Bin on the Lake

We celebrated our anniversary over the weekend. I can't believe it's been 7 years already! Time really flies (whether you are having fun or not ;). Last time we went to the restaurant in the Woodmark hotel, it was still called Waters. (I know! It's been awhile! Well, when you have kids, especially the ones with food allergies, you can't go out as much as you used to, or as much as you'd like.) Anyways, we didn't know what to expect of Bin on the Lake, which was probably a good start since I tend to have my expectations way high, and set myself up to be disappointed. (I wasn't even impressed with French Laundry! After trying to get reservations for 3 years, you can imagine my anticipation.)

I'm sure all you parents out there know that the kids love to fill up on bread. So I always pay special attention to these yeast creations. At Bin on the Lake, we were served potato rolls and sourdough. The sourdoughs, with sesame, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds, were airy and chewy. But I prefer the fluffy potato rolls.

I got the sea bass, and hubby had the duck. My sea bass was perfectly tender and moist with a golden crust, topped with some micro greens, sitting on a bed of spinach atop one GIANT celery root ravioli the size of a toast. It sat in a pool of carrot butter sauce, that might not be the most appealing to look at, but was totally delicious! I didn't really care for the celery root ravioli. But the rest of the dish, mmmmmm, was mouthwateringly delightful. Hubby's duck, equally titillating, was cooked to just slightly pink, fanned out on coco nib and tart cherry farro, accompanied by a squash and red pepper crépinette. The duck with a little smoked duck demi was, without question, perfect. However, what surprised me was the farro. It's a little embarrassing, but I have to admit that I'd never had farro before, especially this combination with coco and cherry. It was eye-opening. The kids were supposed to share a plate of Mini Beach Burgers, but they preferred our sea bass and duck much more. Who could blame them! The duck disappeared so quickly that the waitress, being the super affable woman she is, comped us a whole extra plate of duck with arugula salad with craisin, and candied walnut in cranberry vinaigrette. The meaty, savory duck, bitter arugula and sweet cranberry make this a perfect entree salad. The duck, of course, was devoured within minutes AGAIN.

Now, I knew hubby loved duck. Back in 2008, I took him to Beijing for the Olympics. The most famous dish from Beijing has got to be the Peking duck. (I might be biased, but the roasted Cantonese style ducks you get at Chinese restaurants don't even come close.) So, without hesitation, we went for some duck the day we arrived. It was love at first bite for him, he was totally hooked. After that, we went back every other day. Towards the end, the waiter would greet us with "you again". =) My uncle even joked that hubby would start quacking like a duck if we stayed for another month! What I didn't know was that hubby thought that he wouldn't order ducks anymore in the States. (You have to admit the duck breast has a gamy taste in most restaurants.) However, after those two plates of duck, he changed his mind - he would always order duck at Bin on the Lake from now on. I also didn't know that my kids love duck so much. It's time to take them to Beijing. ;)

We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of Erotica Riesling. Even though it wasn't a romantic candlelight dinner with just the two of us. It was still pretty close to a perfect dinner.

Bin on the Lake
1270 Carillon Pt, Kirkland, WA 98033
(425) 803-5595