Licorous

For quite some time I've been meaning to sit down and write a post about Licorous, a wonderful little restaurant/bar in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. I recently went there for happy hour and was most pleasantly surprised. Actually, I knew it would be good since my friend Jane, who takes cooking and eating very seriously, vouched for it. Not only was the atmosphere warm and enchanting, the food and cocktails were clearly made with care.

Almost everyone in my party ordered the Shiso Fine cocktail made with infused vodka and garnished with lime wedges dusted in local shiso leafs. It was as tasty as it was pretty. The little dishes of warm Castelvetrano olives with Za'atar spice and citrus zest also boded well for the rest of the meal.


We took full advantage of happy hour and ordered a few rounds of the favorites. The $2 pretzel dots alone were worth their weight in gold. Warm, salty pretzel buns filled with Italian cured meats, cheese, sauerkraut and a grainy mustard sauce made it impossible to eat just one.


Then came a platter of pork belly tartines: crispy bruschetta toasts topped with caramelized onions, braised pork belly and sweet n' tangy red cabbage. The pork belly was tender and the portions were quite generous.


There is one menu item in particular that I find nearly impossible to pass up: foie gras. So even though I was stuffed to the gills, I made room for one of their foie gras bon bons, which was totally worth it. An absolutely creamy-beyond-belief hazelnut-encrusted foie gras bon bon was artfully skewered along with a slice of olive, or maybe it was pickled rhubarb. Either way, it was one of those things that make your eyes roll back into your head. Just ridiculous.


I can easily see going to Licorous for another casual happy hour or perhaps an intimate dinner. Actually, just going alone to sip on one of their handcrafted cocktails would be well worth the trip.