SeaFood2009's Profile
Places a foodie MUST visit?
Mama's? Really? While I wouldn't call it the worst mexican in the Pacific Northwest, it is pretty unremarkable for a field littered with mediocrity. El Puerco Lloron on Western (http://www.elpuercolloron.com/directions/directions.htm) is much better, additional choices may be found with a quick search on this board, but all of them are away from downtown.
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El Puerco Lloron
1501 Western Ave Ste 200, Seattle, WA 98101
SEA - tacos al pastor?
Thank you. Just tried Casa Azul out for the first time and it is excellent. The wife and I split tacos al pastor and a queso fundido appetizer. Although the queso fundido was slightly different than what I am used to from baja and socal restaurants (there it is usually served in a round shallow platter with a thin sprinkling of chorizo in a sea of cheese, casa azul serves it in a boat dish with quite a bit of chorizo and a thin layer of cheese on top), it was delicious. The tacos al pastor were very close to good tijuana street tacos, meaning that they were better than any in Seattle and at least as good as most tacos in the southland. The only things missing were pickled carrots, and dish of fresh cilantro and onion mix.
anybody looking for pie cherries?
What's their minimum? We just picked up a box and a half of rainiers and lapins in Yakima, but I am always up for sour cherries.
Has Anyone Been to Blazing Onion Burgers in Mill Creek?
Maybe it is because I am not a Seattle native, but I fail to see the burger attraction of both Red Mill and Dick's. Dick's to me is godawful on all fronts, McDonald's serves better $1 burgers and certainly better fries. Red Mill onion rings are pretty good, but their burger, while a notch above fast food or Red Robin leaves much to be desired. Red Line is head and shoulders above Red Mill, and Blazing Onion was about equivalent (though more gussied up) to Red Line. While I wouldn't detour to any burger place in the Sound for a burger, I'd have no qualms eating at Red Line or Blazing Onion if I was nearby.
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Blazing Onion
2811 Bickford Ave, Snohomish, WA 98290
Brinnon Shrimpfest.....
If you're from CA, especially SoCal, you're just plain silly to seek out Mexican food in the Northwest. If you can manage it, make space for more local seafood, particularly salmon since you're likely to get the best and best-priced copper river salmon in the lower 48 here in Seattle. If you're looking to buy fish to ship back to CA, quite a few stores including most places in Pike Place market (read "tourist trap"), mutual fish co, and central market will ship for you.
Jersey Mike's -- Yays, Nays, and Best Subs
oh, and as to 'why': because submarina consistently has high quality meats ('high quality' for a sandwich shop, i.e. boar's head), very fresh veggies and good bread. jimmy john's and togo's are fighting for second since i find that jimmy john's has slightly better tasting meat, while togo's has fresher and more plentiful veggies.
In n' Out Burgers - Why? [moved from L.A. board]
I think it has been said many many times on this thread. It is because In & Out is by far the best _chain_ burger, and by far not the worst burger of any restaurant type. They are more than willing to accommodate specific requests, the meat is decent, the shakes are good... and you can find them throughout CA. I don't think it is as good now as it was when there were only a few restaurants, but they are still pretty damn amazing for a chain, and very few fast food places can compete with a double double at midnight on a Saturday...
Jersey Mike's -- Yays, Nays, and Best Subs
The best sub chain food I've had is Submarina... Since I am in the other corner of the country from FL, I have no idea what all is available there, I know there is Submarina in GA. Of the chains I tried, it'd have to be Submarina by a mile, Jimmy John's fighting for second with Togo's, Subway as distant fourth, JM's, Quizno. I'm partial to italian cold cut subs, I try to avoid chain cheesesteak, and I absolutely refuse to eat chain meatball sandwiches.
Jersey Mike's -- Yays, Nays, and Best Subs
Jersey Mike's has pretty good bread, pretty good veggies and really awful meats. Creative spelling of "capicola" and use of "prosciuttini" instead of prosciutto are huge red flags. Once you actually taste the "meats" you realize that they are to real italian cold cuts what SPAM is to real ham. Subway doesn't shine in this area either, but at least they don't pretend to be something they are not. Jimmy John's is processed to heck and back but, to me, it just tastes less weird than the gelatinous meat product JM's tries to pass off as cold cuts.
Fresh Pickles?
