Edge Meets Value at Bellevue’s Black Bottle Postern

With soaring 30-foot ceilings and booths that sit along an expanse of windows, Black Bottle Postern wouldn’t seem half as edgy if it weren’t for its locale: smack dab in shiny new Bellevue.

The crowd here is also a bit of a departure for the city; sure, you’ve got your besuited tall, dark and handsomes and your coiffed ladies clutching pricey purses. But groups of casual diners also find their way in to share an enormous plate of “blasted broccoli” ($8)—roasted until the tips are dark and crisp, they’re a menu staple at the original Black Bottle in Belltown—and pulled pork tacos ($7).

Pork belly and kimchi skewers—hot, sweet, stinky, sticky and decadent, all at once—were my favorite thing on the menu. But what stands out most is the value: Flatbread pizzas ($9) with soft, tender crusts (and topped with chard, duck sausage and mushrooms, or pears and Gorgonzola) would cost half again as much elsewhere. It’s an ideal place to come with a group for cocktails (priced from $6) and wine (with good choices in the $7/glass range).

Of course, the best thing about Black Bottle is that, in a downtown area fraught with national chains, you’ll easily find something on the menu to love, thus avoiding the restaurant you’ll no doubt spy from your windowed booth: Wendy’s.

Dinner daily. Bellevue, 919 Bellevue Way NE; 425.223.5143; blackbottlebellevue.com. $$