Bambino's East Coast Pizzeria

This food blog thing has really changed where I go out to eat. I am constantly looking to try places that I don't normally go (pretty much anywhere off this damn hill). So I have seen this Bambino's place every time I go to 5 point...and I LOVE PIZZA. So Sunday, I decided to take a trip off the hill in pursuit of hopefully some really good pizza.

Bambino's is bright, spacious and after walking in I immediately noticed that they focus heavily on pizza delivery. Most of the tables in this place were open or filled with tourists. Our server was in a huge hurry but I could not figure out why because she only had three tables. She was not into any small talk, I think she may have said three things to us the whole time.

We started with salad. The Insalata Tri Colori which is a big bowl of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Red Onions, Olives, Basil, Red Wine Vinaigrette. This salad did not have much flavor and could have really benefited from some added feta cheese or something. You can share any of the salads because they all seem to come out in these big white bowls.

Then we ordered the large Capricciosa which is $16.25 and is 8 decent size pieces. This pizza consists of Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Onions, Parmigiano-Reggiano. The crust is so thin you cant even pick up the slices! But the flavors were great. You could really taste the sauce, cheese and sausage separately. I do like my crust a little bit thicker but not too much. The pizza is cooked in a wood fired oven and is made with local organically grown ingredients. They also make their own sausage, dough and salad dressings.

This pizza was good. It takes a lot for me to admit a pizza is amazing. I would eat this pizza again, but I think I would opt for delivery. I would also choose to eat this pizza from the comfort of my own home because this place does not serve any alcohol.


ps. they also have sandwiches and pasta, check the menu!

Redwood you broke my heart

Damn.

I held out on eating at the Redwood for like over a month now...but finally it happened. I wasn't holding out because I was afraid that the food would be disgusting. I was holding out because I didnt want it to be a bad experience...I love that place.

I went for the Blackened Catfish Sandwich which comes with sweet potato fries for the high price of $11. This piece of fish (no bigger than a fuckin sardine) was taken over by this huge dry french roll. The sauce is also what killed this sandwich for me, I am not really sure what it was, but it was red. Now, I am not a fan of sweet potato fries so when I tell you they were the best thing on the plate that sucks.



The person I was dining with did not have a horrible experience with their food. He had the meatloaf and didn't make any complaints. His meal also came with a few sides of his choosing: creamed corn nuggets and green bean casserole. We also ordered the hush puppies which had no flavor and were so dry it was pointless to eat them. They also came with a sauce which had a red tint, also not good.

My advice is to go for some sides because they are the only thing that were any good. The price on the sides is also very reasonable. I think you can try 3 sides for something like 10 bucks. They also have chili, jalapeño corn bread, coleslaw, beans...

Don't forget to top off your meal with some bourbon sweet tea.



I still love you Redwood, and not only because you are just down the street from me, I just dont think you should serve catfish sandwiches.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Well, some of you may have read my post about Doug Fir. This is an extension on that specific day. Not only did i enjoy a really nice breakfast sandwich at that place...I had another one about 30 min later at the

Acropolis Steakhouse
(they do not have a website, which is too bad)


Yes, this place is famous for cheap drinks, steaks and naked women.

I ordered a special that was advertised by a piece of paper taped to the wall, "Acropolis Breakfast Sandwich" no description just the price of $2.50 listed below. This sandwich was made up of an english muffin, canadian bacon and american cheese. Oh, and grease. It was pretty good, a little more cheese would have made this one of the best things to eat for $2.50. Now it might be unfair to compare it to a breakfast sandwich complete with croissant, cheese and pepper bacon...but they came pretty close in the battle. In the end I would choose the croissant sandwich at the Doug Fir.

But as far and ambiance...I am stickin to the Acrop.

Columbia City's finest

I love small neighborhoods with good restaurants. That's why I had to dedicate this post to Columbia City. One 1 block you have what I am starting to call one of my top 3 favorite Italian restaurants, a bar with tastey snacks and intimate atmosphere, a traditional wood fire pizzaria w/ good salads too, and some more ethnic cuisines that are tastey too.

