Happy Hour | Bin on the lake: scallop sliders and a view

HAPPY HOUR |

Here is a happy hour with a sunset and view of Lake Washington, a place with wine on the docket and romance on the mind. Maybe a stroll afterward along the waterfront to the fire pit, where you can cozy up and gawk at the Olympic mountain range.

It's happy hour at bin on the lake, the restaurant and wine bar next to the tony Woodmark Hotel at Carillon Point in Kirkland. Dress code seems casual, though. It has indoor seating with a panoramic view. The happy-hour menu isn't high-end or expensive ($3.50-$7). Or, at least it's not that pricey for a bar that sits next to a marina and spa.

Mini burgers and lamb and scallop sliders headline the menu. The latter gets served with prosciutto and tangy cured tomato, and it's so thick that the scallop juice will squirt out after you take that first bite. A nice spin on the ubiquitous happy-hour slider.

The mini burgers, with charred crusts and pink in the center, come with harissa ketchup and pickled sweet onions. Those lamb sliders, though, tasted more of feta cheese than meat.

There are shoestring fries with a whiff of rosemary and truffle and thick-cut potato chips, deep-fried in house. Can't go wrong with either. They made up for the atrocious mac and cheese that was suffocating from black truffle, in a pool of cream.

With this view, you know the night can't end with the check, right? Take the short stroll along the water to the firepit and order some S'mores, Mexican hot chocolate or hot cider and gaze at the mountains.

Bin on the lake, 1270 Carillon Point, Kirkland, offers happy hour daily 4-6 p.m. and again 9 p.m. to closing when all bar food is half-off ($3.50-$7). Validated parking.

The fire pit is open to the public daily from 4-9 p.m., weather permitting. You can order hot chocolate or cider at the Beach Café and servers will deliver it to you at the fire pit (425-803-5595 or binonthelake.com).

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com