Before I officially close out our Pacific Northwest Adventure, as promised, I’m including our final day’s dining reviews, beginning with Matt’s in the Market.
Matt’s in the Market is a really highly regarded Seattle eatery. They’re open for lunch and dinner and is always packed. We arrived at Matt’s towards the tale end of the lunch crowd, around 1pm. Unfortunately, our first impressions weren’t so great. The hostess took our names down and quoted us a 30 minute wait, which was fine. She wasn’t, however, at all friendly, and we began to notice that she was friendly to everyone else that approached, and were often taking others with no reservations (that were just checking in at the time) immediately. I don’t want to make any accusations, but I feel that she was being racist. We were the only non-caucasians there, and when we were seated nearly an hour later, she had some other guy do it. Perhaps we should have just left? But we didn’t. Thankfully we got a table with a nice view of the market (above) and an outstanding server!
The restaurant itself, I should note, is actually pretty small, as are the tables. This wasn’t an issue for us, and thankfully I was able to fit my camera bag under the table, but it’s probably not a good idea to come here after raiding every stall at Pike Place Market. ?
Since the option was there, we started off with a couple of Rachel’s Ginger Beers.
Which was accompanied by our shared appetizer, the Deviled Eggs with Chef’s choice of accompaniments.
The eggs were perfect, and the toppings went well with them. They included Old Bay, anchovy, some pickled thing, pimento, onion, and smoked tomato. The smoked tomato was by far my favorite and deliciously eye opening.
For her entree, the wife ordered the Pork Belly Confit Bahn Mi.
This belly sandwich was topped with pickled carrots & daikon, fresno chilies, hoisin, cilantro, sambal mayonnaise, and accompanied by a side salad. It was a delicious bahn mi, though this type of sandwich (certainly not to this caliber) are very common back home in the islands.
For my entree, I went with the Dungeness Crab & Oregon Bay Shrimp Sandwich.
The brioche bun was topped with the crab, shrimp, 1000 island dressing, tomatoes, and shredded ice berg. For my side I chose the pear + mushroom soup, which was really tasty. The sandwich? Not so much. It actually costs MORE than my fantastic Dungeness Crab salad that was loaded with crab at Goldfinch Tavern, but barely contained any at all. To me it seemed like it was maybe 98% bay shrimp and 2% crab. The 1000 island dressing was also VERY liberally used, causing the sandwich to be very wet. Unsurprisingly it was also very difficult to eat and messy. Personally I’d avoid this menu item, as not only was it not all that great, but the value was very poor.
But despite the atrocious start to our meal and the disappointment with my sandwich, Matt’s in the Market is a solid option. Takeaways from this experience are to make a reservation and avoid the crab & shrimp sandwich. Would definitely try again, especially for dinner.
Our PNW Adventure
- Flight Review: Hawaiian Airlines HNL-PDX
- Hotel Review: Portland Marriott City Center
- Dining Review: Isabels Cantina
- Oregon Rail Heritage Center + Bridges
- Salt & Straw + Portland City Grill
- Tillamook Cheese Factory + Cannon Beach
- Council Crest Park
- Dining Review: Nicholas Restaurant SE Grand
- Dining Review: Blue Star Donuts
- Columbia River Gorge
- Draper Girls Country Farm
- Dining Review: Tasty n Alder
- Dining Review: Olympia Provisions
- Dining Review: Le Bistro Montage and Pix Patisserie
- Review: Amtrak Cascades, Portland to Seattle
- Hotel Review: Seattle Marriott Waterfront
- Pike Place Market + Post Ally Gum Wall
- Dining Review: Spur Gastropub
- Day Trip to Vancouver
- Dining Review: Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar
- Boeing Factory Tour
- Museum of Flight
- The Crab Pot and Rachel’s Ginger Beer
- Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room + Serious Pie
- Dining Review: Goldfinch Tavern (and Chihuly Garden & Glass)
- Final Day in Seattle
- Dining Review: Matt’s in the Market
” I don’t want to make any accusations, but I feel that she was being racist.”
Well, you’re making an accusation right there.
Also – Matt’s is the last place in Seattle to feel, as a Caucasian, that you’re treated by a “racist”.
Be fortunate you got into Matt’s without a reservation instead of whining who sat you.
To be clear, lopere, I don’t take accusations/incidents like this lightly. As I’ve stated in my post, many others without reservations were being taken ahead of us, despite arriving after us, and in some cases, quite a while after us. The hostess’ demeanor was very different with us compared to other patrons. Do I have proof that she is actually racist? No, but if you’re being treated completely different from everyone else and the color of your skin is different from everyone else, it isn’t hard to connect the dots. I’m sure if you, or anyone else were in a similar situation, you’d feel the same way.
I have zero tolerance for prejudice, though it something that is, unfortunately, still very common. Even here in the Aloha State.