Every time I go to La Medusa the food simply knocks it out of the park. A big reason why is because everything they use is very very local like farmer fresh local or imported from Sicily. That is the region their inspiration seems to derive from -- Sicily. So, we opened w/ 2 cheeses from the Olympic Peninsula region ($6 each), had the worlds greatest salad as a 2nd (I think it was $9) -- it had 2 different types of beets, arugala, roasted coconut tossed w/ corriander & cumin, finished w/ olive oil & balsalmic. Main courses were the market fish - monk fish that was just alright it didn't hit the rich flavor that fish carries, and duck that I still taste in my mind. F'ing awesome. Finished the meal sharing a canolo that seemed homemade which I say cause the shell was different than others I've had. Get a reservation and hold yourself to it cause it's some of the best food in Seattle and it will take you a year to share it w/ anyone else.

Kalaloos is very new and quite good. It's located just off of Rainier Ave South and just past Jones BBQ. My memory is a little "hazy" on what I ate since it was a little different cuisine for me and I had happy hour at Lotti's prior to. But it's a carribean cuisine using a lot of root vegetables I'm not familiar with, but were pan fried, sweet to the taste, and on the yummy side. We had a papaya salad topped w/ spicey shrimp. Hell Yeah! My main dish was Ox Tail braised in a curry sauce. Fuck yeah, and cooked perfectly. My gal ate the garlic halibut. I think her dish beat mine, but they both were awesome. The halibut was a nice and rich just the way that fish should be served. Don't pass up on their specialty cocktails either!!

Lotti's we are talking an intimate atmosphere and casual affair food. Sit at the bar and get some carbonara or anything from a list of pastas. I also love their breakfast burrito. It's fucking huge and only $4.50. Plus, they got a decent happy hour. What can I say I'm getting tired of typing...

Tutta Bella is the most well known restaurant in this block and they do a good job. Their job their is to serve smaller pizzas for $20/+ and they are wood fired. They are one of the few pizzaria that are Neapolitan certified pizzaria and they charge you for it. Yeah, it's a good pizza, but for value I'll go elsewhere. There salads are really good too.

Enjoy,
CrumbYum

Happy Hour Suggestions

You know a few of us at Ketchup & Soup have had long discussions about finding a good Happy Hour in Seattle.

This Seattle Bar Guide courtesy of The Stranger was pretty easy to use and some of the bars listed already have reader reviews.

I might start from the top and work my way down the list...stay tuned!

PDX

Going out of town obviously gives you the opportunity to dine at restaurants you don't get the chance to eat at every day.

I was in Portland this past weekend and took advantage of grabbing some breakfast at the Doug Fir . I stumbled upon this place about a year ago upon staying at the adjacent hotel. The Doug Fir Restaurant is a mellow place with old school wood decor, throwback light fixtures and comfortable classic booths. The menu is very solid with something for everyone to get into. They have everything from your classic breakfast to the tofu scrambles. For some reason this restaurant concept seems so easy but we do not have anything like it here in the 206.

Most of us started with the bloody mary, which was pretty decent but a little over the top with the horseradish. Not the type of bloody mary with lots of garnish either, if I remember correctly the only thing that came in that glass was a straw, ice and drink. Then again I had slept for maybe 4.5 hours so my memory is a bit foggy, please give me a little patience.

I had the Clendenin Croissant which was great. Basically croissant, eggs, cheese and pepper bacon.


Another option could be the Logger Breakfast with Chicken Fried Steak.


Or the Lox.


Or the Biscuits and Gravy.


I really like this place and the prices are pretty reasonable. Also, what casual dining spot do you know of that has a popular music venue in the basement?

Still on the hunt

So out of pure laziness I went to a local Mexican restaurant rather than venturing out of my neighborhood.


Went to La Cocina on Broadway. A few people I know have ventured down their famous buffet. I do NOT recommend that option unless you feel like eating heat lamp heated food and questionable meat products.


I planned my meal before I even went because I do not trust that place for high quality food. (I do however enjoy their Mexican pizza which can feed two people.) On this visit, I shared nachos and ordered some tortilla soup. The nachos were o.k. A few things went wrong with these and that was the fact that the jalapeños tasted like metal and the chips got really soggy after about 10 min. The soup, which comes in a huge bowl really lacks any substance. We are talkin' ...broth, about 6 avocado pieces and some mushy (what appeared to be chips) and a scattering of cheese. The soup can also feed two people.


