The ramen is served in a gigantic bowl - like over a foot across, taking up a lot of valuable table space. That's a superlative decorative choice that I don't think is necessary! (4/5)
The food at Tamari Bar is good, but they really need to work on their menu descriptions. It's bad when two out of the three dishes we ordered didn't really match what the menu said... Overall, I'd probably still pick Rondo over visiting Tamari Bar again.
As a side note, I'm wondering why Tamari Bar calls it "Area 206 Curry" but Rondo Calls it "224 Curry." According to the waitress, they are exactly the same. 206 makes sense to me since it's Seattle's area code, but 224?
Bathrooms - Two larger ones up the stairs. Not labeled except with headshots and pictures of men on one, and a woman on the other. read more