My parking lot prejudice did me wrong

a few nights ago, one of my best friends, who was visiting for her sister's graduation, invited to me to enjoy italian food with her lovely family. for several reasons, i had never dined at grazie in all my years living in the area. first, this place is located in a lonely corner of the giant factoria mall parking lot; i never heard anything, good or bad, about this place; and it was in general, just off my radar. little did i know that it was my bff's little sister's favorite restaurant! what a treat!

as we were parking, S noticed that there was smoke billowing out the top of the small building....apparently they roast their own coffee there; no cause for alarm. the restaurant was filled with that rich, intoxicating coffee aroma. our party of 5 was seated in a mafioso-style corner booth; complete with quilted leather cushions.

the requisite bread and oil appeared on the table soon after, and it was very pleasant. the bread was pretty standard, nothing special, but the red pepper flakes and fresh garlic in the olive oil were a nice touch. one thing i did notice about the table was that our server cleared the salt and pepper shakers off the table after she brought the antipasti plate, never to return. very interesting.

E ordered the antipasti plate for the table, which is a chef's choice sort of deal. that day we had a variety of cheeses, including an emmental of some sort, a smoked provolone, and asiago; a couple different kinds of salame; a caprese salad; a skewer of grilled chicken seasoned with pepper and oregano; and some spreads, including a salmon mousse, olive tapenade, and a chopped roasted peppers. the plate was pretty impressive and tasty. i don't think we even finished it all before our entrees arrived.

S ordered the pesce special, which was a medium-grilled salmon dish served with a white wine sauce and grazie's signature risotto. S said it was delicious. i had a bit of the salmon and it was perfectly grilled; soft, moist, and flavorful. mmm.

since M was the grad girl, she ordered her absolute favorite dish ever: filetto gorgonzola, which is a seared, balsamic-marinated tenderloin topped with a gorgonzola pan sauce and a nest of fried onions. this dish is usually served with rosemary patate al forno, but M requested the risotto, which is also her favorite. there were no words when it came to this plate; it disappeared entirely, and that was testament enough.

E and i ordered the halibut genovese, which is a grilled fillet topped with basil pesto over tomato fonduta (like a par-cooked salsa). the halibut also came with the parmesan risotto. the halibut was nice. it needed a little bit of salt, but the lemon wedge helped with the overall zestiness of the dish. i'm a little finicky with white fish; it was a little underdone for me in the thickest part, but it would be suitable for most diners. the only thing that i thought could use reworking was the risotto. it was fundamentally well-cooked, in terms of texture and doneness, but it needed major salt and flavor!! i mixed up the tomato fonduta with the risotto, and that was much more enjoyable.


DESSERTS!

below S ordered the pannacotta; her favorite. we were all pretty full from our main courses, but it was a special occasion so we just went for it. the pannacotta was deliciously cool and smooth; the perfect contrast to the fresh berries served with it.

i love sweets, but i'm in general not much of a dessert orderer at restaurants. this place was so old school. everyone else knew what they wanted since they had been to grazie several times before, but i made the mistake of asking what they have. our server was very friendly, so it wasn't her fault, but what ensued was something i had never experienced before. she went over to the front of the house and grabbed the dessert display tray, then went on to explain in great detail all of the different (approx 8) desserts that were available and was able to show me what each one looks like in the process. :) i don't know why this was so hilarious to me at the time, but i could not stop smiling as she directed all her efforts toward me since everyone else was familiar with grazie's offerings.

i went with the torta di frutti, which she explained was imported from italy, oh my!! :) it was quite tasty; a basic pastry shell with a thin layer of creme anglaise overflowing with various frutti di bosco (raspberries, blueberries, marion berries, and blackberries) and then served on top of a generous helping of their house special, marsala cream sauce. mmm. that actually sounds pretty good right about now.


M again went with her favorite; the pistacchio canolo. the waffle tube was filled with tasty, sweetened ricotta, pistacchios, and chocolate. what a great finale to a great evening with friends and family. grazie, i apologize for letting my parking lot prejudice stand in the way of a beautiful friendship.



