I was bitchy and judgmental when I first perused the Stumbling Goat's menu, and immediately assumed that my meal at this sweet, indie spot was going to be boring. The options, familiar Northwest seasonal stuff, felt uninspired as I tried to decide what to order.

"I could cook this stuff myself at home," I thought dismissively, noting the plain-Jane beet salad and asparagus vinaigrette. "There's not a lot going on here," remarked my dining companion, a close friend despite being a vegetarian. We couldn't have been more wrong.

At first glance, chef/co-owner Craig Serbousek's (an alumnus of Campagne Café, private supper club the Ruins, and Jerry Traunfeld's culinary temple the Herbfarm) dinner offerings are deceptively conventional. His menu offers just five appetizers and five entrées to choose from, with ostensibly paint-by-numbers choices: beef, pork, chicken, one type of fresh fish, and a risotto.

But it is precisely this simplicity, this lack of pretension or fuss, with a careful focus on each ingredient and its true flavor, that wound up charming me. I now have a deep admiration for Serbousek's culinary ethos of leaving well enough alone and avoiding the temptation to show off.

The Stumbling Goat's kitchen avoids performance-art cooking--no squeeze-bottle Jackson Pollock squirts on plates, no frilly presentations and garnishes sticking out of anything (and no "tall food," thank God), no bullshit precious menu descriptions, no multi-layered sauces that are impossible to discern. The food speaks for itself here, and it speaks with clarity: The aforementioned asparagus vinaigrette ($9) was impeccably grilled--just tender enough, but still with an ever-so-slightly-crunchy texture--salted and peppered just so; the tasty stalks were conservatively sprinkled with a smooth vinaigrette, and finished with a fistful of chopped pecans.

Serbousek wisely serves his in-house smoked salmon ($10) on mixed greens but leaves off the raw onion, a common, expected accompaniment. Without the overpowering onion taste, the salmon--sliced thick and deliciously cured, sort of resembling cold salmon "pastrami"--was allowed to stand alone as the dominant flavor, subtly embellished with only lettuce, a smattering of capers, and crumbled bits of unseasoned hard-boiled egg (a nice nod to tradition and old-school lox platters).

I thought for sure my herbivorous friend would have the risotto ($16) with pea vines and Parmesan, but he did me proud and bent the rules, trying the seared halibut with more grilled asparagus and a potato-leek cake ($17). The Vegetarian ate quickly and silently, pausing only to let me reach over with my fork; his halibut was superb, light, flaky, and moist, which provided a pleasing balance for the dense, rich-tasting potato-leek cake. (The Stumbling Goat's menu changes often; halibut was replaced a couple nights later by seared albacore tuna, served with baby artichokes, roasted red peppers, and niçoise olives, also for $17.)

Although I normally head straight for cow and pig in restaurants (rosemary-laced pork tenderloin with polenta and tomato-basil relish, $17, sounded especially enticing), I'm such a sucker for comfort food that I ordered Serbousek's signature pan-roasted chicken ($14). Really--you could get me to eat anything with a side of mashed potatoes. The succulent meat was shielded under its golden, crisped skin, and was evenly, expertly cooked, having spent ample time immersed in a hot pan swirling with butter, good stock, and natural juices. The accompanying roasted cloves of garlic, squeezed out of their browned shells like toothpaste, enhanced the potatoes, which were rightfully creamy, salty, and infused with chicken flavor (much to the Vegetarian's alarm).

By the time the Vegetarian and I tucked into our New York-style cheesecake ($6), feathery and gently sweet with macerated strawberries, we had stopped talking altogether, sleepy and full, humbled by the kitchen's purist philosophies and talents. I could never reproduce Serbousek's handiwork in my own kitchen, and yet somehow everything still tasted like home.

Stumbling Goat Bistro

6722 Greenwood Ave N (Phinney Ridge), 784-3535. Tues-Sun 5-10 pm. Closed Mondays.