saram's Profile
Butcher in Tacoma?
Try calling the Meat Shop of Tacoma. They are an organic butcher.
http://www.meatshopoftacoma.com/index.php
craving ethiopian food!!! any seattle recommendations?
There is a place in N. Seattle, off 15th Ave NE right where it meets Roosevelt at Y on the the east side of the street. Sorry I don't remember the name, even though I go there a fair amount. The food is delicious and VERY cheap. The platters are big enough for 2 people and under $10. The first time I went there, I couldn't imagine that a platter costing $8 it would provide enough food for 2 people, so we each ordered one. We ended up eating one and having to box the other one to go. One warning, the service is on an extremely relaxed place.
Cougar Gold
It won a gold medal at the World Cheese Awards in June! I'm so proud! (And I'm not even an alum.) Also notable, Rogue River Creamery won a silver for their Rogue Blue.
Good places with kids that adults would like too?
Almost everywhere is casual in Seattle (I mean, I've seen people in *jeans* at the opera!) so you really don't need to worry about bringing any nice clothes, even if you want to eat somewhere more upscale. I'm big on snacks, so I've offered up a couple of my favorite snack places, in addition to places I consider pretty affordable (from $5-$15 per person).
First, coffee: Cafe Ladro is a block away at 8th and Pine. Besides being excellent coffee, they serve exclusively fair trade. (Hooray!)
Food:
1. Gelatiamo - Downtown - 3rd and Union. Across from Benaroya Hall (home of the Seattle Symphony). Great gelato with many dairy free options. There is also a gelato place on first near the market, but I prefer Gelatiamo. Nothing better than gelato while site-seeing.
2. Frites - Capital Hill - Pike and 9th. Belgian fries served up in paper cones, with a plethora of available stuff for dipping. They are really great anytime (admittedly I tend to eat them late at night), but perhaps your family might especially appreciate them, like I do, after Bikram yoga (classes at the Sweatbox next door).
3. Agua Verde - U District - Boat Street and approx 15th. They are right on the ship canal and rent kayaks, so it's nice to go for a paddle then have a little snack. At lunch, you can order at the window and sit outside or go inside and order at the counter. At dinner, it is table service - try to eat on the porch.
4. Ivar's Salmon House - Wallingford - on Northlake Way, next to Chihuly's house (under the I-5 bridge). It's on Lake Union, so if you are renting kayaks from Agua Verde, you could paddle over to Ivars, tie up on their boat ramp, and have some salmon tacos on the deck (your kids can sit out there too), watch the boats go by, relax a bit, then go back to Agua Verde and have another snack. Try to coincide your arrival with Ivar's happy hour which starts every day at 4:00 (including weekends), which means a variety of choices for under $5.
5. Zaina - Downtown - 3rd and Pine. Great falafel (vegan!) and other Middle Eastern yum yums (they also have gyros and kebabs, but honestly, I've only eaten falafel there). The original is in Pioneer Square, but now have this 2nd location. It's only 4 blocks west from your hotel, but I guess they also have parking there too if you need it.
6. Pan Africa - Downtown - 1st between Pike and Pine. They have predominantly Ethiopian, but some West and North African dishes too. The guys who run it are really nice (they actually offer African cooking classes) and they are opening an African market, which might be open by the time you arrive.
7. Mojito - Edge of Queen Anne/Downtown - Western and Elliot. Cuban inspired/Latin food. I like it there for lunch. Great cuban sandwiches. Dinner is a bit of a scene, although they have live music at night, often salsa, so if your family is up for it, they have conga drums which serve as bar stools so you can join in.
8. Osteria la Spiga - Capital Hill - Broadway and Union in the Harvard Market building. Very unassuming on the outside (it's in a QFC complex), but nice non-ordinary Italian. It is very sweet inside, and the last time I was there, it was game night, when a group of older Italian gentlemen convene. I thought that only happened in movies.
9. Tamarind Tree - International District - Jackson and 12th-ish. Provincial Vietnamese, that is to say sort of French inspired. It would be a nice dinner spot; a relaxing atmosphere for everyone in your family with delicious food (the Tamarind Tree rolls are super yummy; we have to get a double order when we go because we just don't want to share them).
10. Essential Bakery - Wallingmont (that is between Wallingford and Fremont)-N 34th Woodlawn and also in Madison Park - 27th and Madison. Really great organic bread and pastry. William Leaman, the head baker for Essential, was the captain of the American team that won the Coupe du Monde de Boulangerie last year in Paris, which is like the World Cup of baking. They also make a very nice lunch with soup, sandwiches, and savory tarts (I guess they are basically quiches). If you get there in the morning, the pear tarts are really divine.
