DERU MARKET
ADDRESS: 723 9th Avenue, Kirkland, WA 98033
WEBSITE: https://www.derumarket.com/
The last day of my trip up to Seattle had arrived and I had an afternoon flight out of SeaTac, giving me a good chunk of the morning to spend with my brother Kevin and sister-in-law Alina before heading out. I had time to get some lunch before heading over to the airport, and they both mentioned about a place called DERU Market that had been on their list of spots to try for a while. It was located relatively closeby to where I was staying and the food choices looked solid, so we headed over there right around 11AM.
When we first pulled up to the restaurant, we were slightly surprised by the fact of how the restaurant was almost in the middle of a neighborhood, with residential homes within easy walking distance from the place. To make the location even more interesting, the restaurant was sandwiched between an auto body shop and a landscaping supply store. But location aside, the parking right near the building was pretty challenging, but we were fortunate enough that someone had just pulled out of their spot as we got there.
The restaurant itself has a blend of seating options between both indoor and outdoor. For the start of a Thursday lunch service, the inside was relatively full when we arrived, so we opted to sit outside instead. It seems like the space might have been formerly another auto body shop, since there was a large garage door that had gotten converted into one with windows to allow natural light inside. The other décor featured a blend of industrial and modern, with metal for the dining furniture and light fixtures coupled with the marble tops of the dining tables and bar seating.
Their menu is a mixture of a variety of different items to choose from, ranging from sandwiches to pizzas to main protein entrées. Side dish portions for soups, salads, and vegetables were also available as well, along with a number of their baked good items. It all really sounded quite delicious, which made it even more difficult to choose what to eat. Being that I was going to be hopping onto a flight later in the afternoon, I decided to go with a sandwich and fries to keep things more on the light side. The roasted chicken & goat cheese sandwich was really calling to me, and the description for what it contained really sealed the deal. As it turns out, both of those ended up being quite a lot of food.
From the way that it sounded, everything on the menu was made in-house with ingredients that were sourced locally. Just looking at some of the other dishes that we were seeing come out of the kitchen to the nearby tables, everything definitely looked really good. Once we got our food delivered out to the table, it reaffirmed just how fresh the ingredients were, along with how vibrant the food looked that really made you want to dive right in.
“Wow.” That was honestly my reaction as my roasted chicken & goat cheese sandwich got placed down in front of me. Roasted chicken in a herb marinade, goat cheese spread, house-made onion marmalade, arugula, and house-made herb aioli, sandwiched between two thick slices of house-made herb focaccia. The color contrast between the different layers of the ingredients stood out and the smell really was fantastic.
I took my first bite of the sandwich, and I said it again, “wow.” Savory, sweet, tart, aromatics, peppery, I got all of those flavors with the combination of all of the sandwich components. The herb aioli and goat cheese spread combined to provide a nice smoothness for all of the ingredients, while the onion marmalade gave it those slightly sweet and tart notes. The peppery flavor from the fresh arugula complemented well with the other herb aromatics coming from the roasted chicken marinade as well as the focaccia. The bread had the perfect blend of crisp on the outside but still remaining soft on the inside. It was hands-down one of the best sandwiches that I have had in a long time.
The sandwich was certainly the star of the show, but the supporting cast of the hand-cut fries made for a great complement to the meal as a whole. Tossed with salt and herbs, the fries paired really well with the house remoulade sauce for dipping. Texture-wise, they had that perfect blend of crispy on the outside while remaining soft on the inside. Alina also picked up one of the apple bread slices and I got the chance to try it, which was also fantastic as well.
If you told me I’d have one of the best sandwiches in quite some time at a place located between an auto body shop and a landscaping supply store, I’d probably have given you a skeptical look. But there is a reason why DERU Market gets rave reviews on multiple platforms and the dining area is so packed for a Thursday lunch service. The food was amazingly fresh and the flavors really backed it up. You might be hard-pressed to decide what to order here, since everything sounds really good, but there isn’t really a bad decision. Absolutely put DERU Market on your list of places to check out if you are in the Seattle area.
Let’s now take a look at the DERU Market Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Roasted Chicken & Goat Cheese Sandwich **
Roasted chicken in herb marinade, goat cheese spread, house-made red onion marmalade, organic arugula, and house-made herb aioli, served between house-made herb focaccia.
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** Fries **
Hand-cut local organic potatoes, tossed in Parmesan and herbs. Served with house remoulade sauce.
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And finally, here are my rankings for DERU Market:
Food: 5 / 5
I don’t know how much more I can say that I haven’t already raved about in my above write-up. The quality, presentation, freshness, and variety of options of the food really stood out in such a positive way. I really don’t think you could go wrong with your food choice.
Atmosphere: 4.75 / 5
From my impression of walking through the dining area, I liked how it utilized the space that had been there before it, with the converted see-thru garage door. The mixture of the industrial and modern décor elements was also a nice touch as well.
Service: 4.75 / 5
There were several different members of the waitstaff that came out to help our table, as it seemed like there wasn’t someone specific assigned. Each person was very courteous and welcoming, and was happy to answer any questions we had about the food.
Price: 5 / 5
I was initially wondering if the price would be worth it for an $18 sandwich and a $12 portion of fries, but I’m here to tell you that it 100% is. I would gladly pay the price points for any of these items with the quality and portion-size of the food received.
Overall:
19.5 / 20
(98%)
Categories: Restaurants, Washington
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