Ketchup and Soup

why isn't there a southern disneyland?

2009-09-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

i've passed by crawfish king more times that i can remember, but never thought of actually going there because i hadn't read any reviews, nor was my curiosity great enough to convert me. however, after telling one of my friends about it, he absolutely HAD to get fist deep in crawfish boil.

this place is like a cajun disneyland: zydeco music, plastic shellfish and rope fishing nets on the wall, dock pillars, buoys hanging from the wall. it was a little bit much for me. all this artifice, but how's the food??

the menu is pretty simple. fish and chips. po'boys. "cajun platters."

the real deal is the boils. you can order shellfish and other assorted seafood from the fresh board by he pound to create your optimal mix of seasoned, steamed goodies. supposedly there's one piece of corn per person and quartered potatoes aplenty (lies!), but we only got 4 measly chunks of potato. too bad, too, because they were the best vehicle to soak up the insane garlic and spices.

i think we got one pound of prawns and three pounds of crawfish. the server advised that 1 lb per person would be plenty. i don't know about that, sir.

the condiment six pack included ketchup, mayo, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and, of course, some "special sauce." as you can see, the table setting is trying to be "authentically" low-brow with a butcher paper table cover, roll of paper towels at every table, all disposable cutlery, and paper boats for any crawfish boil detritus. i was also displeased to see the "boil" arrive in a plastic bag that was ceremoniously cut tableside.

now, i wouldn't say i'm obsessive-compulsive about environmental soundness, but all this waste seemed irresponsible. everything can be thrown away. why? in such a conscious city as seattle where even our takeout is monitored, how can this wastefulness fly? c'mon, crawfish king.

the boil. we ordered it as spicy as possible, and the heat level did not disappoint. i quite enjoyed it, and as it mingled with the butter and seafood juices, the burn developed more and more as i continued to eat. you have the choice of "rajun cajun (original)" or "the big easy (the house sauce)" flavors. these really make no sense, but when pressed, our server said that the main difference is that "the big easy" has garlic. needless to say, we got pretty easy.

although the crawfish were challenging to eat, the flavor was amazing. it might be a little on the salty side for the sodium-sensitive, but i thought it was perfectly intense; rife with old bay, file, chile, black pepper, garlic, and thyme. mmm.

thanks for the cajun adventure, crawfish king!

The 1st Annual Great Ballard Chili Cook Off

2009-09-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Cook Off Co-Founders CB and Kevin....and Me!

A few months ago CB asked me if I was available to be a judge for a chili cook off. Me? A judge? I guess since I love food and am part of this kick-ass food blog that is all the qualifications required. I was honored to participate. Now, the story goes something like this, two friends got to talking about how they both made some good chili and somehow it turned into what will be now known as the 1st Annual Great Ballard Chili Cook Off aka a friendly competition between chili chefs voted on by their friends and families.

I arrived at 1pm with my mom at the Sunset Hill Community Club house which is located in West Ballard. This is a great space, check it out.

Upon walking in, I was welcomed with a stylish and personalized judge's apron and a robust introduction from Chili Emcee Chas. Seated in front with the other 4 judges and four ballots, we patiently waited for the unveiling of the 4 chili's entered in the competition.

Each chili was brought out in a white paper cup and all were assigned a specific number. The first chili I sampled was the one below, this was contestant #4. The first thing that came to mind when tasting this was that all the ingredients were fresh and high quality. This was a top notch, choice chili. With two kinds of andouille sausage and bites of flavorful chicken the textures in this chili were my favorite. The ratio of meat to beans was tasty and the growing heat really made this a great chili. Let me also point out that cheese on anything wins.

The second chili I tasted was the green chili from contestant #2. The chili was thin more like soup but the taste alone made up for the consistency. Immediately touching my tongue this chili had an immediate bite. The pork was soft and the rich and spicy blend of chilies like poblano and jalapenos along with the red beans made a fabulous tasting chili. The layers of ingredients were evident when looking closely at the bright color and textures in this chili. Served with a slice of tortilla this chili had the heat that I absolutely love about chili. Superb.

Let me introduce you to chili #3, which was a thick, rich and sweet masterpiece. The one word you might to use describe this is succulent. I was waiting for the heat and it was there but subtle. I enjoyed the honey sweetness that lingered in your mouth. With a mix of portuguese sausage and kahlua pork you knew upon eating this how long it took to prepare. Although quite thick and reminiscent of bbq you would put on a bun, this chili created a lane all its own. It was during this taste, I realized that all of the chili we were eating were so different! Served with a soft slice of white bread, the whole package was there to win.

Lastly, I sampled the chili with the best presentation, contestant #1. Coming out with its own corn muffin and a patriotic plate, I loved the extra flare for the judges.This was the veggie chili and it was a first class mix of black beans, sweet corn and squash. I loved how all the veggies were crisp and flavorsome. Served with a white cheese blend on top and a side of lime, the flavors were blended quite well creating a unique, rich, meatless chili . The consistency was great and the blended beans almost created the texture of authentic refried beans which truly held the variety of veggies together. Only thing I would have added to this chili was more heat. This was a very good veggie chili and definitely stood strong among all the meaty competitors.

So now what? All the judges had to circle a number on a small slip of paper between 1-4.

Who is going to win!??!!?

Two awards were given away at the 1st Annual Great Ballard Chili Cook Off, one from the judges and one from the people. Four of Ballard's finest chili cooks waited to see who was going to get the bragging rights for this first annual event.

While we waited we were treated to some soulful songs from Youth Rescue Mission. Check out their myspace to listen to some of their music. Great harmonies for chili eating.

Emcee Chas Roberts was entertaining all afternoon and as he stepped up to the mic to announce the winners we all waited on his news and laughed with him, not at him. I have seen this guy host a few things at Re-Bar, kick-ass.

The judges award was given to the man behind chili #2 and his mamma's recipe, Santos!!!!

The peoples choice was awarded to the man behind chili #3, and chili cook off co-founder, Kevin Sur!!!!

I had a great time and can't wait until next year. I also make a really good classic chili with a few secret ingredients, perhaps I will enter the competition!

ps. i grabbed some photos from Kevin's facebook to supplement my pics. Thanks Kevin!

Doing My Part for the Environment One Salad at a Time

2009-09-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

as we transition into fall, i've been reminiscing about nice weather meals. when my office was located in south lake union, portage bay cafe was a nice treat for a special lunch. as a thank you, my coworker took me out to PBC, a former university district favorite for breakfast and lunch, whose slu outpost is brand new, spacious, open, and inviting.

portage bay cafe is all about locally-sourced, sustainable, organic products which deliver optimal flavor in simple preparations. i have to admit, the menu is a bit pricey, but i've never had a bad experience with PBC. it's the type of food i can feel good about eating and supporting.

G ordered the tofu and soba noodle salad which features cold soba, marinated & baked tofu, tomatoes, mushrooms, and field greens in a light ginger vinaigrette. i had a taste, and it was excellent. it was well-dressed with a not-too-overpowering, tangy ginger. the chilled, baked tofu was a nice touch, as it had a more substantial mouth feel.

i ordered the walnut salad and added in-house smoked salmon. it was very simple; just field greens, a significant serving of Rogue River blue, lightly candied and natural walnuts, strawberries, and tomatoes in a balsamic vinaigrette. with the smoked salmon, the salad was a nice balance of sweet, tangy, herbal (arugula, my fave!), tannic, and smoke. i must admit that i've thought about this salad several times since my visit. it's just difficult to justify the $13 price tag for a lunch on any given weekday.

thanks for the responsible, deliciously simple food, portage bay cafe. it was just what i needed. that you thought about it so i didn't have to was just icing on the salad...err, cake.

NB: PBC is only open for breakfast and lunch until 3pm. just keep that in mind!

Dollar Chinese Food!??!?!

2009-08-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

a huge WTF goes out to Wok Inn Wok Out in the beautiful tacoma suburb of lakewood, wa. does this place look good to anyone? i know the economy isn't so sweet right now, but i hear the dollar menu at mcdonald's might be a safer bet.

i don't know about you, but i'm not about to try this hellish looking den of chinese iniquity. however, on urbanspoon, they're sitting steady at a 60% like rating. a huge WTF indeed.

anyone been here?!?

andiamo agli supermercati!

2009-08-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

i love food. that should be pretty obvious, so it follows that one of my favorite parts of traveling is perusing the supermarket, finding similarities and curious products. the best part about roman supermercati is that even large, corp-esque places carry farm-fresh products.

when we first arrived at our apartamento, we went for a short stroll around the block to check out our environs. we needed a fuse because M blew one with his computer by our first evening a roma! it was pretty amazing that we found a lighting/electric shop just around the corner and bought a 10-pack of fuses for .50euro. just across the street from the lighting shop was a small alimentari which i can't seem to remember the name of.

it was around 7 when we went shopping, so they were pretty close to shutting down shop. it was much larger and cavernous than i expected, and we picked up some great items. i decided to make artichoke & ricotta ravioli with a zucchini/tomato/alici (pickled sardines)/olivi/pecorino sauce. not bad. not bad.

as you can see, we also picked up some mirtilli e cereali (blueberry & cereal grains) yogurt, salame, chili flakes, coca liiiiiight, acqua frizzante, and some canned tonno. tuna in italy is the bomb. you can pick up a generic brand like rio mare (equiv to chx of the sea), and it tastes absolutely different in the most amazing way. the fish is brinier, firmer, just amazing. M even emailed the rio mare website after we returned to ask if they distributed to the US, but unfortunately, they DON'T. BAH!!!

standa is a supermarket franchise found all over italy. their website isn't that great (as are most italian sites), but it is convenient for looking up weekly specials and discounts. when i lived in rome, standa was my savior. it was the closest one-stop-shop to my apartment, and an experience all it's own. above standa on viale trastevere is a small clothing store (oviesse) and a profumeria (limoni) which sells cosmetics, perfume, and all sorts of other bath products.

back to the good stuff. a few years ago, birra wasn't as chic in rome. everyone drank wine, especially at home, and only drank beer at english-style pubs and occasionally during lunch on a hot day. now birra is a popular at-home and in-the-streets beverage, so standa stocks more than peroni and moretti. heineken and guinness are quite popular.

now onto the "ethnic foods" aisle. this is hilarious. why doesn't uncle ben just stick to what he knows: rice?!?? salsa? really beezy?

there was actually a whole section of "il tehx-mehx" at standa. tortilla chips were a total shock to me.

we brought back quite a few bags from standa. that package of pachino tomatoes was a real prize. they were perfectly sweet and ripe right out of the store. that's the most annoying thing about buying produce from american supermarkets: you always have to wait a couple days for items to ripen. not in italy. mmm. more tonno, surprise. M got some latte fresco (fresh milk) which is something like 1-2%. they don't really classify their milk by percentage like we do. it's more like fresco, whole (integrale), and cream. there's a little box of latte soia in there, too.

these were winners. little cherry peppers stuffed with tuna, sardines, and giant capers in olive oil. holy crap. we went back a couple days later and they were out. boo.

and my favorite italian beverage, aranciata without added sugars. it's so good and light. mmm. i wish they had it here. the san pellegrino aranciata just isn't the same. it's too sweet and overly-carbonated for my taste.

this item was a curious crap shoot: black olive-flavored tuna paste. it was pretty good on rosemary crackers, but the little bit of grey, separated liquid that squirts out first isn't the most appetizing.

yet another trip to standa....this time we brought home some fizzy grapefruit soda, icky, bland pretzels, bread for breakfast toast, pickled artichoke hearts, fresh burro from campagna, little fresh mozz balls, white chocolate (that was actually quite waxy compared to the cheap, hershey's equivalent galak bar i had the day before), and my obsession, milk/choc-hazelnut spread.

man, there's nothing like fresh, local butter. it was so deliciously creamy and bright. wow. ps, i love butter. M and all of my friends can validate this.

lamberto, the apartment owner's son, in his brief introduction to the neighborhood, told us that just outside the portone (big front door of the building) there was a store full of "strange things for foreigners." he spoke amazing english (his gf's from nyc), but in italian, foreigner = straniero = strange. anyhow, the little store did not disappoint, and in fact, had quite the stock of "strange" items.

aren't these old el paso kits ridiculous? i love it. good ole betty crocker found her mexican way to italy.

who doesn't love patak's? M and i adore their mango pickles with rice and lentils. it's nice to know that if i ever move to italia, i can get my indian fix at home. there are actually quite a few excellent indian and middle eastern/north african restaurants in the city because of the immigrant population. i love that kind of unexpected diversity.

a few french maionese-based sauces. i should have checked the ingredient list on the americaine...i wonder what kind of crap they think we eat.

okay, i'm totally guilty. i thought this blackface packaging for these nougat candies was ridiculous. it's interesting how afro-italians don't feel the same racist-tinglies an american might seeing this.

i think this pretty much sums up that store for foreigners: american nutty. italians never eat peanut butter. you will absolutely not find it in any supermarket because they eat nutella or butter or jam on toast. this ground peanut confection is completely "strange" to them. why is it such an important part of our cultural identity?

muy bonito

2009-08-15T17:16:00.000-07:00

while wandering around in the upper medieval town of sperlonga, i turned a corner and saw this amazing sign. unfortunately, m. wasn't in the mood for a hot dog (too hot, sweaty, and humid), but after looking at the pictures, he wished he did.

talk about suicide food...this guy looks happy as a(n ivar's) clam catching some rays in his bun. i want his sunglasses. very hot right now.

pub 66: snack time!

2009-08-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

good lord, i have no excuse for such a lapse in posts!! sometimes life seems overwhelming, but then i realize it's just a food blog. breathe. not that serious. cool? cool.

not surprisingly, there's more from italy.

after 3-4 hours of walking around in the convection inferno lovingly known as "rome," M and i decided to find a shady spot to cool down with a beverage, snack, and good, old-fashioned sitting. we had spent the majority of the morning roaming around the via del corso, which is rome's major shopping district. it's peculiarly long, straight, and wide; tracing a medieval horse racing course and spanning from piazza venezia to piazza del popolo.

long. straight. wide. these all seem like normal characteristics of a road, but not in rome. there are about a million short, serpentine vicoli (small streets) barely wide enough for a moto to pass through.

but enough with the histography lesson, back to snack time! after wandering around the tiny off-shoots of via del corso, we finally chose pub66, a small, unassuming, but popular little...well, pub. we sat al fresco at a small, wooden table covered by a shade-bestowing ombrellone. this little spot was perfectly secluded so that we didn't hear a lot of street noise, but enjoyed watching all the pedestrian activity.

to start: acqua frizzante (naturally lightly fizzy) and a coca liiiiiiiiight. i swear to god, you have to say it that way. it's just how you pronounce "light" in italiano. even M started ordering it that way.

this ridiculous pub had long island iced teas on the menu, so M had to try one out of sheer curiosity. how do they know what goes in a long island in rome? mixed drinks aren't really popular there...except mojitos. M's verdict: gross.

since we weren't that hungry and didn't want to spoil our dinner appetites, we decided to split a foccacia italiana, which was a toasty, chewy, thin bread topped with thick cuts of uncured parma ham, ruchetta (arugula/rocket), mozzarella di bufala, and pachino (small, sweet tomatoes). i just pushed the ham off to M's side and worked on the cheese/tomato/rocket/olive oil. it was pretty good. and damn good for a restaurant in the tourist zone. it's tough to go wrong with all fresh, local ingredients. that's the crux of roman cooking. everything's fresh. everything's locally farmed. on in-season produce is served. damn, i miss that.

M said the meat was kind of gross because it was so thick...and much like eating large cuts of raw flesh. sounds like sushi to me, which we all know is the shit. so what's his problem!??!

pub66 was a nice find in an area full of restaurants and cafes that rely on proximity to popular tourist sites rather than good quality food and service. i'm super picky and was pretty bummed to be caught on the via del corso looking for a place to eat that wouldn't enrage me. thanks for the lunch and couple-hour-coolout, pub66. perhaps we'll meet again.

unfortunately i don't remember the exact street pub66 was on, but it was very near la Galleria Alberto Sordi, the closest thing to a mall rome has. it was basically west across via del corso from G.A.S. on a small vicolo.

Old School Frozen Custard

2009-07-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year when people enjoy chilled drinks and frozen desserts. Capitol Hill now has a few places to enjoy ice cream and its distant cousins frozen and CUSTARD.

Read some old posts and you will see that frozen custard is a childhood favorite of mine and the only place I really get to enjoy it is when I go back to visit my family in Wisconsin. When I was a kid I pretty much thought it was a given that you would always get smooth, rich and creamy custard when going out for frozen treats. After living on the West Coast for several years, I realized that wasn't true. Welcome to the neighborhood Old School Frozen Custard.

