Doing My Part for the Environment One Salad at a Time

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!

happy hour surprise

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.