I've got another foodie post for you all, this time reviewing my recent experience at Opus Co. in Greenwood located in Seattle. Whenever I go to a restaurant or look at their menu online, I like to see if they have a tasting menu, or chef's choice, as I feel that's one of the best ways to enjoy what a restaurant has to offer. Opus Co. has been on my list recently and I did notice they had their own sort of tasting menu, the Opus Feast, and for $55/person (which is very good for a tasting menu), we had to go for it!
This restaurant caught my eye, mainly because a new friend from San Jose told me about it, but also because this restaurant sources locally and are seasonally driven. This place is much smaller than I thought it'd be so I would highly recommend making a RSVP. We sat down and ordered drinks and of course ordered the Opus Feast for the table. I would also recommend the wine pairing for an additional $30 as you get a pour for each course and get to sample local varietals. Our feast consisted of 8 different dishes which I'll break down below!
1) Lamb spam, smoked ham, pickled pork belly: I couldn't really tell that the spam meat on the bottom was made out of lamb but it was good either way. This dish reminded me of the traditional appetizers you get at Chinese restaurants for weddings or parties that serve the cold meats and jellyfish, but this time the jelly fish was a pickled pork belly of sorts with better quality meats. I enjoyed the smoke ham the most with the mustard on top.
2) Spinach salad with sauteed oyster mushrooms, medium boiled egg, and quinoa: Everything about this salad was so good, even the taste/texture of the spinach. It felt like the greens were heartier. The mushrooms were sauteed in a sweet sauce and the dressing of the whole salad was on the tart side, so it made for a well balanced dish in flavor and texture.
3) Halibut over kasu "risotto", grilled bok choy, and poached pears: Another well prepared dish with a mix of Asian flavors and fun textures. The halibut was cooked perfectly and placed over a kasu (sake lees sort of like fermented rice bits) that was mild in flavor and worked so well with the sweet poached pears. The grilled bok choy was a nice touch of flavor and texture and the first time I've had bok choy grilled! That's definitely a way I want to try to cook bok choy next time.
4) Crispy rice with pork belly bits and black bean sprinkles: If you've ever gone to Chinese or Korean restaurants where they bake the rice in a stone pot and you wait for the crispy rice at the bottom, that is what this dish basically is, but all the way around! Aka, the best part of the rice. It was paired with the dish below but had some bits of pork belly inside along with a black bean sprinkle and pickled veggies on top.
5) Mole lamb sausage with pickled carrots and beans: The flavor of this lamb sausage was complex as it was mixed with mole, a type of savory chocolate sauce found in traditional Mexican cuisine, but it wasn't over powering. It wasn't gamey at all, which lamb can tend to be, and it had a nice texture to it. It paired well with the crispy rice served above.
6) Pork shoulder with leeks (forgot the dressing/sauce): The above was our last dish and as pork shoulder tends to be, it was a tender cut and prepared well. Pork in general isn't my favorite (unless it's pork belly) so this wasn't a dish I would order myself but I'm glad it was on our tasting or else I would have never tried it.
7) Chinese vinegar pudding with pralines and meringue & 8) Peanut butter ice cream and chocolate tarte: The next two dishes were desserts that came at the same time. First off, let's talk about the Chinese vinegar pudding - wow wow wow. The flavor was great as you can taste the intensity of the reduction that happened beforehand and how it was not in a jelly form. It wasn't overly strong or sour, just right. It was a welcoming familiar flavor. The other dessert was a peanut butter ice cream with chocolate and really, you can't go wrong with that combination!
Overall, I had an AMAZING experience and would highly recommend this place, especially for their Opus Feast. The staff was warm and friendly and the food was amazing (oh yeah and the wine too, of course). Walking in to a meal may be difficult so I highly recommend RSVP'ing ahead of time, especially for larger groups, though I would say 4 is the max you would want to go with as the place is small.
Do you guys enjoy tasting menus? What are your favorite kinds?
-Kirstie
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