L. had yet to visit this spot so after dinner we walked up the hill to try it out.

Walking up to the spot, I saw that Chocolate Peanut Butter was the flavor of the day. Now, even as a kid I stuck to straight vanilla but I wanted to see what this was all about since I have already sampled the vanilla. Everyday they offer vanilla and chocolate along with a special flavor.

When we got there it wasn't crowded and the staff were ready to help us. The menu is big and at lunch time you have the option of getting down on Nathan's hotdogs. The custard options vary from cups, cones to sundaes. You have several topping choices and blended dessert if you want to get down like that. Check out their whole menu here.

Like I said, I decided on the chocolate and peanut butter and decided on the cake cone. I was happy that it held that creamy and smooth texture that I love about custard but their is something about Kopps that nobody is coming close to. What was missing from this custard is the richness that I truly love. L. went with the plain chocolate in the waffle cone.

I think he shared my sentiments about the custard because he too has been to the holy land of Kopps. Special flavors rotate all month and I snapped a quick pick of the July calendar...I immediately realized I wish I was going today to try that coconut! They also have the flavor calendar online.

Also hiding in the massive open counter is a small freezer which contains pints of special flavors from days past. I looked for coconut, but no dice.

The decor on the walls are vintage looking photos of local schools. I seriously did not realize why they had all those school pictures up until I left...WOW.

It's hard to be that excited that custard is right here when it makes me miss the GOD of custard, but I am happy to have the choice here on the hill.

1316 E Pike
Sun-Thurs 12-10pm
Fri-Sat 12-11pm

in the ghetto....

2009-07-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

during my first stay a roma many years ago, i enjoyed a lovely, traditional roman-jewish meal in the ghetto. yes, "ghetto." the word actually has italian roots (hence the "h" after the "g"). "ghetto" either came from venetian slang "getto" or "gheto" which referred to the caustic by-product of purifying metal ore which was dumped in areas of jewish confinement or "borghetto," which translates more directly into "borough."

either way, rome's ghetto is not run down or dangerous, but it is the area where roman jews were once confined and locked in at night. rome's beautiful sinagoga anchors the neighborhood with it's tall, square dome (to differentiate it from round, christian cupole). today it is full of kasher (kosher) and non-kasher restaurants serving up crispy carciofi al giudia (jewish style 'chokes), salty fish of all varieties, and pasta. the fare is jewish, but also distinctly roman.

the previous day, i took M past the sinagoga and il portico d'ottavia (portico of octavia), which augustus built for his sister around 27 CE. over the years, the portico housed statues to jupiter, was part of a library/school/curia complex, was burned down and rebuilt, hosted a fish market, and more recently was integrated into the church of sant'angelo in pescheria (saint angelo in the fish market).

today it is the ancient neighbor of da giggetto al portico d'ottavia, my favorite roman-jewish restaurant.

their website is actually quite thorough, though complicated, in describing the neighborhood, history of the restaurant, traditions, style, and menu.

and the physical menu above depicts the portico d'ottavia!

oh, i almost forgot. da giggetto has a pretty extensive wine list organized by rosso (red), bianco (white), rose (blush), and sparkling. each category was then further broken down by region. it's my preference to drink the vino di casa (house wine) because they are quite often excellent, pair perfectly with the food, and are pretty much dirt cheap. we ordered a liter or the house white, and i think it set us back a cold 5 euro. we also drank acqua frizzante, which is light, naturally effervescent spring water. a bottiglia (bottle) of that averages about 1.50 euro with table service.

for antipasti, we ordered una fiore di zucchina, un carciofo al giudia, and baccala. the zucchini blossom was stuffed with fresh ricotta and acciughe (anchovies) then lightly fried. this was awesome; perfectly salty, fishy, and cheesy. the best aspect of roman cuisine in general is the total freshness of all products. mmm. jewish style artichokes are trimmed, leaves flayed out, then deep fried until crispy like potato chips. ours was a little over-fried, and was too crunchy, if you can believe it.

NB: roman style artichokes are trimmed very small, hollowed out, blanched, stuffed with herbs, then put in olive oil.

our baccala was fantastic, though! it was irresistibly light, crisp, juicy, salty, and meaty. i couldn't have asked for a better baccala experience!

M ordered some prawn dish, but they were out of that (we arrived around 1030/11, mind you), so the waiter suggested this dish. i can't remember what it was called, and it's not on their website. anyways, these whole shrimp were massive, juicy, briny, sweet, salty, buttery. i don't even know how to describe them other than "perfect." M agreed. i even sopped up some of the brainy juice from his dish with my fish.

i originally ordered the sole (one of my favorite, and M's least, fish), but they were out of that as well! so instead i got the whole dory. again, i have no idea what sort of voodoo they performed on this unlucky fish, but it was BANGIN. i mean, seriously. it seemed like they just classically seasoned it with salt, pepper, and oil. they slit the skin on both sides, then lightly pan fried it. holy wow did it taste like heaven! i love the practice of serving whole fish. it's always fun to dismantle it...reminding me of my days catching and cleaning fish in MN. also, the cheeks are the best part!

da giggetto was excellent, and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner al freso (as usual) in the ghetto. i wanted to cap off my meal with un caffe, but i feared not being able to sleep. mmm, a doppio does make the best digestivo, though.

sperlonga paradiso

2009-07-14T14:22:00.001-07:00

shortly after touching down in rome, we hopped a train south about an hour and fifteen minutes to the paradise known as sperlonga. this small beach town is situated about halfway between roma and napoli in what is known as the riviera di ulisse, or riviera of ulysses (homer's odysseus). the emperor tiberius built a summer villa in sperlonga around 20CE with sculptures recounting episodes from homer's odyssey in a seaside grotta.

though we didn't visit the villa or museum (open to the public), we did soak up some more modern flavor in town.

we stopped in a small supermercati, and i saw this pony pop near the cheese case. i just snapped a quick, washed-out pic for my friends at home who have a lovely dog named "pony."

although "supermercati" describes quite a different kind of store than our "super market," i think what distinguishes a supermercati from an alimentari are the extras like shampoo, plastic bags, and cleaning products. anyhow...

this picture and the one below are from an alimentari just down the street form the supermercati. this place had all the goods i wanted. it was super small, and the entrance was so low i had to duck a little bit so i didn't swipe my head on the awning. this place was perfect, though. they had a mini milk carton full of simpson's chocolate cookies that i wanted, but didn't really want. i tried to snap them in this photo, but i missed. i was trying to be discreet since taking pictures of everything seems so invasive.

the cookies in the beige bags are a big brand, mulino bianco (white mill), which is basically like our nabisco. these jammies are good, though, and sans preservatives.

this shady shot is of their tinned fish and jarred items. damn, i miss all this stuff. their cheapo canned tonno is the shit, and basically anything in a glass jar is guaranteed to be delicious and salty. sign me up.

after touring both the supermercati and alimentari, we ended up picking up some goodies from a meat shop with a tavola calda ("hot table" aka hot case). it really wasn't a hot case, but more of a cold case, i suppose. m. guzzled a peach nestea, and we shared some frutti di mare (fruits of the sea, aka seafood salad in lemon and olive oil), a piece of pizza rossa, and a bag of taralli that i picked up at the alimentari.

taralli are one of my favorite italian snacks. they're basically cracker rings made out of flour, white wine, olive oil, salt, and a flavor, if you opt for one. i got the fennel seed because that's my favorite. damn, i miss these. i bought some over at PFI the other day, but they weren't nearly as crisp and fresh tasting. they also only had olive oil or garlic flavors, boo.

i'm going to look up a recipe for taralli so i can know the secret and be inducted into this mystery cult of deliciousness.

we ate insalata di mare (seafood salad) all over roma and sperlonga. this one was tasty. i saved a few leftovers in our minifridge to savor later that day. mmm. i love anything swimming in olive oil. there's nothing like fresh, meaty squid. damn this was good.

Grimaldi's: Brooklyn New York

2009-07-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

If this is your first time reading this hella rad blog, then you dont know that I love pizza. So welcome to K&S, I love pizza. That being said, when I was recently in New York I really wanted to try some east coast pizza. Months ago I was watching food network and something came on about Grimaldi's. I remember thinking, if I ever go back to NYC I will try it. Well we did and boy, was it an adventure in time and patience.

My mom and I were staying in Manhattan in the Theatre District and we set out that morning walking towards the Financial District. We had no intention of walking the entire way...but we did and yes, that is about 6 miles. After the long walk past several duane reade stores we decided to take a cab over the bridge to ensure we would be on time for our lunch date at Grimaldi's with a new hip hop supergroup "They Live".

As the cab pulled up we had no idea the line would be that serious. It was down the block.

A few minutes later a man came out and let us know it would be about 30min from where we were standing. It actually took like 45min, but it was cool our hip hop friends were running late anyway. The wait was too long, the heat was too much and the complaining people were getting on my last nerve. But I was doing fine actually because I knew once inside I would be able to eat pizza and sometimes nothing in the world compares to that.

When we got seated I got right in the line for the bathroom. I was surprised how small it was inside but that makes a lot of sense why the wait is so long.

The line for the bathroom is right next to the kitchen. So you are able to catch a full view of the pizza chefs and the historic coal fired brick oven.

While we were still waiting on our friends we ordered some chianti and after the wait outside my mom and I pretty much pounded our first glass. I dont even remember what it tasted like.

First came out the veggie pizza my mom ordered which she asked for mushrooms and onions.
The sauce was bubbling and the smell was amazing. The smokey crust looked so damn amazing. I couldnt wait for it to cool down so we could eat.

They Live asked me to order them a pepperoni pizza with ricotta cheese. It also looked extremely tasty with the scattered basil and chunky tomato sauce.

The four of us killed two large pizzas. I dont think They Live ate anything before meeting us because they stopped talking when the pizza came out. The pizza's were both very good but I did like the pepperoni a bit better because of the salty meat. The mild fresh mozzerella cheese and rich sauce were extremely kick ass. The only thing that didnt hold up was the crust. The ends were perfect but as the crust got to the middle it was a bit too soggy for my favor. I love a thin crust as long as it doesnt turn into mush. Taste wise, I will admit...they have something going here.

Everyone agreed that this pizza was good, but I don't know if anyone thought they would wait and hour to eat it...I think I might. After our late lunch we headed back to the city and all made the trek over the Brooklyn bridge. It was beautiful even though we got caught in the rain but the sun was out and it didn't matter, I just had pizza.

19 Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn NY

Autogrill - Ciao: Roma, Stazione Termini

2009-07-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

rome's termini station has several quick food options ranging from mcdonald's to autogrill to spizzico. with the exception of mcd's, the other chain restaurants in termini are quite novel due to their foreign-ness. we meandered from restaurant to restaurant to check them out and grab something quick to eat before our train departed to sperlonga.

after refusing the "road house grill," we settled on what i think was autogrill-ciao because of their bright colors and clean interior. now that i think about it, perhaps this was gusto? dangit.

anyways, there was a back room after the sandwich counter that housed all sorts of tasty candies, breads, snacks, and fresh produce. there was also a cafe tavola, but then again, what place that serves food doesn't?

M. was in serious need of diet coke (or pepsi, which, btw, has very little market share in rome, at least). we picked up a coca-cola light, which you must pronounce "coe-kah laaaaiyt" if you want them to understand what you want. this made M. lol, but he grew to enjoy ordering his coca light's over the course of our stay in roma.

i also ordered him a vasco di gama panino, caldo, which was a small, toasted sandwich with an olive-studded bun, ham, and cheese. nothing crazy, but a nice, cheap, simple fast food 'wich in one of the craziest train stations in europe.

benvenuto a roma!
(welcome to rome!)

delta sky lounge crown club

2009-07-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

so i was gone for a couple weeks....and planning on blogging about the places i went and things i ate along the way here on K&S. unfortunately, google apps weren't so awesome in italy. wtf, right? i couldn't log into my gmail consistently, and thus no logging into blogger. damn you!!

anyhow, that just means that it's going to take me at least a couple weeks to get all these food pics up here on the fabulous Ketchup&Soup. So here we go...

what's the best part about a 12 hour layover in JFK after missing your initial flight to NYC and thus your international connection? oh wait, NOTHING.

however, we did decide to fork over $50 to (stupid) delta to use their sky lounge. open bar, wifi (which was not working, btw), tv, chairs...it actually made what could have been horrendous quite bearable. nothing like getting a bloody mary at 634am to enjoy with your nutella and walnut fig bars!

new rounds of snacks came out every few hours, so we mowed down on some serious eats to get our money's worth out of the lounge. M. started with a bagel, jam, butter, cream cheese, mini cinnamon bun, fig-walnut bar (SO BOMB), and a puff pastry twist.

we went through a lot of drinks. i started stacking. it passes the time.

wtf is "cheese food"??? i don't know, and i didn't have one, but M. did. i bet it was just kind of gummy and salty. if it ain't actual cheese, i'm not down with it.

we ate these little thimbles of hummus on a variety of honey mustart twists and mini pretzels. it was actually quite tangy for a jarred, airport hummus.

more snacks. my favorite, of course. there were blue cheese stuffed green olives, the above mentioned pretzel mix along with candied peanuts, colorful goldfish, and a spiced nut mix.

a little bit later, a "lunch" round of goodies came out. this was hotly anticipated as the sky lounge started to get more populated. some tasty crudete. crisp and refreshing! the mini cups in the ice bath on top are little desserts. i didn't have one because i forgot, but i think they were little chocolate mousses, butterscotch puddings, and vanilla custards. they were pretty cute, actually.

these mediterraneal pinwheels weren't too bad. tomato tortilla wrapped around spinach, kalamata olives, red onion, and feta. tasty little bits.

the best offerings are featured here: mini polenta cakes topped with roasted red pepper (lacking flavor but nice w goat cheese), turkey noodle salad, and a crab and shaved fennel salad (SO GOOD). i went in on that crab salad at least three times. yummy.

a nice cheese plate helped round out the meal with some sort of gouda, pepper jack, cheddar, brie, and goat cheese. i think i had enough of that goat cheese to pay for my sky lounge entry!

and lastly some cookies. i was already stuffed from eat and drinking all day that i think i only had a pastry twist or two from here.

lesson learned: if ever have another layover longer than 4 hours, i WILL buy a day pass to the sky lounge and drink the crap out of their bar. thanks for the 12 hours, delta. i hate you so much.

My trip to Newburg, Wisconsin 2009

2009-06-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

West Allis, Wisconsin is where I was born. I lived in a suburb of Milwaukee for the first 13 years of my life, then we relocated to hell, or what some refer to as Spokane, Washington. Regardless, I turned out just fine, sort of...

My dad still lives in Wisconsin, 30 some miles north of Milwaukee in a village called Newburg where he lives with my step mom in a very rural area. My dad is also a firefighter and the local fire department holds an annual fundraiser every year in June. This "picnic" is a 3 day beer drinking, cover band featuring, carnival ride having, greasy food serving insane party. This year, myself along with my brother and our significant others took the trip to visit and support my dad. Below are a few pictures and comments from the trip including some insane food sampled along the way.

first night at my dads and he wanted us to get in on the schlitz because apparently
its back and better than ever. Not bad.

after a few beers we drove to Cousins for some sandwiches. These sandwiches are so good and so simple.
Its gotta be the bread or oregano. I had the club sandwich.

the following day we drove to Port Washington (where Dustin Diamond lives, and yes, I did see him at the grocery store)
and we got down on Friday Fish Fry at Newport Shores.

I started with a dinner salad, it was pretty standard along with the honey mustard dressing

i also decided to go with the blatz in a bottle, my grandpa use to drink this by the case when we were kids.
it tastes pretty good ice cold, pretty malty...but when warm, its a bit much.

for lunch i had the baked potato with the fried lake perch. The fish was decent, a bit dry but nothing like a local favorite.

the restaurant is right on lake michigan with a pretty nice view of the water.
the decor is dated but it works. average age of other patrons about 85.

Later that evening...

later that night we went to the first night of the fireman's picnic on the park grounds in Newburg.
we drank at home and then took it to the streets. First stop, the carny food wagon for a walking taco.

basically you get taco fixings on top of a bag of smashed doritos.
apparently i ate a lot of this, i dont remember.

the next day...

the next day we went to another part of the area called Grafton and we hit up a spot called Vino 100 for a Saturday wine tasting.

with our australian wine's we shared some garlic jack. wisconsin sure makes some good cheese.

Saturday night was fun, b. and I worked in the beer tent and served hundreds of people pitchers of beer and mikes hard. It was a lot of fun, didnt take any pictures... but feel free to check out the fire department's photos here.

sunday is the finale of the picnic, they have a parade including all the firetrucks and a lot of other things
like tractors, dancing grannies, kids, classic cars and marching .bands

after the picnic we headed to the park grounds to hang out and drink a few beers.
we stopped by the carny food wagon and got a snack. they were out of deep fried pickles so i got the deep fried cheese.

i swear this is american cheese, my brother said it was cheddar...regardless it was a
bit much. the first bite was hot and tasty, after that it became thick , strange and solid. damn, what a healthy snack.

