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Prospect Street Cafe

Address

http://www.prospectstreetcafe.com/
114 Prospect Street
Bellingham , WA 98225
360-714-8262

Hours

Wed 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Thurs 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Fri 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sat 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Review

Photo Credit: Bud Hardwick
The Prospect Street Café provides a quiet, intimate fine dining experience while beautifully presenting an assortment of interesting and innovative flavor and food combinations. It’s location in an older section of downtown Bellingham, often referred to as the Museum District, allows you to easily combine dinner with a variety of downtown activities.

The clean simplicity of the restaurant’s entrance is continued inside with muted colors, rich wood accents, and carefully arranged lighting that is subdued but functional. The small two story entry opens directly onto the long one room dining room with the wait station located at the far back. The attractive artwork is widely spaced on the long walls and while pleasing, is not distracting.

Despite the simplicity of the dining area there are several choices for seating depending on your party’s size and sociability. Booth and table seating for parties of four line one wall, while the other is dedicated to small tables, perfect for couples or solo diners who may want to enjoy their privacy. Down the center of the restaurant, the Great Table begs for a group dinner and can comfortably seat up to 14 people, or smaller groups seated separately. A few seats are available near the entrance providing window views of the street and museum but they come at the inconvenience of being near the front door, a small price if you want to have the view. The food however, and not the view, is what you’ve come here for.

Comfortably seated, making your dinner selections should be part of your dining adventure and never a chore. There are ever changing specials, a high proportion of any one evening’s offerings making the small but comprehensive menu much more expansive than it may initially look. The dishes provide for a wide range of culinary interest and dietary preferences. Complexity and attention to detail are the hallmarks of this restaurant’s cuisine. Layers of flavors often used in new and interesting combinations give, even somewhat familiar dishes, a fresh appeal. The high degree of care in preparation and presentation are evident the moment the dishes are brought to your table.

Serving you and wanting to maximize your dining enjoyment, the wait staff exhibits obvious care and genuine concern while helping you create your order. The Chef may be responsible for the individual dishes but you have the creative control in designing your own dining experience through your choices of various courses. Ask for suggestions, or do it on your own, as long as you’re happy, they’ll be pleased to take your order either way. If you’d like to see the courses the Chef would choose for you, then stop by on Sunday evenings for the family style dinner. On this one night each week, an additional special menu of courses is created by the Chef and served to your dinner party family style. This means that while everyone makes their own soup or salad choices, the different entrees are all served on platters. This is a wonderful way to make the dining experience more social while getting to sample a greater variety of food and maybe get one extra helping of whichever dish happens to be your favorite that evening.

Accenting your meal, the wine list is surprisingly extensive and offers a nice range of regional and international selections. Desserts are few but exquisite and a good excuse to linger over coffee and enjoy the afterglow of an exceptional meal. To keep things simple, there are no reservations taken though large parties may still want to call ahead and check on tables. Throughout the year, special nights and menus are offered such as the New Year’s Eve Celebration Tasting Dinner (an exception to no-reservation). Small and intimate means personal care and service but due to the restaurants popularity you may have to wait some evenings for a table, though earlier and later times are almost always better for getting a seat more quickly. With so many art and theatre venues within walking distance it would be easy to make dinner at the Prospect Street Café the end of a perfect day or the beginning of an equally perfect evening.
Written By: Bud Hardwick
On: 2/8/2009

Directions

The café is almost directly across Prospect Street from the towering Old City Hall which now houses the Whatcom Museum. From I-5, take Lakeway Drive, Exit 253 and go west toward downtown Bellingham. Continue angling right where Lakeway becomes Holly Street. Go through town (about nine blocks on Holly) and at an oddly shaped intersection angle right onto Prospect Street. Just past the next intersection (Champion Street) look for the small storefront parking lot on your right. Street side parking is also available but do not park in the Museum lot.

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Beer and Wine | Dinner

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