Service was decent. Price is a bit too high. Beer is cold. Ambiance was entertaining (thanks to a few patrons who talked really loud about body image issues and depression)

Out of convenience this is an alright place to walk to....however, wish i wouldn't have been so lazy and caught the bus off this damn hill.

Cafe Septieme Part Deux

So in June I wrote a long post about Cafe Septieme (they have no site so I am not linking). To recap, I basically had shitty service and okay food. Thing is, I went back....I like this place but I am really not sure why. I got the same server I wrote about before and I even kept the receipt in hopes I could put him on blast...but I cant seem to fuckin find it right now. Lame.

Anyway, I had an hour and a half before I met up with my brother and wanted to grab a quick light breakfast before heading out for the day. I had the special, which was an egg sandwich on white bread with spinach, red onion and provolone. It was not that bad, but basically not worth the money. It was the kind of breakfast sandwich you would make if you were rummaging through your fridge looking for something to make. It came with these potatoes which I am not sure who decided was a good idea to replace your traditional hash browns with. This might require a sidebar conversation some day...what is the deal with all of these hash brown variations with random dried spices and no flavor?!?!? It is actually hard to find hash browns these days. Another thing I don't quite understand is why this place brings you your toast before you ever get your meal. Nothing like cold ass toast with your moderate temperature breakfast!

So, same server, same shitty service. We waited about 20 min for him to take our drink order. He came by once letting us know he would be there soon. From the looks of it, he can't handle a few tables so the fact that he is a server is quite shocking to me. He did however seem to be in a better mood than last time....

I really dont have high expecations, so I really need to lay off going to this place for breakfast or at least move to a different section.

Steelhead Diner, review #2

Crumb Yum, per your suggestion I visited Steelhead Diner in the Market. It is my birthday month so friends wanted to take me to dinner. We chose to sit outside. I love the deck it looks right over the entrance of Post Alley. I may be alone in this but I like decks and patios that make you feel like you are in a "city". (Not to discredit any of the establishments w/ decks that have beautiful views of the water except for Hoey's).

Back to Steelhead, I really liked it and will definitely return, but just some pointers. I would stick to the diner/comfort portion of the menu vs. the entrees. I felt they were a little overpriced, totheir credit Steelhead does offer 1/2 portions, however they are at 3/4 the price. In the event I was getting an entree again, I would just spend the extra $6-7 and get the full portion. One of us had lamb, one black cod and one halibut--nothing spectacular in the preparation, but good and unique. We saw a lot of the sandwiches come out and they looked delicious and much less expensive than the entrees.

Appetizers and sides were awesome. I recommend the poutine. Anyone heard of it? According to Anthony Bourdain it is the traditional food of Montreal--it is french fries with melted cheese and gravy. I already wanted to visit Montreal now I want to hop on the next flight out! Order the poutine, unless you're a vegetarian because it is sausage gravy. Excuse me, delicious sausage gravy.

On the downside, my rose wine was tepid and the service was really slow on the deck. I wouldn't bring attention to it except that our waitress kept mentioning how she had the "princess schedule" because she had worked with the chef for so long. Don't rest on your laurels girl.

Back to the upside, sweet nothings! For my birthday they brought me a piece chocolate pecan pie--delicious. The crust was almost candied and a homemade whipped cream on top with unsweetened cocoa sprinkles which was a great counter flavor to the sweet pie. I had a Texas native with me and he confirmed this was real southern pecan pie. It was complimentary, came with a candle and delivered by the manager. I love my birthday, so they really won me over on this maneuver. We indulged in the Strawberry Shortcake too, also delicious.

Other pluses, the Chef is part owner from New Orleans and formerly with Oceanaire and the manager was really cute. Seemed really busy on a Tuesday night. Good for them!

I WONDER WHY THEY CALL IT HOEY'S?

Oh I know, b/c that is who goes there, HOEs. Here is a warning ladies: Don't take your man to Joey's on Lake Union because not only will the servers hit on him but apparently the other patrons think he is fair game too.

I'll break this blog down into food and ambiance.