11. Theo Chocolate Co. - Fremont - 34th and Phinney in the old Red Hook Brewery. They give tours and what can I say, chocolate, yum. A perfect place to go after going to Essential (you can drive your kids past the troll or the Lenin statue in Fremont on the way).
Welcome back to Seattle - enjoy the weather! (I definitely do not miss NY summers! :)
re-visiting the new Porta
It's nice that Porta has reopened. I used to go there a lot for lunch and once in a while for dinner when they were in Eastlake. It sounds like they might have changed their menu a little?
By the way, another casualty of "development" in Eastlake was their neighbor, Hines coffee. Does anyone know if they reopened anywhere?
Eggs, brownies, and white trash appetizers
This sounds a lot like "boxa-sticka-canna" A box of yellow cake mix, a stick of butter, and a can of fruit cocktail. No measuring required, but I do think you mix it in a bowl first before putting it into the pan.
Save me from Country Buffet! Need Gettysburg recs!
Thank you very much for all of the recommendations!
Vegan bakeries in SEA
Just want to add, if you are into making your own, the The Grit Cookbook has an AMAZING vegan chocolate cake. I am generally skeptical of vegan baked goods in general, but I love this cake.
Silicone pot holders?
I totally agree! I liked the IDEA of them, so I bought 2, and then I received another as a gift. I also found them hard to work with, so I went back to regular pot holders and oven mitts. I guess they are ok as a trivet, but I already had some trivets I like better and I can't seem to bring myself to throw them out, so now they are just taking up space in one of my cupboards.
Save me from Country Buffet! Need Gettysburg recs!
Thanks for the recommendations! Could you please clarify what "colonial style eats" are? Thanks!
Vegan bakeries in SEA
What don't you like about them? They are old fashioned style (cake donuts) as opposed to yeast donuts (like Krispy Kreme). If you are used to Krispy Kreme, then Mighty O may not appeal. They are however the best cake donuts around, vegan and organic or not. FYI, they are working on a raised donut.
Your Favorite Chocolate Bars!
Here's the list of the chocolates we tried, country of origin for the beans are in parenthesis. All are plain dark chocolate.
Guylian 60% Belgium
Green & Black Organic 70% Italy
Rapunzel Organic 70% Switzerland
Santander Columbian Single Origin 70% (Columbia) Columbia
Scharffen Berger 70% Berkely, CA
Valor 70% (Ghana/Panama/Ecuador) Spain
Equal Exchange Organic 71% (Dominican Republic/Peru) Switzerland
Unique Origin Varietal Chocolate 71% (Ecuador) Spain
Unique Origin Varietal Chocolate 71% (Venezuela) Spain
Endangered Species 72% USA
Ghiardelli 72% San Francisco, CA
Dagoba Organic 73% (Dominican Republic) Oregon, USA
Droste 75% Belgium
Lindt 75% France
Hachez 77% Germany
Valrhona 85% (Africa) France
Weiss 85% France
Hachez Premier Cru 88% Germany
The absolute favorite was Santander Columbian Single Origin 70%. We also really liked Hachez 88%. If you are interested in our tasting notes, email me offlist.
If anyone has other dark chocolates they enjoy and think should be added to my tasting, please let me know!
Desperately seeking sushi in Tacoma (report)
FUJIYA REPORT:
With much anticipation, we tried Fujiya. Now, I noticed while I was there that the restaurant has been there for 20 years . . . so either they had a REALLY off night or I'm in big trouble if this is the best Tacoma has to offer. The location is great (I like how they are off the street), the atmosphere in general is fine (the stained-glass windows are nice), and although the service is a little lagging, we did like our server. However, the food was disappointing.
The meal started poorly with the edamame, which was overcooked, I'm sure partly due to the fact they were served piping hot (ouch!). With something like edamame, where there is a fine line between perfect and overcooked, it is usually a good idea to douse them with cold water to stop the cooking. These poor soybeans just kept getting steamed, so by the time they arrived at our table, they were mushy and dry. Then the miso. Such a deceptively simple soup, but when done well, it is a broth for buddha. First it was served way too hot, just shy of boiling (2 for 2 ouch!). We had to wait quite a while just to be able to handle the bowl. It was too salty, oily (a new miso experience), and flat. We also ordered the crab and cucumber salad. There is nothing really to say about that except that it was fake crab (nothing necessarily wrong with that; there are some moments when I really want some of that fake crab salad from the grocery store deli) and stringy. STRINGY! And bland. Hooboy.