Monday...

monday everyone wanted to go get some custard, naturally we went to Kopps.

you can read my other posts about the amazing custard at kopps. i ate mine so fast i didnt take a photo, it was hot and it was melting. I got the standard vanilla. the flavor of the day was mint chocolate chip or this other monday mystery special of chocoalte custard with chocolate covered peanuts. my brother and L. also got a burger. b, loves these burgers, they are huge and greasy.

that night we went to the firehouse to say goodbye to the locals and watched my dad cook steaks for the guys.

the last thing i remember about monday night is playing quarters with my family and a few brave locals. i fell on the floor.

Well that was it, 5 days of kicking it in the midwest.
Below is my favorite random photo from the trip:

siam on broadway no more = rom mai thai to the rescue!

2009-06-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

the other day i gave my girlfriend a ride to the airport (NJ-bound). since her plane was departing around 10:30, we decided to hit up siam on broadway for a tasty pre-flight meal. her fiance dislikes most asian food (though sushi is a new and surprising development!) and hates thai most of all. though recently engaged, dining is probably their one point of contention: thai, chinese, and japanese are M's absolute favorite cuisines.

M lives on first/cap hill, so siam on broadway is her spot, err, was her spot. we walked up to the joint, engrossed in gossip, and only realized that siam on broadway had gone out of business when i reached for the handle and the door didn't budge. the business hours sign was still on the door, but the interior was devoid of decoration, people, and any evidence of cookware. SHIT! what to do, what to do.

luckily we turned around, and the bright, shiny, newly renovated rom mai thai beckoned us from directly across the street.

since it was a tuesday and on the earlier side for dinner on the hill (7:00), the restaurant only had a few occupied tables (which quickly changed over the course of our meal). the interior is lushly decorated in shades of yellow, emerald screens, maroon tablecloths, and richly carved wood.

rom mai thai's menu is extensive, but M rarely deviates from her tried-and-true tom kha soup and phad thai. unfortunately my camera is kaput, so i asked M to snap some quick pictures, but only after we both destroyed the tom kha. i suppose i'll let you know that it was complex, tangy, spicy, lemongrass-y, and all around bomb. often tom kha is just meat, mushrooms, and green onions, but rom mai thai serves theirs with carrot rounds, broccoli, meat, mushrooms, and zucchini. mmm. refreshing.

moving on...M's phad thai was actually damn good. i'm generally not a fan of phad thai because it's often too sweet or just lacking excitement for me. RMT's had me going back for seconds. the noodles were perfectly al dente so it's not just a blob of soft rice noodles that give too easily. the flavor was just right for me, too...the only thing i would have changed was the chili level, but it was M's dish, not mine :).

since there were so (too?) many items on the menu, i just went with the phad kee mao with tofu. interestingly the server said that the heat system was 1-5 stars (i went conservatively with **** since i'd never been there before), but online it says 1-4!! hmm, indeed.

anyhow, the wide rice noodles are my favorite because they trap pockets of singed sauce in their folds. the tofu had a nice, crispy skin and soft interior. M noted that she's often had tofu that's over-fried and dry on the inside. sounds gross. the tomatoes were a bright contrast to the deep, umami savoriness of the dark soy sauce. there was a nice balance of spice, salt, sweet, and acid. success!

thanks rom mai thai for saving us when we had been craving thai food all day just to find that our planned location had mysteriously gone out of business. looks like M and i will have our thai dinner dates with you from now on. kisses!

Captain Blacks

2009-06-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

For a brief moment in time I was really having a hard time figuring out where to go eat on captiol hill...because I burned through all the places up here and most of them were not worth going back to again. I am excited to have so many new places popping up in my neighborhood this summer, so why not check one out and get back to this really awesome blog.

Captain Blacks just opened on belmont ave just down the street from half priced books on an otherwise worthless block. Before Captain Blacks took over the space I did take advantage of the restaurant that occupied the space for a short time prior to the current deck funfari. I wont go into it but the Healthy Hedon was an overpriced veggie spot that had good sunday brunch buffet with bomb ass oatmeal. Now onto Captain Blacks...

My first thought when I heard this place was opening was how rad it was going to be to have a pirate themed bar down the street. (I love Pirates of the Carribean.) But, I was quickly informed it was not going down like that. The decor does touch on what could have been a sweet ode to Goonies. I love you One Eyed Willie.

crazy wall paper, totally 3-D

I made my way to the deck to test drive this spot with a few friends. The back deck is pretty good sized and sits above the local businesses below so you get a spacious view of all the tall apartments surrounding the block. The sun tries to shine down onto your face but is quickly blocked by the cluster of umbrellas on just about every table. Nothing fancy here, just some metal tables, chairs and the sweet Seattle air.

The first request from everyone at the table was a drink. Because the menu suggests their specialty cocktail we all ordered it. Ladies and Gents...here you have the "Captains Tea" which stars a sweet tea infused vodka. I really liked this, pretty much the best thing I had that night. For $6 its a pretty decent choice. Happy Hour from 5-7pm also gives you the option of $3 wells. Not bad, not bad at all...

A few people were curious about the food so they ordered. In the back is the oyster po' boy and upfront is the shrimp po' boy. Both came out with some french fries and were served with the sauce of your choice (cajun mustard, tartar, spicy aioli, mustard vinaigrette, ranch or blue cheese). I tasted L.'s shrimp po' boy...not bad pretty traditional with the lettuce, tomato and pickle but the lack of shrimp on the sandwich gives this dish a boo. The fries were tasty, but not why you ordered the sandwich. Other sandwich options are cod, portobello or chicken cutlet. These sandwiches will set you back $10 or $11 for the oyster. The spicy ailoi was a good taste.

L. also ordered the White Cheddar mac and cheese because I kept talking about how I wanted to try it. I was impressed that it came out steaming hot and for $6 this looked like it was going to be a sure bet. The crusted cheese on top ended up being the best part. The rest of the mac was a bit bland. More cheese please. Everytime I have mac and cheese at a restaurant, I end up thinking about how rich I would be if I just opened a mac and cheese restaurant. What do people have against american cheese as a binder?

Just when I thought it was over, M. rolled in and ordered the signature dish. The highly anticipated Chicken and Waffles. For $11 the menu claimed you would get chicken breast and a waffle with pure maple syrup. And here it is...

The waffle was small and a cut up chicken cutlet was sent out as replacement for the typical sold out chicken breast on the menu. Dont get me wrong it all tasted pretty good, but having had chicken and waffles at other spots including roscos see picture below...

...I was just expecting something amazing to come out that secret hidden kitchen in the back. I am not going to write this spot off because just like most restaurants time should help them work out the kinks. In the mean time get your meal in a can and taste something new... grab a can of Old Chub, a Colorado born strong ass scotish ale. We couldnt stop laughing at the can...I couldnt get down on the taste but for 5 bucks and 8% alcohol by volume it was a sure fire winner for a few of the crew.

I will go back and try the food again in a month or so to see how things pan out. Check out the whole menu here. The multiple decks and friendly staff are also a reason to return. Welcome to the neigborhood Captain, I get your concept now fix your galley.

I cant figure out the hours but the address is here:

129 Belmont Avenue E.
Seattle, WA 98102

The website is also saved but the page contains nothing as of today.
http://www.captainblacksseattle.com/

outside of my dimsum comfort zone

2009-05-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

it's pretty much ridiculous how long i've held onto these pictures waiting for the "right" moment to post them on le blog. now it's been weeks and weeks since my last post, and these damn pictures still haven't been written up! well it's about time. i won't flatter myself into thinking that you've been waiting for the newest k&s update. lolz.

my coworker and i always talk about chinese food. we work on the opposite side of downtown from the ID, but we had a serious craving for dimsum. since the new hong kong restaurant has free parking in a vastly empty garage, G decided it would be the perfect choice. also, since neither of us had been there before, we thought it was a great opportunity to steer away from the usual jade garden, which was sure to be at least an hour and a half.

the new hong kong restaurant used to be called the new kowloon restaurant. i assume there was some shuffle in ownership, hence the immensely creative redubbing.

G and i arrived early to ensure adequate parking and to beat the lunch rush. we arrived around 11:45, and the place was nearly empty! we had service basically waiting on us hand and foot...one person with water. another with tea. yet another asking if we would like to order anything besides dimsum. very strange. we started off with shrimp-stuffed eggplant and shrimp tofu. they were both pretty good, though not the bang-bang like top gun. i think my biggest hang up was the sauce on the eggplant. i'm used to a more salty, preserved black bean flavor than what NHKR offered. boo.

next came pineapple buns, baked bow, and curry beef pastries. the pineapple buns were awesome. the pineapple stuffing baked perfectly with the dough to create an almost custard-y magma core. yummmmz. however, the same density that made the pineapple buns great made the baked bow heavy. i tried some of the bread, and it was leagues away from the light, slightly eggy dough i have grown accustomed too. there were no complaints, however, from S, for whom we picked up an extra three bow. G loved the curry beef. the pastry was buttery, light, and flaky. they sure looked tasty.

we also picked up some steamed bow and nor mai gai. the steamed bow was pretty standard: fluffy, spongy breading with a sticky, salty-sweet filling. it's difficult to eff these up. nor mai gai is my dimsum barometer (just as a chile relleno is my mexican measuring stick). the rice should be sticky, but not squishy; very herbal from the lotus leaf steaming; and full of delicious pork/lop xiang/dried shrimp/mushrooms, though not in an evenly-distributed, heterogeneous mixture. oh, and steaming effing HOT. NHKR's nor mai gai was decent. the texture was nice, and the filling, too, was quite meaty (which i picked out for G), however, there wasn't a strong enough lotus leafiness flavor. top gun, how do you do it!??! you've ruined me!!

just when we thought we were full, a fresh cart of shrimp dishes emerged from the kitchen. how could i pass up ha gow and shrimp potstickers?!? the ha gow was good. often times i have a textural problem with shrimp...it's difficult to explain, but NHKR's ha gow passed the test. and this brings me to my favorite dish of the day: shrimp potstickers. NHKR wraps their shrimp potstickers in bright yellow to differentiate them from the regular pork. i don't know what kind of crack they put in there, but as soon as i took a bite, my mouth filled with bright spring onion and juicy, salty shrimp. it was an OMG moment...unfortunately i was too full by that time to get another order, but i was tempted to take one home.

NHKR has a decent dimsum. i don't know if i would ever return here since i have my favorite only 10 minutes away from my house. if G and i require a quick dimsum fix, though, we'll probably be back.

I love Barb

2009-05-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I dont even want to look at how long its been since I have been on this blog. Blame it on being busy, not going out to eat much and just feeling a bit uninspired....Enough of that, I want to get back in the game. Big shout out to ms. tekkadon for holding this situation together.

Last weekend I did go to a place that I don't go to enough and that is my mom's house for meals. This time however was even more of a treat because my amazing chef of a brother and I cooked a meal together. Because in fact it was Mother's Day, we decided instead of going out to brunch that we would make brunch for my mom at her house. A few days prior I asked my mom what she wanted and she immediately requested crab benedict. Now I knew that Brian had to know how to make poached eggs or else he couldn't really be called a chef. I decided to come up with a salad to accompany this rich dish.

The benedict was the perfect. Eggs, perfect. Hollandaise, perfect. Crab, perfect. English muffin, perfect. Brian showed me a few cooking tips while he make the hollandaise and assisted me with segmenting my fruit. The salad I made was made up of watercress, sliced oranges, sliced grapefruit, red onion, celery and pecans. The dressing was a mix of olive oil, honey, orange rind and a bit of salt and pepper. I loved this salad, and it was a great match to the eggs.

The meal was really tasty and we topped it with a glass of Cristal. Well okay, not reall it was Cristalino.

Only thing missing was the rest of the family but they were off bringing home the bacon. I would love to have a restaurant with my brother. I think we would make a great team. Cooking with him was really fun, now I know why he does what he does...and why he is so damn good at it.

a Long time coming....

2009-05-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

a couple weeks ago my upper boss took my division out for a nice lunch for our yearly appreciation week. in years past, we've gone to dahlia, ordered lunch in, and some of his other favorites, but this year i was tricked into making a suggestion. there were only a couple criteria: a) some place nearish work; b) a little on the upscale side; c) and something most people would like. i'd never been to Qube (RIP), nor had i ever wanted to, but ever since hearing about Long Provincial opening up in that failed frasian fusion location, my interest was piqued.

i am a lover of Tamarind Tree's luxe take on vietnamese food, and since Long promised some variations on the TT menu, i knew it would be a winner's choice.

i don't usually like to read too many reviews of restaurants before i visit. in general, i prefer to take in a little general buzz, and if it's a chef or restaurant conglomerate i trust, then i'll go and judge for myself. i did, however, distinctly remember reading an press release about Long Provincial taking over the old Qube space, and one gripe the writer had was that the interior was once very open and industrial, and Long had closed in the space unnecessarily with heavy walls.

the interior was interesting, with splashes of color, as you can see, but i have to agree. there was a little too much compartmentalization of the space with giant, royal purple walls. since it was a work function, i didn't want to be too rude and take zillions of pictures. sigh. the post suffers, but hopefully my description will suffice. in the center of the dining room, there what looked like a white, giant rice bowl with flames flickering out of the top. very olympic. also, the tank in the lower lefthand corner of the picture above was full of small jellyfish pulsing in the electric blue water. no wonder the attached watering hole is called the "Jelly Bar."

the portrait windows onto the street, however, we beautifully covered in soft rice paper. the effect was shadowing and serene. in the foreground of this photo, you can just barely make out the top of a gigantic pot filled with tumbled rocks and some tropical, deep malachite green plant.

it took a while for everyone to explore the extensive menu...and that was just for appetizers! after a hot debate over what to get, we settled on the fresh Tamarind Tree rolls. they were refreshing and light; filled with fried tofu, roasted peanut, fresh coconut, jicama, and carrots. they were also served with vegetarian fish sauce. mmm.

the only appetizer that i felt strongly about ordering was the baby clams rice cracker. from the very first time i went to Tamarind Tree, i fell in love with this dish. it's basically chopped baby clams marinated with garlic and onion, tossed with chili, and sprinkled with crushed peanuts. it's served with a giant sail of a rice cracker dotted with nutty black sesame seeds. oh man. i'm getting hungry just talking about it.

ps, i think this was a crowd favorite with my coworkers as well, yay!

lastly came the crispy prawn baguette. i seriously had no idea what to expect when we requested this appetizer. the menu describes it as "baguette slices and Pacific prawns coated with seasoned batter, deep-fried served with hoisin and chili sauce. Popular dish from Mekong Delta wine pairing event-2005," and our served misleadingly described it as a "shrimp donut." i kind of imagined some sort of shrimp toast of the dimsum variety. boy were all descriptions and expectations wrong. it is a fritter. plain and simple. shrimp. meets. fritter. it was tasty nonetheless.

two of my coworkers savored the combination vermicelli bowl which featured sugarcane shrimp, grilled pork skewer, and prawn skewer. like all vermicelli bowls, it came with cucumber spears, cilantro, mint, shredded lettuce, daikon, carrot, crushed peanut, and fish sauce. it all looked so delicious, however, one of the bowls' vermicelli was undercooked!! major fail!!!

F. devoured the lemongrass chicken. it was a simple, elegant, and just right. he said that the chicken was super flavorful (though he would have preferred more heat), and the rice was a soft, fragrant jasmine. his clean plate attested for Long's success.

G. finally decided on one of Long's specialty dishes (win!), the vegetarian crepe. this rice flour crepe was filled with shiitake mushrooms, mung beans, bean sprouts, and tofu served with a side of veg fish sauce (G opted for the real deal). a tray of lettuce, mint, cilantro, thai basil, sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon pushed this specialty over the top to wrap up bites of crepe and dip into the sauce. yumz. G said it was awesome and nearly finished it, and i can attest to the tasty simplicity of this dish since i've had it before at TT!

i wanted to try something a little different, so i went with the La Vang pot rice. it seemed like forever since i'd had jasmine rice, so i knew this would be deeply satisfying. i mean, look at it! who doesn't love anything served in a blue and white pot?!? i would eat hot trash out of this stoneware.

well, Long, you did not disappoint. all the elements of this dish were peppery, earthy, and perfect after i doused it with fish sauce. the pot was filled with a base layer of jasmine rice which soaked up all the braised juices from the fresh, local tofu (northwest tofu? tahnahn son?), chayote squash, carrot, and oyster, black, and fresh shiitake mushrooms. holy s. so good. i had to stop so that i wouldn't explode (i had to return to work, you know).

of course when M asked if we wanted dessert, i had to take him up on the offer. i'll keep it short and sweet (no pun intended, i swear) since this is taking a turn for the epic. M stayed true to herself and got the flan. she couldn't turn down burnt caramel if her life depended on it. not only was it tasty, but it was equally beautiful in its elegant presentation.