First off Joey's was not my choice but my friend is a creature of habit and he likes their steak and lobster, it comes w/ linguine and and bread. I've had it before and I agree it is pretty good, but my friend's who dine with me on a regular basis know that I never order what the other person is having. So I went w/ the fish of the day: Black cod in a sake, orange and soy sauce marinade, over mashed potatoes and bok choy finished w/ an orange miso glaze. Not so great, my date actually tasted it, made an awful face and said he "never wanted to taste something like that again". I'm not as harsh, but I do agree. We also started w/ the orange beef appetizer which had no recognizable flavor--rather just salt. I have had some good appetizers at Joey's but last night was off the mark.

Once again another location that ranks poorly on consistency. Which leads me to the Bellini's...they are frozen and peach and really good on a hot day, but last night they had too much syrup and peach, not enough champagne and vodka. I didn't feel good when I left. All the sodium and syrup just sat in my stomach.

Now remember, Ketchup and Soup is intended to document your whole experience at the dining establishment, so even if the food had been the bomb, I'd still give it a thumbs down thanks to the people!!

I know a lot of people reading this are thinking "duh" that is why we NEVER GO TO HOEY'S! It has always been the joke...the managers are 19 year-old-hot-blonds that aren't very skilled in problem solving, the servers all wear next to nothing and everyone who patrons the joint goes for the same reason, etc, etc. Which is why I should have put my foot down, but hind sight is always 20/20 right? I will admit my date is good looking, great smile, bold personality and his current favorite song is "I'm a flirt" by Kells. (Again hindsight is 20/20--sorry Eagle.) Not only was the hostess excessively flirting but a table of women sitting behind me had the nerve to check him out all night, wave at him, not once but twice, say goodbye and have a good night as we left--in a tone only a tramp could pull off. Then the topper, one of those gals followed us out of the restaurant and tried to get her flirt on in the lobby forcing me to engage in more PDA then I am usually comfortable with. So now ladies if anyone ever asks why you don't go to Hoey's you can pass this story along.

Later we went to War Room then Chapel. I want to send out a thanks to all the women at War Room and Chapel for not hitting on my date. Also a special thanks to Chapel for their always awesome cucumber-mint margaritas.

The Grill

I'm the first person to admit, Broadway Grill sucks 80% of the time.

For two main reasons:
1. Food is inconsistent
2. Service blows

Now, I had an eye opening experience the other night. My food was just okay. I had the turkey burger (which I swear never comes prepared the same way) and a mixed green salad. The food here is way over priced for what you get. I realized something else after talking with a friend the next day...the food prices have continued to rise just like the cost of living here on cap hill. Another damn reason to get mad at the condo uprising.

ANYWAY. Two things. The Grill has daily specialty cocktails, every night of the week. You can get these cocktails any time of day for the same price. Now some people might shake a stick at the prices, but one thing you can always count on at that place are the heavy pours.

Now on to the golden ticket of my last visit.

One word. Bernice.

This woman destroyed the game. She was the best server I have ever had at that place. Even though she was slammed she did her damn thing. Never ran out of water, drink or service. After delivering the check she didn't ghost for three hours she picked that debit card right up and handed it back with a smile. I have never seen someone handle their business quite like Bernice. She also truly appeared to be the only one working who had a fucking smile on her face and a little hustle in her walk.

Bernice, I will go back to the Grill because of you.

How to Keep it Cool during a Heat Wave?

Ice Cream suckas!!!

Right now is a cool seasonal time in Seattle cause all of a sudden everyone with a hairy upper lip is claiming their corner is "Little Italy." That equals gelato!

There's this spot in Pioneer Sq. called Brendisi serving the stuff right now. Of course it's good...it's gelato during the hotest time of the year. I know of another spot over by the market, but I can't recall it's name. I've had it though and it's scrumptious. The other good thing about gelato is they'll always give you samples of it so you can get a taste of cool and keep on keeping on.

I also just tried out Rocky Mountain ice cream and they are tastey motherfuckas in there. If you ever feel like passing up a 6 pack for a candy apple they have the price for you. Hmmmm, waffle cones! Grubbin.

Does anyone know of a gelato spot on Capital Hill or have any other favorites in the area? Keep your eyes open cause they won't last long around here.

Takin it Easy,
CrumbYum

BACON

Attention Mr. CrumbYum,

Thought you might want to link to this next time you make dinner for your lady.

