Amici Bistro offers taste of Italy

MUKILTEO – It’s the IRS’s fault. My taxes being due made me overly money-conscious on my recent Friday night visit to Amici Bistro.

How to overcome all that worry?

I first enjoyed browsing through the lengthy wine choices. Most bottles fall in the $35 to $40 range and come from California, Oregon, Washington, Spain and Italy. There are familiar favorites and some that aren’t very common. For example, the Greco di Tufo ($39) is made from a grape variety that tradition says the Greeks brought to Italy more than 2,000 years ago.

I decided on a glass of house chianti ($7) and my dinner companion ordered a glass of white zinfandel ($6).

We eased into dinner by ordering an appetizer. Our server suggested the seared ahi tuna ($13.95). If we weren’t so hungry, we could have made a light spring dinner out of the appetizer course: For example, four crab cakes with roasted red pepper aioli, or mussels and clams sauteed in white wine with tomatoes, garlic and herbs, with a salad or cup of soup, would make a delicious dinner.

For our appetizer, we ordered the mushrooms ($11.95) which are sauteed in olive oil with chopped tomatoes, garlic and fresh herbs. The first bite was a surprise. The second had us looking at each other and saying “mmmmm.” As we enjoyed the mushrooms, we returned to our menus to select our entrees.

My dinner companion considered the chicken parmigiana but ordered the halibut ($24.95). I wanted pasta but nothing leapt off the page; again I asked our server for help. He suggested the seafood linguini ($23.95), which is one of Amici Bistro’s signature dishes. Of course. An excellent choice.

Dinners come with salad or soup, unlike lunch. The lunch menu is a little shorter, and the prices less (ranging from $9.95 for a meatball or sausage sandwich to $21.95 for the cioppino, which is a seafood stew in a tomato broth).

Our salads were made with cut romaine lettuce, tomato and cucumber slices. I ordered the house-made gorgonzola dressing while my friend selected the olive oil-balsamic vinaigrette. Both were excellent choices, especially when paired with the rosemary-garlic rustic bread fresh from the warmer.

Between the salads and the arrival of our main dishes, we enjoyed the view of the patio and imagined enjoying a late lunch on a summer day. Inside, the restaurant is decorated in warm yellows and pumpkin hues to give the two dining rooms a Mediterranean feel.

The arrival of our main dishes was perfectly timed. We weren’t rushed or tired of waiting. My friend’s seared halibut with a drizzle of pesto was cooked to perfection.

My friend, a Puget Sound native, believes that a halibut dish defines a restaurant. About halfway through his dinner, he said the halibut was “a little old.” I asked if he wanted to send it back, and he said, “No. It’s not that bad. It just has a little bit of a fishy taste.”

About the same time, I was discovering that the abundant clams, mussels, scallops and prawns in my seafood linguini were a shade overcooked. Yet, the linguini was al dente, and the tomato sauce with garlic and herbs was excellent.

We ended our meal by splitting a slice of chocolate mousse cake flavored with Grand Marnier ($6.95), and cups of coffee. The coffee ($2.50 a cup) was freshly brewed and steaming, while the cake was a slice of heaven for my chocolate-loving friend.

Amici Bistro has been a standing favorite in Mukilteo for several years, with a reputation for being a special place to gather friends and family.

Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.

Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.