Little Beast Ballard
English restaurant · Ballard ·
Traditional English pub with meat pies, Scotch eggs, and roasts
Traditional English pub with meat pies, Scotch eggs, and roasts
"Opened in summer 2025 by Kevin Smith, the chef and butcher behind Beast and Cleaver, this spot delivers an English menu Seattle hadn’t seen before. Scotched eggs, sausage rolls, and especially the meat pies feel like little luxuries—the lamb korma is the star, with rich, fatty, cumin-y lamb sealed in a sturdy but not stodgy hot water pastry (and it can sell out near closing). Chalkboard steak specials showcase the whole-animal approach with unusual cuts like fatty toro from the cow’s belly; I get it medium rare and don’t mind if it borders on bloody. The Englishness shows in sides and desserts uncommon in Seattle, including spotted dick and Yorkshire pudding, and the colcannon—mashed potatoes with cabbage, leeks, and a healthy dose of garlic confit—adds welcome vegetation and creaminess amid all the meat. It can be tough to snag a reservation, but the entire bar is set aside for walk-ins, perfect for solo diners or couples, with a front-row view of the team firing and plating gorgeous dry-aged meat. On Sundays, the restaurant switches to a classic Sunday roast of beef with vegetable sides, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding (the regular menu isn’t available), and it occasionally hosts pop-ups like Beast and Cleaver’s famous burgers." - Harry Cheadle
"An extension of Beast and Cleaver, this part-time English pub and part-time whole-animal butchery production space channels Kevin Smith’s exacting standards into a menu unlike any other pub around. You can get things calling themselves meat pies anywhere, but nothing like the lamb neck pie here — fatty, rich, indulgent, and encased in a sturdy pastry shell. The dry-aged steaks are so loaded with umami you get notes of mushroom, and from the bone marrow and parsley salad to the Scotched eggs to the “pig head McNugget,” it reads not just as an ode to Smith’s native England but as a monument to the virtues of meat in all its guises." - Harry Cheadle
"On the inside, this thoroughly British outpost of Beast & Cleaver on Ballard’s main drag appears to be a garden variety pub—but it's much more than that. Little Beast's butchery roots come through by way of a spicy lamb korma pie drenched in gravy that looks like melted coffee ice cream and tastes like Sunday night. Or a zippy currywurst sausage roll, perfect with a pimm’s cup. Or arguably the greatest pork chop of late. Between the presence of scotched eggs, a soundtrack of sing-along rock classics, and a staff eager to dole out bonus gravy pours, Little Beast already fits in effortlessly among the neighborhood’s lowkey special occasion scene." - aimee rizzo, gabe guarente, kayla sager riley, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, gabe guarente, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, gabe guarente, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo, aimee rizzo
"On the inside, this thoroughly British outpost of Beast & Cleaver on Ballard’s main drag appears to be a garden variety pub—but it's much more than that. Little Beast's butchery roots come through by way of a lamb korma pie, zippy currywurst sausage roll, and arguably the greatest pork chop of late. It fits in effortlessly among the neighborhood’s lowkey special occasion scene." - kayla sager riley, gabe guarente, aimee rizzo
"Our favorite butcher shop/restaurant hybrid Beast & Cleaver has quietly opened its new English pub on Ballard Avenue. It’s open with limited seating at the moment, but hours and reservations should expand soon. Expect things like scotched eggs, meat pies, puddings, and other traditional London pub food. There will also be cooking and butchery classes in the space." - kayla sager riley, gabe guarente, aimee rizzo