It's a restaurant review blog now: Shelter


Yesterday, a welcome invitation from a friend had me drag myself out of my apartment to meet her at Shelter, a new (-ish, I guess) restaurant at Green Lake. It was wonderful catching up, talking about life, and all the other things that come with being in-person and out on the town.

Just this week, I read complaints online lamenting the use of QR codes, as Shelter does, in place of menus. I sympathized because it’s nice to browse and even to hold a menu in your hands, like when it’s got metal covers or is made of bamboo or something. But forget that. The QR code is great. You just scan it into your phone. There is no craning your neck looking for your server, joking with your mates. “Did they quit in the middle of their shift?!” or any of that. You just order, pay, and the server brings it. Like magic. Same thing if you want another drink, you just punch it into your phone and voila. When you’re done, there’s no bring-the-bill, sign-the-bill, bring-back-the-credit-card tango. You just leave.

The setting is great. Shelter is at the corner of East Green Lake Drive and NE 72nd Street. The walls on both sides open wide so it’s nearly like being outside. I haven’t been inside any restaurant or bar that isn’t wide open, like Shelter. In addition to providing that level of comfort, it has the clean look of an outdoor patio, all shiny wood and shiny metal. Adding to that vibe, we sat on high chairs at a high table with one of those troughs in the middle for a natural gas fire, in case it would get chilly.

Sitting looking at the view you see in the picture, across Green Lake Drive and into the park, I had a desire to see a movie scene filmed there, with a couple sitting exactly where this couple is and the camera a little bit closer and lower than I am in this shot, with the rows of trees behind them. It’s like that spot in New York’s Central Park, the Mall, I guess, where you’ve seen a million movie scenes made.  

I enjoyed my food and drink. I couldn’t decide between a margarita and an old fashioned. My friend suggested it was a good time for a brown liquor. She doesn’t drink but she was right. The old fashioned was great. Just the way I like it with the ice cube big, the orange rind aromatic, and the cherry dark in color.  I ordered fish and chips. The fish was nice and the fries were great, sprinkled with a little fennel to give them that little extra sparkle. My friend had a chicken sandwich, which was also good. 

What’s funny is I had no idea it wasn’t fish and it wasn’t chicken. I was curious about the place today and found out online that it is a 100% plant based menu. Normally, I don’t like meat that isn’t meat. It always seems like second-best. But the food at Shelter left nothing out. I recommend it.

Info: https://www.shelterlounge.com/green-lake-info

 

 

 

 


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