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

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

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

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

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

Read how awesome he is here

sometimes mediocre hits the spot

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

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.

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.