Three Standouts at the new Belltown Bar Pennyroyal
Why this new hot spot is not your average hotel bar
By Seattle Mag March 18, 2015
Located in the new Palladian Hotel right at the corner of Second and Virginia, Pennyroyal is a recent-ish addition to Belltown’s hopping bar scene. We recently had a chance to stop in on an early Saturday evening, and here are three things that stood out about the bar.
The Cocktail Menu: All the house cocktails (there were around 10) are $13, and the range is impressive. There’s definitely a slant towards what I’d call cocktail modernism, with ingredients like duck fat-infused rum, lots of housemade items and a fair amount of local spirits on hand. But they’re definitely not sacrificing taste for art, as the drinks came together nicely, even those with longish ingredient lists. I liked The Dream Unicorn, with Espolón Reposado tequila, fresh pineapple, ginger, lemon and bitter lemon soda for its fruity-with-a-bit-of-a-bite nature and because it arrived with a floating raspberry sitting on a lemon half lit on fire. Fire is fun!
The Lounge Atmosphere: This definitely isn’t your average hotel bar. Dark green is the predominant wall color, and you’ll find black velvet-y booths and ceiling, a handful of marble-topped tables, low-lighting, an assortment of random art pieces, and a long lovely L-shaped bar. It feels much more like a late 60s lounge (its say on the site that the aim is “old-world European-style bars” and I can sense that vibe); a place where you might go before or after a play at the nearby Moore Theatre to drink and discuss. Oh, also unlike most hotel bars, the staff is very friendly.
The Fried Chickpeas: The food menu isn’t large (there’s the hotel restaurant Shaker + Spear for that), but has a fair amount of upscale bar snacks and a few larger dishes. My favorite nosh I tasted was the fried chickpeas ($4). Admittedly, I’m a big fried chickpea fan to begin with, but these were an excellent rendition–salty in the best way, well-spiced without going so overboard as to ruin the flavor of the drinks, and delivered in a cute little Le Cruset mini casserole dish.