The Red Velvet Cake at The Kingfish Cafe in Seattle is kind of a local celebrity. It's always winning those "best of" polls and getting written up in the various publications around town. And yet--amazingly--I'd never managed to taste it. But all that changed this week when I hit up Kingfish for lunch with my friend (a self-described "dedicated dessert-er") Judy.

Now, the first thing you'll notice about this cake is its size. It's huge. And I am not saying that in an annoying girlie sort of way. This cake is, like, really big. The slice pictured at the top is actually on a large dinner plate, and it took up most of it. I'm not a fan of sharing desserts, but this one definitely yielded four servings. No, really.

The first thing you'll notice upon tasting the cake is that it is chilled. For some this is a detriment, but I adore chilled cake: the flavor just seems to blossom on your tongue.

And as that flavor develops, you'll taste a variety of things. First, the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting, complemented with the slightest tang. Then sweetness again from the generous dollop of whipped cream, which is garnished with strawberries. Then the cake, which itself is not too sweet, but gently cocoa-y. Judy thought it tasted a bit dry compared to some of her previous visits. I tend to be forgiving about a slight dryness as long as the flavor is there, and the flavor certainly was there with this cake. When you get that one perfect bite with cake, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream and strawberry, it is...maybe not nirvana, but close.

The overall verdict? While sometimes hype can ruin desserts, I definitely found this one to live up to its reputation and can't wait to return to Kingfish to sample the coconut layer cake and Strawberry shortcake.

The Kingfish Cafe, 602 19th Ave. East, Seattle, (206)320-8757; online at thekingfishcafe.com.