We had lunch at Ivar’s Salmon House in Seattle on Sunday, March 11 with my nephew, my brother, his wife, and some members of her family. It was a lunch to celebrate my nephew’s baptism. We had eaten at different locations of Ivar’s House of Clams, a fast food restaurant in the Puget Sound area. We had actually had dinner at the Tacoma location on Friday, March 9. I think I had the salmon fish and chips and my wife had the fried prawns. Ivar’s Salmon House is a larger and more expensive sit-down restaurant on the north side of Lake Union. I think it only has one location unlike Ivar’s House of Clams.
After attending my nephew’s baptism we made our way to the I-5 north. We crossed Lake Union and took exit 169 toward NE 45th Street/University of Washington. Right after exiting we turned a slight right onto 7th Ave. NE. We merged to the right lane and took the first right onto NE 42nd Street. We took the first right onto 8th Ave. NE, drove by some apartments and homes and took the second right onto NE 42nd Street. We turned left to go south on 7th Ave. NE. The next turn was confusing. We reached an intersection that had both a sharp right onto NE 40th Street and a further slight right onto NE 40th street. Following the Mapquest directions we took the further slight right. We took the first left onto 6th Ave. NE that runs directly under the I-5 freeway. 6th Ave. NE veered east and became NE Northlake Way and we found Ivar’s Salmon House on the left. I think that there’s also a more direct route that involved getting on the 405 east for just one exit.
There was a parking lot next to the restaurant that had one space available. Later my brother told me that there was also parking across the street. There were some totem poles and flags near the entrance. The restaurant is built to look like an American Indian long house or clan house I think they were called. The designs on the outside and inside indicated Tlingit or other Pacific Northwest or Southeast Alaskan Indian tribes. It was a very large restaurant with multiple rooms and different levels. From the windows were great views of Lake Union and Downtown Seattle on the other side of the lake. The entrance area was decorated with large maps of Puget Sound.
They seated us at a long table in one of the large rooms. It was around 11 a.m. and they were having their Sunday Brunch Buffet. That was what we all planned to have. They took our drink orders and I believe that most non-alcoholic drinks only cost $1 during the buffet. Cocktails cost $3-$5 and included some mocktails. The buffet cost $29 per person and was set up in a long hall between the entrance and the room where we sat. There were many foods to choose from: lots of seafood, traditional breakfast foods. I think they also made omelets to order. At one station you could coat fruit such as strawberries, grapes, and pineapple slices in chocolate fondue.
The food choices also included corn beef hash, Mediterranean orzo with artichoke hearts, potato and onion hash, sushi, prime rib sliced to order, pork with prosciutto, quinoa salad, curried potatoes, Caesar salad, bacon, sausage, egg strata, pizzas, and mini Reuben sandwiches. The seafood included Dungeness crab legs in the shells, steamed crab, mussels, cod, and fish and chips. I had five different kinds of salmon: spicy alder-smoked blackened, salmon kabob with mushrooms and tomatoes, teriyaki-glazed salmon belly, coho side, and salmon lox. I think my favorite was the teriyaki-glazed salmon belly. Among other things my wife had salmon pesto pizza and clam chowder. After 2-3 trips through the buffet we were well sated.
After spending around an hour there we left Ivar’s Salmon House and took another complex series of directions to get back on the I-5 south. We had some difficulty merging into the left lane of 7th Ave. NE to turn left onto NE 45th Street. Ivar’s Salmon House is a bit hard to get to but it’s worth it.
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