F went for simple, as well, and tried the toasted coconut ice cream. do i have to say anything? i mean, just look at that.

apologies for the poor picture quality on this one, but again, i hope description will suffice. M had to try the grilled banana cake. layers of grilled red banana and sweet rice soak in cognac? sign me up. this was also served with warm coconut milk and crushed peanuts. oh yumz.

G got the veeeeeeeeery last scoop of black sesame ice cream. much like ambrosia's bubble shake version, i am a sucker for this flavor. it was both refreshing and rich. "how?" you ask...i have no idea. magic.

and last, but not least, i had to go with something on the "weird" side of the menu. i actually really loved the grilled cassava (yuca) in a pool of coconut milk, crushed peanut, and get this, spring onion. the cassava was like eating a semi-sweet potato....almost like dense, azuki bean paste. at first it was strange, but after i ate a scoop of milk + cassava + onion, i knew it was the truth. just that slight bit of bright grassiness balanced the dense, potato-y nature of the cassava.

Long, thank you for a great staff lunch. i still think about that La Vang rice pot. in fact, it sounds pretty awesome right about now...

mom's tired of feeding our monkey asses!

2009-04-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

a couple days after our easter feast, M's family decided to pick up some mexicano for a nice takeout dinner. we were anticipating awesomeness simply because of CA's proximity to the 'co, but i was skeptical of the authenticity of the place because that's just my nature. i accompanied M's step-dad and brother so i could pick out some veg options and a couple of tacos for M. when we walked in, i instantly knew taqueria real surely was the re-al deal.

the taqueria was simple, clean, and full of standard, restaurant-issue square tables. the menu was posted on a lightboard behind the counter with pictures and descriptions next to each item for los gringos. awesome. the cold case, free of any decoration, was stacked with mexican, cane-sugared coca-colas, flan, and energy drinks. there were four 7-eleven-style, glass-doored fridges along one wall which weren't even 1/4 full of various flavors of jarritos, beer, and other soft drinks. i could tell the food was going to be the shit.

R ordered two gigante burritos for the boys...one chicken and one beef. they were truly enormous and fed three teenage boys and two adults. from what i could tell, they were stuffed with the typical whole pinto beans, meat of choice, tomato, and some type of sauce. i think perhaps there was cheese, as well. i assumed that since there wasn't a grain of rice leftover that the burritos were satisfactory.

i tried the ceviche which was awesome. i don't know what type of white fish they used, but it was extremely tender. i thought it was better than guaymas'!! it was so perfectly salty, citrusy, and refreshing. A+

i also got a sopita with just beans, lettuce, and cotija. it was good. the sopa itself was thick, and more of a walled coaster shape than i've had before, but it was good. i must say, el asadero's veg sopitas really are the best and simplest around.

R also ordered a beef quesadilla for good measure. M said it was the shit. boy does he love enchiladas even though he never gets them because tacos are his first love.

lastly i ordered one taco al pastor and one taco de carnitas as a tasting for M. he said they were great. like great great. rivaling el asadero great! i think the house salsas played a part in his opinion, too. the salsa verde and roja were rich, flavorful, and the perfect garnish for every bite.

taqueria real was, is, a little gem hidden away in a strip mall in bel marin keys. we will be back as soon as we get to novato. and M finishes his in-n-out 3x3.

Kan Zamen

2009-04-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

about a week ago i went down to san francisco to hang out with family and meet up with a friend that i hadn't seen since last august. the day happened to be quite blustery, making our walk to upper haight from a bar off divisadero quite perilous. K led us to a cozy hookah bar on haight called Kan Zamen. the dark door opened up to quite a large dining room with a (shoju-)stocked bar and elevated area with pillowed banquettes. we decided to sit at the low tables to enjoy some tasties.

we decided on the "maza plus" combination, meaning we could choose three cold and two hot maza (appetizer dishes) from the list of about 10-12 options. we placed our order and sat back to survey our surroundings.

the bar was pretty interesting. they only served shoju "cocktails" since, i'm assuming, they don't have a full liquor license. beer, wine, and shoju...they had shoju mojitos, cosmos, all sorts of desperate libations on the chalkboard. also, if you want to smoke, you have to sit at the bar. sigh.

i ordered a "middle eastern tea" not quite knowing what to expect. i figured it would be dark and strong...much like their coffee. what i got was a lovely glass mug of loose, black tea with some refreshing mint leaves floating on top. it was delicious and lightly sweetened to perfection. i want to make this at home. now i just need to invest in some glass mugs so i don't burn my finger tips off. yowza!

service was extremely attentive (filling water glasses several times) and quick. we were only chatting for several minutes by the time the first plates came out. clockwise from top, we ordered hummus, babaghanous, cold cucumber/yogurt salad, hot lentils, and falafel.

the hummus was M's favorite...garlicky and earthy as a hummus should be. the babaghanous was excellent, too...completely lacking that bitter flavor eggplant gets when prepared improperly. the texture was nice, not mush, and smoky. it's making me want to throw a couple of whole, oiled eggplants into my oven right now!

the cucumber salad was BOMB. tart, chilly yogurt spiced up with garlic, salt, lemon, dill, awesome, and a dash of omg. i love tzaziki and all, but this was more of a salad with bigger chunks of cucumber. i loved every bite and mixed it with everything. i couldn't get this simple dish out of my head all week, and the past couple of days i've made my own version with bay shrimp in the mix for dinner. major holy ess when i added a little bit of cap'n kipp's hot sauce.

the lentils were great, too. they were mother-effing-i-just-burned-my-mouth hot (just the way i like my food!), satisfying, and full of that umami heartiness. i shoveled spoonfuls of this with that cucumber salad on many-a-bite of freshly grilled, steamy pita.

the falafel were good, yet somewhat forgettable compared to the lentils and cucumber dishes. they were crispy, hot, and playfully green with parsley. cracking one open was like staring straight into the door of the irish emigrant on st patty's day.

we all loved every last bite of food and convinced ourselves that we needed to try a couple more. M and K savored the spicy sausage which really looked like a sliced beef hot dog that was sizzled with green onions. i have no idea what it was or where it came from, but both M and K said that it was the shit and way better than a dizzog. my choice was the rice and yellow lentil combo served with a tomato salad and cucumber yogurt. if i knew from the get that the cucumber salad was the truth, i would've ordered the rice&lentil dish all for myself. it was spicy and laced with fenugreek seed. holy crap. so good.

we were all stuffed beyond belief, and including tip, we got out of there for $55. that sounds like a pretty hefty check, but M also had a couple beers, and all three of us basically ate a really early dinner/latelate lunch and had to roll out of there.

if i lived in sf, i would return, but since sf is but a place for vacations and family visits, there are so many other places to try that i probably won't be back for a while. le sigh!

hello?

2009-04-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

ah, the hotly-anticipated (maybe just in my world?) moshimoshi sushi spot in ballard! this old fisherman's warehouse's windows were papered over for months and months with the promise of "moshimoshi sushi, opening winter 2009." with the addition of shiku to ballard's sushi roster, i was wondering what aspect of japanese fare moshimoshi would provide.

i was hoping to catch mm's happy hour, but i was dining with a visiting minor...not gonna fly. instead, we ate dinner after picking him up from the airport! "perfect. he loves sushi. this is going to be great," i schemed.

i apologize for the poor picture quality. i forgot my phone in the car and had to use a blackberry with its flash and extreme over exposure.

the setting is nice. simple, bamboo tables, long banquettes facing chairs. lovely stoneware. clean. simple. japanese. i would even say spa-esque.

the best part is the central cherry tree. this picture does it no justice, but it's basically a giant tree with twinkling, pink cherry blossoms dangling over the bar. it's stunning.

we started with the octopus sunomono, which was awesome. just the right amount of vinegar, briny seaweed, and tender octopus. mmm. definitely one to add to the list of tentacled delights around town. after much prodding, we got out 17 year old companion to try it. his words: "not that bad," which, when translated from teenager, means "the shit."

T ordered the vegetable tempura which came with the usual suspects: lotus root, carrot, kabucha, onion, mushroom, shiso, spring onion, eggplant. i didn't have any, but T said it was tasty time.

M and I tried the seafood tempura, which included ebi (shrimp), scallop, crab leg (shelled), and two kinds of fish that i've now forgotten. i thought it was alright. i wasn't a big fan of the batter, which i found to be a little soft. i love a somewhat untraditional take on tempura with soda water + rice flour + panko for extra crispiness. one of the fish was on the skunky side, but i didn't mind the flavor. i think the main problem was that everything lacked salt. also, i felt like it was a travesty to eat crab like that. i like my crab cold. but i know M enjoyed every bit of that plate.

our sushi included a california (for our californian), spider, and moshimoshi roll. the cali roll was nice. just what your would expect. the spider was good, though mashiko's absolutely kills this one. moshimoshi, see also: more flavor.

the moshimoshi roll included "king crab, cucumber, shiso, & umeboshi plum wrapped in seared sea scallop," or so the menu promised. i love pickled umeboshi, so i thought the house namesake was right up my alley. plus, i'm pretty committed to trying restaurant specialties because they're usually where the chef can show off her creativity. anyhow, the roll did had some scallop on top, but it was more like chopped scallop that was lightly passed over by a pastry torch. not exactly wrapped. not exactly seared. oh well. overall i thought it was fine. it just lacked flavor, buzz word if you didn't notice. M said it was gross because the plum didn't belong. i didn't find the umeboshi so offensive, as much as overall flavorless.

sigh. moshimoshi, i had such high hopes for you. i do want to try their happy hour, which sounds like some nice small plates, but again, i know what i like and were i like it (see: mashiko's and maneki).

Casa Que Pasa: Bellingham

2009-03-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

i did not take this photo, stole it from their myspace

Its been far to long since my last post. No excuses. But I have been running myself all over the place the past month. And I really havent been going out to eat as much lately in an attempt to save money, you know...economy. I have found some great cheaps eats along the way and will make sure to post more this coming month. One weekend trip a few weeks back was up to Bellingham with some friends to see a show. We got into town and all realized we should eat some dinner before we hit the club. I now sort of wish we would have hit the pizza spot because I bet Saigon would have been there. Anyway, we went to Casa Que Pasa, L. had been there before and was talking about how awesome their potato burrito was, naturally I was intrigued. In my mind it had to be good for him to claim some sort of veggie burrito was worth his time.

The menu was full of burritos, quesadilla, tostadas, carnitas basic mexican food choices. We started with some drinks. The margarita was intense, I immediately knew I was in a college town in a college bar because this house tequilla was bad, I mean real bad....and I am cool with well alcohol in a mixed drink most times. Damn, just another sign I am getting old.

We also shared the chips and guac, which we all ate so fast and not because they were good, because they weren't but because we were starving. The chips were not made in house and my apologies if they were because if that is the case they were stale. The guac was okay, but we didnt even eat all of it and well, that never happens.

General report was that the food was okay. I did order the potato burrito and so did L. Apparently "world famous" this burrito has battered and fried potatos mixed with beans, cheese and a creamy red chile sauce. The first bite I knew that this was not a healthy choice. The fried potatoes were good but the huge helping of refried beans took up too much of the burrito, this thing could have been smaller and did not require all of those beans! I swear the load up on the beans to make the burrito look huge. Not necessary. I did like the spicy cream sauce, nice addition. It could have used maybe some lettuce or something because it was quite the gut bomb.

Service was okay, ambiance was chill, its an okay place to grab something cheap and fast.

1415 Railroad Avenue
Bellingham, WA
Mon-Sun 11am-1am

mexifest 2009

2009-03-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

so i know it's been a minute since i've posted anything of interest, and that's because i've been eating out, saving a million photos on my phone, and then never emailing them to myself. yes. i suck. my apologies.

so in the spirit of forgiveness, please accept my mass post of various mexican spots i've patronized over the past few months.

chile pepper is a wonderful, family-owned restaurant nestled in a converted craftsman in wallingford. i've passed by this place many times, wondering if they offered chiles rellenos, my mexican food barometer. one evening when my friend, M, and i were thinking about eating after having a couple happy hour drinks at moe, we got to talking about chile rellenos. she said her absolute favorite was at chile pepper. that cemented it for me. i had to have one.

we started out with some chips and salsa...you know, the usual. the chips were nice, though senor moose destroys the game on the chips front. the salsa, however, was superb. smoky. fresh. bright.

next came the complementary sopa de lentejas. i wished i could try this, but it definitely was prepared with pork or beef stock. the full, meaty aroma was enough to put this veg off. my dining companion, however, savored every last bite. meanwhile, i took in the soft yellow walls, traditional folk art adorning the walls, and the friendly, plaid table cloths dressing the 10-12 small tables inside. i liked chile pepper. it felt cozy already.

then came the pièce de résistance: los chiles rellenos! CP uses ancho chiles, so they're sweeter, smokier, more cinnamony and dark than the usual poblanos. for $12.95, we received a plate of two chiles rellenos de queso fresco, rice, beans, guacamole, and some corn tortillas. i was in heaven. they were amazingly comforting and delicious. omg. i can't wait to go back for more.

on the other end of "mexican," M and i went to el chupacabra on phinney ridge for a quick meal in the middle of running errands. i had never eaten there, but M had just a few days earlier with friends. i pretty much knew what i was getting into, yet i was still surprised by what came wrapped up in my burrito.

chupacabra is a small, neighborhood bar for young phinney ridgers or young p.r. parents. it's sort of like if you mixed faux-dirtbag chic, rock and roll (the kind that embraces flame graphics), and anywhere you could imagine that offers "screamin'(!!!) burritos. unfortunately my pictures of our apps didn't make it, but we ordered chips and guac (not too shabby!) and jalapeno poopers, err, poppers. honest mistake. i'm addicted to jack in the crack jalapeno poppers. they are so perfect. i don't know how to describe how i feel when i eat them, but it's what i would imagine nirvana is like. the j.p.'s at chupacabra were pretty good. they were hot as fuck is what they were, but tasty. the cream cheese transformed into searing napalm, and the outer crust was quite crunchy.

anyhow, my word to picture ratio is waning. i'll cut to the chase. i never order burritos, but i did that night. for my first jump into 'rrito territory in some years, this wasn't a bad one; just confusing. i got one with vegetarian "meat," pinto beans, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, the works. oh yeah, and wet with enchilada sauce (how can one resist, right?). it was tasty, though severely lacking salt. after salting and salsa-ing it up, it wasn't bad. the only weird thing was that the "meat" was easily identifiable as the morningstar breakfast sausage, so it tasted like jimmy dean got a hold of my screamin' burrito and put his culinary twist on it. it was also the size of my forearm, so i took it home and ate the innards out of it the next morning for breakfast. thanks, chupa, for an inexpensive, satisfying meal. i won't be back, unless for drinks, because i love el asadero too too much.

upon kathryn robinson's suggestion, M, N, A, and i drove down to huarachito's mexican taqueria just a few minutes south of our house on mlk. this is the kind of intimate, family-owned place you can feel good about supporting. as soon as you walk in, you're greeted by the open kitchen (and the cooks!), the host, and at least one server. the energy is positive and entrepreneurial. there's a back room to the right with a family table and a flat screen on the wall, and the main dining room is to the left with about 10+ small tables. two walls of windows onto mlk are softened by brightly painted window frames hung against the glass. all the art, warm lighting, brick, and chalk drawings invite pedestrians to come join in the fun.

now to the food. M ordered four tacos: al pastor, carnitas, lamb, and steak. according to the board, the carnitas was a mixture of cheek, jowl, neck, and a couple of other anatomical parts i've long forgotten. M said everything was good, but they all tasted the same (except for the steak). weird, right? he also said that el asadero is way better with the crisping of the meat.

N, like a true winner, sampled the torta de carnitas. it looked super bomb, stuffed with carnitas, shredded lettuce, tomato, mayo, and salsa. uh, delicious. she said it was the shit.

