Places to eat in Anchorage

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The Crow's Nest is located atop the Captain Cook Hotel in downtown Anchorage. Fine dining in an elegant setting with a great view of Anchorage and Cook Inlet. Watch the sun set over Mt. Susitna across the inlet and relax.
It is the only AAA 4 diamond restaurant in Anchorage.
20,000 bottles of wine to choose from. Excellent meat prepared well. Fresh seafood flown in daily. Dress well and understand this will cost you. Always seems worth the bucks to me.

This was our special occasion spot when we lived in Anchorage and still is when passing through. Sunday Brunch is outstanding as well.

Favorite Dish: Fresh oysters followed by a NY Steak. Bottle of Malbec. Finish up with creme brulee and a glass of port.

Recently had their Lamb Osso Bucco. Wow!

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This Thai Restaurant was a pleasant surprise. Located downtown just across the street from the Captain Cook Hotel in the parking lot between The Voyager hotel and an office building it isn't that easy to find but worth it.
Plain decor and excellent food and service. Went for a business lunch in June of 2012 and was a bit worried as no other customers were in the place - not always a good sign. One in our group had eaten here before and insisted it was a good spot.
It soon filled up though and our meal was excellent. I've spent time in Thailand and this was the real deal.

Favorite Dish: I had the Pad Thai and it was excellent. Waitress talked me out of hot and I settled for mild and was glad I did. Excellent flavors and fresh ingredients. $11.50
The others in our group each had the Kouy Tiew Nam (Pho Soup) and all raved about theirs as well. $12.50

Snow City has been voted best breakfast since 2008 - and it's is a richly deserved title.
Nothing fancy in the setting, but great food and service.
Expect to wait 10-15 minutes most mornings, especially on the weekends.
Open 07:00AM to 3PM on weekdays and stays open a little later (4:00PM) on weekends.
Portions are huge, menu is inventive, organic, and somewhat healty.

Favorite Dish: Nuevo Huevos or Egg Benedict are both excellent.

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Located in a strip mall in midtown and yet inside is comforably elegant with fantastic cooking. The owner, Jens Hansen, is friendly and eccentric and a lover of great food. Always innovative and always delicous. It's all about great eating and a warm atmosphere.

A blend of European and Scandinavian foods and a very deep wine list.

Highly recommended by all the guide books and yours truely. Excellent lunches and dinners. The wine bar is great for eating a full meal or just sipping a glass. After 10PM, Jens cranks up the music and the place gets quite noisy. Closes around midnight.

Favorite Dish: Sauteed strips of Calamari Piccatta, Pan seared Kodiak Scallops on a saffron pernod. And whatever wine Jens recommends.

Returned in June 2012- just as good as ever. Had Foie Gras followed by a port chop.

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Excellent sashimi and sushi, but to be honest - I'm no expert. I liked it and it was an easy walk from the hotel downtown. Went there for lunch and again for dinner. We had a lot of sushi lovers in our group and they seemed to like it.

Orso is one of the nicer restaurants in Anchorage. It has a dark, kind of reddish bordello-ish interior (or is that just the way my photo came out?) and pretty good Italian food - antipasti, salads, soups, pastas, steak, fish. I guess it is really Italian/Alaskan fusion. For instance, you might get a sirloin steak with a Chianti sauce and mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. (Are Yukon Gold potatoes Alaska food? Maybe this one is stretching the Italian/Alaskan fusion angle.)

OK, how about a Cashew Crusted Halibut with golden raisin-caper sauce, spinach, roasted red pepper couscous? That's gotta be Asian/Alaskan/Californian/Italian/Middle Eastern/Popeye fusion.

The food was pretty good, but pricey. But then, everything in Anchorage is pricey, so just be prepared (with money).

I hope your feeling hungry when you go in this place. It serves huge portions of everthing you could possibly want from a steakhouse.

We turned up with no reservation, but fortunately they had on table for two free.

Favorite Dish: Steak of course!

With the steak you get a huge half an Iceberg lettuce wedge with Blue cheese dressing, so there's no real need to order a side salad.

If you're on a budget then don't bother with the wine list!

It was my last evening in Anchorage, I was alone, and was drawn to Rumrunners by the outside tables. It is in Old Towne, the main tourist area of Anchorage, and a great place to people watch while getting a bite to eat. The only problem is that the service, at least for the outside tables, was very slow and inattentive. Maybe the wait staff was more occupied with the larger inside crowd where there was lots of noise, a dance floor and liquor flowing. While I was dining a panhandler came by and solicited all of the outside diners. And no, he didn't want a bite to eat. I would have given him that.

Favorite Dish: I had the Fish and Chips: battered cod filets deep fried with french fried potatoes and cole slaw. It was OK. My suspicion is that those who dine inside the restaurant with a larger party may get better service and have a totally different experience here than I did.