Great happy hour, with half off small plates and cocktails. I loved the mussels in bacon-blue cheese broth, which is a steal at $5.50 during HH for a fairly large portion. The fried chicken sliders (the bacon gravy was so good) and meatballs were also great. The drinks were strong and well-balanced, and like the food, are a great deal at HH ($5-6 cocktails). We liked the blueberry breeze, mojito and blood orange margarita.
For a Saturday night, it was relatively quiet and it was easy to find a table. Servers were attentive and friendly. Overall, one of the better happy hours in downtown Bellevue.
My friend and I had lunch here and neither of us were impressed. My tuna poke salad was super salty.  I didn't mention it or return it because it took so long to get it and more importantly the waitress never came back to check in our meals.  (Hardly anyone was in the restaurant so I'm not sure why it took so long.)  The food was also overpriced. Bottom line: no  reason to return.
Review Source:this is a good place for happy hour, great cocktails and apps. Â Only so/so for dinner.
read my full review at <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinkwalris.com&s=36591f9c1763d014f18daae29754816284bd5c3f6005cd1c9673eeb66a3bacde" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.pinkwalris.com</a>
Went here for HH. The atmosphere is nice, service ok, an after work, still dressed up kinda place. The Ahi tuni crudo was a poor cut of tuna, (if it was at all) fiber-y and a small portion. Ordered the artichoke crostini, because I was still hungry (3 small pieces for $7!). While it seems the HH is a great deal, half off the regular price on menu items, the portions are small and unimpressive.
Review Source:After some research on where to go for happy hour while in Bellevue, the Yelp directed me to Koral. I was pretty floored by the prices... in a good way. Half off small plates and ALL wine/cocktails, $2 off beer?! Let's do this!
Ordered:
Potstickers- nice and hot, but a bit on the greasy side. The sauce that came with it was nice
Mushrooms w/ puff pastry- puff pastry was dry but the mushrooms were very tasty
Artichoke crostini- good, comes with 3/order
Poke- NOT on the HH menu, $14. My friend really didn't like the cut of tuna used, wouldn't order this again.
Drinks:
Blueberry cocktail- can't remember the name, but it had St. Germaine and an acai berry liquor with muddled blueberries and mint. Pretty good.
Beer selection was a little weak
Went there during lunch. Has a pleasant casual decor. There were only a few customers, and fewer waitresses. Our waitress was pretty chatty and serviceable, and great with refilling our water, but the food took  a long time to come. Got the sirloin steak salad. Steak was decent, and greens were tasty. A friend got the fish and chips, which looked great. The fish was piled like a tent, and there were a good 4-5 pieces. It also tasted pretty good.
Review Source:Pleasantly surprised on how delicious my dinner was the other night. Â Even though Koral is a sister restaurant of Pearl (which is nothing special to me), they served a delicious meal with healthy portions!
Steamed muscles had a hint of bleu cheese that made this dish pop, in a good way!! Juicy broth was not overly salty and perfect for dipping. Â Although this appetizer came with 2 crostini slices, some complimentary table bread would have been nice to help soak up the juices (come on, Koral.. carbs are back in!)
Lamb was perfectly cooked and full of flavor!! Melt in your mouth and mild gamey taste. Â My friend had the bacon-wrapped meatloaf, mainly because I convinced her that that was what she really wanted (I wanted a bite!). Â Definitely a stick-to-your-bones type of dish... very hearty.
Giving 4 stars for now.. might need a follow up review after trying some other dishes. Â
Koral, I've got my eye on you....
Five of us went here for Mother's Day brunch. Â None of us have been here before, so I'm not sure how their menu today compares with their normal offerings.
The menu was nice, with 5-6 appetizers to choose from and 8-10 main courses. Â We tried four different appetizers; our table got two different salads, their yogurt parfait and the crab chowder. Â All were delicious. Â Their coffee and bloody mary's were also outstanding.
