I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the new restaurants in Lincoln Square South in Bellevue. One of them is The Lakehouse, where a  friend had a negative experience shortly after it opened. I crossed it off my list due to the bad recommendation and didn't think much of it until the end of year "Best of 2017" lists started rolling in and The Lakehouse kept popping up. I decided to give it a try for lunch to mitigate my financial risk if it turned out to be as disappointing as my friend said that it was. I enlisted (ok more like begged) her to join me and we made the short jaunt on our lunch break.

As we walked, she told me that when she went there for dinner, it felt like a place to be seen, with lots of people taking selfies and women teetering around on too high heels. Fortunately for us, this was not the case at lunch. But I can definitely see how it would have that vibe at night.

Right away, she noticed that the very disappointing short rib special that both she and her husband ordered was not listed on the menu. So far, so good. I wasn't in the mood for a heavy entree, so I decided to order two small plates.

I was told that the carrots are a specialty of the house and that they can change your life. I wanted my life changed, so I ordered them. And I have to say that they did. Vibe be damned, those carrots are everything. They were beautifully presented and tasted as good as they looked. They had a tiny bit of heat from red chiles, they had crunch from a sprinkling of almonds, they had tang from greek yogurt smeared on the bottom of the plate. Let's just say that I "may" have been back a second time to try them again. Ahem. I can confirm that the restaurant is consistent. I also tried the grilled octopus with green chickpeas and chorizo aioli, lamb pappardelle, and albacore tuna. All excellent. Highly recommended.