NB: there are three different grazie locations in the greater seattle area: factoria, southcenter, and canyon park.

TGIF

So I belong to a secret society that visits some of the best restaurants around the world. I am talking about family chain restaurants in the greater king county area. Our small group ventures out to taste these amazing limited time only specials that are backed with multi-million dollar marketing campaigns, complete with flashy commercial ads and slogans.

A few weeks ago on a Friday we went to T.G.I. Fridays to check out the new limited time only menu based on the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown hosted by O.G. game show host, Marc Summers and the foolish Guy Fieri. If you didnt watch this show basically contestents met weekly to challenge each other on who had the best recipe in six different categories: Chicken, Burgers, Comfort Foods, Cakes, Pasta and Cookies. The winner each week collected $25,000 but also gave T.G.I.Fridays the right to incorporate their winning dish into their menu.

Upon sitting down at the bar and the four of us kickin the night off with a few long islands...we waited for the perfect table. The size of this glass and the amount of alcohol that could be inside was intimidating, but upon one sip, I realized it was all mixer and ice. Boo.

I don't know what I was thinking but the U.R.S. menu did not impress me. The Peruvian Herb Roasted Chicken did not sound awesome, the Ahi Tuna Ciabatta Mini Burgers sounded alright, but I didnt really feel like ciabatta bread and lastly the Chipotle Grilled Steak Sandwich was not going to pop off because I do not eat beef. Out of the four of us only one of us went for one of the special menu choices. Carbo ordered the steak sandwich which is hearty skirt steak, lettuce, tomato and sweet plantains smothered with chipotle mayo on some panni bread. Served with onion rings:

Above is the actual sandwich she got. Below is the picture they use to scam you into ordering it:


The rest of us ordered a bunch of random things including a burger, fish tacos and some sort of Jack Daniels bbq platter. I had the fish tacos and they were decent. The corn salsa was very simple but it tasted fresh. I liked the grilled fish in the tacos too, I mean it has to be frozen but it also tasted fresh for lack of a better word. And whatever the sauce was on the side, some sort of ranch based dipping cream was BOMB. If you don't like ranch you are not cool.



Now, regardless of the fact that our food was in one word "boring", I had a great time. Most of these outings which are filled with endless hours of laughter and jokes have nothing to do with the lame ass American food, it is all about the entertainment.

To get these experience you need someone with a car and some gas.
11am-2am on Fridays

505 Parkplace
Kirkland, WA 98033

You can't miss it, it is right next to a 24hr fitness.

manzana of myne eye

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welcome to manzana in bellevue (@ in-your-face-eastside lincoln square), home of pan-european appetizers lacking any sense of cohesiveness. i had to run over to crate and barrel for some christmas shopping, and after looking at the hot mess that was belle square parking, i decided to park in lincoln center. then i realized i had to get my damn parking validated, so manzana, you were my unsuspecting victim.

the entrance to the bar is confusing and labyrinthine, but once we entered the dark room, we were left to fend for ourselves to find a spot. we nearly circled the entire room until we found an open seat (it was just after happy hour), but once we did, we laid claim. the bar itself is nice, sumptuous, simple. they have a decent wine list (it is a restaurant after all), and the specialty drink list is intriguing.

we went with the manzana signature margaritas: i sprung for the bartlett pair, and ack went with the pomegranate. mine was good...not too sweet (which i was afraid of) and just tart enough. however, any hint of bartlett pair was lost on my fairly sensitive palate. ack's was good! the pomegranate was tasty and a great holiday flavor.

we went with the trusty chips and salsa (gluten-free, of course). the temperatures were on point: the guac was super cold, the chips warm and crisp, and the salsa was room temperature. the salsa was surprisingly flavorful with a full, smoky flavor....and it was less of a pico de gallo and more of a salsa. perfect.


we also chose the white bean hummus. it was great. the warm, toasty pita was the perfect dipper for the warm, garlicky white bean hummus. the chopped tomatoes and olive oil float was a nice touch, too.

all-in-all, manzana serves its purpose: tasty, simple food that is cheap enough to justify eating just for parking validation. if you find yourself shopping in the bellevue square neighborhood and have the munchies, i recommend stopping by manzana for happy hour. i've never eaten entrees there, so i won't speak on that, but manzana is nothing special. it's just solid.