However, after our appetizer things went south. Â Our waitress had no problem keeping out water glasses filled, but was slow with the coffee. Â The main course took a long time to arrive and no apology was offered by any of the staff. Â The plates looked nice, but five of the six poached eggs were hard and all lacked enough hollandaise sause. Â The dishes all lacked seasoning and were fairly bland. Â However, I think the potatoes were the worst offender of everything on the plate. Â They're the same frozen, cubed spuds I can get in the local grocery store. Â While these had be hopped up with some peppers, they were very greasy. Â If this is your solution for a side of breakfast potatoes, then don't bother at all. Â You're just wasting food. Â
Regarding being kid friendly, there was only one kid item on the menu. Â The french toast was delicious, but they didn't even offer a basic "eggs and toast" dish. Â I also consider serving kids their food on hot plates a major foul. Â Kids plates should never, EVER, arrive too hot to touch. Â I've never seen or heard a kid scream because their food was just warm, but a kid that touches a hot plate will get the entire restaurant's attention.
I'd have given this review three stars if the dishes were in the $15 range. Â However, at $25 per plate, the lack of anything creative left me feeling very disappointed.
I came here when Koral opened about a year ago for happy hour and thought it was ok. I then came a month or so later for Mother's Day Brunch with my Mom and again wasn't that impressed. I blamed my Mother's Day experience on the new staff and the fact that it was super busy and they had just opened. I haven't made my way to Koral in a very long time just because I have tried other places.
My fiancé and I went to happy hour at Koral a week or so ago and we were very impressed. It seems like they have changed their menu and it was an impressive change. The food and drinks were amazing! Definitely coming back soon.
OMGGeeeee!!! Spending my cheat meal on this happy hour is SOOO worth it!
Food: BOMB! Â We tried almost everything on the happy hour menu, but the dishes that stood out were the Roasted Bone Marrow and the Mushrooms. Â The bone marrow comes with two pieces of bone 3 inches in length and cut in half. Â It is roasted to perfection and served with a small salad with cappers and a slice of toasted garlic rubbed bread. Â Everything was nicely complemented on the dish. Â Yummmy... The mushrooms were garlic braised in a puff pastry shell and it was the perfect combination of garlic, butter, herbs and mushrooms. Â The flavors exploded in my mouth and made me do a happy dance in my seat. Â We also ordered the whipped feta spread, penn cove muscles, fried chicken sliders, faux gras, salami charcuterie plate, Kajun spice meatballs, spicy potstickers and the salmon tots. Â Everything was delicious, but if you go you NEED to have the bone marrow and mushrooms.
Drinks: I had their Manhattan and honestly I've had better. Â My friend's drink was good, I think it was a hibiscus mojito, but nothing inspiring. Â The drink that really boosted them though was a shot that their general manager made our group, nothing that was on the menu. Â It was something like a Kamakazi with blueberry and something else added to it.
Facilities: Yup... they need to do something about this. Â With the area that they are in, they need to rearrange the seating or think of something to break the wind that comes gusting into the restaurant every time someone opens the doors. Â It was freezing cold! Â Also the bar couches and tables are quite awkward. Â Some of the couches were uncomfortable. Â Meh.. hopefully they'll fix this.
Service: Â A little slow, they looked like they were short-staffed for the amount of people there and the place was 2/3 filled. Â Also, they did forget a few things on our order/gave us doubles of other plates. On the up side they didn't charge us for the doubles and they did eventually give us our other dishes. Â Let's add to the fact that they were very charismatic and the general manager did come by (without us asking) to apologize for the slow service and then later he sat down with us to get our feedback on the place. Â
Overall, I'm a fan. Â I'll definitely return and bring a few of my girlfriends for a drink or three and some bomb food!
My girlfriend and I stopped in this past weekend to see what this place was about. When we got there we were the only table in the bar but were kindly welcomed by our server Kelly. Half off all apps and drinks 3-6!! Very helpful and knowledgeable about the menu. We got the fried cheese and pot stickers to start, both  amazing. Decided to try the marrow bones but were not a fan, too rich for us!