Ok, on to the fish. That is what we are there for after all. Our server recommended the Shiro Maguro since they did not have Toro, and that was the best thing we had all night. The first order was very enjoyabe. Very smooth and subtly rich. We liked it so much, we ordered some more, upon which my dinner partner was literally overwhelmed by a 7 minute unanticipated wasabi high, which meant he did not taste the fish at all (triple ouch!). Being forewarned, I lifted the fish off the rice and scraped off about 1/2 teaspoon of wasabi, leaving just about the right amount. We also tried Maguro (bland), Hamachi (bland and slightly sinewy), Salmon (sliced so thinly it was breaking apart on the rice and overpowered by the heavy wasabi hand of the sushi chef), Unagi (too much sauce which almost completely obscured the taste of the eel). No one really thinks about the rice, but it is SO important. Correctly made, sushi rice is supposed to stick together and this rice was falling apart all over my plate. At this point in my meal, I was still hungry, but I couldn't justify ordering any more fish since it all tasted pretty much blandly the same, except for the Shiro, which I would recommend.
Fellow chowhounds, tell me, did Fujiya just have a bad night and should I give them another chance? I am seriously in sushi withdrawal here! I'll try the other recommendations and report back.
By the way, I didn't go to bed hungry. We stopped for a beer and fries on the way home.
Your Favorite Chocolate Bars!
I have to dissent on Scharffen Berger. We recently did a dark chocolate taste test of about 15 different chocolates from around the world (65-88% cocoa), and Scharffen Berger was one of my least favorites (the only one I liked less was Ghiradelli). In comparison to some of the other chocolates I tested, I thought it chalky, flat, and almost waxy. I'm probably not much help to the original poster who isn't so into dark chocolate. Almost everything in the 40-60% range seems to have enough sugar content to make it all taste pretty good.
Sandwiches for a buffet
Are you planning to serve the food outside? If so, a spread of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments might be a bit exposed. Some euro-style sandwiches on baguettes, wrapped in white butcher paper, then cut into 3-4 inch sections are really appetizing and great for a picnic-style reunion. Try fresh mozz, pesto, fresh or roasted tomatoes and Mama Lil's peppers; roasted portabellas/vegetables and goat cheese; brie, chiles (anaheims are fairly mild with just a little heat), cucumber, and cilantro; marinated and grilled beef with horseradish and mixed greens; smoked salmon (or even lox) with caper-dill cream cheese, vidalia onions, and tomatoes . . . (be creative!). The idea of a great party sandwich is to serve something they won't eat everyday of the week at the deli counter. Most of all, have fun at the family reunion! I myself am going to a family reunion later this summer and I can only hope that the person preparing the food is as caring as you! Oh, I just have to put in my 2 cents for a second about corn on the cob (since Aaron mentioned it above). I actually love corn, but have become quite corn-phobic as of late because almost all of the corn sold in the US is GMO corn with Monsanto selling most of the seed. There is a lot to say on the topic, the least of which is that do you want to be eating corn made by a pesticide manufacturer?
ISO Bake-Off Recipe
Nanaimo bars are sort of the sledgehammer of bar cookies. I always think I'm going to like them more than I do -- I've eaten a fair amount of them and usually wished I didn't afterwards.
Save me from Country Buffet! Need Gettysburg recs!
I'm traveling to Gettysburg for 5 days next week, and need recommendations for everything (breakfast, lunch, dinner). If left to my hosts, they will literally take me to Country Buffet or something similar. Thanks!
Sushi in Seattle
If you are going for the CHEAP sushi, Hana is better than Musashi. I know folks like Musashi, but I swear they are the last stop for the fish truck. All the fish tastes the same. I go to Hana when I'm too hungry to really savor the fish, and I just want a load of food. For a traditional sushi place with AMAZING fish, try Toyoda sushi in Lake City. They usually have toro on special, and when they do, definitely order it. Who would think fish could be so buttery? They also make a great tataki. Hiroshi's is fine, but not outstanding. I've actually eaten lunch there a fair amount, but if you only have one or two sushi meals while your friend is visiting, I might choose something else. The place in West Seattle is also great - a bit more unconventional than Toyoda.
Desperately seeking sushi in Tacoma (report)
The title says it all. Just moved to Tacoma and still adjusting and figuring out the lay of the restaurant land. I've tried a few places, but don't really plan to go back to any of them -- I mean one place actually ran out of rice!