A, having previously eaten at tacos huarachito's, tried one of the entrees, the mole chicken. wow. he said it was just as good as this picture. the mole was saucy, smoky, and less paste-like than other moles he's had. the chicken fell off the bone, and by the end of it all, the plate was decimated.

i was at huarachito's, so i figured i better try their specialty, the huarache, right? it's basically a long, thin masa pancake dressed with either red or green salsa, your choice of meat, and lettuce. it really does look like a ball of masa dough flattened by someone's wayward, woven sandal. i went with pescado and salsa verde. all in all, it was tasty. the fish was a little skunky, but now i know better. the huarache itself was ginormous, filling the ovular plate from end to end. i enjoyed each bite covered with some of their housemade salsa habanero, avail upon request.

oh, and lest i forget, another great aspect of huarachito's is their salsa selection. pickled jalapenos and carrots are jarred at every table (yum!) along with a few squeeze bottles of salsa verde, salsa chipotle, and just a regular salsa rojo. they were all good, but the chips could have used about 30 more seconds in the fryer; just a touch too flimsy.

i think we all learned a valuable lesson for our next huarachito's visit: order from the entree section and save the tacos for el asadero.

inspired by all this mexican food, M and i stopped by la carniceria azteca on the way home from work a couple weeks ago. for all the years we'd lived there, M had never been, so it was like a mini wonderland of tastiness. i stocked up on some of my favorite extra hot candy, and M bought a fourth of a wheel of cotija, a pack of sopes, a tub of ceviche de pescado, and a pound of carne enchilada.

i shredded some lettuce, cut tomatoes, olives, lemons, cilantro, red onion, and jalapenos, and we were off to the races. i also laid out some leftover white bean and green chiles from the day before. we assembled our own sopitas, and they were delicious as hell.

omg. valentina extra hot + sour cream = the business. although we technically didn't "cook" dinner, we assembled it like real pro eaters. unfortunately, we were too good at eating for me to take some pictures of the finished sopitas, so use your imagination.

Pinkberry

2009-03-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

I was looking though my phone and laughing at the pictures from my trip with Carbo to LA and San Diego...within these hot pics I also came across a few images of places we ate. One of the nice treats was having Pink Berry for breakfast on our way out of San Diego. Pink Berry dining opportunities are only available to you if you are in Cali or NYC.

With the top down in our sweet rental we drove to the local Pink Berry.

Often imitated in bootleg frozen yogurt shops all over this city the design concept is so clean and on point at Pinkberry. Detail is given to the floor, chairs, lamps, glass and everywhere you look. It was extremely comfortable in a strange sort of mind controlling way.

The staff were nice and extremely well groomed. I am sure that is a requirement some sort of pink berry brand.

All of the toppings looked very fresh, the fruit was almost fake looking and the nuts had a gloss on them. I imagined that someone went through every piece of fruit and nut getting rid of anything that looked damaged or irregular shaped. I should also mention it was spotless in there.

I dont really like fruit as much as I adore salt. I do however love coconut...so I went with the original yogurt with almonds and coconut.

We sat in the Cali sun and enjoyed our breakfast, after the night we had it was just what I needed. I love frozen yogurt and enjoy most bootleg recipes that I have tried. Pinkberry however has this extra tart kick that makes it very much superior. Then again, now that I think about it I may have been brainwashed in that store.

Order the Pink Tacos

2009-03-03T12:34:00.000-08:00

So as White Pepper mentioned in a previous blog, our food experience in CA was not all bad. One example, Pink Taco. Once I was able to get out of bed after being poisoned at Craft, Mexican food sounded good. Mainly the chips b/c they seemed comforting--and you can't get poisoned by your run of the mill chip.

I'd heard of Pink Taco, mainly for it's notoriety in AZ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_Taco), because some concerned citizens were disapproving of the restaurant's name. We were in Century City, near a mall that housed the large chain restaurant. Upon walking in I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very kitschy, but larger-than-life, ambiance. The music was rockin', staff was friendly and food was muy bueno...as they say in Mexico.

But alas, again it was bittersweet b/c I was only able to stomach about a 1/8 of my plate and white pepper not much more. We could tell it was delicious. The chips came w/ two salsas--a regular and a roasted tomatillo, we ordered a side of guacamole, didn't even put a dent in it, WP had the chicken tacos, me the famous namesake, Pink Tacos. I had a beer, she a watermelon margarita (we were able to finish the beverages). We tried to pack it up and take it home--but didn't have a fridge to keep it safe. Usually I would have said fuck it, but not this time...

The good news. I happened to find myself in the same LA neighborhood about 3 weeks later. So I made a point to return. Again, upon walking in I was pleasantly surprised. It was FAT TUESDAY, which equals party time at Pink Taco complete w/ djs, drink specials and beads. I ordered almost everything the same and we were right the first time the food is awesome!

Hope a Pink Taco opens in Seattle.

More pictures from Pink Taco

2009-03-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you for the wonderful post Carbo. Here are some pics from when we were at Pink Taco at the end of January. I swear I meant to post, but I am glad you did.

Craft

2009-03-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

It was just about a month ago when I traveled down to LA and San Diego for a short vacation with CarboOverload who was there for work. I wish this was the right venue to share the highlights from the rest of the trip but it wouldnt even come close to doing it justice, it was beyond interesting. It has taken me longer than I would have liked to write this post but here we go.

If you watch Top Chef you know who Tom Colicchio is and he also happens to own Craft Restaurants. I was invited by Carbo to enjoy a dinner with her on the first night I arrived in LA, and everyone at the hotel said Craft because it was just down the street. We called to check if we needed a reservation but they had room for us regardless. The restaurant is in a non-descript office tower complex down a narrow walkway in the middle of Century City and not surrounded by much. It is definitely a destination eatery. When you walk in you are right in the bar. This bar was small and awkward, it had too much lighting and was more like a lobby. They offered us a seat in the bar but we told them we would take the dining room.

When we were seated I looked around and noticed the simple design and subtle art. The lights hanging from the celiing and the large booths made the energy very comfortable. For some reason it made me feel like I was in Las Vegas or something, but I dont know why.

We were seated and greeted with some water and a box of bread. The butter that came with it was very rich and sweet.

After the bread the server came back and dropped off some complimentary sea urchin custard. It was still a bit warm and had a very fish stick like taste. The texture was hard to enjoy, I tried my best to eat as much as possible to see if I was just missing the genius...Carbo barely had one bite.

After the custard our server returned and helped us pick out a wine. I leave that up to Carbo, I rarely have bad wine when she orders.

Carbo settled on something she has had before it was a Holus Bolus 2006 Santa Ynez Valley Syrah. I thought it was nice and rich with some deep fruit flavors, but do not know much about wine. Good choice and cool bottle.

By far the best thing that I ate at Craft was this beet salad. They were amazing pickled and roasted baby beets from local farms mixed with gorgonzola. I wish I had more words to describe them...besides awesome.

Next we shared a few gnochi which contained chestnuts and marscapone cheese. On top of the gnochi was a rich buttery red wine sauce with a touch of rosemary. They were pretty good but you couldnt eat a whole plate of those alone without getting too stuffed. They were really heavy to me.

We ordered a few sides to accompany the meal including Swiss Chard which was very well cooked and perfectly salted.

As well as some risotto, which was thin but the small bites of pork were very rich and buttery.
In the back are the diver scallops which we shared as one of our entrees. I thought they were too fishy and sort of dirty tasting. Really rustic presentation with capers and slivered almonds. I only had one...

Our other shared main was the berkshire rack of pork. The pork was light and very soft. Although you cannot see them, this dish had jalapenos which made everything pop. This pork would make a good sandwhich. Delicious.

After our meal the server showed up with another complimentary item. It was a meyer lemon soda with coconut sorbet. It was sour and sweet. I could have drank a whole glass of this if I didn't just eat a huge meal. Very good.

Although the soda was a nice touch we also decided to share a dessert. We went with the peanut cup with peanut butter brittel, caramel gelee and little caramel gelato. The peanut butter cup had a really tasty chocololate crust. This dessert was salty and rich, I loved it. The guy who makes this won LA pastry chef of the year. He knows whats up.

Now I thought we were done but arrived was another complimentary item...mini cupcakes with cinnamon frosting and a bite of what can best be described as apple and cotlets. This was a gross dessert on all levels. Dry and tasteless. Pointless as well.

Upon paying we als recived a to go pastry....nice marketing idea, but the thought of eating it even the next day was too much.

This review is bittersweet because I had the best time sharing this meal with one of my best friends, we laughed talked to the awesome servers, drank and had some really amazing food but the next day proved to change my whole attitude about the night. Now, because you cannot prove it I do not want to make harsh accusations about Craft, but the next day Carbo was bedridden from what we think was food poisoning. I had stomach issues all day but nothing half as bad as her. We think it was the scallops, I only ate one and she ate the other three. Looking back and thinking a piece of fish was too fishy and dirty that should be the heads up to pump the brakes. Im not sure if I will eat scallops again for a long time.

Let me end this on a good note, our trip was fun, lots of great memories. Thanks for taking me out to dinner Carbo. See you on our next vacation.

10100 Constellation Blvd
Los Angles, CA

a proper chinese birthday

2009-02-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

my mom's birthday was last week, and being the low-key woman that she is, i asked if she even wanted to do anything...a sunday dinner, perhaps? she said she wasn't sure and would let me know later. the last thing i wanted was for her to prepare dinner for "the kids"...it was her birthday, after all.

a couple days later, my e-nbox pinged, and my mom invited us out to her house for hot pot! yay! i love hot pot, but it wasn't really a food tradition in my family. heck, i didn't even think my parents would break out the burners for the real deal. boy, was i wrong.

my parents bought the hot pots with the divider in the center so that we had both a hot and a "normal" broth. they went for extreme variety, offering chicken, beef, and vegetarian broth (whee!).

yeah, i took a picture of the blue flame, so sue me for nerding out!

the spread included spinach, baby bok choy, lotus root, bean sprouts, snow peas, green onion, purple basil, cilantro, fresh and fried tofu, shrimp, chicken, pork loin, and two types of beef, one sirloin (i forget..?) and one "ungraded" per vietwah. mmm, check out that red broth! i would've gone hotter, but with the temp and the spice combined, i was pretty satisfied.

here's my brother dunking some chicken into his broth. delicious.

i had a lot of fun engaging in the communal activity that is hot pot. i love interactive food, and this was super tasty, filling beyond words, and a fantastic way to celebrate my mom's birthday.

thanks for dinner, guys!!

Frozen Custard!!!!

2009-02-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

While walking to work the same way I walk everyday I came across a new poster in a store window about a new restaurant opening...

OLD SCHOOL FROZEN CUSTARD
(check the link for a menu!!!)

As you may have read in prior posts, I love custard and haven't had anything close to the stuff I grew up on in the puget sound area. I am so excited and can't wait to try it. After doing some research I found out they will open this spring and they will also be serving Nathan's hot dogs. L. Nopen and I will be the first people in line.

Located at 1316 E. Pike

A Fish Story

2009-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

It was a dark and stormy day as we boarded our chartered 36' Bertram for a day of deep water fishing between Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. Several of our party of 6 were a little green from a night of Tequila in Playa but were determined to give it their best effort.

Pushing thru 14 to 18 foot swells and with Jim (you will learn more about him later) chumming his last 2 meals over the side of the boat, I heard the mate yell "Fish On!" I pulled back on the pole and set the hook. It was then man against fish. I was determined to win. In the 45 minutes it took to boat the 40+ lb Dorado (aka Yellow Fin) we went through a down pour of rain and increasing swells. By the time the fish was in the boat my arms were rubber and my back was
screaming uncle. By now the weather had worsened and the rest of the charter boats had headed in. We did the same.
Once tied up at the marina, we were the stars of the day. We were one of only 3 out of 14 boats out that caught fish that day. My fish was by far the largest.
The mate quickly and efficiently filleted my catch. We knew we would never be able to eat the whole thing, so we gave the other half to the captain & mate.

That evening we fired up the grill at our villa and Jim proceeded to put together a meal of saffron rice, refried beans, tortillas and, of course, grilled Dorado in a lime butter marinade. Which was washed down with ice cold Sol and tequila! It should be noted that even after grilling enough of this fish for 6, there was enough for 2 large bowls of ceviche and a breakfast.

5 Spot......Another Great Place For Breakfast!

2009-02-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

1502 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 285-SPOT
8:30 am to Mid Nite Daily

Most know of this venerable breakfast spot in Upper Queen Anne. Get there on a week end after 9:30 and you likely won't get a seat for awhile. On a recent week day B, Principal R, and myself set off to the 5 Spot for breakfast and Bloody Mary's.
We were fortunate enough to get a table right away with a great view of the open kitchen. Our server was on us like a fat kid on a cup cake with waters, menu's and a rendition of the Special Specials!
B and Principal R both had Huevos Rancheros. Lots of places make this dish, but the 5 Spot's set up is by far my favorite. It is simple, but fresh with 2 fresh salsas. a black bean chili with cheddar cheese and 2 eggs, perfectly sunny side up.

I had the Red Flannel Hash. The hash is corned beef, potato, and beets with a couple of eggs on top. It was pretty good and really filling. But was a little bland. I took care of that with some Tobasco and another Bloody Mary! BTW....this is probably the best Bloody Mary next to Etta's. No mixes here. Each made to order with plenty of heat!
I haven't done more than breakfast here so can't say how lunch and dinner are. But I drive home over the top of the Hill on my home from work and there is always plenty of people waiting for seating.

Voula's Off Shore Cafe.....Good Food * Good People

2009-02-22T11:06:00.000-08:00

Recently a customer of mine invited me to breakfast. He had been raving about this place and wanted to share it with me. So on the appointed day and time we set out for Voula's Off Shore Cafe.
This is an easy place to miss as it is tucked into a working neighborhood near Gas Works Park. But once you have been there, you will not forget it!
Apparently it made enough of an impression on the producers of The Food Networks "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives" to do a segment on it.

Voula's Off Shore Cafe
658 NE Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98105
Monday - Friday: 6 am - 3 pm
Saturday - Sunday 8 am - 2 pm
phone: (206) 634-0183

5 minute dog food

2009-02-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

so i read this recipe the other day for a 5 minute, microwave chocolate cake. i was skeptical and the greater part of me knew it would be bullshit, but since i had all the ingredients on hand, i figured, why not give it a go.

i mean, shoot, in the end if it sucked, i would only be out a few tablespoons of ingredients and an egg, which i find disgusting in the first place.

sweet ninja email, i know.

everything i needed. yeah, imitation vanilla. you see it. why use the good shit on this experiment, right? vaniller is 'spensive, dude!

mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa).

add egg. mix thoroughly. then add oil and milk.

stir until uniform and blended.

microwave on high for 3 minutes in a 1100W nuker. don't fret as it explodes over the top of the mug.

let cool for a couple minutes.

invert onto a plate, or bowl in this case. stare at what looks like it could potentially be dog food. do not feed to animals. chocolate = no-no!

i ate the couple bites that stuck to the bottom of the mug and was severely disappointed. it was strangely cooked, completely bizarre in texture, and almost flavorless.

so yeah, i made a quick salty peanut-chocolate frosting. i heated up some peanut butter and butter, added cocoa and mixed. then i added a touch of sugar and milk, stirred until glossy. then more sugar and milk in the same technique until the consistency was right. plopped on top of 5 minute dog food.

the "frosting" was fine...a little too salty for my taste, but it made a couple bites of the kibble tolerable. all-in-all it was too rich (due to the frosting) but mostly dense and sick.

sorry for subjecting you to this, m.

tasty kakes

2009-02-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

after a lackluster brunch at senor moose, we made a quick, run-in-the-rain stop at belle pastry's newest outpost on leary way in ballard. G had been craving a croissant all morning and his french pastry breakfast was vetoed in favor of moose. needless to say, french tasties were still on G's mind.

somehow i deleted a couple of the pictures off of my phone, so please excuse the lack of visual entertainment and poor pic quality.

as soon as we walked in, we were greeted by one of the bakers whose name i've shamefully forgotten. the interior is a little too fluorescently bright (almost clinical), but it just accentuated how clean the space is. perhaps some warm red decorations would help stimulate my appetite?

i guess my appetite didn't require a cattle prod for me to quickly settle on an apricot/creme anglaise/croissant confection. meanwhile, G picked up an eclair, napoleon, croissant, and baguette!

the buttery layers of flaky pastry were a perfectly crisp contrast to the soft, poached apricot. the entire pastry was lightly glazed...just enough for me to lick my fingers afterwards. J, G, M, and i all shared the goods in the car on the way back to phinney ridge. the only thing that made it past the stoplight at 15th and market was the baguette.

damn.

ps, out of recession v-day ideas? why not pick up a special pastry from either of belle pastry's locations and celebrate at home.

