PAO's Profile
Oaxaca City recommendations needed
La Gran Torta has moved! It's still downtown, at Porfirio Díaz No. 208 Centro Histórico, Much nicer digs! Same great pozole.
Language Barrier
I'd like some tips on how everyone managed with the language barrier. In Tokyo we'll have friends who speak Japanese, but in Kyoto we won't. Further, we're staying in a rental house, not a hotel. We'd like to have one or two Japanese meals in some of the better restaurants. How do you make reservations? How do you order? Would appreciate any help you can offer!
How to store fish fillets and fish steaks in fridge?
I would eat the fish faster than within 2 days. The next day at the very latest. My fishmonger wraps the fish in a plastic bag and then in butcher paper, but he's told me that once I get home, to TAKE IT OUT of the paper and open the plastic bag and let it sit with the bag open in the fridge. If you have truly fresh seafood, it will not make your fridge smell.
Rice - How did you experience it today?
Better yet, BLACK rice pudding with coconut milk. A Thai restaurant staple.
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
Yes, the flagship QFC (now, unfortunately, owned by Kroger's) is within walking distance in my NE Seattle, Washington, neighborhood. But I usually go to Metropolitan Market (small local chain), PCC (local food co-op), or Whole Foods, all within 5 minute drive, but too far to walk for a load of groceries. Now that I think of it, there's also a Safeway within walking distance (the QFC and the Safeway are on adjacent properties).
BIg News in Seattle Restaurant Scene!
http://www.seattlemet.com/blogs/nosh-pit/meeru-dhalwala-culinary-mastermind-of-vijs-is-opening-a-seattle-restaurant-may-2012/
New Sushi Vendor @Safeco Field
Hiroshi Egashira of Hiroshi's on Eastlake has taken over the sushi concession at Safeco. He's located on the main concourse where Rice 'n' Roll used to be (near the Mariners' museum).
He has made a vast improvement on the sushi offerings. I had the ichi roll: spiced tuna, shrimp and crab rolled into rice. No nori. Although premade, it tasted as if it had been made in the last hour, not in the last day. Very tasty, with good pickled ginger.
You're going to pay for this freshness. $10 for the ichi roll. There's inari sushi for $7. If you're hungry, you're going to have to order two boxes, and then it starts to get pricey. But all in all, in my mind, it's better to have really good, fresh sushi than day old sushi.
SEA Here we come
Can I come with you? Seriously, great list and I envy you having that many people at a reasonably good Chinese restaurant. Going to a Chinese restaurant with only 2 people isn't nearly as much fun.
Quiet Restaurants in Seattle
Le Gourmand is closing effective, I think, 6/30. Rover's is quiet but pricey.
Quiet Restaurants in Seattle
I'm with you on this one. I'll NEVER return to Barrio Seattle even though the food was pretty good, because it was so loud it made my head hurt. Actually, Ponti's has several smaller rooms and if you can get into one of those rather than the main dining room, the noise there is not bad at all.
Where to buy seafood?
The gold standard is University Seafood in North Seattle (a quick but costly run over the 520 bridge into the U District--free parking about a block away) or Mutual Fish in the South (head on over I-90 and go down Rainier Ave South). I bought prawns recently from Met Market because I didn't want to make a separate trip up to the Ave. I regretted it. They tasted of iodine, meaning they were old. You can find some of Seattle's best chefs in either place, buying for their restaurants.
Downtown Seattle Gluten Free Restaurants
Tulio's and Sazerac's have gluten free menus.
Friday Harbor
See my review somewhere below on Coho. Some dishes are divine. Others are not.
Group Lunch in University District Area
I "third" Agua Verde. I don't know if they take reservations; call and check. If they don't, try to get there early.
need suggestions for where to eat and what to do this weekend
Ballard is kind of a happening place nowadays. I can recommend Senor Moose for very good regional Mexican food, Paraati for cocktails and good Brazilian food, the Golden Beetle for North African/Mediterranean. Everyone raves about Delancey for pizza (I'm dairy intolerant, so I haven't tried it) There are two excellent bakeries in Ballard, Honore and Cafe Besalu. (Honore is close to Delancey)
Seattle Eats with Kids
Take a bus or light rail down to the International District and try Green Leaf (Vietnamese). Kids might like the fresh spring rolls to be dipped in peanut sauce. Or the grilled pork skewers. Or one of the numerous Chinese restaurants (Sea Garden or Shanghai Garden). Sea Garden has good seafood and very good Chinese fried chicken or roast duck. Shanghai Garden has great mu shu pork (or you can substitute chicken, prawns, or have vegetarian) and the waitresses will roll up the filling in the pancakes for you. Also the hand shaved noodles are good. If the weather is good, good fish & chips at Anthony's fish & chips bar on the waterfront. Elliott's on the waterfront would be good with kids. Not the greatest seafood you could get by any stretch of the imagination (although their oysters on the half shell are excellent), but fresh and acceptable.
