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Rupee Bar
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At night, Ballard turns into a party. It might not be a rager, but still - people hop around all the bars and pubs on Market Street or Ballard Avenue with the determination of Dora The Explorer. Most of the bars in the neighborhood work for a casual hangout, but few of them actually stick out. Especially since trying to get something good to eat with your drink is like playing a sad game of buffalo-wing roulette.
Rupee Bar is here to change all that with their lineup of Sri Lankan and Indian bar snacks. From the second it opened, it became the standout bar that Ballard was missing all along.
You can stagger mix-and-match plates at any bar, but here, it’s not nachos and sliders or planks of charcuterie and cheese. The menu is made up of little dishes ranging from fried bites to curries—there are crispy shrimp shells you can eat like Pringles, roasted tandoori cauliflower, naan with a ton of dipping sauces, spiced fried chicken with an incredible amu miris green chili aioli, and panko-breaded mutton rolls filled with ground lamb served with creamy tomato sambol. The drinks go really well with the food, but stand alone if you want to just come here for a coconut Old Fashioned, rum-based cocktail with roasted banana, or star anise-infused gin and tonic.
photo credit: Nate Watters
Our biggest complaint about this place is that the portion sizes don’t always warrant the prices. Everything here is under $13 (including the cocktails), and at first glance that might seem like a great value. For a few dishes, it is—the tangy and refreshing puffed rice salad comes in a big heap, and the passionfruit love cake is the size of an oversized muffin for $6. If you’re with three other people, though, you pretty much have to order nearly the entire menu to walk out satisfied. And if you’re with even more people, you also might have trouble getting a table. But this place is best experienced with a smaller group anyway.
There are so many Ballard bars where you can get burgers, onion rings, and stuff covered in shredded cheese. Rupee Bar’s the place to have a bunch of buttery naan with your drink instead. You don’t need to weave your way through the maze of pubs and breweries to have a great night out in the neighborhood - skip the Ballard bar crawl and spend a couple of hours at Rupee instead.