Best food near me in Mercer Island, WA

From the moment I walked in the experience was welcoming, efficient and thoroughly enjoyable. A bartender greeted me warmly as I walked past the bar to my table. The staff were uniformly cheerful and helpful. A bottle of water was delivered to my table immediately together with drink menu. My server, Daniela, was solicitas and took great care of me. Care was taken to explain items place in Peruvian culture. My choice of classic Peruvian Sour cocktail was delicious and I was told is traditionally delivered for its sour taste before moving to wine, which I did with a selection from the very good wine list. I ordered the cebiche sampler of 3 cebiches and all were fresh and delicious. It was my introduction to the explosion of flavors on my palate, which was consistent the entire evening. I had the Criollo, a stunning small plate (the servings are all ample), of sushi grade hamachi in a amarillo (yellow) sauce served with plantain chips. Absolutely excellent. On another recommendation I tried the beef empanadas and found them lovely, also incredibly flavorful. The pastry was perfect. My main dish was Arroz con Pato (Rice with Duck) that was prepared to perfection as well. The duck was crispy on the outside skin and fall off the bone tender inside. The rice was risotto-like, and a joy to eat. As Daniela explained their Tres Leches i’d not like others, to which i thought “yeah,yeah”, but as was the case all evening she was correct in hr description and recommendation. The cake is processed into corn kernel sized bits and made into a little mountain topped with a meringue and accompanied by fruit sauces. The process ensures the cake is saturated by the milks. Different and fabulous as was my coffee with milk. A great dinner and experience—Genial! We’ll return.

Had the lobster sandwich and would definitely order it again. I’ve had lobster sandwiches before and was never impressed by them but at Water Grill I found a true lobster roll sandwich that was filled with at least 1.5 to 2 lobster tails. It is a definite reorder!! We also ordered the California Spiney Lobster and that was a clear winner too. The fries that come with the lobster roll had to be substituted for mashed potatoes because the fries didn’t look right, but it was very pleasant to see our waitress recognize this was get us something else. The Spanish Octopus appetizer is a must try. I never had seared octopus but noticed it was a popular item in Spain so we had to try it here and it did not disappoint. Also, we found this to be an ideal spot for an adult birthday dinner as it doesn’t have the wild birthday singing but a subtle and pleasantly surprising birthday dessert.

Carmine’s is one of the best food experiences we have had in awhile! Service was exceptional, the lobster pasta special was a dream, the fillet with gnocchi was lovely. And the bread pudding was amazing. Thank you for a great evening. We will be back!

Hosted a party of 11 for lunch. Started with truffle fries and sweet corn + avocado dip for the table...delicious! Orders for lunch were also 5 star: Chicken burger, sushi, ribs, fish tacos, noodle bowl. All food came out at one time. Service was exceptional.

As usual, there were not many restaurants open close to where we live Christmas Day 2024. So I turned to my trusted app -- Open Table - which I could use to narrow down the day. Fofo de Chao sounded intriguing, so I booked one of the few openings -- 4:45PM. Around 3:30PM a 7PM time had opened up, so I cancelled the 4:45PM time AFTER I booked the 7PM time. That way, I was assured we had a time and our prior time was opened up for others. Because we had a reservation, we waited about 10 minutes to be seated. There were about 40 people in line, who we had to assume did NOT have reservations. Thank you, Open Table! We were seated close to the front window in a semi-private 2-person table, which we appreciated greatly. Our wait person Marsala could not have been more personable and professional. Because we had not eaten in the restaurant before, and because there was a special holiday presentation, Marsala explained to us how the entire process worked. Everything started with a self-service salad bar (like those that existed before Coid-19), which was pleasant. Large plates were available instead of the very small ones other venues offer. Once we were at out table, my wife and I were both given 2-inch-in-diameter paper discs. One side up indicated you were not ready for meats. Flip it, and a steady stream of carvers came to us offering different meats -- carved at the table and put on our plates. The meats were not overcooked, and overall were delicious. Our check, including an 18% (voluntary) tip on food+tax was $208. So at ages 80 and 84 on fixed incomes, we will be reserving Fogo de Chao for special occasions. But we were very happy with the whole experience. You will not leave hungry!