Montlake Ale House: This pub's pit's a hit with families

The most difficult part of any dinner at Montlake Ale House is forgoing the opportunity to eat at Cafe Lago next door. The smell of wood smoke is intoxicating. As we walk by Lago's windows, we take in its checkered floor, its white tablecloths, the satisfied looks on the candle-lit faces of its customers. I can almost taste its ethereal lasagna.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

MONTLAKE ALE HOUSE

PHONE: 206-726-5968

ADDRESS: 2307 24th Ave. E.

WEB SITE: None

PRICES: Appetizers $4-$8; salads and soups $4-$9; burgers and sandwiches $9; entrees $13-$15;

desserts $5

HOURS: Dinner 5-10 p.m. daily; will open at 2 p.m. for Super Bowl this Sunday

BAR: Full bar; good selection of NW beers on tap

SMOKING: Smoking permitted after 9 p.m.

RESERVATIONS: Recommended for parties of six

or more; not taken on all Husky home game nights

PAYMENT: Major credit cards, no personal checks

SOUND: Can get loud

ACCESS: No obstacles

PARKING: Free street parking,

but can be challenging to find

KID-FRIENDLY: Very, until 9 p.m.

BEST BETS: Guacamole with house-made tortilla chips $5; nachos $7; bruschetta $7; warm spinach salad $7/$9; grilled eggplant sandwich $9; herb-roasted half chicken $14

RATINGS:

Food: **

Service: ** 1/2

Ambience: **

Ratings guide (full explanation)
**** extraordinary
*** excellent
** good
* fair

And I'm not the only one. "What about here?" says my dining accomplice, slowing to a halt. "This looks good. Can't we eat here?"

"I wish we could," I tell him, gently taking his arm. "Another time. Come on. This way."

Montlake Ale House, the sibling of Madrona Eatery & Ale House, opened last fall in the former Grady's Grillhouse space. It's not that this casual, family-friendly pub and restaurant isn't a worthy destination in and of itself. Prices are reasonable. Service is good-natured and efficient. Children are welcome -- very welcome. It's more that the area is not exactly welcoming for those who arrive in cars. Street parking is zoned, finite and requires patience and skill. Once a spot is secured, the natural impulse is to maximize one's visit -- hence, the allure of Cafe Lago, a true Seattle destination restaurant.

Then again, Montlake Ale House possesses one unique feature its lauded neighbor doesn't: a carpeted sunken play area for kids. In the back of the restaurant, there's a play pit, littered with toys and well-worn books, encircled by a dining bar where folks can sip, eat and -- literally -- oversee their tots. The play area and nearby fireplace are the pub's most charming elements. I especially love that the pit's carpeting serves two purposes: protecting little knees and absorbing little shrieks.

For a Northwest gringo joint specializing in thoughtful upscale pub grub, the made-in-house tortilla chips are pretty darn good. They're thin, crisp, taste of corn and oil (rather than grease) and are just salty enough. If I were still determining the winners of categories like "best chips" -- as I did for nine years in Arizona -- these might make the final cut. For that matter, Montlake's guacamole ($5, with chips) is quite good, too. It's thick, but not chunky; smooth, but not pureed; redolent of fresh avocado, cilantro and white onion. We scoop up every last bit of it, with many chips to spare.

Montlake's guac and chips work equally well when combined with sour cream, pico de gallo and melted cheddar cheese to form every sports fan's favorite: nachos ($7), a special one night. What I like about this version is its restraint. The lack of gloppiness. The avoidance of liquefied cheese. The organized, Cobb saladlike approach exemplified by separated dollops of fresh salsa, sour cream and guacamole atop a drumlin of chips.


		MIKE URBAN / P-I
	Christina McCracken is served by Josh Baymiller at Montlake Ale House as fellow mom Megan Bartot mediates a toddler tug-of-war between Max Bartot, 1, and Whit McCracken, 1.

Another successful starter is Montlake's take on bruschetta ($7): grilled rustic bread slathered with mild ripe-olive tapenade, topped with chopped -- bordering on crushed -- tomatoes, dotted with goat cheese.

One accomplice almost scoffs when her large salad of typical mixed greens ($7) with grilled chicken ($3) arrives with one slice of tomato. "This is my tomato?" she says, jabbing at it with a fork, after our waiter has departed. Yep, that's it. I re-read the menu and discover it does say "with tomato" -- singular, not plural.

I expect to like the warm spinach salad ($7/$9), made with pear, walnuts and blue cheese, more than I do. On an earlier visit, I envied the large dark-leafed salads delivered to two women seated at the kid pit. When mine comes as an upgraded side to a sandwich ($2), I find its walnuts harsh-tasting, its crumbled nuggets of bleu cheese inferior and hard, its sliced pear too firm and too bland.

If you can resist making a meal of starters and munchies, two decent entree options are the home-style herb-roasted half chicken ($14) with mashed potatoes and a wintry vegetable assortment of Brussels sprouts, carrot and root vegetables; and breaded, beer-battered Alehouse Fish & Chips with purple coleslaw and good tartar sauce. Unless you're absolutely desperate, don't order pasta here; it's practically sacrilegious with Cafe Lago next door.

A grilled eggplant sandwich ($9) featuring pesto, roasted red pepper and goat cheese, has a lot going on flavorwise, but somehow pulls it off. Kudos to the kitchen for using focaccia that's soft enough so this sandwich avoids becoming a slippery structural disaster. Less interesting is the grilled ham and cheese ($9), using very salty ham and near-liquid Swiss cheese, on the same bread.

Dessert is a weak area of the menu. A double chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream ($5) sounds great and looks promising, but proves cakey, accompanied by unexceptional ice cream. In addition to fine beer on tap -- a pint of Mac & Jack ($3.65) always does a body good -- and compelling munchies, it would be great if Montlake offered good coffee and a few fine options for satisfying a sweet tooth. Its rearranged front area, with couch, coffee table and small Oriental carpet, practically calls out for a cup of good decaf and something just decadent enough.

P-I restaurant critic Penelope Corcoran can be reached at 206-448-8391 or penelopecorcoran@seattlepi.com.

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