Seattle Kitchen review: The Walrus and the Carpenter

Seattle Kitchen host Thierry Rautureau calls the Walrus and the Carpenter a “fabulous restaurant” (Image courtesy the Walrus and the Carpenter)

The restaurant selected by the Seattle Kitchen team this week has no shortage of buzz and press coverage.

“GQ Magazine, to U.S.A. Today Top 10 Restaurants, New York Times. This place really speaks to people,” says Seattle Kitchen host Tom Douglas of the numerous sources that have covered the Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard.

“I think they deserve all that they’ve gotten, in terms of press and recognition,” says Seattle Kitchen co-host Thierry Rautureau, calling the Walrus and Carpenter a “fabulous restaurant.”

The small Ballard restaurant’s main claim to fame is their oysters.

“Oysters are the show,” says Douglas, who implores diners to stay away from the lemon juice and cocktail sauce when tasting the local treats.

“They’ve got 10 different oysters on your list, all from the Washington area. If you’re going to be putting lemon juice, and cocktail sauce, Tabasco, and all that different stuff on top, how are you going to tell the difference between those oysters?” says Douglas. “If you do want to actually taste the area of the Sound that they’re from, you really have to just kind of step back and let the oyster sing.”

Rautureau agrees. “To me there’s a beauty in oysters just as you slurp them […] each one of them is different. It’s different in texture, and it’s different most importantly in flavor.”

Seattle Kitchen contributor Katie O says tasting the differences in shellfish from around the Puget Sound is one of the greatest things about the Walrus and the Carpenter.

“I think that’s what a lot of people love about this place is you can really set things side by side and kind of figure out those nuances and those different flavors.”

For first time diners at the Walrus, Douglas and Rautureau say you need a pretty specific road map.

“I’ll be damned if you can find it the first time out,” says Douglas.

“The first thing you’re going to do is get into a restaurant that is not the restaurant you’re going to. You’re going to go to Fancy Mercantile,” says Rautureau. “You have to get out of the restaurant, make a left turn, and then make another left turn at the next hall you find in the building. You walk through a 20-yard hallway that is very narrow and you finally end up in that little place, the Walrus and Carpenter.”

Douglas says there is some parking on the Leary side of the building, which is a nice feature in the regularly packed Ballard parking scene. Katie O says even if parking is hard fought, it’s well worth the trouble to dine.

“The Walrus and Carpenter is so good, it doesn’t even matter.”

Seattle Kitchen can be heard on 97.3 KIRO FM Saturday at 8 a.m, Sunday at 10 a.m. and ON DEMAND anytime at MyNorthwest.com. Subscribe to the Seattle Kitchen podcast.

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor