Cafe Juanita

What a beautiful meal and a beautiful experience. Cafe Juanita is kinda nestled in the residential area of Kirkland. There's valet parking and some street parking provided. The inside kinda gives "The Menu" vibes especially at night, with the big windows that see nothing but darkness and the open kitchen... minus all the other stuff lolWe came in a few minutes early for our reservation and was greeted and seated pretty quickly. They only provide different prix fixe menus, so not a whole lot to choose from, but don't think you can go wrong. We went with the omnivore menu. Amuse bouche: so cute, so good. They were such perfect bites. I especially loved the scallop that was served with passion fruit and some pistachio maybe? Herb focaccia: super fluffy and airy. The outside was perfectly crunchy as well. Pea ravioli in broth: I'm not a fan of peas, so I wasn't a huge fan of this dish. But I enjoyed the pasta itself, the texture was good and the shape is the cutest thing. The soup was also full of umami flavor. Bread board: the assortment! Loved the variety here. I especially loved the gourmet cheez-its hahaWagyu croccante: delightfully buttery. The decorations on top are cute, but the flavor doesn't really come through when eaten together with the meat and sauce on the bread. Endive salad: yummier than I expected! It's served with a pine nut sauce with more pine nuts together. With the celery on top, it kinda tastes like an elevated celery and peanut butter snack which I was super on board for. The flavors can take a little getting used to, but every bite just continuously got better. Venison loin: omg so tender, and not gamey at all. Cooked to absolute perfection. The sauce was a great pairing with the meat and cabbage as well. Palate cleanser and desserts: palate cleanser was a beautiful dollop of fruity tart goodness. The little dessert before dessert was also amazing. I could've had about 10 of those, but sadly only got one. The actual dessert was a super interesting combo of porcini gelato and chocolate hazelnut bottom. Together, it's such an interesting flavor combination: umami porcini and salty nutty chocolate. Overall, a wonderful experience and delicious menu. We were both stuffed by the end of the meal. The service was divine, everyone was super attentive and kind. Would definitely recommend this for anyone wanting a special dining experience.

What a treat! Cade Juanita and staff do an exceptional job in a very unassuming neighborhood in Kirkland. The pasta with sage is fantastic... caviar a must have... and a truly exceptional wine list.

Came here for a birthday dinner in October 2023. When making the reservation, I had a custom request for a small card and a certain table. When we arrived, our table had a small handwritten birthday card on the restaurant stationary. We started off with some cocktails, and we both got the same tasting menu--"carnivore", as they call it. The food was pretty good overall, but there were a few that were a standout. We enjoyed a couple more cocktails, and ended the meal with a small birthday dessert. Honestly though it was a bit overpriced. The experience and food was nice, but I probably won't go out of the way to dine here.

The food is insanely delicious, but the price is equally ridiculous! I have never paid 900$ for dinner for 3 anywhere in the world. Service was fantastic! Ambiance 3star. Food 5 star. Price point $$$$$$$$

10 out of 10 would recommend. Pricy, but worth it. We did the tasting menu. Don't be in a rush. But everything was stellar. We did the private room in the main level.

It's worth it. Every single item was delicious. The service was fantastic. Would recommend the omnivore choice more than pescatarian one. Cocktails were fantastic too. The ambiance was okayish. No great views or tall ceilings and the location is okayish too. But the food makes it worth it and we had a fabulous night over all. Portions looked small initially but the end of all the courses, we were quite full. There are also small plates served in between the courses which were unique and nice.

THE best meal we've had in many, many years. 2 of ordered the omnivore tasting menu and 2 ordered the pescatarian tasting menu. They also have vegetarian and vegan menus available, as well as some amazing additional items that can be swapped out into the tasting menu you choose. They can also address gluten free requests. They also accommodate allergies and preferences.Every single course from each of the tasting menus was balanced in flavor and texture, and exquisitely prepared. Presentations are beautiful and deceptively simple. Of particular note were the Wagyu A5 croccante, Tajarin with butter and crispy sage, and the Iberico Presa de Bellota and Alaskan spot prawn entree (it's Spanish pork shoulder but looks and eats like beef ... amazing). The vanilla bean panna cotta, vanilla sea salt, Billy's honey was incredibly light ... yet had perfect jiggly consistency.We enjoyed the reserve wine pairings with each course. Fun to have the sommelier bring out the bottles (different wines for the different tasting menus) and educate us about the wines.Service was outstanding ... super friendly and attentive.Love Holly Smith and her team. Eat here, often.

Fine dining at its best... and most expensive. We are CJ fans, and this is the first time we've been to the restaurant since they switched from a la carte to tasing menus. First, the ambience. Quiet, reserved, elegant. Tables nicely spaced, noise level is low so conversation is easy, and the tables and chairs are sleek and comfortable.Service was top notch. We were greeted warmly, and our server was attentive and helpful without hovering too much. The sommelier was delightful and gave colorful explanations of all the wine we tried. Now for the food. Wonderful from start to finish. Each course was beautifully plated and lovingly prepared. My daughter had the pescatarian menu, and I had the omnivore. We augmented our dinner with the Tajarin with butter and sage, a Cafe Juanita classic. The two menus are the same except for the entree and the appetizer. We both agreed the omnivore menu was the standout. The carpaccio was out of this world: creamy waygu carpaccio with tangy jalapeno butter and the crunch of a homemade rye crisp. My daughter's frutti de mare was fresh and bright, but the cuttlefish ink was a bit strong for her liking. The tagliatelle with morels was some of the best pasta we've ever eaten, even better than our beloved butter and sage. For entrees, we gave the nod to the melt-in-your mouth venison loin. The halibut was perfectly cooked but just a tad on the bland side. Desserts were sublime. We had the wine parings with our meal. Each wine was exquisite and paired perfectly with the food. The price seemed steep for the amount of wine in each pour. We are glad we tried it, but would just order wine off the menu next time.

This is a fairly nice fine dining restaurant located around the Kirkland area. We booked a reservation for a Wednesday dinner for 4 people, and it was not too hard to get a reservation for opening time. However, do plan ahead if you go for Friday or Saturday. They're currently open Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday and Saturday. Parking is street parking which is not too hard early in the day, or you can valet for $10.My friend and I got one omnivore and one pescatarian and did some substitutions to try as much as we can without paying an insane amount on supplements. Some courses can be subbed like the tagliatelle for the tajarin and the vegetable and desserts courses can be swapped. You can also swap between omnivore and pescatarian options too to have a best of both worlds approach. We started with house made focaccia which absolutely stands out - crispy bread with soft interior, and each bite soaks with delicious yet not overpowering amounts of olive oil.Then there's amuse bouche that has a cannoli with caviar, crostini, and baby carrot with chickpea crema which you can eat the entire thing. It's a nice plate to start, but nothing too memorable.Bread service - 2 breads (cumin and roasted garlic potato) and 2 crackers (rosemary and sea salt, and 36 month Parmesan reggiano) variants. They are good but we were still thinking of the focacciaFrutti di mare - love the scallops and oysters but the uni is just decent. Squid ink sauce A5 Miyazaki wagyu croccante - I love this one - very tender meat (raw) with toasted bread. A light toastTagliatelle - good, has mushrooms, cooked al denteTajarin with creme fraiche and white sturgeon caviar - substitution, also a great pasta. The caviar blends well with the tajarin flavors Little gems - has anchovy and the Parmesan reggiano, sharp and freshAsparagus with black garlic - substitution, you also have one piece of that if you go with the omnivore course. I really love this along with the presentation. The shallots are pickled so it provides a slightly sweet and sour contrastPalate cleanser - kinda like a raspberry sorbet. Don't be fooled by the plating as I thought the white center was also food Alaskan halibut - spot prawn bisque - cooked well, blends well with the brothVenison - I prefer this main. Venison is so tender and juicy you can even eat it by just biting or a dull knife (since I was sharing, my friend had the sharper knife for the venison course). The spring onion agrodolce bombolino is a bread with the onion inside and is so flavorful and enhances the very savory black garlic asparagus and venison. Probably my favorite dish in the whole tasting menu, aside from the focaccia at the beginning Pavlova with strawberry and lemon curd - one bite, fairly solidLe Bombe - a nice finish to the meal. Very hearty, love the sweet contrast with yuzu Sichuan peppercorn gelato for a play on hot and coldVanilla bean panna cotta - substitution, also very good and standardService is excellent as they make sure you always have wine and water with the food. Food cadence is good in timing but the progression feels a little bit random as we start off with a heavy amuse bouche followed by a lighter A5 croccante / frutti di mareThe sommelier recommended nice wines, both white and red, to pair with our courses. We started with a Sauvignon blanc then proceeded with a red wine after to pair with the later courses. Overall, the food is good and price range is fair - after tax and tip, it was about $325 a person for tasting menu ($205 base) plus 2 bottles of wine. If you go solo, wine pairing is good for variety but if you don't mind variety, going with a group to split a bottle or two will be a fraction of the price.

Overall, this is a special place and each course is beautiful and thoughtful. For me personally, I don't think it was a great fit because of the menu the night I went. Perhaps another time with a different menu, it would be a better experience but with the cost, I'm not sure if I'd take the chance again. If you're an adventurous eater without any restrictions, you'll have an incredible experience. Pros- Service is exceptional and polished - They are accommodating with allergy issues and I felt confident that the chef was careful which is significant for those with allergies - The chocolate bomb dessert was amazing but very small even for a tasting menu - Loved the pastas- the risotto with ramps was my favorite thing we ate Cons- The anchovy salad was inedible, extremely salty and the anchovies were pungent. With such an expensive meal, I was bummed that I couldn't eat an entire course - I couldn't eat either protein on the menu and needed to swap from the supplement menu . I appreciate the ability to swap but it's primarily only pastas - with exception of the A5 which understandably is an additional price - so I had two pastas instead. Again, with the price, it's a bummer to not get a protein