All in all I definitely will be back! Great food, great service, and great pricing for downtown Bellevue HH!
So this is what the old Twisted Cork 0/8 restaurant looks like now. Came in for HH and the food was good, but in some areas did not make a lot of sense to me. Why are fried cheese curds places on top of a paper napkin rather then a wax sheet? I had to pick the cheese curds off of the napkin! Bone marrow was good, sauteed mushrooms were tasty, Tai Tung inspired (?) pot stickers and shrimp cocktail. All the food were tasty, but what struck me most were their drinks! They were good. *drool*
What really bothered me was the wall dividers which were made up from old doors? Reminded me about that Food Network show "Restaurant Impossible" as if they were assembling the restaurant very last minute. Oh yeah, and the second waitress wasn't all too accommodating. That's very practical for restaurant like this especially in the evening hour. When one waitress clocks out at the end of their shift and another waitress picks up her table (which was us) usually you will be screwed on service mainly due to the fact the first waitress probably left with all the gratuity we left for the table and the second staff member would've probably gotten nothing out of it.
This should have been a solid 4 or 5 star review, but really lacked service towards end of our meal. Just because you put a good foot forward, doesn't mean it should end on a bad note. I will probably be back because the food was still good. I just hope my next experience will be better than my first.
I love Pearl's happy hour, so I thought I would love Koral's as well. Nope.
I'll admit that Pearl's food is more my style than Koral's, but that's not why I'm giving it a two star review. Â The service at Koral was poor. Â We came on a Friday night, so perhaps the place just wasn't adequately staffed (although it wasn't super busy either). Â With that being said, it took at least 30 minutes to get our first dish and our waitress forgot our drink orders. Â Dishes came out one at a time.
Happy hour turned into a 2+ hour dining experience. Â Our server ended up knocking off a couple dishes from the tab, which was generous. Food was decent. Â But, all in all this was such a poor dining experience that I wouldn't want to return. Plus, there are many other places in Bellevue to hit up for happy hour.
Came here with my girlfriend for a quick weekday lunch and boy did it exceed our expectations. Casey the bartender is the definition of accommodating and friendly. He even made me a new version of my favorite drink (The Last Word) despite the fact that it wasn't on the menu. Â My girl had a burger and swapped out the regular cheese for blue cheese and I had the steak salad. Both perfectly cooked. Both delicious. Â Drop in and see Casey and you won't be let down
Review Source:2.5 stars
Great atmosphere, validated parking and excellent downtown location. I went for happy hour which offers inexpensive prices and a decent food & drink selection. I tried the salmon bacon poppers and garlic white bean chicken. The food tasted pretty mediocre but my Mac & Jack's on tap was one of the best I've had. There's many downtown Bellevue happy hour spots to choose from and this one is ranked pretty low on my list.
Koral received a solid four stars from this girl, this is a great place for group Happy Hour. Give Kristi in Private Dining a call when you have a group of 15 - 20, she can set you up! The area in front of the bar with the sofas is perfect for groups, bonus, your underage guests can enjoy happy hour prices right along with you in this area right outside the bar. The space is nice and comfy with sofas and benches, there is even a closet to hang coats. The door to the outside opens and closes often, creating quite a breeze if you are seated within eyesight of the door. Restrooms are not in the restaurant, but right outside in the hotel.
The menu has recently changed, the fried chicken sliders are a great indulgence. I recommend the salmon tots, meatballs and ahi tuna. Fair warning, the cracker like thing that comes with the tuna is so sturdy you may chip a tooth or it may fly across the room when you take a bite and hit someone in the eye, EWC (eat with caution!).
The service has always been very good, I have hosted at least four private events since Koral opened and this is my go to spot when I have a larger group. No complaints!
3 TO 4 Star rating.
I liked Koral. It was crowded and loud but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and so did I. The service was great, I mean really good. Our server was on top of her game.