Asian desserts...why don't I like them?
One of my colleagues is married to an Iranian national and went to Iran. She brought back the yummiest cookies--very flat, sprinkled with chopped pistachios, deep brown in color, can't remember the spicing--but as you say, similar to Indian or Afghani. I thought they were very good.
Asian desserts...why don't I like them?
I grew up with Japanese sweets. Sakura mochi (my very favorite), o-hagi (a very close second), yokan, toasted mochi dipped in sugared and toasted soybean flour, etc. They remind me of very happy times. My husband, from Eastern European descent, hates them. But it can't be just what you grew up with, because I love Indian sweets (ras malai, gulab jamun, kheer, etc) and SE Asian sweets (mango with sticky rice, fried bananas, black rice pudding, banana murtabak, ice kachang, Indonesian coconut-rice sweets, and lots of things I don't even know the names of, etc). However, in my mind, Chinese sweets (other than egg tarts or coconut tarts), take some getting used to. Just me, I guess.
Greg Atkinson's Marche on Bainbridge
Four of us went to Marche for the first time yesterday. Nancy Leson recently wrote a restaurant needs about 6 months to become a fully smooth operation. Marche has been open only about a month and a half, and it's close. Located near the Bainbridge farmers market, behind the main drag in downtown Winslow, it's an easy walk from the ferry terminal. The exterior is very attractive with lovely wood siding and some outdoor patio seating (no heating lamps, however). The interior has a high ceiling, with a light and airy feeling.
We had a table by the window. For a restaurant that has large windows along its front, it has no view to speak of. Just the backs of stores on Winslow Way and a little plaza filled with tables and chairs. Our table was right next to a filled table on the outdoor patio. So every time we glanced over to the window, we saw the people right next to us, just inches away. A little weird.
The food we had was all expertly prepared and delicious. Warm crusty rolls with a nice butter were a welcome beginning for hungry people who had just come in from tromping around Bloedel Reserve. The amuse bouche was a tuna tartar served on a homemade potato chip. Very nice! The soup of the day was a light halibut broth, infused with tomato and saffron with a halibut quenelle. Yummy.
I had a market salad (presumably made with whatever was good at the market on a given day). This time it was baby spinach with beets, caramelized walnuts and bleu cheese. This salad fairly shouted out its freshness. Nicely done!
The real star of the appetizers, however, was the pate, so said the pate eaters at the table. Although billed as an appetizer, the portion was huge--would easily feed four, possibly more, as a starter. Served with cornichons, onions, and toasted bread rounds. With a salad, one person could easily make this a meal, albeit very rich.
The salade nicoise was also superb. Seared tuna with tender-crisp green beans and fried? (maybe roasted) fingerling potatoes, that were so golden they looked like gold coins. My husband is very particular about his salade nicoise, but he pronounced this one a winner.
Mussels and frites! This is billed as a petite plate, but you get plenty of golden brown fries, served with a garlic aioli. The mussels were declared very tasty (the person who had this did not share them, so I don't know). The fries were good, but while not limp, could have been a bit crispier, I thought.
My brother thoroughly enjoyed his salmon (again, no sharing!). My stepmother loved her trout meuniere, served with sauteed greens enlivened with a hint of maybe balsamic vinegar. My duck was perfectly cooked with crispy skin, served on a bed of lentils with broccolini (at least I thought it was broccolini--wasn't bitter enough, I didn't think, to be broccoli rabe), with a yummy sauce. I thought the duck was a bit underseasoned, but it was otherwise very good.
The creme brulee freak at our table enjoyed his immensely. The Queen of Sheba torte was very chocolatey and good. We were interested to see what a grapefruit tart would be--there was no actual fruit visible. Instead it appeared to be a grapefruit infused thin custard on a tasty tart crust, served with a crunchy rhubarb compote. Very light and nice ending to a meal.
Service is still working out the kinks, as is to be expected with a new restaurant. The entire staff is very friendly and eager to please, but nevertheless, a few things fall through the cracks. Because one of our party has lost hearing in one ear, I called early and asked for a quiet table and also asked that a birthday candle get placed in one of the desserts for our birthday guest. We got the quiet table (next to a window), but no candle or other birthday acknowledgement ever appeared. There is no bread basket; the waiter simply gives each diner a roll, which is fine. However, we asked for more bread and butter; the butter materialized after several minutes; the bread never did (which ended up being just as well, since we had plenty of food).
