We had a pretty busy last week, and here’s what we saw:

• LloydMartin – we managed to score a table here on a Friday night by luck and luck alone, and letmetellyousomething…from the hostess at the door talking us through the menu and showing us the space to the amazing service front-to-back, we were verging on shocked. We’d heard a number of pretty smart, solid things about this restaurant, but had never made the trip. Truth be told, need to get a bit better at leveraging Urbanspoon AND OpenTable, rather than mostly the latter aside from phoning in reservations. We’ll have a “First Impressions” on this spot later this week, but if you find  ourself looking for an amazing dinner that’s just as much “foodie” as it is “approachable,” then this might be a spot for you. I’d noted that their bibb lettuce salad [photo: right] with dijon bacon, honey-poached dates and bleu cheese was the best plated salad I’d seen in Seattle to date, and I meant it.
• Ma’ono – Yep, had to go again this past weekend. The chicken nuggets on french toast is just fantastic, and the regularly-updated quiche is popular for a reason. Just go here.
• Place Pigalle – we’d gone here using a recent local deal, as it’s in a prime location in Pike Place Market, and we hadn’t been in to check it out. Really dig the location and layout, and we scored a great table by the window overlooking the Elliott Bay (and the Great Wheel). We tried the mussels, which weren’t totally my style in preparation but were as good as promised, and the crab cakes were pretty good, and a nice portion. All in all, have trouble with the value/price of this spot (among others) when you’re comparing them to others in a similar quadrant, cost-wise, even if they don’t have the sights and sounds of the Market as part of the backdrop. I never mind factoring in the cost of a location to the cost of a meal, but when the food’s fairly average, it makes it hard to justify coming back.
• Agrodolce – we tried this for a second time, and thought it was solid as well. Didn’t “thrill” as much as the first time, although the arancini is a favorite of mine in Seattle right now. Had a seafood risotto, which was done well and a nice portion. Will keep going back, and really enjoy what Maria Hines and team are up to.
• Sully’s – huge props to the awesome folks at Sully’s for scoring us a couple of seats at the bar for the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon upon our foursquare request. Really enjoy this space – good crowd, nice selection of bar food options and it’s well-priced all around. Certainly a new fave, especially to get a bit of sports action on.