Shaker + Spear — Restaurant in Seattle

We went to Shaker + Spear for the first time for a birthday dinner after hearing many good reviews. We got there on a rainy Seattle evening, and the host was prompt to get our table set up, and we were given a nice corner (glad I'd made a reservation). It was a busy Friday evening and the atmosphere was very noisy but bearable. We were seated close to other tables, and I noticed how close the tables are with backbench seats. Ben was our server that night, and we truly enjoyed his candor and friendliness, he was well-versed in the menu and suggested various dishes that are must-haves.

First came the cauliflower steak which we really enjoyed. It was grilled well and balanced in flavor. Next came the oysters, and they were fresh and gone in seconds. The third dish was the grilled octopus, which was the first thing I wanted to order when we first saw the menu. It was well-charred and smoky, but it came out cold. The other thing we found was that it was overly salty for our liking. We later checked with the chef (more on that later), who told us they seeped the octopus with fish sauce that was condensed! Our server asked whether we needed a replacement for the octopus, but we decided not to, but gave feedback that it could be less salty. I think they definitely went overboard there. I get the need to give the octopus the needed unami, but I wonder whether they have tried their food before serving. We wish we had a bowl of rice, mashed potatoes, or bread to go with it, which would be perfect. Their famous truffle parmesan french fries came later; that were a tad saltier than we preferred, but they were hot and good.

For the entrees, we had the sole, scallops and the risotto. The sole was good, warm and crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside, only wish the portion was a bit more as it was gone in a couple of mouths. The scallops were fresh and cooked just right, maintaining the sweetness and softness of the meat. Unfortunately, for $40 you only got 4 scallops! Surely you have to give a couple more or have more sides to back it up. I saw a few other reviewers that felt the same way. The risotto was cooked al dente but was unfortunately bland, and the worst part of it all was the sheer amount of oil that was in the dish that you'll realize once you start digging into the dish. Just to give you an idea how much oil there is, it's about 6-7 tablespoons. We know that it's cooked with brown butter sage, but it was quite put-off.

The manager came by to help clear our dishes and we gave him feedback on the risotto. He offered to take the risotto off the bill since we didn't enjoy or finish it, which was a nice touch. We wanted to give feedback on the food, and he suggested that he can inform the chef to come by to talk to us. So she came over and we talked about the octopus and the risotto. Throughout the conversation, we felt she was defensive with a forced smile and insisted that the dishes were prepared as expected. Nowhere in the conversation did we feel she could have offered a bit of sympathy for us not having a better experience with the food..

Our server reminded us that dessert is on the house for our birthday occasion, and we went for a palate cleanser to finish the night with the pricky pear dessert. It was floral and delicious, but unfortunately so sweet and we wished it was much lesser. We each shared it but did not finish.

Overall, we like the service; the atmosphere was okay, but the food was overall disappointing when you have to spend over $200 for a 3-person meal. Last point: the manager didn't take the risotto off the bill as promised, but we did not want to make further...

The hype for this place was definitely misplaced. Here is my experience:

We had a dinner reservation for 6 people. Me and my wife showed up on time and wanted to sit. We were told that all 6 people had to be there in order to be seated. We told them the other 4 were walking towards the hotel and would be arriving shortly, however, they still refused to sit us and even went as far as to tell us that if they weren't there in 10 minutes they'd charge us the no show fee on our credit card and cancel our reservation. (FYI, they didn't have any other large party show up after us) Mind you we are also hotel guests.

You can imagine the bitter taste that left as we took our seats for dinner.

Not a good start!

We received our next surprise when our server (Ben. Phenomenal waiter by the way.) told us we'd have to order everything at once. I don't know about you but when you go out for a nice dinner and spend $500 you'd like to take your time and decide when to order the main course.

This wasn't a big deal per se but it was another turn off. Even ordering bread for the table had to wait for the whole order to be placed, thankfully, our server managed to convince the chef to allow us to order bread for the table ahead of time.

On the bread note. It always feels tacky, nickel and dime when a nice restaurant decides to charge for bread. Additionally, even though the menu claims this to be focaccia bread, it didn't taste nor look like focaccia. It felt more like sourdough.

On the food side of things; we enjoyed our meal. The items we ordered were all a decent bite but nothing to phone home about or make one want to come back for more. Some combinations didn't work, while others seemed like a waste of a side or a random choice.

As for the service. We had a great server, Ben. He weaved in and out perfectly and made the experience better than it would have been otherwise.

Overall, we didn't feel that the experience was worth it and won't be back next time...

I’ll start with the positive (the food), but you should know up front it was a bad experience. We started with the Charred Octopus which had great flavor but was a bit tough. For entrées, both the Scallops and the Duck Breast were amazing! Although only 3 scallops for $40 makes it quite overpriced. The server was nice and efficient but not very friendly and we barely saw him after ordering. The food was brought to the table by a woman we suspected might be an inexperienced food runner. Rather than stopping at each diner and describing the plate, she continued to circle around and mumble about the dishes towards no specific person or table. We had no idea whose dish she was describing, and then she just sort of faded off as she left the table. At the start, the waiter offered to track a bill for us and the other couple. As we concluded, the waiter brought the bill. This is where things got messy. Our bill was correct, so we paid. Then the waiter came and said he made an error. (He hadn’t.) He thought he “corrected” it, but instead added an item to our bill that was also already on the other couple’s bill. We pointed this out, and awaited another bill (identical to the first). But instead of simply voiding everything and starting over, the waiter tried to make some offset adjustment to the already processed incorrect bill (without any explanation or reconciliation). Then he disappeared. I asked for the manager, who to our surprise, was actually the “inexperienced food runner” we encountered earlier. She rudely argued the transaction, blamed their point-of-sale system, and thought it was silly to want itemized and credit card receipts for the transaction. A tad less arrogance and a smidge of customer service could have simply resolved this. So word of warning, enjoy the food but...