5. Oceanaire Seafood Room

i love fish and every time i move to a city, i would seek out and seriously survey the seafood restaurants. as i moved to seattle 2 months ago i began my research and dined at no less than 6 "listed" seafood restaurants (listed as listed in Frommers, Foders) and i have to say, for the City of Seattle, the best seafood restaurant is Oceanaire. the other restaurants not even coming close to it. below is one experience i had last night. walked into the place after shopping, i asked to be seated at the bar by myself. the head waiter was extremely friendly and set me up at the corner of the bar, quiet and good privacy as there were only a couple of guests seated 10 feet from me. i chatted with the spanish speaking amigos for advice "what is good?". per their advisement, ordered 6 Vancouver Is. oysters. (wow!! one of the best i ever tasted, absolutely fresh, sweet, definitely no fishy smell and served right - just a lemon and some light sauce on the side). i then ordered additional six fresh WA mussels. it was served cold but cooked just right! perfectly served with no animal fat ala butter, cheese or cream. just a dash of lemon. amazingly good food. the main course was Hawaii Tuna fresh served Sashimi style. fish was freshly flown in from the Hawaii Islands same day morning (per advisement of the waiter). you can taste the freshness and sweetness of the fish. serving/cooking style was absolutely right, a dash of light low sodium soya sauce, lemon and wasabi on the side. this chef knows his cooking stuff. the waiter, Mike and Ramon were totally knowledgable about food and advised me of good choices. finally, i love the ambience, very solid, traditional american style ambience with Sinatra, Bennett, Dorsey, Ella as background music. i will do more research of other seattle seafood places but so far, this one is the BEST of Seattle. for such a great meal, add in taxes and 20% tip, my bill came to $68- (just water, no wine or drinks). i think this is 'cheap' for such high quality food in the center of the city.

My first choice whenever going to a concert at the Paramount. The food is phenomenal and the choices are fabulous. Only eaten in the bar (full dinner) and the service was great.