Brian should be the next Top Chef

2009-02-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

ET and my brother (back right) at the James Beard Awards in 2008

Read how awesome he is here

sometimes mediocre hits the spot

2009-02-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

a couple friday's ago, my friends called me up to see if i felt like sushi. better question is, when do i not feel like sushi?!?! J suggested shiku in ballard, which she and her husband enjoyed several weeks earlier. i'd never been, so of course i was into it!

of course it's a friday. and ballard. so by the time we walked in at 6:30, all the tables were full and the wait was approximately an hour longer than we were willing to stand around in the freezing cold. so we walked to sam's sushi just up the street across market.

in all my years living in ballard, i had never eaten at sam's...gasp! i figured that if i wanted sushi, i would go to the places i already loved (maneki, mashiko, etc) instead of this amazingly-convenient, 2-block-away restaurant next to my old shoe repair go-to.

as soon as J and i walked in, we saw the place was pretty packed, but there was only one couple in front of us. we weren't greeted and there was no visible wait list. after wondering if i would have to walk across the crowded restaurant to the "front" desk for 10 minutes with no acknowledgment from any of the staff, i got up and asked someone who i mistakenly identified as the host how long the wait would be. she said she wasn't sure. i let her know we had a party of 5, and she said about 10 minutes. during those ten minutes, i watcher her approach a solitary patron seated in a booth if he could move to a 2-top, and he obliged. weird, right?

anyhow, enough talk. not enough pictures.

we ordered the large sashimi appetizer plate, which took about 20 minutes to arrive. isn't the point of an appetizer to come before the entrees? if so, sam's missed the point. we were all ravenous by the time any food arrived! perhaps hunger and nothing to eat is the best appetizer of all.

m chose the lobster roll. i actually didn't have any because i'm not a huge fan of lobster, and since there were only 5 pieces, i figured everyone else would appreciate a taste more than me.

next came the rainbow, spicy scallop, and spider rolls. the rainbow roll is a perennial favorite if only because of the variety of fish draped over the top. it was solid. the salmon, maguro, and whitefish were nothing special. in fact, it wasn't flavor but texture that really distinguished them. hrm. the spicy scallop was nice. sushi is pretty much the only application where i enjoy scallop crudo. however, it was severely lacking the "spicy" portion as advertised on the menu. the spider roll was the best out of these three. sweet, fried softshell crab...i mean, c'mon. the only way to ruin this is to use old oil or burn the crab.

hmm, caterpillar roll. i don't think i had any. or did i? apparently this was an extremely memorable dish. success!

and last were the red dragon and california crunch rolls. the red dragon was supposed to be spicy (i assume...either that or a super-secret, underground ninja crime syndicate!), but 'twas not. the maguro and mild kewpie mayo stripe-age was nice, though. ah yes, the california crunch roll was basically a california roll (amateur, i know), but with tempura shrimp millefiore'd inside and them tempura-ed itself! again. frying. hard to eff up.

overall sam's was nothing special. it was solid. no offensive errors. no stellar standouts. sam's hit the spot when we needed it the most. ...and were on a schedule (K had to work at 9).

The Sound of Spring: CheapCheap, CheapCheap

2009-01-27T14:19:00.000-08:00

i love seattle deli. it's cheap. it's tasty. it's simple. and it's consistent. (omg, hilarious that this came up in a google search for "cheap, tasty, consistent.") seattle deli's major downfall has nothing to do with the food; it's the parking. the lot is tiny, compact, and just off of 12th and boren, which is a cluster eff on the weekends. however, if you're brave enough to weather this s-storm, a green papaya salad with shrimp is in your future for only $3.50.

above is the cold case, which is full of tapioca, rice desserts, banana leaf-wrapped steamed rice and meat, and a bevy of other unidentifiable items.

the hot case houses several prepared meat and vegetarian dishes which vary daily, but often include some sort of fried chicken stir-fry, a saucy, chili-spiked tofu, various fried rices, soups, sizzled green beans, and seafood dishes.

right at the cashier is the spread of plastic-wrapped, room temperature foods, such as vermicelli salads with beef, tofu, or shrimp, green papaya salads, fried onion tofu, and several glutinous rice desserts. in addition to the shrimp green papaya salad featured below, i also picked up some coconut-covered, glutinous rice strips that come with a dime bag of a salt, crushed peanut, and sugar mixture for dipping. it's the tiny package that looks like pink, white, yellow, and green gummy bears in the front row, if you're curious.

this salad is great. i almost forgot to take a picture because i was so excited to eat it. in fact, this picture is taken about 3/4 of the way through it. damn you, appetite! the simplicity of this salad is exactly what i love about it. it's only shredded green papaya, cilantro, purple basil, and butterflied, boiled shrimp. it's dressed in the traditional epitome of sweet/savory sauces: fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and chili. delicious.

the salad and dessert set me back about $6.00. i wish i saved the receipt so i could tell you exactly how much it all was, but i handed a five and two one's and there was a handful of change.

BEST. BURGER. EVER.

2009-01-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

the other day my coworker and i were shopping at tj's and had a mini cup of the day's sample: chipotle ranch fries.

simultaneously, we both had a hankering for some serious, hot french fries, and agreed that blue moon burgers just around the corner from our office was exactly what we needed. i wasn't aware of this, but BMB offers half priced food every wednesday during their happy hour.

since both G and i stay at work on the later side, we decided to snack during the day and snag burgers at 3 (hh from 3-6). after an excruciating wait for BMB's happy hour, G rang me up about 5 to 3:00 and asked if i was ready. i already had my coat on with wallet in hand, and we dashed out the door.

the interior is pretty classic burget joint. the walls are covered in local show and event posters, and the floor is checkered red and white. there are two levels; the first is lowered with plenty of tables and chairs (note: no booths); the second is elevated about 6 steps with a soda fountain, condiment station, a few tables, and the kitchen.

though this picture is from blue moon's fremont location, it reminds me that yes, they DO serve beer (what's the point of happy hour without special beverages, right?!?). also, take note of the chalkboard menu, which is also available for viewing on their website.

i ordered the southwest burger with a grilled original garden burger. i'm not a huge garden burger lover, but with all the accoutrements, i needed a clean slate to taste the combo of buffalo mayo, jalapeno bottle caps, and onion/lettuce/tomato. the jalapeno caps were THE SHIT. holy cow, thick buttons of battered and fried jalapenos should be added to everything. they were juicy, not too hot, and fresh.

my burger was juicy, incredibly flavorful, smoky, and hot (both temp and spice). the kaiser bun was fresh, tender, and not too bready (i usually end up picking off some bun because it's too big and overlaps the burger like a fluffy curtain). the patty and fixin's lined up perfectly with the edges of the bun, a characteristic i never knew i wanted but now am in love with. the buffalo mayo and jalapenos were the perfect amount of heat for me. i thoroughly chewed each jalapeno to release all the of the flavor and spice, leaving my mouth tingly for several minutes (yay!). this burger was transcendent. i was glowing and couldn't stop talking about it!

G ordered the classic hamburger with a kobe beef patty. the funny part was that we took our orders to go and ate them at our respective desks. i ate mine so quickly that i was embarassed to get up and see how hers was. about half an hour later, i walked over to her desk, and she said it was amazingly delicious and she devoured it like a vacuum.

and how could i fail to mention my check total: $3.79 (and that includes the extra $.50 for the veg patty!)

blue moon burgers, i love you. i love you so much i made you my FB status (nerding out, admittedly) and i told all my friends. G and i are even starting a new wednesday tradition: BMB happy hour.

thanks for the memories, BMB, i'll see you in a few days.

Oddfellows Cafe & Bar

2009-01-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

Although we had to wait for a seat in the packed cafeteria it was worth it to try out the new spot on Capitol Hill called Oddfellows Cafe & Bar. The owner, Linda Derschang, also operates Linda's, Viceroy and Smith. I guess this place is still considered new even though it has been on 10th for over a month. I was there for dinner, but I couldn't help but be thankful that they also offer an early breakfast menu starting at 7am. We need more casual breakfast spots on the hill much more than another 21 dollar burger.

When you walk in, you immediately realize you are about to be seated in a dining room filled with a lot of cafeteria style tables on a small benches really close to other people. However, when we sat down I didn't seem to care we were sharing a table with someone....thank god, they don't pull that shit where they sit a random person across from you. I cannot stand that crap, its like eating in the dining cart on the Amtrak train. No thanks. The decor is very Capitol Hill, whatever that means...lots of random nods to the past including a large vintage war photography and a huge American flag. It definitely felt a little Men's or Eagles Club. The exposed wood, brick and white paint next to the large open windows made the room feel huge but it was also very warm. The bar area seemed awkward because it didnt allow for people to be corralled so they were just standing along the front of the restaurant waiting to be seated.

We started off with a few drinks. My brother was the only one who went with something off their specialty cocktail list which contained about 5 drinks. He was surprised at the pink color and the old wine glass it was served in. This was basically an 8 dollar gin and juice. I knew I should have written this down because just like a lot of Capitol Hill spots they have a pointless website with no information about the menu just the address and hours. Hopefully they will update it soon, so I can figure out what to have for breakfast on my way to work.

Very similar to other dining experiences with my brother he ordered a lot of things to get a good idea of what the menu had to offer and if it was going to be a place he would return too. So we ordered all the sides including Crispy Pork Nuggets, Fries (with special sauce) and Mac and Cheese.

Hands down those pork nuggets were amazing. I mean deep fried pork? That has got to be a winner. Come to find out the side came with 8 nuggets, b. and I both only got one each before my bro and L. ate them all up. Jerks. The fries were thick cut and salty, not too greasy and pretty hot. The special sauce was like a sweet marinara, not bad. The biggest disappointment was the Mac and Cheese. I swear...what is the problem with restaurants and their sorry attempts at Mac and Cheese! I know I am capable of making it and it isn't hard at all. Use more cheese and better quality and I think you can make it work. Stop serving luke warm, dry pasta with basically a white non tasting sauce. Gross. I am done ordering it out. That was it.

For dinner we all ordered an item but shared them all with the table. I wanted to try the chicken salad sandwich with tarragon, b. went with the grilled onion and gruyere panino, L. tried the rotisserie chicken and my brother went with the braised pork shank.

Everyone raved about the chicken salad sandwich. My biggest problem with it was the hard panini bread it was served open on. I had to cut it up to eat it and I needed a steak knife to get through it. It became quite messy but it was very good tasting, very flavorful and the tarragon was perfect.

b's sandwich was not very good, it looked like they over oiled it and put it in a sandwich press complete with ridges on the soaking weak bread. It was just boring and overpriced for a shitty grilled cheese. If you want a good grilled cheese with onions go to Smith.

L.'s chicken and greens were tasty. Just a simple baked half chicken dish along with mashed potatoes and decent flavors. Kind of boring.

Ending out the entrees was my brother with the pork. It was so tender it fell off the bone, this tasted quite good and you could tell they put a lot of love into it. The creamed cabbage mixed up with crispy bacon on the side was nice but the lentils under the pork were killing the dish, they were amazing and full of pork juice.

The service needs some help because we waited really long for food and had a hard time tracking anyone down for additional drinks. Several servers graced our table, one who took the order, one who brought the food and one who brought the water. It was confusing. They were all very nice however, I think they just need to get it together while they move through the newness of the restaurant. I will go back and try other things including breakfast and lunch. You might be interested in checking out their salads, shepard's pie, beef stew, blt and so on...just be prepared to pay around 8 dollars for sandwiches without the 6 dollar side. Or go for the 14 dollar full entree.

1525 10th Ave
(between Pike St & Pine St)
Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 325-0807

Mon-Thu. 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat. 7:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sun. 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.

in honor of president obama's inauguration...

2009-01-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

seattlejew.blogspot.com provided two patriotic cakes for my building's inauguration viewing "seminar" (read: party). the inauguration speeches were great, as expected, and the orin smith auditorium in my building is pretty sweet, too!

i hope you all enjoyed the induction of our 44th president this morning. i wish i could share this cake with you!

nb: if you look closely, uncle sam is actually black!

Emerald Queen Casino: The EQC

2009-01-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

No we didn't gamble because we were there to see a concert. An awesome concert to be exact. I have been a fan of Musiq Soulchild for years, he is always putting out quality music and I absolutely love his voice. The venue was packed and he sang for almost two hours. It was a great show. Overall, an amazing ladies night.

After the show we all needed to get some food, and since EQC has a few restaurants we took to the grand staircase to see what the International Restaurant had to offer. We were seated fairly quickly in a dining room very reminicant of a Old Country Buffet but were spoiled with the maroon cloth napkins. Classy. The menu had everything from salads to sandwhiches along with a fairly large section dedicated to chinese american.

First up was the drink order. I was surprised to see the prices under 5 for most drinks. Well A. and I splurged and went with the 5.50 Electric Ice Tea. I think it tasted like sour lemonade and needed more alcohol, but I also heard it may have come out of a gun. Oh no. Not awesome.

They messed up K and M's order but they sent out the mistake while they prepared their appetizer. If I remember correctly they were crab cakes, but I didn't taste them or get a pic. I was worried that security would take my phone because they sent a few people to let us know that photos inside the casino was an absolute no. Point taken, especially when they sent the female security guard complete with a headset and a green windbreaker. I was unable to get photos of the other ladies food without drawing attention to myself but "straightened hair" M. got a burger and A. had a chef salad and everyone enjoyed a few sides of the steak fries.

After the crab cake mistake, K. and M. got their portobello mushroom caps and side of fries. M. said she was impressed by the quality of food at EQC...and the app prices were not that bad.

And, I went with the club sandwich, the roasted turkey was very tasty and the perfect amount of salty. The bacon was crispy and had just enough black pepper to give it a kick. I think the thick slice of cheddar was a nice touch and made the sandwich the perfect drinking meal. I liked the fries but didnt think they were hot enough. I also tried not to eat too many beccause I wanted to eat my sandwich! I do like a good club and this one makes my top ten for sure. And, it was reasonably priced at 8.95.

Not sure when I will go back to EQC but, I would eat at their restaurant again...and who knows perhaps with some gambling we could take on their Surf and Turf buffet complete with crab legs and iceberg lettuce salad bar.

Happy New Year

2009-01-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well Happy New Year, sorry for the lack of posts on my part. Might as well explain myself, for those who care. A few things contributed to this...First came the start of the holidays which if you are going out to eat then you just haven't gotten invited to enough holiday parties. This time of year is perfect for overeating small snacks and hearty comfort foods. So, first there was Jive Turkey 2008 an annual holiday party that I have attended for the last few years hosted at T's posh West Seattle digs. This year was pretty amazing...nothing like over eating, drinking and dancing in someones living room.

appetizers included m.'s special deviled eggs, they were bomb

picture of my plate mac and cheese, stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes,
brussel sprouts. so glad my friends can really cook! Shout out to the amateur chefs

Second up was the great Seattle Snow Storm of 2009 which caused me to barely leave my home for a week and a half. Therefore going out to eat wasn't a top priority. Now, I love a snow day here and there just as much as the next guy. Waking up and running to the window in hopes that school would be closed is a fond memory of mine from growing up in Wisconsin. My current job operates on the same schedule as Seattle public schools, so I was out of work for a week and a half. Wow. I will give the city a D on how well they performed in this weather.

picture of snow at cal anderson park by my house
later that week i shared a nice cup of hot chocolate spiked with everclear with l.
ps. dont ever try this drink

One thing we did do during the blizzard was make a gingerbread house...it was a lot harder than I thought and quite messy. L. was not sure what the point was but by the end, we ended up making an amazing piece of artwork and having a good time.

if you cant tell from the theatrical lighting this was inspired by the
infamous stop motion animation flick Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Third, it was Christmas Day dinner at my Mom's. Everyone in the family was in charge of bringing a dish. I seem to have forgotten to take a pic of the apps, by B. which were really nice spreads as well as the kick ass sundae bar prepared by little B. Great job by all, I must say.

I made cornish game hens stuffed with bacon cornbread, L. made broccoli mashed potatoes,
other L. made polenta with veggie chorizo, and B.'s mac and chesse and squash.

And FINALLY, I have been on a detox since January 5th, a raw food detox to be more specific. The eve of starting the insane detox I shared a "good-bye cooked food" meal with some close friends at Honey Court. I also purchased some of their chili hot sauce to go. I cannot wait to eat that after the detox.

you know the regular stuff: chow mein, honey walnut prawns
aka mayo covered swimming rats and a few other things like the
interesting ginger chicken that is front and center of the photo.

Now on a solid day 6 of this raw diet I feel pretty good, a bit tired but not hungry. I also got a cold, which I am sure is because all the stuff is trying to leave my body. Needless to say it makes it really hard to go out to eat. A quick idea of what I have been eating includes: raw cereal made up of raw almonds, shredded apple, shredded coconut, a little honey, cinnamon and a splash of almond milk. This is actually so good, I do plan on eating this when the detox ends. If you want to check out some of the recipes check this site. I mean Rawchos? WOW. Another item I enjoyed was the raw spaghetti I made the other night which is pictured below.