Roadside Recovery

Damn, I'm 32 and have never been in a car that has broken down...better yet, never been in a car that broke down on the freeway.



On the way to one of the best weekends I have ever had (aka 7/7/07) me and (who I will now refer to as a close friend) broke down on I-5 north headed to Anacortes to catch the ferry to the islands. We were about 20 miles out of Seattle and broke down on the Mountlake Terrace exit. What happened next will most likely only continue to be funny to me and my friend- so I will keep it short and just say we spent two hours roadside waiting for AAA and a ride. AAA got there before our ride so he offered to take us to the closest restaurant while we waited.



Closest restaurant was Azteca.

I had a beer, chips, salsa, bean dip, and two tacos to go. This all happened in 15 min. I love the chips at Azteca. I love the salsa at Azteca. And my new friend turned me on to the complimentary bean dip they also serve. Who doesnt love ice cold Coors Light after spending two hours on the fuckin freeway? Coors Light is basically an extension of the water family and I was dehydrated. So two tacos, chips, salsa, bean dip and two beers was less than 10 bucks. Good deal.



So back to the story:

We had to get back on the road so we could try to catch the 5:05 ferry. We missed it by 10 min. So we proceeded to the liquor store, drove to the ferry line and began to party until we caught the 8:25 ferry.

I left my house at 12:30pm that day and arrived at our destination about 11pm. Can't say it was all that bad even though I missed out on chillin with my best friend, because I was with her sister so in the end it was still a member of the CarboOverload family.

Thanks for the good weekend fam.

See You Soon

The entire Ketchup and Soup crew will be in Roche Harbor for a few days....

Happy Birthday CarboOverload!!!!!!

QFC

I will admit, I think the prices at QFC are high. But I would also like to point out that they make a pretty good made to order deli sandwich. You have several options including bread, meat, more than two types of cheese, sauce and toppings. I think the sandwich runs about $4. Now, I recently learned that certain QFC's make a better sandwich than others. If you are in the Capital Hill area, I would suggest the QFC sandwich makers who work at the Broadway and Pike store. They give you a lot more meat and cheese than the other QFC on Broadway, they also tend to make less mistakes.

I had a sandwich from the QFC in the Broadway Market on Wednesday, and I should have known better going to a damn store on Independence Day...but I wanted to get a sandwich and eat it in the park. The sandwich was not that good. I have a photo to show you. Also, they didn't put tomatoes on it per my request. I guess Subway is a good route to go being that you can watch them make your sandwich.

"The Great Red, White and Blue Hope"

I was speechless.

This news pretty much ruined my Independence day.

RIP to the six year reign.

THANKS FOR NOTHING

I can only think of one way to screw up a nice cold beer on a Friday afternoon...serve it in a hot glass. And that is exactly what happened at Six Arms this past Friday. It was mildly busy, nothing significant and not once but twice, the waitress took our glasses from the dishwasher (at least we knew they were clean--unlike the recycled H2O at Bleu) and poured our beers right into the glass. Round one, I kid you not, had steam coming off the glass. Round two--lukewarm. No good.

As always, we did enjoy the cajunized tots. I like Six Arms, but this was a weak move.

Seattle date Spots

So when your girlfriend is paying and says to you at the beginning of the day "let's go out on me"...I don't know about you but I spend my entire day thinking of where I'm gonna make up for all the wasted dollars and bellies eating Thai food or overpriced "Italian." So let's get to it...

Since she said she's paying that rules out Thompsons Point of View and Hooters. I shot straight for the top -- Oceanaire! It fucking rocked my nuts off, however, being frugal at heart I still brought my flask. They have all the fresh seafood listed on a chalk board above the bar. I didn't recognize a lot of stuff on there and when I asked no one was pretentious and very helpful. I liked that! For appetizers I hit up a 1/2 dozen fresh oysters. They were all just fine, but I started feeling like that was a little too much oyster for me. My main course was a pain fried sole w/ murrel & portabello mushrooms and a tasty gravy over the top that I can't recal, but was some sort of reduction sauce.

I don't eat desert so in terms of food that was the end of it for me. The price on this is why I say wait for someone else to buy otherwise I'd make it my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Instead I'm sitting here eating saltines and drinking muskat "wine."

Any other date spots people know of in town?