BOKA Restaurant Review

BOKA Kitchen and Bar. The First and Madison location makes BOKA a convenient spot for dinner before doing just about anything in Seattle. The contemporary, sleek design gives BOKA a distinctly modern feel. General Manager and Sommelier Marc Papineau runs the front of the house masterfully, while new Executive Chef Angie Roberts puts forth an urban American menu. BOKA is also popular for happy hour and urban bites with the young, hip after work crowd and then again after dinner.

BOKA Kitchen and Bar Basics:
BOKA is located next to Hotel 1000 at:

1010 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 357-9000
Reservations at OpenTable.com

• Brunch: Saturday–Sunday, 8am-2pm
• Lunch: Monday–Friday, 11am-2:30pm
• Dinner: Sunday–Thursday, 5pm-10pm; Friday–Saturday, 5pm-10:30pm
• Happy Hour: Monday–Friday, 3pm-6pm & 10pm-midnight
• Parking: Valet parking available for $9.50
• Cuisine: Urban American
• Cost: Dinner with an appetizer, one drink, and dessert is about $50 before tax and tip.
• Full bar service, wine list (ask to see Marc’s List)
• All major credit cards accepted

BOKA Overview

BOKA serves as lounge, bar and restaurant adjacent to Hotel 1000. The modern design and unique layout give off a trendy vibe great for young urbanites looking for a chic spot for a dinner date. It feels a little like it should be in L.A. or at least in Belltown, but the crowd varies widely with Seattleites of all stripes. A younger crowd fills the bar for both happy hours (3pm-6pm & 10pm-midnight).

Marc Papineau, General Manager and Sommelier, makes the dining experience excellent with a great attitude. He is extremely helpful in choosing a bottle of wine or an entrée. Ask to see Marc’s List for an ever-growing eclectic selection of some of his favorite bottles.

Our server was also upbeat and helpful. We were in one of the back booths next to the walls that change color, and she passed by our table often – checking by glance if we needed her attention without disrupting our meal when we didn’t. Her attitude really fit the vibe of the restaurant.

BOKA Urban Bites

BOKA features a unique selection of culinary creations called urban bites, all for $5 or less. Each bite comes with two per order. The signature item is Dungeness crab cup cakes with a delicious crème fraîche frosting. Make sure to order at least one for everyone at the table. Blinis and caviar are also popular – we overheard a neighboring table placing a double order as we left. The thai-spiced chicken lollipops taste like chicken meatballs to me, but everyone seems to love them and they come with a pretty good peanut sauce.

BOKA Plates and Starters

The classic appetizer-sized dishes are called BOKA Plates, while soups and salads come from the starters section of the menu. Cider Braised Pork Belly ($9) delights with a generous portion or tender and tasty pork belly. The combination of pork, cider, and apples is excellent, and reminded me of the suckling pig from the Dining Room at Salish Lodge. The spicy and flavorful chili & garlic rapini (broccoli raab) was an excellent accompaniment.

Sashimi VO5 ($10) could have had more flavor. The fish was top quality, but the dish was somewhat bland. Onion Soup ($4/$7) is a delicious classic with a broth soaked baguette and gruyere cheese. BOKA has a number of salads including an intriguing Baby Vegetable Salad ($8) with beets, carrots, turnips, cipolini onions, micro greens and a Meyer lemon truffle vinaigrette.

Rarely is the bread worth mentioning, but we really enjoyed it at BOKA. The potato bread came with both an olive oil butter and a balsamic vinegar jelly. It was an interesting play on traditional olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and absolutely sensational.

The Main Course at BOKA

The Maple Brined Pork Chop ($24) is perfectly cooked to juicy perfection. The large pork chop sits on a palate-pleasing parsnip puree. The flavor of the pork chop is greatly enhanced by the grain mustard butter. Juniper Crusted Venison Chops ($29) were tasty, but a bit overcooked towards the outside for medium-rare. The middle pieces were perfect and delightful.

Although we did not try any seafood at BOKA, I have heard great things about it. Halibut and salmon are not in season and were not on the menu, but they are sure to appear later this year. The current menu features Chatham Day Boat Cod ($23) with Penn Cove mussels, Pan Roasted Diver Scallops ($29), and Wild Striped Bass ($25).

BOKA Sweets

The dessert at BOKA is very good. Chocolate & Espresso ($8) and Meyer Lemon Trio ($8) come highly recommended. The molten dark chocolate cake is divine with the espresso chip ice cream. The lemon trio includes an amazing semolina cake, honey lemon madeleines, and a Meyer lemon yazi ice. The lemon flavor gets progressively stronger from the subtle semolina cake to the bold yazi ice.