Best Restaurants for Quiet Conversation in Mount Rainier

As always, the Lafayette is the best place for breakfast, standing well above all others for its accommodating wait staff (today it was Kenny), pleasant and relaxing atmosphere, well prepared meals, and the wam greetings that welcome you when you arrive at the host’s desk.

The staff made our Christmas Eve dinner truly special. The atmosphere was warm, cozy and joyful.

The restaurant, bar and lounge areas spread out across multiple rooms / terraces / levels so it is a really intimate and fun layout. Excellent service and value. Price for classic drinks skewed a tad high in my opinion. I'll try and catch a happy hour sometime and the jazz performances.

I always enjoy lunch at Mazi: food is great, staff is attentive and friendly, the seats are comfortable, and the noise level is generally low enough with the seats spaced well apart to have a quiet conversation without straining to hear.

Restaurant week dinner--limited menu but every choice was very good and innovative: unusually good hummus with scallion pancakes in place of pita; terrific green papaya caesar; beautifully fried catfish with kimchi potato salad. Bonus for me that the kimchi is made without shrimp powder; and there are always gluten-free and vegan options for full meals. In fact, next week they debut a catfish sandwich on gluten-free bread, with cornmeal to pick up the flavor of the fish breading. Only the smashed cucumbers were underseasoned: they deserved garlic, a little soy sauce and lots more chili. A really fine meal worthy of Tim Ma's reputation.