Outlier - Maltkiln Lane

The menu was very limited to begin with and two of the items were not available on top of that. The pizza with lamb and goat cheese was so spicy that it was not edible, the meat tasted bad and we sent it back. The replacement burger was just barely OK. The breakfast food was expensive and nothing to brag about as well.

New York strip was undercooked and cold and 50% fat edges (needed better trimming and not seared enough after sous vide process). Bolognese was lacking flavor. Bahn mi pizza was good. French fries were good. Service was slower than expected. Affogato was good as was the Carrot Cake. Overall, the food and service combined was fair. With all the great restaurants in Seattle I recommend choosing another restaurant.

Food was good and quick, dessert was wonderful. Our server was also the bartender and she was very prompt. However, we were not told (is not listed on menu/door/etc) that there was a “restaurant recovery fee” of 5% applied to our meal. We thought it was a little odd for a hotel restaurant but paid after asking the server and her explaining, but no other restaurant we ate at in downtown had this charge. We also asked a server at a restaurant in SeaTac who said he hadn't heard of any businesses still doing that. We are happy to support by tipping and eating out, but felt gimmicked by our experience.

I give 3* because it does its job and the service is great but the food was just fine. Not fantastic. Our waiter was very attentive just to be clear. They have a great grill for burgers and a nice pizza oven. I was not ready for the fishy Caesar salad though. I know anchovies or anchovy paste is used but this seemed be mixed into the breadcrumbs sprinkled all over the salad. I took a few bites. I enjoyed the margarita pizza. I finished with the chocolate milkshake that was as runny as milk with little ice cream in my glass. This restaurant has all of the elements of being great, it just need to be fine tuned a bit.

I didn't realize when I booked that Outlier was a hotel restaurant. Sometimes when I end up at a hotel restaurant it's not exactly great. If this wasn't attached to the hotel, I'd have no clue! Fantastic food! Fantastic service!