Rawghetti

A final, big shout out to Juice It in downtown Seattle who hooked me up an amazing raw lunch today. I did however forget to take my phone for any pics. The place is a hidden gem for those trying to eat raw or healthy downtown. I will be back to dining out soon enough. I have a list of places I have wanted to check out.

See you soon.

happy hour surprise

2009-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

i've been to i love sushi several times over the past ten years but have only recently discovered their new (as of 10/27/08) happy hour. a few months ago, my coworker took me out to lunch as a thank you for watching her dog, so when my girl, M, asked if i wanted to happy hour-it for dinner, i thought, "wtf, why not try out i love sushi's hh at lake union?!?"

$3.00: we started with a wakame salad. i was surprised when three different kinds of seaweed came out on the plate! they were all tender, briny, and tasty. there's one type of seaweed that is kind of rubbery that i absolutely cannot stand, but none of these were of that variety! i loved that they were simply tossed with white sesame seeds instead of overwhelmed with oil or any type of sauce.

$5.00: usually i go for the spicy tuna roll at any sushi spot just as a litmus test. instead, we ordered the spider roll (fried soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber, tobiko, radish) which was tasty, but not as out-of-this-effing-world stellar as mashiko's. the crab was super fresh-out-of-the-fryer hot but severely under seasoned. it just needed a hit of acid, vinegar, lemon, something!

$8.00: the priciest item was the variety sashimi plate which comes with your choice of albacore, salmon, maguro, and/or yellowtail. this was by far my favorite dish of the afternoon. in the past i've wonder if ordering sashimi at any given place around the city would be significantly better or worse than anywhere else. i'm delighted to let you know that i love sushi's chefs are real pros. each cut was smooth and free of any connective tissue. i usually don't like salmon sashimi because i can never bite through it without looking like a slob pulling silly putty out of her mouth. the albacore was un-effing-believable, too. to be completely honest, every bite of sashimi was better than the one before.

if you're in the SLU area or even downtown and in need of happy hour with a parking space, hit up i love sushi. the food is on point, the prices are fair, and the green tea flows freely.

a questionable appetizer

2009-01-05T10:18:00.001-08:00

i love pickles. i love fried food (who doesn't?). fried pickles seem like a no-brainer, non? over the years i've shied away from this novelty simply because my favorite part is the refreshing snap of biting into an icy cold pickle. a hot, sour pickle sounded disgusting.

along comes the people's pub's fried pickle appetizer. OMG. after a chilly afternoon of shopping post seattle winter apocalype, J and i met up with M and G in ballard for some simple german food.

THESE. PICKLES. ARE. BOMB. get thee to a fried pickle purveyor.

we also ate real people food, but i was so hungry, and the lighting was so dim, that i didn't capture my field roast sandwich, J's spaetzle with cheese and rotkohl, and the boys' meatfest.

exquisitely expensive

2009-01-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

a little while back our friends (who actually worked on the space) invited us to dinner at spinasse since they had been there several times, raved about it, and told us we should all go some time. the interior is intimate and warm with a handful of small tables and one long, communal table. i love the old lady lace curtains which lend a homey authenticity to the space. the menu is brief, but well designed.

we asked the server for a wine suggestion, and she recommended a nebbiolo since it would be medium-bodied and drinkable before and during dinner. J and i decided on a Vietti 2006 Nebbiolo. fruity and delicious.

the house started us with some bruschetta. the first was fresh ricotta and olives.

the second was spinach and garlic. both were tasty and crisp, whetting my appetite for pasta. i was really into the ricotta bruscetta because it was also dressed with rich olive oil, my favorite.

since we had a party of 5, we decided to get two orders of antipasto misto della casa. below are the chicory/guinea hen/parmiggiano/balsamic salad and spinach fritatta covered in tiles of black truffle.

the other half of our antipasti course was pure meat, well almost: a cherry tomato stuffed with anchovies and dressed with a parsley pesto, vitello tonnato, prosciutto and grissini, and salame with roasted leeks. i liked the anchovy/pepper deal, but there was only one, and there were five of us. even though we got two orders of antipasti misti, that meant splitting two peppers among five guests. what the hell?!? is it really too much to ask for three peppers per $28 plate? i didnt eat any of the meat, but i was told it was great. M's favorite was the vitello tonnato, which is a traditional dish of tender veal topped with a smooth mixture of tuna, olive oil, and capers.

we also ordered a couple of vegetable sides. the first was a simple ceci con limone e prezzemolo (garbanzos with lemon and parsley). it was simple, tasty, and well-prepared, but J also made this dish a few days later at home, and it was just as good. i know spinasse is a whole experience, but sometimes it makes you question the bang-for-your-buck factor.

the rape saltatti (sauteed turnips) were tender and savory, sauteed in their own greens. also pictured are the ravioli di tapinambur al burro e salvia con pignoli, or jerusalem artichoke ravioli with butter, sage, and pine nuts. they were delicious, fresh, and well-paired with two of my favorite ingredients, sage and pine nuts.

J chose the maltagliatti (wide irregularly cut pasta) with hedgehog mushrooms and butter. i really enjoyed this dish as well. the pasta was perfectly toothy and obviously handmade to order. there is no substitute for fresh pasta.

unfortunately i didn't capture G or M's pasta choices, but they were tajarin al ragu and tajarin al burro con salvia, which are both thin, handcut pastas with a meat sauce and sage butter. the tajarin was also tasty, toothy, and refreshing. however, i don't know if i would return to pay $19 for a small bowl of pasta with butter and sage.

after we had all finished our pasta courses, we completely forgot that G and M ordered the braised goat! it came significantly after the pasta simply because it took that long to cook, but M and G said it was worth the wait. the goat was falling-off-the-bone tender, naturally sticky sweet, and perfectly reflective of fall flavors. we asked the chef how he cooked it, and he said it was only salt, pepper, and garlic on a bed of onion, carrot,and celery. it was really the standout star of the evening.

the overall quality and taste were extremely high, but i don't think i would go there again after G made pasta at home. it was about $400 without tip (i think) including two bottles of wine. despite the taste factor, spinasse is not a good value. $19 for a small bowl of pasta is pretty ridiculous, and c'mon, only one anchovy-stuffed pepper per antipasti plate?!?! no thanks. spinasse is great, just not worth it.

nb: it's super busy at any given time, so if possible, make reservations!

Dahlia Lounge Brunch

2008-12-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

Yeah, thats right...brunch. Two weeks ago, my chef brother invited me and my family for a sampling of the soon to be launched brunch menu at the Dahlia Lounge. This soft opening allowed the kitchen to go through their menu and close friends and family to give their feedback. I will admit that I had been out the night before partying so the idea of brunch was perfect.

I started with coffee but B. and L. opened with a bloody mary...dont worry I had one after a bit of food. Remember I partied the night before. I have rarely been in the Dahlia Lounge during daylight but the way the sun filled the clean and spacious dining room was really comfortable and pretty.

According to our server we had to try the Monkey Bread so we ordered two for the table. This cinnamon sugary breakfast treat came out warm with a side of caramel. I dont really like sweet but I did sample a piece. B. was not impressed that it was called Monkey Bread because "traditional" Monkey Bread has more of a pull-apart consistency. Perhaps they will take that into consideration as they continue to improve on the menu. Regardless it was a nice treat and the warm caramel was tasty!

The menu was broken up to include Kick Start for the Table, (monkey bread, donuts or scones) Rise and Shine options (Biscuit and Gravy, Benedict, Hot Cereal and Beef Hash etc.) and After 11 Additions (Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, Burger, Chicken Salad, Mussels). B. and R. both ordered the Eggs Your Way which came exactly how it sounds including smashed fried potatoes, biscuit and your choice of bacon, sausage, steak, trout or a crab cake. L. went with the Oregon Country burger...apparently I didnt get down on pictures of their meals. I'm sure as avid readers they can comment on their plates. Overall it looked good to me! We also ordered the Sourdough Applebread French Toast to share at the table which came with fruit, bacon and a side of pear maple syrup. It was a bit sweet for me, but for french toast lovers, this is a nice dish because the rustic bread is grilled.

I went with the Eggs Benedict (So did the other L.), of which I really enjoyed. I am a fan of Eggs Benedict and have tried as many as I can remember around town. It is just something about the way the egg is cooked and how the fat and creamy sauce all absorbs into the muffin. The ham which was covered with a green scallion hollandaise was very tasty. My only suggestion was that the pork needed more salt, of which I was informed will be included next time because it will have more time to brine. Another part of the dish that was pretty awesome was the Big Island Fruit Cup, full of pineapple, mango and banana in a bath of coconut water. This was the perfect complement to the heaviness of the benedict. I wasnt sure when I read "fruit cup" but this was not your typical lame cup of melon. You can also order the fruit cup, bacon, sausage or ham as additional sides.

Thanks to TD for buying our brunch and for our server for recommending some great treats. Overall the prices are just what you would expect for a nice city brunch, around $11-$14. I will definitely go back for this benedict!

Not sure if the brunch is Saturday and Sunday because their website isnt up to date yet so you better call and make a reservation to find out. 206-682-4142

2001 4th Ave.
At the corner of 4th and Virginia

Buddha Ruksa Thai Cuisine

2008-12-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

I rarely get to West Seattle because I dont drive but on the few occasions that I do, I rather enjoy the restaurants. Perhaps because its something new, but I also like to leave cap hill and the pretentiousness that awaits you at several of the new restaurants.

I picked up B & B music factory from the airport and they wanted to eat. We stopped by their place to drop off their stuff and began calling around to find a place to get a reservation. It was Saturday and lots of places were packed for the evening. However, we were able to get in at 7:45pm at Buddha ruksa. My brothers favorite Thai place, so he claimed. The place is small with low lighting and every table was packed with diners. This is a comfortable spot and you could tell it was going to be good, the mood in the restaurant was very chill.

Prior to arriving at Buddha ruksa we had a few wild turkey's down the street (in honor of our band) even though our 4th member was off gallivanting in LA. We poured a little out for him. When we sat down I realized how hungry I was and the wild turkey was eating my stomach. I quickly reviewed the menu, satay, calamari, egg rolls, tom yum, fried tofu, crab wonton...we needed something quick. B said the best app was the crab wontons, so we ordered them immediately. The crab wontons were very hot and perfectly crispy. I love anything with cheese and the cream cheese to crab ratio was right on. Nice spicy sweet dipping sauce on the side too.

When it came time for ordering the meal, big B. took the lead. He decided to go for the pork green curry, which is one of my favorites. My only complaint is that we didnt order it a bit more spicy. Very tasty and again came out really hot. Perfection.

We also got an order of fried rice, which again had great balance of seasoning. It was a nice additon to our meal and the cabbage was my favorite part of the dish besides the grilled rice.

Alas, the reason B & B like to come to this spot is for the Crispy Garlic Chicken and now I know why...it was amazing. I could have gotten a whole plate of this for myself. The fried chicken topped with rich spicy garlic on top of some basil leaves made me unable to stop eating. Damn! B knew what he was doing when he ordered, because lucky for us he got two for the table.

I will certainly go back and sample more of their menu. I was interested in some of their other signature dishes including the wonton pad thai and the prawns & pumpkin curry. And for those of you who like crispy duck, they have six different ways.

Check it out. Its fairly reasonable prices too, you know if you've heard about the economy.

Buddha ruksa
Thai cuisine
3520 SW Genesee Street.
Seattle, WA 98126
T. (206) 937 - 7676
F. (206) 923 - 6470

Tuesday - Friday
Lunch & Dinner 11am - 10pm
Saturday & Sunday
Dinner 4pm - 10pm
Closed Monday

now that bbq season is over...

2008-12-03T20:53:00.001-08:00

let's reminisce about afternoons spent on the alki seawall grilling pork loin, mussels, and fresh trout. sigh.

the mussels are my standard recipe: sautee onions, chili flakes, and garlic in butter; once translucent add mussels and heavy pour of white wine; cover to steam for 2-3 minutes; toss with italian parsley and enjoy. i don't know if it was the butter, charcoal, or amazingly fresh shellfish, but this batch of mussels was out of this world. we all feasted on this appetizer standing around the grill. i even ended up cracking a shell in half and scooping the wine/butter/parsley juice out of the bowl. absolutely bananas.

another crowd-pleaser is M's slow-roasted pork roast. he always dresses it with olive oil and whatever spices are lying around R's kitchen...usually smoked paprika, chili flakes, sea salt, pepper, simple stuff of that nature. M then sears it in the center of fresh coals (= hot grill), then moves it out to the perimeter to slowly roast for the remaining life of the coals. it always turns out great a couple hours later, but i couldn't personally attest to that. i can only tell by the glowing reviews from all the c-vores.

here we're cooking by camping lantern light, hence the blue tint to the photo. J grilled up some fresh trout fillets stuffed with onion and lemon slices which turned out great! they just needed a hit of salt before serving, et voila!

a few zucchini halves are hiding in the upper lefthand corner, i think...a barbecue staple.

i also cooked some yams in the cast iron pan with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic. it was simple but tasty. the only thing i worried about cooking with the cast iron pan was the actual temperature of the grill. it was far hotter than i anticipated, and the yams ended up burning on the bottom! eee! it wasn't that big of a deal, though, because we just ate the top few layers.

oh the carefree days of summer are long gone, but i hope this little shot of sunshine grilling will help you through the winter!

"i'll have a dirty bacon martini, rocks, two pearl onions"

2008-12-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

have you ever wondered what mutant baby would emerge from a $20 gallon of vodka, a trip to safeway, and an extreme admiration (well, longing. i am vegetariana, mind you.) of bacon? if so, read on...

every year i make a special liquer around the holidays to bring to parties. the first year i made a coffee and brown sugar (oh lord, the hangover!) vodka which was delicious. the next year i made something similar with the addition of cinnamon and a 100 proof base (too strong!). coffee used to be my go-to, but this year i wanted to experiment with some more creative flavors.

i thought about skittles-, apple pie-, lavendar-, caraway-, shoot, even parmiggiano-flavored liquer! in the end it seemed almost criminal not to attempt a bacon vodka. think of the possibilities: bacon bloody mary, bacon martini, bacon shots! who cares, right!?! anyhow, it's only been a day, but we'll see how this monstrosity turns out come saturday.

ah, delectable bacon in all its thick-cut, smoky glory. i cut the bacon into thin slivers to that once fried up, it would be easy to funnel the tasty bites into a bottle.

i started the bacon out cooking on high to start a good sear. after the fat started to sizzle, i turned it down to medium-low to render as much fat out of it as possible. i had no idea what i was doing, but i figured the dryer the bacon, the less unappetizing fat globules would be floating around in my vodka.

after letting as much grease soak into a napkin as possible, i transfered the bacon bits to a glass container, threw in some peppercorns, and drowned the mixture in (80 proof) vodka.

mmm, bacon-quarium.

so i lied. yesterday i made my pathetic first attempt at bacon vodka. as you can see by comparing today's batch with yesterday's, today i rendered out more fat and cooked the bacon more thoroughly.

these bad boys are getting a good shaking at least thrice a day until it's time to unleash these grotesque mutants on the world. and by "the world," i mean "my friends."

hopefully it won't taste like a fart, but only time will tell.

Med Mix

2008-12-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I ended up downtown in P Square for a killer show at the J & M cafe. Shout out to the guy managing the sweet sound and the crazy bartenders who mixed the worst drinks . My friend M. and I went next door to grab a quick bite before the show and she was shocked to hear that I had never eaten at Mediterranean Mix. Upon first walking in I wasn't sure about this place but she insisted it was really good. I was overwhelmed by the choices because all of the pictures showcasing their menu items made it hard to decide. Do I want pizza, fish and chips, chicken salad, hot dog...!?!?!?!?

After a long deliberation we finally decided and stepped up to order. M. went with the Gyro, which she said is one of her favorite things to get. I went with the falafel.

While waiting I couldnt help but admire the art work on the walls...so random,

and so AWESOME!
The soda fountain was broken so we shared a can of sprite and helped it out with a little of beam, M. had in her bag. Such a classy move on our part. We totally fit in though, it seemed like lots of other patrons were enjoying spirits as well.

The falafel was hot, crispy and spicy. It has been awhile since I have had really good falafel and I was very impressed. The entire sandwich was right on the veggies, the pita and the tahini were perfect. I ate it so fast and had no time to focus on what M. was eating, I was in a trance. She loved her gyro as well and we both commented on the nice hot sauce on the side.

This sandwich was like under 5bucks too, and it was perfect. I dont get down to Pioneer Square very often but I will make sure to stop by for some more falafel when I do.

