Mambo Italiano is located on the corner of Harris Street and 12th Street just under
The Black Cat, in Sycamore Square.  Mambo Italiano is usually fairly busy, so you may want to plan accordingly, in case you have a short wait for a table.

There are several booths and tables in the main dining area as you walk in.  As well, there are more seats available upstairs.  And, if you enjoy the ambience of the old Sycamore Square, you can even sit “outside” in the foyer of the Sycamore Square, and take in the scenery that is the fountain, the various shop windows, and the never ending people watching.

The bar at Mambo Italiano is friendly and cozy.  With no more than 12 chairs, the bar serves as a good “holding area” where you can enjoy a glass of wine while you wait to be seated.

The food at Mambo Italiano is excellent. They have a wide variety of Italian
dishes that range from pizza to calzones to pasta and seafood. One of my favorite dishes is the New York steak accompanied by the starch of the day. There is some sort of balsamic reduction sauce on their steak that is absolutely delicious and leaves me wanting more. The salmon rigatoni, pollo parmigiana, and the tortellini are a few more of my favorite meals at Mambo’s. Most of the dinner entrees are reasonably priced, ranging in price from $14 -$18.

The food is not the only thing that keeps me coming back to Mambo Italiano, the wait staff are some of the friendliest people in Bellingham.  They are always eager to recommend a dish, inform you of daily special, or offer up a good wine pairing for your meal if requested.

If there was one item that could be improved at Mambo Italiano, I would say it is the wine list, which is limited, but does offer some good, basic selections, most of which are available at the local grocer.  Being a wine aficionado who loves to pair good food with good wine, it might be nice to be able to choose from a few vintage bottles in the future.  If you would like to bring your own bottle of wine, Mambo’s charges a small, $10 corking fee.

All in all, if you are looking for a fabulous Italian meal, decent table wine, and a warm and welcoming atmosphere, Mambo Italiano is the place for you. I hope to see you there!

Mambo Italiano – Website

Phone: 360-734-7677

© Ryan Martin for Bellingham Real Estate Blog, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bellingham Restaurants, Fairhaven Restaurants

Scotty Browns Bellingham WA 3101 Newmarket St #201 Bellingham, WA 98229 Scotty Browns Website | Menu

Updated: 4/28/09

Last Thursday we headed back to Scotty Brown’s for dinner and drinks. On our last visit we had burgers, so this time we decided to step it up a notch. As always, the ambiance of Scotty Brown’s was fun and lively. We arrived and 6:00pm to meet with some friends, and a table was ready for us immediately. We were seated at a table near a big window towards the back of the restaurant.  I highly recommend sitting in this vicinity of the restaurant if you are looking visiting Scotty’s for a more personal/intimate occasion, as it is considerably quieter than the rest of the restaurant. Once we were settled in, we were greeted by our wonderful server, Tiffany, who was friendly and attentive.

Our group decided to start out with white wine and appetizers. Personally, I prefer  red wine to white, but I am open to trying new things.  We asked the house manager, Jason, for a white wine recommendation. Jason suggested that we try the MacMurray Ranch Pinot Gris from Sonoma Valley CA. The pinot gris was delightful; full bodied and an excellent flavor. I also appreciated that the white wine was kept in a chiller on our table after the initial pouring.

For appetizers we ordered the wok squid and spicy tuna rolls. The spicy tuna rolls were not yet on the printed menu, but Jason brought them to our attention while he was recommending our wine. The wok squid was just alright for me. I really liked the dipping sauce and the squid were properly cooked, but they were not out of sight, although, everyone else at the table seemed to really enjoy them. The spicy tuna rolls on the other hand were amazing. The ahi tuna was rare and perfect. For me the texture of the tuna roll is what made this sushi over the top. There was a crunchy fried onion in the middle that gave the roll the perfect crunch. If Scotty Brown’s doesn’t have the tuna rolls on the menu the next time you stop in, be sure to ask for them, they are well worth it.

As we were enjoying our appetizers Tiffany returned to take our entrée orders. My girlfriend ordered the potato crusted halibut with seasonal vegetables, which I have to admit that I did not have the opportunity to sample because I was too full from my own entrée. I selected the house special – filet mignon – medium rare with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a fantastic mushroom sauce. Jason made another excellent recommendation – a side of “wicked mushrooms.”  The wicked mushrooms were a spicy complement to the rich filet. The steak was topped with the mushroom sauce and an amazing goat cheese, which had a texture more like butter than cheese. The flavors were absolutely wonderful. Everyone seemed to enjoy their entrees, as all of our plates were nearly liked clean, with no trace of the good food we had consumed.

