a proper chinese birthday

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!!

Happy New Year

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.

Moonlight Mile

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there's not enough that i can say about Moonlight Cafe: Vietnamese Cuisine on jackson and 19th across from hidmo. i had heard friends rave about this place, but it's not the most inviting-looking restaurant in my neighborhood. luckily, thanh vi was closed when suge and i went out searching for a close, late(r) night dinner.


i went with the spicy tofu soup. i really wanted some sort of vietnamese soup, and i couldn't help but try this enticing number. the best part about moonlight is that they have separate vegan and meat menus. ive never been faced with the challenge of choosing between menu items because usually my vegetarian options are limited enough that only one sounds good. this soup was served with a flash-fried tofu skin sticking out of the broth like a shark fin, which was a lovely surprise. swimming in the broth were rice spaghetti noodles, carrot flowers, bean sprouts, green onions, jalapenos, celery, bok choy, faux duck, faux chicken, faux beef, and fried tofu. my favorite imitation "meat" was the duck. it was hearty and full of that umame flavor that i miss being a vegetarian.


suge went for the tried-and-true vermicelli bowl with two skewers of marinated and grilled pork and one skewer of shrimp. one minute im telling him whats in my soup, reveling at the spicy faux duck, and the next minute, i look up and suge is slurping up the last tendrils of fish-sauce doused vermicelli!! he said it was the best vermicelli bowl that he has ever had. quite the testament from a seasoned vietnamese eater. i even snagged a couple noodle and lettuce remnants from the bottom of his bowl....i must say, wow. it sure looked fresh and delicious.

suge added that the pork was juicy, tender, and perfectly-grilled. he says that at most vietnamese restaurants, the kind of grilled pork you get is dried and over-cooked, but you eat it anyways because it tastes good doused with sauce. moonlight is different. apparently they know how to cook pork. kudos!!

MOONLIGHT CAFE PART DEUX

a little while ago, suge and i had a couple friends over, so we decided to snag something to eat before embarking on any other adventures for the night. i suggested moonlight (my love affair is still ongoing) since two of our party of 4 had never been. please join us on this food adventure.

moonlight was pretty busy when we arrived...there were a few couples, a handful of 4+ parties, a large round table full of adults, and a couple smaller tables of their elementary-aged children. there was a lot of confusion when we ordered due to a language barrier, but it all got sorted out as the night went on.

first were the eggrolls. they looked awesome: stuffed with clear vermicelli, cabbage, pork, carrots, etc. they were served piping hot out of the fryer...damn i wanted to try one!!!


we actually got two orders of two by mistake, but i dont think anyone was complaining.

next arrived the shredded pork fresh rolls. suge said they were bomb. unfortunately, he ordered the meat shredded pork rather than the shredded tofu rolls, otherwise i would have mowed down on them.


ndrw ordered the vermicelli bowl with grilled pork skewers and sugarcane shrimp. ive already touched on moonlights pork, so please see above. as for the shrimp, its chopped, marinated, then wrapped around a stalk of sugarcane. bomb. my favorite part is chewing on the cane like cud. its so fibrous and distinctly grassy-sweet. delicious...especially when flavored by the shrimp.


bri chose pho tai. he was really in the mood for pho, so he got one full of so much beef eye round and thin slices of beef tip that he didnt even finish all of the meat!


suge ordered the catfish hotpot. i mean, seriously, how can you go wrong when theres catfish and hot pot involved?! the hotpot was the shit. i must know what ingredients went into that savory, earthy brown sauce that basted the three catfish steaks. it was BOMB. accompanying the catfish steaks were shitaake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and green onions. the sauce was so good that after i was done eating, i took a scoopful of rice, dumped it into the hotpot, stirred it around, and devoured it. B. O. M. B.


lastly, i sampled the gailon and faux beef stirfry. even suges god daughter knows that gailon is my favorite vegetable at dimsum. im pretty serious when it comes to chinese broccoli. also, i figured i should try at least one of their vegetarian "meat" main courses since last time i got the tofu soup. i was not disappointed. the texture of the "meat" was on point, the flavor was a deep, sweet (in the way that dungeness crab can be sweet) umame, and the gailon was perfettamente al dente.


