via GoodMart; photo by Nathan To
If you love Local Tide, there’s a newly-opened seafood spot in Ballard that is worth the hype.
GoodMart, the latest venture from Seattle chef Victor Steinbrueck, is now in its soft-opening phase on Ballard Ave. The 40-seat cafe is part seafood market, part deli, and part casual lunch-and-dinner destination, with Japanese-inspired meal trays built around locally sourced fish.
Each tray gives the seafood its own spotlight, with fish fillets prepared in different ways and served alongside salad, rice, and pickles. Current options include grilled sockeye, lingcod katsu, steamed rockfish and smoked black cod. Want to make the meal a little more snack-heavy? Add-ons include offerings such as spicy salmon tartare with furikake-dusted crispy rice bites.
The deli side keeps things even more grab-and-go, offering poke bowls, tuna salads, ready-made meals and snacks such as smoked salmon dip. Later, customers will be able to pre-order whole fish. Basically, it’s the kind of place where you can sit down for a full seafood meal or swing by and pick up something for later.
GoodMart continues Steinbrueck’s focus on sustainable seafood, which began with the opening of Local Tide in Fremont in 2020. The popular spot’s menu is influenced by his Chinese, Filipino and German heritage. At GoodMart, the emphasis remains on wild-caught, sustainable, and locally harvested seafood.
The Ballard opening was originally planned for late August but was pushed back by about a month. For now, GoodMart is easing into service during its soft opening: Thursday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 5130 Ballard Ave NW.
Dining and Cooking