Portage Bay Cafe - South Lake Union — Restaurant in Seattle

This is a super popular brunch place, but I've found it relatively easy to get reservations, even just a few hours beforehand. We've been twice and entrees that come with a trip to the breakfast bar where you can add fresh as well as macerated fruit, mmm whipped cream, and nuts to your dish are fantastic. This includes things like pancakes (not crispy, but a good balance between fluffy and cake-y, you get two), Swedish pancakes with lingonberry, and classic or bananas foster French toast (three big pieces, but according to some reviews it used to be four). On the downside, prices are high for the quantity of food that you get, and for the savory items I've tried that comment unfortunately extends to the quality of the food. The wait for entrees has been half an hour both times that I've eaten here. Their tex-mex options look okay, but the pork belly benedict and mushroom scramble I've had were supremely disappointing. The pork belly pieces are pretty small and lacked every reason that cut has become so popular - dry and not at all unctuous. For $16.50, you should get something a little more special than what would be even meh bacon. And the mushroom scramble. God, I regret ordering it while my husband had yummy banana cream pie pancakes. For $14 and a promise of cultivated/foraged mushrooms, I got mushrooms with no browning that were indistinguishable from boiled baby bellas. I also would have liked for there to be more kale, less shallot. The best thing I can say about the dish is that the eggs weren't overcooked. I so longed for the earthy aroma of mushrooms but it was nowhere to be found, due to the boiled-like cook on the mushrooms and the tragic lack of seasoning. I don't need much salt in my food, but we honestly wondered if the cook had forgotten it altogether. You can almost certainly make yourself a better scramble at home. Bottom line - stick with the breakfast...

Met friends for brunch at this busy place. The reviews looked great and I was so excited. My experience was not good. Very disappointing and a mixed bag of positives and negatives. Couple of positives - bustling atmosphere and large portions. I ordered the lavender blueberry mimosa- they were out. There is a fruit bar- but you only get to go there with an order of waffles or pancakes. Our waitress was very busy and did not try to hide it. She was not helpful and very short- how dare we have questions that slowed her down! I ordered the Crab Cake Eggs Benedict. While the crab cake itself was crunchy and crabby- in a good way…the eggs were over cooked and there was very little hollandaise sauce so it ate very, very dry. It came with a side of potatoes- they were actually quite good. I initially ordered a side salad but they only offered one type of dressing- a vinaigrette- which didn’t really go with my meal. One salad dressing??? A bit surprised by that…one of my table mates got the banana foster French toast with a side of bacon and it looked very yummy- she was pleased. We also had The Buddha Bowl- no tofu or eggs- added salmon with a side pancake- The salmon looked very fresh. And lastly- The Farmers Mash- which looked like a strange mix of veggies and potatoes. It did not look appetizing and my lunch date didn’t eat but a couple of bites. Oh- and if you want to split the check- they only allow 2 cards per table. A bit inconvenient. All in all- not a good first impression but I would give it...

UPDATED - 06/2023 We went back and this place kills it every time. The food, service, vibe all were awesome! This time we grabbed a "Dave's Loaded Pancake" and the "Shakshuka". Both were fantastic — the savory loaded pancake had a fried egg inside of it and had a great balance between sweet and savory. The Shakshuka was spot on with the flavor and spices. Highly recommend trying this restaurant!

ORIGINAL REVIEW - 07/2022 For those who don’t like to read — this restaurant is where you need to go. Food/Service/Music are awesome. The “Migas” with chorizo added was perfectly seasoned (which doesn’t happen often) and the “Oatmeal Cobbler French Toast” was brilliant.

After searching blogs/reviews for good breakfast spots in Seattle, and not finding many with interesting options, we ran across Portage Bay.

And for my last day in Seattle I am glad we did.

The place was busy, the music and vibe of the restaurant was fun, and for the first time I noticed a restaurant staff that were having a great time. Not the forced, you have to smile and wear the minimum amount of flair on your uniform kind of experience. A few other restaurants we tried in the area did not have this kind of energy/chemistry.

Our server, Joey, nailed it. Thoroughly answered questions about the menu, gave us some time to look it over, great attention to coffee levels and noticing/offering to replace a napkin that fell off of someone’s lap.

Definitely worth it. Absolutely trying this place again. The menu is loaded with...