Portage Bay Cafe - South Lake Union

Made reservations for a Saturday morning for 2 and had a nice breakfast date with my husband.

Highly recommend reservations if you come on a weekend because it gets pretty busy. My husband and I have lived in SLU for over a year and we finally got around to trying this spot!

We sat inside, but maybe should have chosen outside. The inside area is pretty loud. Food portions are really big and our server Stephanie was really friendly.

Food:

+ pear oat French toast special - loved this! Totally gave me fall vibes and it tasted delicious! You can go to their fruit bar and add whipped cream and berries.

+ breakfast sandwich - pretty solid and potatoes were tasty!

+ cheddar biscuit (side) - good flavor but I wish it was fluffier

Overall, a nice breakfast spot with crowd pleasing breakfast dishes!

*Overall 3.75 Stars*

This is a lively brunch place that's good for bigger groups with friends. Due to the size of the restaurant don't expect an intimate quiet brunch. Food was 50/50. A great dish and an average omelette. Service was good given the size of the place.

Food: 4/5 Overall

Italian sausage omelette: 3/5 Average. This omelette was nothing special and nothing bad. It didn't particular stand out to me but I also didn't find any issues. For $17 it was a great portion and I think a good value.

Shakshuka: 4.5/5 Very good. I regret not getting this for myself, I loved this dish and the poached eggs were nicely cooked. Mixing the tomato stew with runny eggs on top of the bread with a little bit of arugula was the perfect bite. I enjoyed how the tomato's were a little bit chunkier, it wasn't too watery or thin so you could actually top the bread with them instead of only "dipping"

Venue: 3/5. Average, very loud and crowded.
Maybe the outdoor sitting was a bit calmer but it was definitely the type of place where you spoke with an "outside" voice to others on the table. There's a constant buzz of conversation which isn't necessarily bad but if you are hungover or looking for a cute intimate brunch with a date this isn't the best place.

Service: 4/ 5 good - relative to the size.
The waitress was kind and nice to us and passed by our table several times to refill our water and check in. Due to the size of the restaurant there's like 3-4 waiters constantly going back and forth. When I did have to flag down the wait staff they'd have to come back after servicing another table which wasn't a big problem but just illustrates that it's a packed house and the waiters seemed to be spread a bit thin.

This place was very cosy with great food and coffee. I got the breakfast burrito which was extremely filling and tasty. I needed a place to work while on the road visiting accounts, and portage bay didn't disappoint!

Coffee also paired nicely with my meal and had me amped for the rest of the day. See y'all again when I'm in the area.

I generally don't start talking with ambience first but Portage Bay's ambience and environment hits differently. It will be the first thing that will strike you. Super lively, super crowded. Food is great and really acceptable portion size. I went to brunch for a friend's birthday treat and it was an amazing experience.

I personally got goat cheese egg and side salad and it was amazing. The pancakes and french toasts were amazing too. They have open fruits counter and you can always add berries and banana to your pancakes.

The coffee, tea and drinks were slightly underwhelming compared to their food.

Another downside was the order might take a while specially on Saturday morning because the place is so busy.

Had a delicious breakfast here on our visit to Seattle! We ate the seasonal pancakes, French Toast and sausage, and Huevos Rancheros with chorizo. Also enjoyed a Chai latte and seasonal S'Mores Latte.

The pancakes required a trip to the berry bar where I was able to load up in the most delicious whipped cream and fresh fruit. Pancakes were so big that I could only eat half. My husband enjoyed the French toast and, in particular, maple sausage links. Daughter loved her huevos and said the chorizo was really great.

It was busy, but not too long of a wait on a Sunday. Service was GREAT!

Portage has a huge indoor space. Despite our reservation, we had to wait around 15min and then waited another 45min for our food. I wasn't the biggest fan of how long we were waiting, but the food in itself was delicious.

I got the special -- the chorizo scramble, and the slight spice and substance of all the ingredients were memorable.

Love that we can make a reservation at our favorite and iconic bustling Seattle brunch restaurant. It's the vegan banana pancakes with the trip to the berry bar all around for us. We added the fennel salad this trip and it was super tasty. Loved the shredded rainbow carrots but thought there definitely could have been a little more fennel. Service is solid and appreciated the host offered an outside table since it was a gorgeous day. Patio is so lovely and the blankets such a nice touch. This is our place!

Came here for breakfast. Food was great. Especially loved the hash which was delicious - a nice mix of vegetables, bacon, and chicken sausage and with perfectly cooked over easy eggs. The main downside was the place was really noisy - had to shout to hear each other.

Another great experience at Portage Bay! We practically visit from Portland, just to eat brunch here. It was packed by 9am, and our server was so sweet and efficient. I bet it took less than 10 min from ordering until our food arrived.

Is there really anything better than their toppings bar, with the perfectly ripe berries and whipped cream? Yummm. Can't wait for our next Seattle trip!

The food quality here has seemed to decrease, or I just ordered horribly.

It's hard to mess up avocado toast ($16). Portage bay cafe messed it up. The avocado is not freshly sliced, it is a weird lemony mash like what you get in packaged guacamole. On top of untoasted, cold whole wheat sourdough. And then the fruit side is an extra ($5) which was shocking, I wish staff would have told us about the upcharge while selling to us Presentation was sloppy too.

I had a bite of my friend's mushroom benedict and it was delicious though.

They were packed to the brim with people so perhaps the same amount of care can't be given to dishes like it used to.