We ordered various entrees and found them all to be good. Not mind boggling but good. My filet was delicious and rated as a medium quality cut of meat.
Fun place to just kick back. Lots of cool drinks.
Sounds like a happy hour place because the dinner was wildly uninspiring.
It was nice to see a fresh Bibb salad on the menu, but that's about where my excitement ended. We got an order of prawns on a stick for an appetizer that had a breading/coating/wax like substance that was incredibly gummy.
I got the fresh caught, wild king salmon for an entrée and was disappointed. The fish was thin and bone dry, and served on French fries and apple wedges that were almost indistinguishable; on the bright side, every bite was a surprise.
The service was great and attentive. Kind of a tough trade off. My advice? Order a bunch of cocktails, get hammered and eat happy hour plates.
Went here with friends, we originally thought we were going to get dinner from the dinner menu - but alas, the dinner kitchen was closed, and we were not aware of it. I wish this was made apparent on the website. Lost of a star.
Anyway, we sat in the bar section - and it's an energetic place for early Friday evening, and surprisingly, not as crowded as one would assume. The décor was intriguing, with somewhat of an industrial/modern taste, and the area had plenty of spots to gather with your friends, and lounge the day away over a few drinks. I may want to try visiting this place during the lunch hour, to see if I can host business clients here.
The food was limited to what was serve from the bar kitchen - so the full potential of what the kitchen can offer was not evaluated. I had the fish and chips - which was ok, not something to rave about. I would say, that you could come here for the atmosphere and the drinks, not the food.
Been here for multiple happy hours since my last review. The bottom line is it rocks, and the bartenders are awesome too.
Cheap cocktails made properly. I always get a beer, or a mojito that I ask to not have as sweet and surprise!!! These bartenders listen.
Cheap food too for happy hour which is from 9-close every night. My favorite thing is their paella which is better than average and comes loaded in mini cast iron pot with mussels, meat and other goodies. It's really tasty and small enough to eat alone. You will want to. Oh yah, did I mention it was 5$?...I also really enjoy their mussels in a traditional flavorful broth, and their fried chicken sliders are good, they could use some more flavor but still I love them.
My least favorite items are the garlic chicken and white beans, the plate tastes more asian inspired than garlic. In fact you can barely taste the garlic. It doesn't taste bad but my girlfriend and I admit the title is misleading. Also, the last time I came I was served raw meatballs and the management/server seemed barely sorry. They were busy it was near the holiday's on a weekend, but still, not cool.
This place, especially in the bar/lounge area.. can take on a creepy vibe if it isn't busy. Dark, creppy, kinda boring...So i prefer it when there's people there.
Unlike this place's bigger sister Pearl, I don't think this place is worth real dinner prices, but it is DEF worth getting drinks and filling up at happy hour at.
We made it to Koral just in time to witness Richard Sherman's 90yard run for touchdown followed by Seahawks winning against the 49ers!!!! Maybe it was the excitement of the game, holiday season or people around but whatever it was, made the whole experience at Koral incredible.
We had excellent customer service from our server Casey. The food was very very tasty and overall there really was nothing to complain about.
I loved the wisconsin cheese curds and beet root salad. My husband devoured the bone marrow crostini and went on length to say it was the best he's had.
The pot stickers were a little greasy but fairly tasty as well. Our server let me do some wine tasting after making a recommendation, which I thought was impressive (I don't typically get that at restaurants). We had drinks and appetizers with salad mainly and didn't have a chance to try the main entrees.
They have a special seating area for happy hr, which makes it a great place to hang out with a bunch of people.
I would absolutely come back to try something else. Loved this place!
I just don't get it. Â What is so great about this place?
