Skillet Diner

Viv and I are very content with 2 kids, especially when we have one of each.  I often look at my friends who have more than two and wonder how the heck they do it.  Well, while in Seattle, this was our chance to experience such a thing.  Goose decided to pawn off one of his kids to us as we were planning to visit the Seattle Aquarium.  Interestingly, our SUV had no trouble accommodating him and possibly 2 more kiddies.  Oh man, I hope Viv doesn't get any ideas... 

But before we went to look at aquatic life behind glass, we headed over to the new location of Skillet Diner out in Ballard.  Lucky for us, we had made a reservation as the lineup spilled out into the street. My son, went for The Huck consisting of a crust-off grilled cheese made with Tillamook cheddar on brioche.  This was toasted up in a non-greasy manner and was quite light due to the brioche.  The side of hand-cut fries were disappointing though as they were limp and greasy.  My daughter ended up with the Mac n' Cheese made up of orecchiette pasta and Tillamook cheddar.  This was really cheesy and stringy as each piece of pasta clung to each other longingly.  As a result, there was a mild creamy cheesiness to go along with the al dente pasta.

For myself, I had the Fried Chicken Sammy consisting of fennel seed crust, pickled charred jalapeño, aioli and kale on potato bread. The ample amount of fried chicken was really crunchy while moist on the inside.  It was somewhat greasy though.  I found that the fennel really came through while the jalapeno added some bite.  The use of kale seemed to be on point since it stood up to the chicken.  I decided to sub the Poutine into my order which I would learn to regret.  Consisting of the same soggy fries, it was smothered in gravy, cheddar and herbs.  In reality, this was a wet salty mess that I only ate a few bites of.

Viv decided to go for the Toasted Pistachio and Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich made with poached Draper Valley chicken, dried cranberries, toasted pistachios and greens on rye bread.  This was pretty good due to the large amount of filling.  The chicken was tender while there was a good balance of sweet and savoury, yet they were over-aggressive with the mayo.  For her side, she had the Tomato Bisque which was creamy and smooth.  There was a slight tang to go with the pleasant fennel background flavour.  We ended off the meal with a serving of made-to-order Doughnut Holes.  Sadly, these were not very good as they were fried too long being chewy and greasy.  Furthermore, the thick layer of glaze totally overwhelmed the doughnut.  Realistically, for the items we tried, Skillet Diner was hit and miss.  Hence, your experience would be highly dependent on what you order.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Interesting eats
- Kid-friendly

The Bad:
- It can be hit and miss
- Super busy, make a rez