Pacific Grill Restaurant Review - Tacoma

Kate Steding was in town to help plan the wedding of her daughter, Marie Rene. She is the youngest of the Harrington clan born to Ike and Rita Harrington. The oldest daughter is Pat and second oldest is Margaret, also known as Peg . . . and also known as Peggy Doman. When I met Peg she was in charge of her three younger sisters and two younger brothers. Pat was married and living on the east coast. Peg was attending the University of Puget Sound and Kate was not in kindergarten, yet.

Eventually, Peg and I married, Pat left her husband and came back to Tacoma, Kate grew up, married and moved to upstate New York. We gather when we can. The Pacific Grill is a favorite place to enjoy a little laughter and really good food when Kate comes to town. We took advantage of valet parking and arrived just before our reservation time.

We were a little disappointed to find out our two favorite waitstaff (Diane, and Danielle) are off on Thursday evenings, but Michael introduced himself did them proud. Kate was disappointed that Pacific Grill only had fishcakes instead of crab cakes. She turned up her nose at the fishcakes and made do with the BBQ Pork appetizer, while Peg and I had the smoked Columbia River Steelhead and caper appetizers. Peg shared bites of her's, but I kept mine to myself. I was so happy to munch on mine that I forgot to take a photo for the thinly sliced salmon on delicious little crackers.

Both Kate and I ordered medium rare Filet Mignon (8 ounce portions) with fingerling potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms with Bordelaise sauce. The steak was cooked perfectly. The broccoli and potatoes didn't make an impression, but the sauce and the mushrooms we absolutely amazing paired with the filet. I forget how good beef can be until I visit Pacific Grill or Peg surprises me with New York strips.

For her main course, Pat had fresh grilled Columbia River steelhead with beluga lentils, beets, arugula, and smoky Greek yogurt sauce. Peg had the Weathervane Scallops - 1/2 lb sautéed fresh Alaskan scallops, Bourbon + maple Brussels sprouts, candied bacon, crispy potatoes + reduced balsamic vinegar. The 1/2 lb translates into four scallops. Both Kate and Pat followed my lead by adding two scallops to their orders. Although my favorite shellfish is lobster, scallops rank just below crab in third place. If Pacific Grill offered smoked scallops I would dine there even more than we do, now. Smoked scallops are just below lobster.

The two extra scallops were served in a little boat-shaped dish with lemon wedges. The scallops are nicely seared on both sides, but still tender on the inside. I ate my filet and veggies first and then ate my scallop. There were almost dessert . . . almost.

I ordered the Pumpkin Trifle - pumpkin cream, espresso sponge cake, almond crunch, mascarpone whipped cream, pomegranate - for dessert. Pat ordered the Julia Child's Warm Brownie Sundae - Julia’s classic walnut brownie with chocolate fudge sauce + Madagascar vanilla ice cream. Peg opted for the Apple Upside Down Cake - walnut ice cream, brown sugar creme fraîche, cider reduction, and maple glaze. All the ice cream and sorbet served at Pacific Grill is made locally by Olympic Mountain Ice Cream. It is excellent.

Peg's dessert was the best, hands down. The cake was just big enough to support one scoop of ice cream. The cake melted the ice cream wonderfully.

No one left hungry. Everyone left satisfied. The food was excellent as was the service. There was a light mist falling as we walked the fifteen feet to our waiting car. I like being taken care of . . . and Pacific Grill never fails.