For dessert, the four of us split a sampler of the three dessert options on the menu.  This “dessert buffet” included a chocolate pecan pie, tiramisu, and key lime pie. The tiramisu topped with chocolate flakes was my favorite. The chocolate pecan pie and key lime pie were also good, but I have to admit that neither are my favorite. The key lime had a very strong fresh lime flavor and the chocolate pecan pie was very rich, which my girlfriend did not seem to mind – the pecan pie was her favorite. We also finished our meals and desserts with a bottle of Forbidden Red wine. The Forbidden Red is an excellent value at $27, especially considering the fact that they are currently serving a 2004 vintage.

Scotty Brown’s has definitely worked out their opening kinks since they opened in January, and I highly recommend that you “splurge” when you dine and try something on the “higher end” of the menu. The servers are extremely knowledgeable; our server Tiffany even said that they have been doing some wine tasting with the wait staff in order to become more familiar with what is on the menu, enabling them to make solid recommendations to their guests.  You could also ask to speak with Jason, who knows his menu and his wine list very well.  My only suggestion would be for Scotty Brown’s to offer a better happy hour – bigger and better appetizer and drink specials (i.e. discounts) would make it hard for people not to stop by for a “quickie” on their way home.  Happy hours are really hot in Bellingham right now, and it could keep Scotty’s full from 4 – 7 every night.

Original Post

My girlfriend and I decided to give the new Scotty Browns Social House a try last Friday night. Scotty Browns just opened a week ago and we wanted to give them try.

We showed up at 5:15pm on a Friday night and the place was packed. There was nobody in the entry lobby when we arrived, but all of the seats were full. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes for a table to open up. By the time our table was ready the entire lobby was packed to the gills. Our first impressions from the lobby were “Wow”. There were enormous projection flat screen TV’s at both ends of the bar and the picture quality was outstanding. The house was over staffed, but I imagine that they were doing some training with the recent open.

Once we were seated, we were taken to a table in the back of the restaurant that was located well away from the bar. The two person booth that we were sat in was very comfortable and the coat hangers between booths came in very handy. Within a couple of minutes of being seated we ordered drinks which came right away. We were also able to order our food at that time.

Our server was very friendly, but a bit unsure of the menu. I realize that the restaurant just opened, but maybe Scotty Brown’s needs to spend a little more time feeding their staff the some of the menu items. It is really nice when the server has tried most of the food on the menu, especially if it is a new restaurant. As for our food, it came to our table within 10 minutes of ordering. This was a big plus because I expected slow service from a new restaurant that not only slammed, but just opened.

Things couldn’t have gone much better until the food arrived. This is when there was a little disappointment. My girlfriend and I both ordered the Hollywood burgers. I figured that burgers were a safe bet for fast service and a solid meal, however the burger was a big let down. I am not sure if I have ever eaten such a greasy hamburger. The patty itself was very greasy, but well portioned. I didn’t care for the bun. The bun was fairly small, light, and reminded me of Dairy Queen. The other problem was the order of burger toppings. The sauce was smothered over the cheese, then the patty and then the lettuce and tomato. The patty kept sliding out of the bun because the layer of grease between the lettuce and patty were causing some serious lubrication issues. Frankly, it was a big mess when I was done. It would have been a catastrophic mess, but the napkin miraculously was able to handle all the sauce and grease. I have to say that was one serious serviette. Never in my dining experiences have I been provided with such an outstanding paper napkin.

Moving on to the fries, I went with the standard shoe string French fries. I thought that the fries were mediocre. They were surprisingly a little cold considering how fast the food came out. My girlfriend ordered the yam fries. I am not a huge fan of sweet fries, but they actually weren’t too bad. I’m not sure if the yam fries were worth the extra $1.50 upgrade fee.

I also think that Scotty Browns needs to offer more competitive happy hours specials. They don’t offer any happy hour specials on Fridays or Saturdays. On the days they do offer happy hour specials, they are not very competitive. Poppies and the Jack Niemann’s Black Forest Steak House offer some really good deals during their happy hours, but Scotty Browns just offers a dollar or two of their selected drinks and appetizers.

All in all I think Scotty Browns has a great atmosphere and is probably a really fun place to sit in the bar to watch sports and drink beer. I can’t say that I will be coming back to restaurant side for a while though. I imagine that I will end up there again for a Birthday Party, or some other event, but personally the burgers across the street at Bob’s Burger and Brew are far superior to Scotty Browns.

© Ryan Martin for Bellingham Real Estate Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bellingham Restaurants, Scotty Browns