I came here for the HH.  As I walked it, it was cold, empty and grey.  Once I sat down and looked at the décor.  The bar area is section off by "old" office doors and panels.  The ceiling has exposed pipes by design.  The lighting is screaming industrial feel.  The wall is grey blue.  I mean...  wtf...  I felt like I came to a warehouse area and walked into a hidden bar in the very corner of the warehouse.  I mean... While seeking for "happy hours" after work, who wants to walk into another depressing place like Koral.
Enough about the depressing environment, the food.
The HH menu is ok with enough items to select from (food and drinks).
The food flavor has an Asian influence, especially the garlic chicken. Â I meant it tasted ok like the Honk Kong style BBQ chicken. Â It's really nothing special.
The chicken slider is hot (temperature wise) with not much flavor in it. Â So, what's there to wave about people?
The service is ok. Â The waitress is not really all "here" when attending to our order. Â But, she was friendly and trying.
Will I come back here? Â Seriously? Â No. Â I will not return to the cold and greyish blue depressing place for "happy hours."
I always forget this place is here. I never venture over to Bellevue Place so I never think of coming here for happy hour. I met a friend here for happy hour today and it was super busy! Not sure if that's the norm. They have a ton of lounge chairs and couches. This seems like a good place for large groups as there were multiple large parties around.
They have a pretty big happy hour menu; their bar appetizers/small plates, wine, and cocktails are all half off! We each had a raspberry drop and they were really good. Not too sweet and went down far to easily. For food we had the whipped feta spread, fried chicken sliders, and roasted bone marrow. The feta was good but really strong so you really have to love feta. The chicken sliders were ok; the best part was the bacon gravy. The bone marrow was rich and fatty and seasoned well. It's definitely a dish to share because it's so rich.
The service was ok. Since they were so busy and seemed to only have 1 waitress for the bar, the service was a bit slow. I felt bad for the waitress because I know how I would feel if I was in her shoes. Â
There are so many other things on the menu that I want to try! Can't wait to come back.
A few friends and I came in a few months back for happy hour. We were trying to figure out where to go, and Koral's yelp reviews seemed pretty good, so I suggested it. I would say most of us left a little underwhelmed.
Now I should preface that by saying that Bellevue has a glut of fancy restaurants with pretty awesome hh's, so it doesn't help them that we are all comparing Koral with the other HH's we love. But anwyay, the bar area itself was nice, it was easy to find a spot to sit on a mid-weekday. My drinks were fine, not bad, not amazing. I would say everything that we tasted (except for the fried chicken slider things, which were awesome), was just so-so. I think we had garlic bread, cheese curds, and I can't really remember the rest. The prices were very competitive, but the food and drinks were just not what we were expecting. So far Wild Ginger and John Howie are still my fav Bellevue HH's.
Excellent Happy Hour! My only rub is there's not a lot of healthy food on the menu. The Ahi is very healthy, but not on the Happy Hour menu.
I was really most impressed by the paella. They serve it with saffron, mussels, rice and shrimp. That seems really great, especially at a happy hour price of a small cup being $5. Wow, great deal!
I came here with a group of old friends to catch up and this is definitely a great hangout spot for a late night happy hour in downtown Bellevue. They're reasonably priced and drinks are not too shabby--that's if you come for happy hour. Great place with dim lighting and ambiance. I highly recommend the dishes that I ordered.
Dishes ordered: Scampi style shrimp, ahi tuna crudo, raspberry drop
Just went here for drinks and appetizers with a friend before heading to Seattle. I just got the garlic fries and a bloody mary. They were both DELICIOUS! I have had some watery, gross bloody marys lately and theirs was spicy and full bodied. Very yum.
The fries are also great to snack on with addicting 'truffle' dipping cream on the side. It wasn't too busy, or too loud, it was just perfect for a casual hangout spot. Recommended!
This is currently my favorite happy hour place ! Every time I've come here, I've had a great time - the food is always excellent and the drinks are well crafted. (And it's all half off!?! How does this even happen?!)
