The Cookery - Seward

After an eight hour boat ride out of Seward into Kenai Fjords National Park, which included rain, strong winds, six to nine foot waves out in the Gulf of Alaska, we (or at least I) were ready for a nice sit-down meal (Judy'd had sea-sickness and tossed her cookies and that can do strange things to an appetite). 

The blue ice glaciers were incredible. This is Northwestern Glacier, the farthest point we traveled to before returning the way we came. 

A glacier I don't recall the name of.

The mist enshrouded Chiswell Islands.

The Cookery in Seward was no.1 on Trip Advisor and holds itself out as a purveyor of local food, from the sea and from the farm. And it just happened to be across the street from our hotel. 

Seward is right on Resurrection Bay and right next to the coastal mountains. 

We got there early and were seated right away. When we left there was a line out the door and the wait times looked substantial. 

Our son Andrew's love for mushrooms has made us sensitive to all things mushroom. We were impressed at some of the areas we visited in Alaska and the plethora of wild mushrooms. I'm assuming the conditions near Seward are perfect for them as it is wet and wooded. We ordered the wild & tame mushroom toast which came with three types of farmed mushrooms and one type of foraged mushroom, and unfortunately, I don't recall the names of any of them. But it had a generous serving of the mushrooms and also included black garlic aoli and pickled daikon. It was very nice.

Mushroom toast. Lousy picture, but the best that I got.

For a vegetable we shared some roasted brussels with a fried garlic vinaigette and red onions. It was nice to get a vegetable other than broccoli. The brussels were still quite crunchy, but had nice flavor. A nice vegetable option. 

We also got a half dozen oysters. We learned that these were farmed outside of Homer, where we'd just come from, and that this area was too far north for oysters to grow on their own. I always love raw oysters and these were nice and cold and came with the beloved salty juice that is what makes them so wonderful. 

The menu changes often and reflects what is available. Aside from the mushrooms, nothing really jumped out at me. My goal on the trip was to eat salmon and salmon was not on the menu, so I settled for pork belly with pickled pineapple, brussel and bacon fried rice, carrot kimchi, and a bbq glaze. The pork belly was a little overcooked and stiff for my taste and the other items were okay, nothing particularly memorable. 

Judy got a salad with a halibut filet on top. The halibut was pretty good, as far as halibut goes, but is quite bland. 

Overall, we were not particularly wowed and it was quite pricey, like everything in Alaska. I suspect that our view of the menu could be quite different with different choices. Their fresh catch of the day was halibut, and if it had been salmon, I'd have been happier with that then pork belly.