FlintCreek Cattle Co — Restaurant in Seattle

I really wanted to like this place more than I did, especially since I made reservations for my husband's birthday. First time here and not sure if I'd go back. The customer service was 5 star but the food brought it down.

Dog friendly: No Family friendly: Yes Parking: Yes - small lot behind the building, street parking, and paid to park lots around the restaurant.

FOOD:

1. Small Plate - Venison pate, English pickle relish, pickled shallot, radish herb salad, grilled baguette $15: I was super excited to see pate on the menu but was very disappointed. The pate was cold and firm so it wasnt spreadable. My husband dubbed it meatloaf pate :( Taste wise, it didnt actually taste like anything which was great if you wanted to really taste the pickled shallot and herb salad (which were very good).

2. Small Plate - Lamb & Marjoram Sausage, green tomatoes, raclette fonduta, potatoes, truffled cabbage slaw $15: This was definitely not something I would order again. The sausage was very dry and wasnt very flavorful, the slaw didnt taste like truffles at all, and the potatoes lack salt. If I had to pick one thing I liked about the dish it was the cheese.

3. Mains - New Zealand Elk Rack, grilled lacinato kale, cauliflower tapenade, olive oil, sea salt $48: The rack was served medium rare and it had a good texture - done but not chewy. I was slightly disappointed as it didnt taste like anything. I will say the kale was probably the best thing on the dish. The tapenade had a strong anchovy taste to it that overwhelmed everything on the plate.

4. Chops - 24oz Prime, 21 day dry-aged Delmonico, Moses Lake WA $85: Of everything we ordered, this was hands down the best thing. It came out exactly how we wanted, medium rare. This tasted amazing and glad the steak wasnt overly done. We did order the maitre d'hotel butter on the side and we were very glad we did. I tried the butter and trust me, it didnt add anything to the steak... if anything, I probably wouldnt have liked the steak at all if the butter was served to us on top.

DRINKS:

1. Old Fashion - buffalo trace bourbon, pedro ximenez, angostura, orange peel, fig $15: I love an Old Fashion and they did it right here. Everything was on point with the cocktail but I dont understand the fig LOL

2. Holy Mountain "White Lodge" Wit $8: Taste like beer LOL The first glass my husband order had some weird floating greenary that obviously didnt belong. My husband only noticed half way through the drink. Our waitress was nice enough to get us a replacement on the house.

SERVICE: The service from the time we spoke with the hostess to the end of dinner was amazing. Carrier, our waitress, was probably one of the best service I've ever seen. She was always tentative, making sure to spot by our table throughout our meal to check on us, without being overly bearing. She was very aware of the area as we only had to make eye contact and she would step over to us. We've experienced too many times, at too many different restaurant where the wait staff completely ignores you or makes eye contact but keeps walking.

RESTAURANT/INTERIOR/LOCATION: Noise level: high Interior: dimly lite for ambiance, clean, very well organized. Has the main floor and a half floor above for additional seating. Parking: is a nightmare around there. If you get lucky, you'll snag one of their parking in their small lot behind their building. Free street parking is hard to come by that we only tried to do one lap before we just gave up and went to one of the...

Modern yet classic steakhouse with minimal pretense and a bustling atmosphere. Food was hit and miss, especially at the price point.

Excellent cocktails, good wine. Our server gave great details on the prep of the dishes we were interested in as well as offering a complimentary bread service as things were a bit slow--that wasn't their fault, we showed up ten minutes early for a late reservation. Our server also recommended a mezcal white negroni, which was a phenomenal drink.

Scallop plate was exceptional, bright flavors and a fantastic crust. Perfect cook, tender, juicy and flavorful throughout. Asparagus was excellent; zataar sauce was a nice contrast to the bright tang of the goat cheese. However, asparagus, though apparently grilled, was served stone cold, which felt out of place.

For mains, we ordered the 24oz 21-day dry aged Delmonico and the wild boar gnocchi.

Wild boar was stringy and tough, albeit immensely flavorful and the gnocchi were both texturally excellent with a strong sear on one side and pillowy interior, while retaining a light flavor and seasoning. Flavor development and seasoning were fantastic, but held back by the toughness of the protein.

And for the steak, a $90 cut that I hoped would be the star of the show... Meh.

Three things to say here: first-- the compound butter topping the steak generously was delightful, some element of citrus zing with a smokey richness that made complimented the char on the steak itself. The seasoning of the steak overall was fantastic, bold while retaining complexity. The crust and char was excellent, lending a textural element in a satisfying crackle alongside a rich and smoky flavor.

However, this leads me to my second point. The steak was poorly cooked. The outer half inch to inch band was overdone, tough, gray, and less than pleasant. I highlighted this to the server, who had me cut into the center to verify that closer to the middle and to the bone on the cut was an ideal medium rare cook, juicy and delicious. That much was fantastic, delightful, but I'm looking for a sharper gradient. It's a thick (almost 2 inch) cut, and difficult to achieve an even edge to edge cook, but again, at the $90 price point, I expect excellence.

Finally, I strongly believe we received a bone-in NY strip. As an astute reader might notice, I mentioned a bone. To my knowledge, a Delmonico cut is traditionally a boneless ribeye. With the thick pats of butter on the steak and my own uncertainty as to the cut, I didn't recognize the steak for a non-ribeye until after I had eaten enough to feel uncomfortable complaining about it. But the Delmonico is a $40 upcharge from the New York strip. If what I got was 24oz, even of a very esoteric bone in Delmonico, I would be floored--it was at most 14-16oz. On the flip side, the portion was a VERY generous cut if it was in fact the 12oz New York strip as I suspect, which only makes me sad that I doubt I got the full Delmonico experience I was looking for.

All in all, excellent service (although our server didn't call out the difference between a NY strip and a ribeye himself, so...), and inconsistent food. Excellent at its best, but mediocre at points, and for a meal for two that rang in at ~$230 before tip, I...

Stumbled upon this place after trying to eat at a Pub that apparently didn't have a cook for the day. My partner and I walked in and immediately thought it was too fancy for a casual night out. They have a nice ranch theme but not like a cliche ranch just that vibe with the decorations and pictures. Dimly lit, so it's perfect for date night and not too loud for a restaurant with a full bar. We sat down and had a lovely waitress that was very knowledgeable of the menu and answered all of our questions with a what looked like a smile under her mask. 😀

We weren't sure what to get so we took a couple of recs from her. We ended up getting what was a sort of sweet and savory charcuterie plate with some nice Spanish ham, pistachios glazed peaches and not sure what kind of cheese in the middle but it was all very balanced. Not too sweet, not too salty. Next we ordered our mains. I had the rack of elk, she had a veggie pasta. The elk comes medium rare. I thought it would bee too rare for me but it was perfect! If you have never tried elk before, I would suggest this place for any first timer that is hesitant to try game meats. It was very tender, moist, well seasoned and overall a very well balanced dish. It came on abed of steamed greens and topped with a nice fresh olive tapenade. The pasta was also very good with a nice variety of mushrooms and fresh veggies. It side to go with the meal was the cheesy grits. The were perfect pairing for the rack. Cheesy, flavorful but not greasy or burnt. I've had some bad grits before and these were definitely the best I've had. Desert was a banana split on some chocolate lava cake with Caramel glazed walnuts muah

Besides the price, which came out to about $200 with drinks and tip included, I'd say this place is a solid 5 stars. Great service, great drinks and great food. Also it's nice to know where the meats you are eating come from and that's one of the things they make sure their customers are aware of....