I can't say I have a favorite dish because everything is so good. Â The garlic cheese loaf is great for evening out the alcohol though. It's served with a garlicky olive oil, but it has a hint of seafood because they use raw garlic. Â But they make an excellent Manhattan and their girly drinks aren't toothachingly sweet.
It's also not too loud, so you can carry a conversation without straining.
I've had a few nice dinners here, and I'm a fan. The food has always tasted good, it's not super deluxe awesome, but they did do a solid job on every dish I've ever ordered. The service has been good, not perfect, but better than a whole lot of places in the Seattle metro area. Even if they are having a bit of a slow night, at least everyone on staff is friendly and doesn't make you feel like you are privileged to get their attention for more than two seconds at a time - a regular gripe of mine about wait service in the area.
I've also had some Uh-Mazing desserts here. Get anything from that menu and I think you'll be a haaapy camper.
I can see myself visiting Koral a handfull of times in the year when I want to go out but don't want to fork out for John Howie, and I have enjoyed taking friends from out of town who don't have the budget for the more expensive options in town.
This place is only good for happy hour, and their happy hour is mediocre. Prices are relatively high for happy hour food, and their cocktails alright. They are seriously understaffed, which means a lot of waiting time to do anything. Our waitress mixed up our checks last time, which resulted in a lot of unnecessary confusion and time wasted.
Only thing really worth trying is their truffle steak fries, which comes with a chilled truffle cream. Something a little different. The same people own Pearl at Lincoln Square, which I would highly recommend as an alternative.
After partaking in some bowling at Lucky Strike, I crossed the skybridge over to Bellevue Place to visit Koral for happy hour. Koral is the sibling restaurant of Pearl at Lincoln Square. The happy hour specials are the same at both. $2 off draft beer and half off cocktails, wine by the glass and small plates. However, the menu offerings are different so I wanted see what Koral had to offer.
The happy hour menu is available at the bar only. I did find the atmosphere at Koral to be a bit more intimate, yet a bit more cramped. Pearl has an ultralounge feel to it. Whereas Koral seems like a wine bar type space. Keeping the place from being too uppity, there are a couple TVs in the bar area which was showing baseball when I visited.
What I like the most about Koral and Pearl's happy hour is the freedom to order from a large list of choices. This makes it easier to find food and drinks that you like. I decided to try the Koral Manhattan ($5 HH), an order of New Mexican braised pork taquitos ($5 HH) and the roasted marrow bones ($5 HH) which I have heard a lot of raves about.
I thought Koral would kind of be a space that would be less congested since it is on the bottom floor of the Hyatt, but it was actually packed for a midweek happy hour. As a result, the wait for the food items was quite considerable. Fortunately, the Koral Manhattan made with bourbon (my current favorite spirit) and vermouth is really a good libation to enjoy while waiting.
When the food arrived, I have to say that I found the food to be good, but not great. I liked the taquitos, but think the sauce drizzled on top should have been served separately.
As for the bone marrow, this was the first time that I tried this and I was a bit unimpressed. Should have went with the sirloin strips instead. Shocking since I like things like fried chicken skin and beef tendon, but I found bone marrow to be just okay with the crostini. If you prefer a pate type item, bone marrow is for you. Otherwise, I would just get a meat dish.
I found Koral to be a promising place for happy hour. They have a great selection of happy hour food items. I didn't find any that are keepers on this visit (aside from the Manhattan), but I would try this place again to find some.
Came here for a last minute birthday dinner before heading out on the town. Decided upon this place after reading some good reviews on it and because it was in the same hotel we were staying in (Hyatt Regency). Wasn't really impressed with this place at all. The food was good, but not great like I had been expecting. I had the Penn Cove mussels (okay) and scampi style prawns (good) and the rest of my party had the dungeness crab & corn chowder (good), truffle fries (good especially with the dipping sauce it comes with), and the bacon wrapped meatloaf (good).
