With the opening of Thackeray Cafe & Bar, the last empty retail space on the street level of the Brooks Building is now full. My wife and I stopped in on a recent Monday to give it a try.
As it happens, we had been to Thackeray on the previous night to check out the bar and conduct an initial reconnaissance. While they have an extensive list of cocktails and a wine list, we were in the mood for beer. Too bad for us! They had an IPA from Georgetown Brewing which might be special in some towns, but not here. And of course, there was a beer from Fremont Brewing (a pale ale, I think) which is just a stone’s throw away from Thackery. I was surprised to see a sour beer. (Can’t get into sour beers. They’re just so … sour.) Then there were a number of beers of caliber similar to Peroni. I may have to drink such things after the Big One, so for now, I’m holding off. We moved next door to Miir.
On the night in question, the night of my Thackeray dinner, we arrived just moments before the end of Happy Hour (Monday through Friday, 3 – 6pm), and were happy to be able to order some falafel and a mini-sub off the happy hour menu. The falafel was very flavorful, and I’ve had my share. But it was also pretty dry. I realize that on the moisture scale, falafel is supposed to be pretty far removed from the watermelon end of the spectrum, but still …. The mini-sub was my choice. It consisted of 2 meatballs on a short, white bun with cheese and tomato sauce. Really yummy. As a result of prior deal making, I was forced to split it with my wife, but as it sat there on her plate, I shamelessly asked, “Are you going to finish that??”
Then came the Big Mistake.
As a rule of thumb when ordering at restaurants, I typically avoid ordering things that I could easily make at home with equally good results. And I steer clear of items which I know taste really great at other establishments.
How then to explain my ordering the lamb shawarma? I’m struggling just to spell the word! I could get that at Mr. Gyros! What about the black cod and prawns? The risotto? House burger, anyone? I looked past all that and ordered the shawarma. To be fair, it was a fine shawarma. And it was made with actual shaved meat — not those pressed patties you sometimes get at places that pretend to make shawarmas.
My mistake was compounded when my wife’s order arrived. She was smart enough to order the Ethiopian Fried Chicken (not available at Mr. Gyros or anywhere else I can think of offhand). Whereas I had a side of fries with my shawarma, she got a slab of nice, moist cornbread. I consider myself pretty familiar with french fries in all their various forms; I’ll bet you are, too. No gastronomic adventure there. Cornbread is a different matter. It often comes out like a block of compressed talcum powder. But Thackeray knows how to do it right, and they serve it with some sort of honey butter. Nice touch.
Each entree also comes with a little side salad. My mistaken shawarma came with a tomato and cucumber salad which was fine, but the Ethiopian Fried Chicken came with a very interesting kale and brussel sprout creation. So better salad, better side … Ethiopian Chicken beats Lamb Shawarma.
I suppose some description of the physical surroundings is in order. Thackeray has a really big space. If I had a really big party, I would consider coming here. You won’t have to sit on your boss’s lap while passing food to cramped corners of the restaurant inaccessible to the wait staff. And they take reservations if you need that peace of mind.
As for portions, I might have eaten a dead squirrel had I come across one on the sidewalk during my walk over to Thackeray. (So glad I didn’t!) I left with a leg of Ethiopian Fried Chicken — and no appetite for squirrels.
I’ve been to Thackeray 3 times already and it’s amazing. The food is great and the beer and liquor selection is extensive. I find it very funny that Jack complains about Georgetown IPA’s or beer from Fremont Brewery. They both make great beers and are local. You just can’t win with some people. If they didn’t have local beers I’m sure people would complain. I think it is great that they support the neighborhood. Welcome to Fremont/Wallingford Thackeray!
I have no problem with Georgetown “Bodhizafa” listed on the menu, so that would do for me, but I had the same impression from the published beer list – it’s apparently not their thing. Especially if you could get what you want at Miir (last time I was there the pumpkin beer season seemed to have begun, not good times for me.) Drinks are part of the culinary direction of a restaurant, and I guess it’s perfectly legitimate to decide that beer isn’t an interesting part of that direction. The better tap lists I see are typically at high end “pub” places, like Park Pub on Phinney. They might or might not have any Seattle breweries, but they’ll have a well researched selection of a dozen or so stellar beers in a variety of styles. A place like that can get sour, Belgian, wheat etc. on the list and still leave some options for the rest of us.
There are a lot of wine options on that menu, though, including a couple interesting dessert wines.
Donn, I’d like to suggest you visit No Anchor in (gasp) Belltown. If you like beers, you might enjoy a couple hours there.
Ah, the sweet benefits of density…
Mostly empty calories, as usual, though not nearly as bad as expected from the rest of the Burke office buildings that blight Fremont along the canal. Maybe Brooks stipulated that there could be no exercise gym in their building.
Ah yes, the “blight” that replaced what was an industrial/swamp wasteland that now houses thousands of Google employees (myself included) who by extension employ a lot of people not so fortunate to work in tech in jobs that pay at least $15/hr while also themselves spending 5 figures a year on things like art from local artists and meals from local restaurants, depending on their tastes…
Good deal for you and the corporations and landholder, and bless your lordship for whatever coins you may see fit to throw our way, but those buildings are a blight on Fremont. At least, before, you could get a glimpse of the canal over the industrial sheds. While I don’t care much for it or any of its tenants, the Brooks building didn’t turn out as bad as the rest of that stuff, is my point.
Bryan is steadily assembling a collection of posts that will form an outline of Privileged Cis-Gender White Male for all time. We should digitize him and add him to the Smithsonian.
Thank you Pork Pie, elegantly put, truly funny, and much more polite than than my favorite phrase on the same subject.
The place is fine, and spacious. Food selection is good and portions are actually generous…not precious, as seems to be the new Seattle norm. Happy hour, which ends at 6:00, looks to be a good deal and I would recommend going for that option.
Just curious why it’s called “Thackeray” when it’s on Stone Way?
Do you think the poor raccoon was hit by a bicyclist? When you say “…bleeding from the mouth…” that makes me think it was still alive 🙁
Interesting – not on the Thackeray printed menu, of course, but typical culinary approaches to raccoon do not present that picture in any way. I guess if someone mentions the raccoon special, it would be a good idea to ask a lot of questions.
Good catch, Donn! I honestly don’t know how this comment made it to this story as I was commenting on the Burke Gilman Trail tent campers story! Sorry to gross out any potential customers to Thackeray, but, in rereading the article, I did catch mention of a dead squirrel…