Our waiter told us that the market salad would have goat cheese; instead it was bleu. He apologized. ( He was otherwise very knowledgeable about the menu.) It took quite a while to get the bill.
Coffee was a bit strange. We had 3 decafs and one regular. The three decafs all tasted a bit sour or acidic--like Latin American coffee. We all prefer Indonesian type coffee. When our cups were filled a second time, we all thought that the coffee was much more Indonesian like.
I'm certain that as Marche matures, the service will too. It is pretty close to being good now, which is remarkable given how new the restaurant is and how difficult it has been historically for fine dining restaurants on the Island to get good front of the house staff . The food is great--we look forward to trying more of the menu.
My hometown, Winslow, which used to be a culinary wasteland, now has at least 3 destination restaurants--Marche, Hitchcock, and Four Swallows (haven't tried Local Harvest yet), all within walking distance to the ferry. The ferry ride over is definitely worth it.
San Francisco Hound Coming to Seattle: Please Critique My List for the Emerald City!!!
Ethan Stowell's burgers @Safeco Field are very good; make sure they give you a hot one. The tortas are only so-so, to my mind. Especially if you've had a real Mexican one in the past. However, their guacamole and chips are very good. Rice 'n' Roll sushi is premade and just average. There's supposed to be a new sushi vendor @Safeco Field in addition to Rice 'n' Roll but I don't know where he is yet.
Staff Appreciatioin Lunch--Maximilien's or Pink Door or?
Need recommendations on where to take my staff for lunch. We've been to Tulio's, Il Fornaio, Palomino, and Purple. We're downtown. Downtown or the Market would be great. There's one vegetarian. I'm between Maximilien's or the Pink Door, neither of which I have been to in years. I don't want to break the bank. Ideas???
Tri-Cities and the Eastern Gorge
We've been slowly working our way around our great State. One of the problems of traveling in Central and Eastern Washington is the dearth of chow-worthy places to eat. Any places to recommend in the Tri-Cities or Eastern Gorge areas?
How did I do with my dinner plans? (and a couple other questions.)
I personally love the fruit piroshki (apple, rhubarb, etc.) at Piroshki, Piroshki, and the baklava at Turkish Delight in the market. Downtown is reasonably well laid out. North-south streets (parallel to the water) tend to be numbered as avenues: 1st Ave., 2d Ave., etc., except when you get down by the water where there is Western, Alaskan Way, etc. East-west streets have names, are streets instead of avenues, and tend to come in alphabetical pairs, at least in the downtown core. Going south to north: Jefferson, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion, Madison, Spring, Seneca, University, Union, Pike, Pine. The Market (call it "the Market") is at the western foot of Pike, downtown. If you don't mind hills, Seattle is a walking town. When you're in downtown, the water is WEST. Mount Rainier is south (if you can see it).
Almond Milk
I also prefer Blue Diamond, original & unsweetened. To me, it does have an almond taste, so I don't use it in coffee or tea, but it's great on cereal. They also have chocolate, which is also very good. We've used it for smoothies as well and one of these days when I have time, I'll try it for desserts.
Wanted: Banana Cream Pie!
Try http://alamodeseattle.com/site/menu/. I've never had their white chocolate banana cream pie, but the pie there is almost as good as the best homemade.
What to eat for a first-timer to Seattle?
Spinasse for restaurants. Bakeries include Cafe Besalu and Honore, both in Ballard, and Fuji in the International District. Molly Moon for ice cream. Spring Hill no longer exists as Spring Hill. The owner turned it into a fried chicken restaurant, I believe, or something like that.
Driving down from BC--where to stop? veg friendly, cheap
Downtown Mount Vernon, the Co-Op. They have a very nice deli there, with salads, sandwiches, soups, hot food. Quick, veg friendly and reasonably priced.
Pioneer Square/Qwest
I can also highly recommend Tsukushinbo in the ID for Japanese food. Service can be slow when they're crowded, but it's worth it. Ditto Terrier's comments on Pho Bac and Green Leaf. And also agree to avoid Uwajimaya's food court, although the rest of the store is wonderful. Cafe Campagne in the Market serves great French bistro food. In addition to the bus tunnel, there are also buses along the western side of the Silver Cloud. Ask the concierge. I'm sure he/she could recommend transport. Tulio's, a nice Italian place downtown has a gluten free menu and I believe Sazerac, next to the Monaco hotel, also in downtown, also has a gluten free menu.
"Restaurants" Database To Be Eliminated
I for one am very sad to hear this. I have found the restaurant pages to be helpful and much more reliable than Yelp or UrbanSpoon. In fact, the restaurant pages are the only feature of Chow that I use.