610 Bellevue Way NE # 120
Bellevue, WA 98004
(425) 455-7600

the (dim) sum of all things

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coming from a former dimsum addict (suge and i used to double-dimsum a weekend), Top Gun Seafood in factoria is bizzomb. like, holy wow that place is good. i've been there literally hundreds of times, but i'll never forget my first time there. it was when i was in high school, and my uncle called the family together to enjoy some food and catch up. i don't speak chinese, but he and his family do, so out came all sorts of crazy good shit that's not skating around the room on steel carts, like cold sesamie jellyfish, special noodles, crispy and chopped duck (creatively deemed "duck two ways")...i can't even begin to list it all, but it was truly magical (and that was back in the day before i was sans-meat).

my family is chinese, so when i was younger, we would all go out to dimsum. every weekend. my father has two brothers that live in the greater seattle area, so the extended family would convene for dimsum at least every two months. sun ya used to be our favorite spot, but after changing over to new ownership back in 1999, it's never been the same.

the last time i went to dimsum there was probably 2-3 years ago (i lived next door), and it was good....just different from my rose-tinged memories.

ah, tea. i love tea. one nice thing about Top Gun is that you can ask for different kinds of tea...i always go for jasmine because i love the perfume, but you can get something heavier, like oolong. i also wash my hands with tea after i eat because the tannens cut through any oil that's made it's way onto my hands. :)

so here's the spread: shrimp on green bell pepper with a black bean sauce, hargow (shrimp dumplings encased in a rice noodle hug, turnip cake with flecks of pork, siu mai (pork dumplings with a rice casing on the bottom, nor mai gai (sticky rice stuffed with pork, "gravy," dried shrimp, and lap xioung [delicious sweet sausage]), and shrimp-stuffed eggplant covered in black bean sauce.

here's another look at suge's hargow handstyle. :) i forgot to capture the char siu bau (steamed bun with bbq pork stuffing)!

and of course, the crowd favorite, honey-walnut prawns. i had actually never had these little gems of fried goo until about three years ago, but i do like them. i have a tenuous relationship with shrimp, so i'm not always in the mood for HWP, but these were tasty.

ah, mango pudding. how do i love thee?? covered in condensed milk, of course!!! i like the mango pudding at Top Gun because it has chunks of mango in it, and they make it with a little bit of coconut milk, so there's the slightest hint of that flavor in the pudding. also, it's not really pudding, like bill cosby-style. it's more of a cross between jello and pudding...it's soft, but you couldn't stir it. whatever it is, it's awesome. it actually so inspired me to make some red bean jelly/pudding at home! all i need is a can of lychees, and it's dessert time all the time!

last, but certainly not least, the black sesamie balls. holy crap i love these. they're little balls of mochi covered in black and white toasted sesamie seeds, stuffed with black sesamie puree, and flash fried until the outside is juuuuuust crispy. damn, they're so good. i like the white sesamie balls, too, but they're stuffed with lotus paste, which is a little too rich for me in this particular incarnation.

Top Gun Seafood

12450 SE 38th St
(between S 124th Ave & S Factoria Blvd)
Bellevue, WA 98006

(425) 641-3386

CAVE: this place is uber-busy on the weekends, especially sunday in the post-church time. i would suggest arriving early, like between 10 and 11. if you arrive after 1130, you're completely screwed and will have to wait at least 30 minutes. going late is also an option, when we went, it was nearly 2, but we still had to wait about 15 minutes. you have now been thoroughly warned.

parking is a bitch, too, so park in the back movie theater lot. do not park in marked places, because they will surely tow you. they are serious!