They dont have a website but this place is open LATE.
Pioneer Square
205 1st Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104

Spur.........Molecular Gastronomy in Belltown

2008-11-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

After a recent Saturday of wine tasting at several Woodinville tasting rooms the hunger pangs set in. Spur had been recommended by the very talented chef of Dahlia Lounge. It was a great find! The atmosphere is comfortable and clean. The staff is efficient and friendly. Most importantly the mostly small plates are fresh, innovative, and just damn good! It is also consistent. Several visits to Spur have been outstanding.

I feel the bar is the best seat in any restaurant. Most bartenders are knowledgeable of the food as well as the drinks. Spur is no exception. Although our mixologist felt all of the menu items were very good, he was happy to let us know his favorites along with cocktail and wine recommendations.

We started off with crostini topped with smoked salmon on a dollop of mascarpone cream, and a drop of champagne vinegar. This was outstanding! Especially if you could put the entire portion in your mouth at once and experience the explosion of flavors.

We moved onto the Pork Belly Sliders made simply with perfectly prepared crispy pork belly, mustard, arugla, and smoked orange marmalade. The combination of sweet and salty makes this a perfect late night plate with a glass of Ale.

Another great item is the tagliatelle with chanterelles a duck egg and a garnish of parmesan foam. To be honest, the foam was an unnecessary decoration that was a little too foo-foo for me. However the smokiness of the chanterrelles and the al dente pasta all swimming in the broken yolk of the duck egg made you wish you weren't sharing.

The beef carpaccio was pretty good, but the the slow poached Butterfish was a little too bland. It might have suffered because of the big flavors of the previous dishes so I might try it as a first plate in a future visit. None the less, it was a great presentation on the English peas, and morels.
All in all this is a great place and will be a regular stop.

Spur
113 Blanchard St.
Seattle, WA 98121
Daily 5 pm to 2 am
www.spurseattle.com

Brian's Grille

2008-11-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

bailey: worlds smartest puggle

This summer we started a Sunday tradition of going to my brothers for dinner and band practice. Yeah, Im in a band...called Wyld Turkeyz, we have like thousands of fans and have been on tour for months from Paris to LA. Watch for us. The posts on this site have been slow, and I have so many pictures in my phone I decided to go back and start getting some new content on this sweet blog. Below are some pictures from a summer Sunday when my brother prepared thai lettuce wraps and a spicy peanut noodle salad. I dont have a grill but I have made these a few times at home since watching him. I am a fan of anything you can put sriracha on...which is pretty much everything!

the meal started with brian cooking the chicken on his awesome wood grill.

brian perfectly cooking the chicken

brian prepping the meal, the peanut noodle salad in the back

the final plate on b & b's awesome patio

World Sports Grille

2008-10-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

We were waiting to go see a movie and decided to grab a beer at World Sports Grille located inside Gameworks. Because some sort of sports were playing on the mega tvs all over the bar they had some sort of special on bud light. I think the huge glass was only 3 bucks. Not bad....

We also decided to order some snacks so we got down on some fries...

These fries were okay. They came out kinda warm but the presentation made them look worse. The fries came out on a small bread plate...they looked helpless and weak.

We also tried the hot wings...

The wings were okay. The kind of wings that they must have deep fried the hell out of and then just basted them with lots of sauce. The wings didnt have that much meat on them and a few of them looked like the chicken exploded rather than being cut up. The ranch was on point, which in my opinion is a huge plus for eating hot wings.

I think because of the special beers we made it out of there for just under 20 bucks. I guess this spot has beer specials when sports are on. If you are downtown and are looking for a cheap beer, its worth stopping by. Not sure if I would recommend eating there, unless you are really hungry or you prefer you chicken exploded rather than butchered.

1511 7th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
Open 11am-10pm, on Sat. they stay open til 11pm.

Wingzone

2008-10-26T11:44:00.001-07:00

The weather changes and makes it hard to leave the house and face the cold pouring rain to get dinner. This time of year is when I go into my kitchen and open the junk drawer and pull out a stack of delivery menus. The choices are quite slim so we occasionally check the world wide web for some restaurants who might have decided to deliver to cap hill. L. started talking about how much he loved eating Wing Zone back in the day...he even told me a funny story about how he and J. sold a cd to a delivery driver to cover the cost of their meal. Awesome. I had Wing Zone wings once back in the day when I worked in the U-District, but I had never had the sandwiches.

L. claimed the grilled chicken sandwiches were BOMB. So to our surprise we are able to order a few online. I kept waiting for them to call us after we ordered to give us the bad news that we were out of the delivery zone. But that call never came. My favorite thing about these sandwiches is that you get to choose from 26 types of flavors. Options include BBQ, Blue Cheese, Cajun, Teriyaki and on and on. I had the Thai Chili sauce on grilled chicken and it was really good. You can also go with a fried chicken sandwich if you are feeling like going there. Because I wasnt sure if the thai chili would be hot we also ordered a side of their house hot sauce. All sauces were fantastic. The standard sandwich comes with a side of wedge fries but you can sub a salad, onion rings, mushrooms or mozzarella sticks. The sandwich comes on a soft bun and the lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, mayo, ketchup & pickle spear are on all on the side.

Wing Zone is a chain but it is the only on on the west coast. It is quick delivery to the hill from the U-District. The food although it comes in styrofoam is very warm and perfectly cooked. The chicken sandwiches set you back only like 8 bucks and once you get delivery they give you coupons for some amazing deals on your next order. I will certainly rep Wing Zone for a quick, lazy dinner brought right to my door. You have lots of options so check them out! Hamburgers, Chicken Fingers, Salads, Buffalo Shrimp, Wings, 2Liters and Brownies!

5042 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105

Monday-Wednesday: 4:00 pm–1:00 am
Thursday-Friday: 4:00 pm–2:00 am
Saturday: 11:00 am-2:00 am
Sunday: Noon–Midnight

The Other Coast Cafe

2008-10-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

"East Coast Sandwiches. Northwest Attitude." My guess is what they mean by that is you can get a deli style sandwich that wont cost you 20 bucks. Or that they use New York founded company Boars Head deli meats. Or maybe Northwest attitude means the staff have red hair and lots of tattoos.

Carbo was pretty excited to take me to a place I have never been so we hit up The Other Coast Cafe after one of our day long shopping trips to Target. I love sandwiches. When I was a veggie I had a hard time ever getting the kind of sandwich I truly desired. This place makes great hot sandwiches and also offered some classic cold options including Tuna, Bologna, Italiano and Roast Beef.

Carbo went for the Reuben which featured thin sliced pastrami, swiss, sauerkraut, mustard, and thousand island dressing on rye bread. The 6" set her back $8.25.

I went with what apparently is the most popular sandwich the Rajun Cajun. Thin sliced "cajun style" turkey, pepper jack cheese, tomato & onion with homeade spicy salsa mayo on a fresh crispy on the outside but soft on the inside roll. The 6" was

I hear they have another location downtown, but I think Carbo told me it wasnt as good... I will certainly go back if I ever get to Ballard before the sun goes down.

Mon – Fri: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
Sat & Sun: 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
5315 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
Phone: (206) 789-0936

A Tangletown (wtf?!?) Gem

2008-10-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

this post is a long time coming, but i have no shame in publishing two-month-old pictures! my visit was in the heart of the summer and in the middle of a sweaty, 20 mile bike ride, but this dive is just as great on a rainy sunday evening as a hot summer day.

leny's tavern is just about the nicest dive bar i've ever had the pleasure of spending 6 hours at. the bartender, willow, was super friendly, sarcastic, and even changed the channel for us while (olympic) rhythmic gymnastics were being televised. we went there with a couple friends who swear by this spot (it sponsored M2.'s flag football team) and it's leny's larges, aka 33.8 ounce, four dollar beers.

i've found that a good guage of a bar's well-roundedness is the bloody mary. any bar can throw together a whiskey soda or pull a beer. not every bar(tender) can create a stellar bloody mary. lenys' is the shit. seriously. they make their own mix, dress it with pepperoncini, a pickle, olives, and lemon and spice it up to your liking. it was perfect...dill-y, tangy, spicy; i can't laud willow enough.

the menu is, as one would expect, mostly burgers-and-fries type stuff, but they also offer chili cheese tots, blackened cod, fish and chips, and all manner of fried accoutrements. all of my compatriots ordered the dock street burger (standard burger w bacon and "dock" sauce). M. accompanied his with salt and vinegar fries (bomb).

M2. got the onion straws, which are basically onion rings but, you got it, not rings. those were the shit, and after a few hours of swilling leny's larges and rounds of jaeger, we ended up ordering a basket of onion straws, which was a homerun.

lastly ms. pesca ordered the blackened cod sandwich which was the shit. the fish was great, salty, and "cajun-spiced" with paprika, chili, etc. i subbed in fried zucchini instead of regular fries, which were cornmeal battered, hotter than a motherfucker, and awesome.

since this initial visit, i think we've gone out of our way to tangletown (stupid name) at least 3 times. we even went on a rainy sunday night, had a few larges and shots and somehow made it to work feeling "decent." hit up leny's tavern, even if you're not in the neighborhood. it's a great place for pool, e-jukeboxing, buck hunter, burgers, and bloody mary's.

Leny's Tavern
2219 N 56st St
Seattle, WA 98103
206.632.9175

Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream

2008-10-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Out of all desserts, I favor ice cream more than any. I actually enjoy frozen custard more than ice cream but lets not go there right now. About a month or so I was out to dinner in Wallingford with some friends and we drove by Molly Moon's. 40 or more people were lined up around the block to get in. My friend driving informed me that they supposedly had the best ice cream in town, I immediately became impatient and wanted to get some for myself but we were off to a show so Molly was going to have to wait.

One afternoon a few weeks ago L. and I took the bus to Wallingford to visit our friends and wanted to also grab some brunch (which reminds me I need to write about that place). We ate our brunch and started heading towards our friends house and there we have it...we walked right by Molly Moons. It was the middle of the afternoon and there was still a damn line. We got in the back and waited our turn with the other intersted parties. Just looking around, I was plesently surprised by the selection of ice creams and the simplicity of the space.

As we waited we were able to see and smell one of the employees making fresh waffle cones. Having the waffle irons right out at the counter most likely increases sales, we both got waffle cones.

I went with the Salted Caramel (reminicient of the taste I had from Mark's amazing fudge cake with salted peanut ice cream at Spring Hill) and L. went with the Vanilla Bean.This ice cream was really good it was rich and tasted very fresh, creamy and natural.

If I remember correctly some of the other options that day included Chocolate, Basalmic Strawberry, Maple Nut, Raspberry Sorbet and a limited edition flavor...Baracky Road. Upon reviewing the website, I noticed you can also request flavors! I think someone should make an ice cream that tastes just like Jell-O's pistachio pudding. All of the ice creams are made from local and organic ingredients and the cups are compostable, this place is so green. The place was packed so we had to take the ice cream out onto the street which was fine because all of the screaming kids were a bit too much to take anyway.

I think Molly found the perfect place to set up a place to get ice cream in a community that needed an ice cream shop. By the way, Molly Moon is a real person and she writes her own blog about her ice cream business experiences, check it out!

1622 ½ N 45th St
Wallingford, Seattle 98103
206.547.5105

Open Noon to 11pm
Everyday

1616 Eastlake Ave E

2008-09-30T16:33:00.001-07:00

so the title....yeah, i know it's about as boring as it gets, but i just thought it was funny because one of my labs is actually in this building, thus i reference this address all the effing time at work. anyhow, on to more relevant matters...namely the food!

grand central bakery and i have a long, delightful history. when i was in middle school, i would take the bus to pioneer square with my friend to visit her dad's office (which was right above the og GCB) and oggle the stationary at long-gone Paper Cat next door. every time we went, we'd get a hot ciabatta square for $0.69 and fill it with two squares of melting butter. ah, the memories.

fast-forward to my new location in south lake union, and the GCB at 1616 is a mere 3 minute drive from my office (or 5 minute Trollop ride).

i always like to try seasonal specials and signature dishes, so i ordered the Tomato, Sweet Onion, and Avocado sandwich. i mean, the title says it all. the sandwich was slathered with house mayo (uh, YUM), kosher salt and peppered, and finished with a little romaine. it was bomb. and of course, since GCB is a bakery after all, the bread was blue ribbon banging.

i also ordered a bowl of the soup of the day, which was an indian spinach and lentil with tofu (i assume a vegan substitution for paneer). it was pleasant...nothing special, but i did finish it all.

grand central bakery is a nice, area lunch option, though a touch on the pricey side if you get a whole sandwich and soup. there are locations scattered around seattle and portland, so they have the northwest covered.

Grand Central Bakery
1616 Eastlake Ave E
206.957.9505

M-F: 7-5
S/S: 8-4:30

st demetrios greek festival

2008-09-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

last weekend A. called me up asking if i wanted to go to st. demetrios. i replied, "for what?!?" every september st. demetrios (a greek church in montlake, btw), holds a greek festival as their major, annual fundraiser which includes food, music, dancing, a "this-and-that" shop, and other greek groceries. i thought it would be fun, so M., A., and i were off to soggy montlake in the rain.

as soon as we walked in, i purchased 30 tokens to use at all the different food stalls under the big top. M. and i started with dolmades, spanakopita, and a simple salad. everything was good, but nothing was superb. i didn't have super high expectations since i knew it was a fundraiser, and it would be food prep on a huge scale. i enjoyed the comforting grape leaves, tangy salad (high on the cheese quotient!), but the spanakopita was a little sad. it could have used a little bit of salt and a lotta bit of crispness. it was soggy, and that wasn't ideal, but it didn't stop me from finishing it, oh no.

A. got the souvlaki, which came with a little bun to eat the skewered lamb with. apparently there was a vat of oil and sauce that the server dipped the skewer in right before serving, and A. went back to the stall to ask for a little dish of that sauce. instead he returned with a bun dipped in the sauce. why? i'm not quite sure.

M. also tried the gyro (it was either that or a lamb sandwich). it looked pretty damn good. they had quite the machine of younger boys assembling those jammies with toasted pita, sauce, tomato, onion, and gyro patties.

right before we left, i had to snap a picture of the whole lamb they just put on the spit to roast. epic!

after we wandered around the church grounds for a little bit (A. bought a bag of olives and a block of cheese), we ended up at the dessert station. we went with the kataifi, which is basically a nest of phyllo threads wrapped around walnuts and sugar, then flooded with honey. i also chose the standard baklava, just because i had to. the baklava was intensely buttery, a little soft (i think in part due to the humidity), but the kataifi was insanely sweet. there was far too much syrup on the bottom, so i just avoided that part.

thanks for the greek tastes last weekend, st demetrios!

chilies: so undercover it's not even googleable

2008-09-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

this tiny hole-in-the-wall joint is sri lankan/indian party in the front and cold beer/convenience items in the back. chilies is a great little place next to pam's kitchen on 50th and the ave which serves a very limited, but tasty, menu of curries, soup, samosas, and dosais.

A. and i stopped here for lunch the other day. there's a bit of a language barrier, so be confident in what you're ordering and just insist that that is, indeed, what you want. while we waited at the card tables in the back for our food, we laughed at the random drugstore items on shelves, like the "macho" aftershave and "stick" deodorant.

for a tiny place, they had quite the selection of microbrews, domestic beers, and malt liquor. it was interesting watching people come in solely for the convenience store aspect of chilies.

this soup came with my dosai, but A. also ordered it a la carte. it's a tangy, tomato-based soup of potato, cilantro, cauliflower, and carrots. there was definitely black cardamom, fennel seed, and some other tiny, black eyeball-looking spice floating in it. whatever it was, the combination was tasty. my only complaint is that it wasn't (temp) hot enough.

A. also ordered the vegetarian samosas, which were bangers. the pastry was tender, and the filling was warm, comforting, and well-spiced. what really made the dish, though, was the mint chutney. i don't really know if it's technically a chutney (what is, technically, a chutney?!?), but it was grassy, fresh, and bright. though they look a little sad here, don't trust the picture. they were great. and cheap ($3.25)!

i ordered the masala dosai, which is a crispy crepe wrapped around masala-spiked onion, potato, and garlic. the dish is super simple, fast, cheap, and satisfying. the dosai also came with the mint chutney as well as some finely-grated radish...at least i think it was radish...it was white, a little fibrous, and cold. to be honest, it wasn't especially flavorful, but i ate it all anyways. my favorite part of the dosai ie the crepe's ends since they're so crispy and taste great dipped in the tangy soup.

i also snagged a pack of gum for the road (yeesh, garlic potatoes), and including the $.50 fee for using a card, my total was $7.06. thanks for lunch, chilies! if you're in the market for a 22 of camo ice and a plate of lamb curry, hop into chilies. it's seriously the shit.

NB: tip of the hat to Nancy Leson at the seattle times for these tidbits: 1. the cool, white relish was grated coconut, and not radish! interesting. and 2. it is, in fact, a mint chutney!