Etta's is one of the most popular and recommended seafood restaurants in Seattle. Being upscale enough to be in the "top tier" of seafood places, it is not so expensive as to make it a "special occasion" restaurant. One of its best features is the view across the street onto the waterfront, with a replica of a Native American totem pole silhouetted in the sunset across Puget Sound.

The Sourdough Bread served as an appetizer sets the stage for a good meal. This is so fresh you may be tempted to fill up on it, but willpower is needed to save space for the meal.

A Clam Chowder makes an excellent appetizer, with fresh seafood and one of the best broths west of Boston.

One of the reasons for my initial visit was that they were offering Copper River Alaska King Salmon at a time that most other restaurants were serving only Sockeye Salmon. This special catch of salmon, available only for a short time during May and June, is known for its high fat content and thus extra flavor. The default cooking style is medium rare, but mine came out medium well-- quite overcooked for this dish. The extra fat taste was almost completely lacking, so that it was indistinguishable from the regular King Salmon that would have been considerably less expensive. Still, it was fresh and a good representation of one of the best species of fish that can be enjoyed in the Northwest (or it would have been a good representation had it not been so expensive).

The garnish on top of the salmon demonstrated the creativity that is probably one source of the good reviews I have repeatedly seen for Etta's. Although it was a great complement to the flavor and did not detract from my enjoyment of the salmon, I brushed it aside to make a great side dish in its own right.

It is too bad that the cooking method used for the salmon turned what could have been a memorable meal into an overpriced, but good one. Personally, I think better fish can be found in a city in which salmon shoud be one of its signature dishes.