Trellis in Kirkland gets high marks for gourmet bar food and drinks

Many popular happy-hour places, those with the cheapest grub or booze, often have a doorman out front, an eager lad ready to valet park your car and a concierge desk in the atrium. I'm talking about the hotel bars. For the bar food and booze deals, a hotel bar may be your best friend.

Trellis restaurant, inside the Heathman Hotel in Kirkland, has been my recent recommendation for readers who have emailed in the past few weeks for happy-hour suggestions.

It features a stellar gourmet bar-food menu and an underrated craft cocktail and beer list. Two weeks ago, the Russian River Brewery's Pliny the Elder was the tap special for $3. Around 30 items are featured on the bar menu (most around $5) including a cheese steak sandwich with fries, flatbreads and barbecued ribs.

But I didn't cross the bridge for the standard fare. Neither should you. There are small plates of white Spanish anchovies and also wild, not farmed, sardines, both excellent. But start with the pig ear, breaded and deep-fried crispy — the Dijon, capers and lemon cutting into the earthy and porky flavor, but not so much that you would mistake this for a pork chop.

Steaks remain the best deal, like the hanger cut with peppercorn sauce ($12).

Trellis' bar program ranks up there with Lot No. 3 and Naga Lounge in Bellevue, the gold standards for craft cocktails on the Eastside. Head barman John Ueding features one of the Eastside's largest bourbon selections and an interesting list of original and classic cocktails.

Featured is the The Boulevardier, a cousin of the negroni, a drink now featured in most cocktail bars in Seattle. The menu shows Trellis has a pulse on what the cocktail crowd is drinking these days.

Trellis restaurant, 220 Kirkland Ave., inside the Heathman Hotel, offers happy hour daily 4-6 p.m. with half off on all bar food and small-plate items and half off on drafts, $3 off on cocktails and $6 wine ( 425-284-5900 www.heathmankirkland.com)

Tan Vinh: tvinh@seattletimes.com