As for the service it was very slow. We felt like our server wasn't as attentive to our table as she could have been (no the restaurant wasn't packed or busy). My friend's meatloaf even came out a little cold which was disappointing so we asked for it to be reheated and it took awhile for her to get her plate back as well as for us to get our check at the end.
came here for happy hour. Â I have a few pros and cons
Pros:happy hour food menu is interesting. Â Not like food you find at other bars. Â Drink menu is pretty good. dip with the feta cheese was really good.
Cons: The service was really slow and it wasn't even that crowded. Another bad part is that I got the chicken from the happy hour menu and the chicken was all the gross parts of the chicken. Â It is like the pieces a bad chinese food place would use. Â Then they cover it in sauce hoping you don't notice.
A solid 3.5 stars that I just don't feel right bumping up to 4.
East side HH places seem to be lacking -- sure you have a plethora of chains or tiny restaurants who don't offer deals. Â But my posse was looking for drinks, deals, and something that wasn't the P.F Chang's of Red Robin down the street. Â Koral's online (most annoying website ever, btw) Â HH menu look solid and cheap, so we settled to meet up there.
$3.50 for my glasses of wine, $3 for my pint of Alaskan Amber ale. Great prices  there. The beer selection is abysmal however, and while their cocktails looks delicious I didn't want something that strong -- even at half price.
Apps were half off so we order whatever tickled our fancy. Fried chicken sliders with bacon gravy? Yes please! Cheese curds? Bring them on. Taquitos? Alright. Â The sliders were the definite star of the evening -- I wished we had just ordered 2 rounds of these. The taquitos were forgetful, and the cheese curds disappointing. Sure, im spoiled by the 5 points -- but these were soggy with little flavor. I get very sad when I can't like cheese. To make up for this we ordered their "killer recipe" cheese loaf -- which was super tasty but ordered far to late into the meal to hope to finish.
While our waitress was friendly, she was missing every time I wanted another drink or to close out. This place wasn't very busy on a Tuesday afternoon so I don't know what she may have been up to.
This place is super spacious too. Posh/modern, comfy seats, with many options from the bar to couches to sit upon. Whatever suits your fancy really.
I'll be back for sure. The HH deals are great and I can't complain about a post-work cocktail under $5. I'll also  just stick to the chicken sliders if I'm hungry.
Check out their HH. 9pm-"Closing".
2nd time here and i love this place, LOVE! Â
the service is ok. Pretty typical bellevue... pretty server, basic service "Hi, what would you like" sometimes on a timely manner...sometimes not.... a lot of chatting amongst themselves.
the limited cocktail menu is SOLID. I'm one helluva picky drinker and how things are made since i bartend, even though they shake their specialty manhattan, it's still really really tasty...balanced.... Â One of the only places where I'm not afraid to order such drink.
the Food the first time i went there, mussels, oysters, other stuff? not bad, pretty good. Not your typical run of the mill HH food (ie fries, wings)... it's some YUMMAY HH food. me gusta.
2nd time, went on a Monday... that's why they say 9pm-"closing" because it's quite tentative. uber sad face.... they closed @10:30... all the way from CA, i think of going to this place my 1st night in... and they closing... sigh... .
My husband and I recently went to Koral for happy hour and loved it! Â David was our bartender and he was super helpful and friendly. Â We've really enjoyed the food and beverage selection. Â The ahi tuna is definitely the best thing we've had and at 50% of regular prices, tough to beat! Â I'm a vodka martini drinker and love that they have blue cheese stuffed olives.
We went back again last night and Michael was our bartender and he was fantastic as well. Â Friendly and knowledgeable. Â We tried the garlic bread which was a little rich but tasty. Â I would highly recommend Koral after 9pm - so far we're two for two!
Those of you who know me know that once a month I go out to a fancy dinner -- you know, the type that requires a fresh application of deodorant and uncomfortable footwear -- I normally chronicle those, but I've had a bunch of okay but not fantastic [2-3 stars] experiences lately -- nothing that made me come home and go "hot damn, Yelp needs to know about my delicious meal!"... I'm thankful to say Koral totally busted us out of that rut.
