Boka Kitchen and Lounge

Basics: $5 well drinks, $4 draft beers, $6 select wine, $3-12.50 food. Daily specials run 2:30 p.m.(!) to 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. to close.


When is a well drink not a well drink?

Ah, a Carroll-esque riddle for the ages (or at least for the recessed economy). As it turns out Hotel 1000's bar Boka -- and several other places we've been to lately -- considers a well drink to be booze and anything coming out of the spigot. Gin and tonic? Sweet, so Brett's in the clear. Vodka soda? Great, I'm good to go. Rum and diet? If we had a rum drinker in our crowd ... well, then that one fifth of the God-awful stuff wouldn't have languished at a year and a half's worth of parties and pre-funks before we finally drank it.

God that was a bad night.

But anyway. Screwdriver, greyhound, or vodka cran drinkers can find themselves paying an added buck per drink. And while that isn't a big deal in the long run, it just struck us as kind of shady without any mention on the menu.

That and the weak drinks -- probably a measured pour -- were about the only complaints we could find of Boka. Short, squat chairs upholstered in cream-colored faux-crocodile draw you into the sleek, modern ambience, full of plush leather rails and opaque milkglass bamboo. The well-stocked bar, wine rack, and rear dining area's walls glow brightly, cycling through numerous shades of frost-biten colored flourescence.

Food-wise we fared much better. Truffle fries were much tastier than their usual burger accompaniment counterparts ("That's probably the fanciest presentation of french fries I've ever seen!" the APIC gushed). The crab cakes I ordered were amazing: airy and fluffy on the inside, while satisfyingly crunchy on the out. The rest of the food menu, though, underwhelmed: everything looked good, but none of it sounded extremely appetizing.

But maybe we have lowbrow tastes: on the way home, we totally hit up Subway for a couple $5 footlongs.

Boka Kitchen and Bar. 1010 First Ave (First & Madison), Seattle's Downtown. Daily 2:30-6:00 p.m., late night 10:00 p.m. to close.