when ndrw tried a small piece of the "meat," he shook his head "no" that he didnt like it. he said that its just not meat, and he cant get over that fact. personally, i dont really subscribe to the "fake meat" phenomenon. im a vegetarian because i choose not to eat meat, so i dont feel like im missing out on anything. i dont need meat substitutes to fulfill my craving for the taste and feel of animal. so i dont really like it when restaurants or companies try to "trick" you into thinking that wheat gluten or tofu or seitan is "meat." i will admit that i buy "fake-on" (what i call the morningstar fake bacon) because i think it tastes good. i like a fake-on sandwich every once and a while, and i like it as a snack. i also enjoyed the gailon and faux beef dish at moonlight because it tasted good, not because i wanted it to really be beef. i dont really mean to lay out a vegetarian-anti-faux-meat-substitute manifesto, but i thought it might be important to touch on this since it came up during dinner.

anyhow, by the remnants of our dinner, you can judge the success of this foursomes trip to moonlight cafe.




1919 S Jackson St
Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 322-3378

little saigon

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"little saigon" used to be the name of my favorite vietnamese restaurant growing up. it was tucked away in the little shopping center where viet wah is off of 12th and jackson. now it's some other vietnamese restaurant which is more shi-shi and less mmm.

my new go-to vietnamese place is thanh vi. i used to go to the outlet in the u-district all the time between classes or for lunch during work because they have bomb soup (more than pho) and great tofu with peanut sauce for an app. now i prefer the one at 12th and jackson for its convenience factor, though their menu and service is a little different from the u-district.


chili sauce is so crucial. i'm super picky about what kind of chili asian restaurants have. i'm not a fan of the chili sauce that's chunky with green pieces of pickled something or other. that sauce is bitter and icky. my favorite is the dried chili sauce that's preserved in oil. omg. so delicious. it's a little sweet, has a great texture, and just hot enough so i can pile it on everything.


eastside started his meal off with shredded pork rolls (lettuce, carrots, pickled daikon, and rice vermicelli wrapped in a rice paper roll). looked lovely. it was also served with the requisite dipping sauce of fish sauce, mirin, and carrot shreds.


i was curious about one of the house specials: the tofu crepe. i honestly wasn't sure what would come, but i was pleasantly surprised. a crispy, yellow, gigantic crepe, dotted with tofu cubes and stuffed with onions and mung bean sprouts came to the table. it was served with fresh vegetables just like any other vietnamese order "on a tray." the accoutrement included lettuce, cilantro, thai basil, and watercress. i wrapped chunks of the crepe in lettuce and dipped it in the fish/mirin sauce. mmm. suge and eastside weren't as big of fans, but if you're curious, i would say go for it.


the eastside spread: shredded pork rolls, multitude of sauces, plate of duck meat, and duck soup. unfortunately, he said that the duck soup smelled and tasted distinctly of "sock." i trust his assessment. i've always thought duck is a risky thing to order at a vietnamese restaurant because often their preferred taste is preserved duck, which has quite a heady aroma and, let's just say, "distinct," taste.


suge went with the vietnamese version of azteca's "tres amigos." it was a vermicelli bowl full of pickled daikon, carrot, lettuce, cilantro, thai basil, a skewer of pork, beef, and chopped shrimp encasing sugar cane. looked good.


i went for the pretty basic tofu vermicelli bowl. it's the same as suge's above, but obviously with tofu instead of a meat assortment. solid, delicious, never a surprise.


i really like thanh vi, and though this was a mixed visit for each of the guests, i will always consider this a dinner option. it's fast, reliable, delicious, and close.

1046 S Jackson St, Seattle - (206) 329-0208
4226 University Way Ne, Seattle - (206) 633-7867

An evening with CarboOverload

So we scheduled to meet up some where chill on the hill and came up with the Capitol Club. I have not been to Capitol Club in a long time. My memories of this place include several nights where the bar has been too packed, the service sucked and the food was not good. I have also celebrated several events here including a bachelorette party and some good times during the summer on the patio. We were both hungry so we glanced at the menu. I realized they added some new items so I jumped in.

I went for the veggie blt. This was a damn good sandwich. The bread was nice and soft and the provolone cheese was very tasty. The toppings were plentiful and the tapenade was really spicy. I topped my meal off with the soup of the day which was yellow split pea bisque. The soup was great, it came out very hot my only complaint was that it was overly salted. Carbo reminded me that you really cannot go wrong with bisque is in the title. Word.

Carbo went for the burger and some fries. Her fries were so bomb...she ordered them spicy and they were fabulous.