Normally we celebrate our "monthaversary" on the 8th but seeing as my mealticket-- er, I mean, my incredible boyfriend -- has been way too busy at work and can't leave at a decent hour on the 8th, we decided we could break tradition just this once. He normally surprises me by taking me to a restaurant we've never been to, but this time he let it slip where he was going -- another DT Bellevue restaurant we've been to for restaurant week. I was less than excited about returning, so I suggested Koral. I'm SO glad I did.
We walked in around eight and were seated immediately in spite of the lack of reservation. Deb, our server, was incredibly attentive and helpful when it came down to decision making -- I rarely run into food I dislike when it's been suggested by my server!
We began with salmon croquettes which were fantastic. Not gonna lie, I ate the garnish as a way of transmitting the leftover aioli to my mouth [BF: "Are you supposed to do that?" Me: "I *need* to eat this sauce. So yes."] -- the portion was a bit small, but not unreasonable for the $8 price tag. Of course, I can't last long without alcohol, so I also enjoyed a peach cocktail from their seasonal menu. I couldn't place it -- and I thought it might be an alcohol I was unfamiliar with -- but there was a slight aftertaste I couldn't figure out -- leftover detergent in the glass, I realized later in the meal when the same aftertaste popped up in my after dinner milk.
I also enjoyed a raspberry drop, which was SO good -- but Chambord in anything is a recipe I'm going to love, I'm not picky. Boyfriend had a glass of wine from their "Interesting Reds" section -- they're right, it was interesting! Thankfully it was tasty as well.
Being fatties [in spite of all our visits to Crunch Bellevue!] we also ordered cheese curds, which were SO good, and even resulted in my boyfriend and I fighting for them. He let me win, because when I fight back I'm usually serious about a potential fork stabbing. Speaking of forks, boyfriend ate his app with the wrong fork [he used to work in fine dining and was saying that Koral does their forks backwards, ha] and Deb brought him a totally new place setting for the entree. Very impressive attention to detail on her part!
For our entrees we had the bacon wrapped meatloaf and the porkchops. Both of the meats were moist and delicious -- I loved the fact that the bacon and bbq glaze melded seamlessly into the meatloaf -- I love bacon and I love things wrapped in it, but often times it's eating less than delicious bacon that isn't cooked well when it's just a simple bacon wrapped meat. This meatloaf did it right. Along with the caramelized carrots and mashed potatoes, this dish was basically the fanciest take on comfort food -- simple but well executed.
The porkchops were the second best porkchops I've ever had. I grew up in a household where all meat products were cooked medium-well or well, so I really appreciate a nice medium-rare steak. I'd never ordered pork by temp before, so I went with medium, which I definitely don't regret. I liked the beans and LOVED the parmesan biscuit the entree was served with. To comprehend the deliciousness of the parmesan biscuit, imagine a Cheddar Bay biscuit from Red Lobster. Now take out all the excess greasiness and replace cheddar with parmesan. Moist and fluffy without making me feel like I was going to be breaking out at the end of the meal.
Dessert ended up being a glass of milk, the sticky toffee pudding and the New York style cheesecake. The glass of milk had the detergent-y aftertaste but this time I had my mancompanion try it as well to make sure my tongue wasn't off -- I was right, the glass needed a rinse -- and when I mentioned it to Deb she offered her apologies and had me out a new milk in a flash with another apology. It was pretty much the best recovery I've had in a situation that requires remedy. She was the one who suggested the toffee pudding and she was right, with the salted caramel ice cream, it was to die for. Boyfriend ultra loved the NY cheesecake -- it was good but I don't generally like NY style cheesecake [I know, sacrilege!] so I was just really excited for the fresh and HUGE berries it came with... I'm glad we opted for both desserts.
I don't do this fancy dinner stuff often, but the fact that Koral also has a kickass happy hour offering ensures I'll definitely be back!
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