Trace Market
Trace Market is the downtown Seattle Marriott’s available breakfast/brunch restaurant. Compared to NYC breakfast scene, I had very low expectations. I was a little irked by their hours opening at 7 AM (which seems late to me), but I understand that the west coast crowd don’t really wake up that early. In NYC, breakfast at these types of cafes can open as early as 6 AM. Regardless, this is a breakfast place that I frequent in the mornings when I travel to Seattle.
Ambiance
The W Hotel tries hard to present a modern decor. What is a little annoying about ordering food here is when it’s off the kitchen menu, it takes the kitchen about 10-15 minutes to prepare. Also, there’s just 1 cashier taking your order, and they don’t really work fast to have you sign the bill. The line can sometimes move at a snail’s pace, where you will be standing in a line of 3 people for like 5+ minutes. If you decide to dine in, they give you a number on a stand that you place on your table. The kitchen staff will bring you the food. If you order coffee, there’s a barista that prepares it for you independently, so you will have to go up to the counter to grab it when it’s ready.
It really is a no frills place when it comes to service, so let’s get to how the food actually is.
Food
The Croque Madame ($16) came with pulled pork, ham, gruyere cheese, and fried egg and served with tomato soup on the side. The soup was served hot and had that sharp tomato zing to it. It did remind me of other boxed tomato soups, but to be honest, it’s one of those times where I did not care if it was freshly created or not. The croque madame was actually pretty good. It was hot, and the bread had a nice crisp to it. The innards complemented nicely with the tomato soup when you dip it. I would definitely order this again.
The Biscuit & Gravy ($14) came with scratch cheddar biscuit, fried egg, and Italian sausage gravy. The biscuit is pretty good and so is the sausage gravy. I have had this a few times already, but I will call out the seasoning sometimes can be very off. Even though the egg is cooked perfectly sunny side, there are sometimes salt pockets on the egg that make it annoying to eat. Otherwise, it’s pretty decent.
The Sourdough French Toast ($16) came with lemon curd and huckleberry compote. This was not worth $16 at all, and also it took about 20 minutes for it to come out. Other than the value and the service, the French toast itself tasted ok. It had a nice crisp to the edges, but it really just tasted like normal French toast. I’m sure it was mostly made from scratch, but that doesn’t make it better.
The Breakfast Burrito ($14) came with chorizo, egg, peppers, onions, salsa, and flour tortilla. This was a decent breakfast burrito. It’s packed with ingredients, and the innards are hot. It feels like it would’ve benefited with some potatoes in it to add more volume and heft. Otherwise, the chorizo tasted decent along with everything else. The salsa reminded me of Cholula.
Final Verdict
This is a decent breakfast place in the W Hotel. Having stayed here several times already, nothing was truly outstanding or abysmal. I think the kitchen items take a bit too long if you’re in a rush, but if you’re not, it’s definitely fine to sit down and eat. I’m not a fan of the coffee beans they use here, but it does its job. Price wise, it’s a little on the expensive side for the value.
Yelp Jabs
I got an egg bagel, and it was literally dripping grease. The picture shows the puddle of grease. Completely inedible.
The funny thing about this picture was that the Yelper actually ate most of the bagel. They picked out some of the lettuce and bacon. Yeah it was a little on the greasy side, but that could be conflated by whether the lettuce or tomato added water to the elements which may have caused some of the “juice” to drip.
Revisions
- Jul 15, 2022 - Added biscuits & gravy, sourdough French toast, and breakfast burrito.
- Jun 21, 2022 - Initial revision.