The drink menu is strange and totally overpriced but you still feel obligated to try some of the concoctions. I had one drink called the zen martini that vodka and green tea liquer. It was boring. Carbo started with the carronade which was ruby red vodka muddled with lemon and topped with champagne. After all that we moved on to margaritas. The services started out great...then it turned bad when the bar got busy and was filling up for their Lovetap weekly house music party. The bar filled up with lots of people and the music took a fast change from old soul cuts to all house. They also started clearing out the dining area in what appeared to be making room for dancing. We would have stayed but our server never returned so we had to pay at the bar.

So we left and on the walk back decided to step into Kurrent for a cocktail. On our walk we enjoyed a public display of drunkenness and a fight where this women proceeded to yell at this guy calling him an asswipe from the top of her lungs. She got so made she then called him a wipeass. Classic.

The drink menu at Kurrent was insane. I saw like 3-4 drinks I would not mind tasting but its pointless to list them because the bartender who apparently invented them no longer works there. So we made our way down the menu and ended up trying the Dirty Motherfucker which was basically a white russian but with tequila. This drink was spiced up with the use of mole kahlua as well. I thought it was quite good. We did not eat at Kurrent but I did notice they had some intriguing happy hour prices and items including tofu fries and fried triple cream. Happy Hour is 3-6pm and 9pm-close. This place is strange and feels way out of place. The combination of regulars playing Wii in the back and the random passerby make you wonder if this place can stay open. One thing that was pretty cool was the long strip of solid ice on the bar to keep your drink cold...

Oh yeah, remember wipeass? Well he posted up outside the bar and puked all over the street. So awesome. The bar back went out and washed it down but it was too late, we saw the whole thing. Wipeass also came into the bar to apologize. So hilarious.

I proceeded to tell Carbo that we really needed to bring a camera crew with us when we go out. We needed the camera when Capitol Club turned into a house party and they dj turned on the disco ball and we certainly needed the camera to capture all that is wipeass.

in-n-out of the groovement

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of course, if you leave the great state of washington, you must make the requisite trip to in-n-out for some cheap and tasty noshes. we ordered two 3x3's, a double-double, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, three orders of fries, two animal fries, and a strawberry milkshake for about $27.00. now if that's not ridiculously inexpensive, i don't know what is.

unfortunately we made the mistake of ordering via the drive-thru since we had eager beavers awaiting beef and cheese at the homestead. since everywhere in california takes at least 25 minutes to get to, the trip left our food room temperature and a bit underwhelming.


don't be fooled by the above wrapper....that is no double-double! it's a 3x3, aka 3 beef patties sandwiched between three slices of melted cheese. below are patties and cheese in all their glory.



in my state of sheer excitement, i almost forgot to take a picture of my animal fries. so all you have is a pic of the ravaged remnants of half-eaten french fries smothered in grilled onions, cheese, and special sauce (which i believe is some mixture of mayo, mustard, and ketchup).


overall the trip was pretty successful, though underwhelming. one take-out companion noted that it is most likely due to the 25 minute ride home. agreed, young compatriot. in-n-out, until we meet again!

Love for Cafe Flora

I remember the first time my mom took me to Cafe Flora this was on or about my 10th year of being a vegetarian. Well so much for that... at the age of 30 I welcomed chicken back into my life. Anyways, I loved their menu at first glance because of the savory selections and the way they pair all of the tastes. They also have a specialty drink menu which features some unique drinks including my favorite, Cringer, which is cranberry ginger cider. I even took my father to Cafe Flora once and he about lost his mind when he tried the portabella wellington. This dish is a great place to start for those who crave that hearty meat and potatoes meal. My dad always embraced my vegetarianism even though his concept of meat free was basically picking out the polish sausage and just eating the sauce.

I work fairly close to Cafe Flora so I went to lunch with RiRi last week. She was craving their Yam Fries, which she ordered a bucket for her lunch.

I was really interested in trying the coconut tofu but it was gone by the time I ordered. boo. So I went with the Quesadilla Verde which had yams, pepper jack cheese, pumpkin seed cilantro spread which was topped with green salsa and cream. The tortillas were corn , making this dish gluten free for those who get down like that, aekae.

I also enjoyed a bowl of the soup of the day which was lentil. It had big pieces of garlic which was quite tasty. The soup came out so hot, I was unable to eat it right away...which is a plus because I cannot stand room temperature food.

Address: 2901 East Madison Street, Seattle WA, 98112

Phone: 206.325.9100

Dinner Sun-Thurs 5:00-9:00
Fri & Sat 5:00-10:00
Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30; afternoon menu 2:30-5:00

Brunch Sat & Sun 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM