Michael X.
Yelp
At the time of this review, Seattle Restaurant week was happening - Cheese Room had a really appealing restaurant week promotion as many of the other reviews have mentioned, where they have a 3 course meal for $35. For Seattle prices, the opportunity to get $35 for three dishes where majority of the time a singular entree can cost up to that much was something to be experienced! We arrived quite early (4PM) to get in line on a Saturday, and we still had to wait 30 minutes to get a table since the restaurant experienced a massive surge of popularity with this promotion!
The restaurant itself, ambiance-wise, is rustic with old homely decorations, and is dimmly lit casual dine in with candles at each table. Space-wise, it is a bit cramped - we had to squeeze between 4 people just to get through the entrance. Service is fast despite how busy the restaurant was - our waiter was attentive and we got our food in reasonable time frames (10-15 minutes inbetween courses). As with most restaurants on Cap Hill, the parking situation is difficult - you will have to find a nearby parking garage or street side parking in order to get to the restaurant.
Now, for the food - we got the $35 three course special that the Cheese Room was offering at the time. I'll review a couple of items that I really enjoyed on the menu:
Polenta and Sausage Appetizer: The polenta is thick and creamy, with a little bit of cornmeal grains to complement the smoothness. The sausage was indeed a bit spicy - it's sort of like a pleasant kick of spice to wake your taste buds up. The sausage has a decent snap and a chewy, hearty, and good savoriness from the various Italian spices - definitely a tasty appetizer.
Italian Meatball Appetizer: The ricotta is very fresh - it basically melted in your mouth as you ate it, absolutely no chewing involved. The meatballs were decent, not the most amazing meatballs I've had - they were definitely in the middle of the personal rankings. The included bread had a nice and satisfying crunch from toasting. The cheese is definitely the star of this appetizer.
Malfadine Pasta with Lamb: I haven't had malfadine pasta before, and I must say I really enjoyed this type of pasta (it's probably one of my favorite shapes)! It's sort of like lasagna sheet ribbons and the sauce really helps cling to the noodles. The dish is really creamy, hearty, and rich with pleasant aromatic flavors from the onion and lamb. The lamb isn't too gamey and has a delicious meaty texture and flavor.
Tiramisu: This is likely one of the more powerful tiramisus that I have a tried! The cake at the bottom is absolutely seeped with coffee flavor and is very bitter and fragrant. The cream on the top doesn't have a ton of sweet flavor, which is nice, but I can understand it not being some people's cup of coffee. This is definitely something to try if you are a coffee lover!
In the end, I think that Cheese Room had a very solid and toothsome dishes to offer at very reasonable prices during restaurant week. Though the prices were fantastic during this event, I think it would be interesting to try the place again with their regular pasta amount. I would love to revisit again to try the other options that the Cheese Room has to offer.