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Review content:
Three of us headed to Brasa last night for dinner. It was raining steadily outside, and initially it was quite lovely to walk into the warm-toned atmosphere and simply get out of the rain. Then, we stood there. For about 3 minutes. Which doesn't seem like a long time, but when one is standing around in the middle of a restaurant dining room and there is no host/ess to be found, it seems like a loooooong time.
We were seated toward the back of the room in a beautiful large booth. Our waiter arrived within a minute to fill our water glasses and drop off menus. When a friend had a question about the presentation of one of the menu items (an appetizer: clams, chorizo, tomato, chickpeas, croutons), he appeared a bit stumped that there were clams on the menu, and then muddled through an explanation of how the dish was prepared. We finally learned that the clams were broth-based, and went forward from there.
We decided to forgo appetizers and salads to ensure adequate room was saved for dessert. I ordered scallops with quinoa in a fennel and citrus sauce, my friends ordered the Portuguese pig (clams, chorizo, bay scented potato, smoked paprika) and mussels (heirloom beans, caramelized sweet onion, crostini). The scallops were properly cooked, but one of the three (yes, only three little scallops arrived on my plate) had a distinctly fishy taste that told me it was past its prime. The quinoa was excellent with an earthy, nutty flavor; well-complemented by the citrus sauce. I was a bit undone at the cost of almost $10 per scallop, but sometimes that happens when dining out and I just know that for the future I don't need to order that particular dish again at Brasa. The mussels were apparently quite good, nothing really stood out that made the taste buds sing. The Portuguese pig was very salty and the salt overshadowed the rest of the ingredients to the point of overwhelming the entire dish.
Onward to dessert! We decided to try the molten chocolate cake with chocolate Chantilly. The cake arrived sharing the plate with what appeared to be a puddle of melted chocolate ice cream (I'll be honest, I was thinking ""What's with the goop on the plate?"") topped with candied orange peels. I later learned that Chantilly loosely translates into whipped cream, so we had chocolate cake with chocolate whipped cream. The cake was really, really good. As a lover of most things gooey, I sunk right into enjoying the molten loveliness. The Chantilly, well, it tasted like melted chocolate ice cream and actually took away from the overall presentation on the plate. The candied orange peels did not escape scrutiny and came up a bit bitter, as though the peel used was from a not-yet-ripe orange.
Overall, there are so many amazing spots in Seattle for dining that I doubt we'll be back to Brasa. In fact, we're thinking that next week we'll head for Icon Grill instead, where the decor is more interesting and the food is consistently good.
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