Try some of the "European Delis" in the area... most of them are actually Russian food stores, which is as close as Seattle comes to decent Jewish delis and several, including the one I shop at (International Deli, over by Szechuan Chef at the crossing of 148th and Main St in Bellevue), have good half-sour pickles, pickled tomatoes, pickled apples, homemade sauerkraut as well as deli meat, fish and cheeses.
Where to get soft shell tacos in Seattle
Umm, soft shell tacos are just tacos made with the regular small tortillas, usually corn flour based, but I've seen them with regular white flour as well. No need to buy anything special. Just buy a stack of tortillas which you can do at QFC or Safeway, or get homemade ones in one of the mexican shops. Warm them up on a paper towel in a microwave, add ingredients that you like and go nuts. Hint, ground beef should not be an option in any taco or burrito.
Seeking great (or at least good) red-sauce Italian in Seattle
Thank you very much for your comments. For me the pizza is more than just the crust, and I have generally despaired of finding commercial pizza in Seattle that is the exact equivalent of Neapolitan pizza, much like I haven't had quite the same bagels here as I've tried in New York. As for the sauce, in retrospect I should have used "rich" rather than "thick sweet". Lots of tomato taste not added sugar, but naturally sweet, whether the tomatoes are fresh or canned.
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New York Restaurant
1626 Railroad St, Enumclaw, WA 98022
Seeking great (or at least good) red-sauce Italian in Seattle
It is close enough to some of the pizza I had in Naples. Thin, slightly charred, rigid crust, emphasis on toppings undrowned in sauce or cheese. Personally I find it to my liking with the caveat that the pie you get at busy times such as Friday or Saturday evenings is not nearly as good as the pie you get in the off-hours.
As to why I would go to a restaurant serving American-style Eyetalian, why, it is because I enjoy it on occasion. That is much the same reason I would go to any restaurant and pay restaurant prices. I like that type of food and that's enough for me.
Thanks for letting me know how discriminating your palate is. If I cared, your post would go a long way toward satisfying my curiosity on your particular likes and dislikes in pizza and Italian, much like the other folks who were kind enough to satisfy my curiosity about the availability of particular type of food in the Seattle area. Which availability I do care about and asked for in my original post.
Terracotta Red in Everett
Had it for lunch with a friend. He enjoyed it, I thought it was mediocre. I forget what exactly I had, I think a shrimp dish, he had soup and we split an appetizer. To me it was a fairly typical "fusion" place, seeming to cater to people who are interested solely in the highlights of each country's cuisine, and workmanlike in their preparation. No spark of real creativity, and not quite as good as a good dedicated restaurant, i.e. Tamarind Tree in ID or Bamboo Garden in Bellevue. I'd go back if I was utterly not in the mood for solid American served by Buck's across the street or Alligator Soul's cajun a few blocks away on Broadway.
Seeking great (or at least good) red-sauce Italian in Seattle
Perche No was one of the non-chain restaurants we tried. It seems to get great word-of-mouth and was packed a couple of times we wanted to check it out. When we finally got in (this was when they were back in Queen Anne next to Pesos), my wife and I agreed that the food was ok, not bad, but not great and not a good value. I thought the place was pretty generic. I don't mind when something outstanding like Lark or original Union menu costs a bit extra... but places like Perche No... not so much. My favorite Perche No type place in Seattle is Rialto on Fremont. Not quite the oldfashioned experience I was looking for in the original post, but an unmitigated pleasure nevertheless.
Seeking great (or at least good) red-sauce Italian in Seattle
Thanks everyone, the wife and I will try working our way down the list. It is pretty pathetic to find yourself trying to decide between Old Spaghetti Factory and Buca di Beppo, which is what I was stuck with after trying several random non-chain places in town. Oh, and my Toulouse Lautrec fetish isn't really hidden.
The Seattle eat-list for this weekend - thoughts?
Skip Molly Moon it is ok, but not outstanding and certainly not worth standing in line for. If you have transport, try Full Tilt ice cream (fulltilt.com) in White Center or Rainier, good ice cream, good waffle cones, and they also brew their own root beer. If you don't, Procopio gelateria on Western is good but it does have limited hours (closed Sunday).
Seeking great (or at least good) red-sauce Italian in Seattle
Are there _any_ decent red-sauce Italian places in the Seattle area? Some place that serves a good antipasto, worthwhile American-style (thick sweet tomato sauce, piles of cheese, pepperoni, sausage, etc. toppings) pizza and other comfort food? There seem to be a couple good Napolitan pizzerias, including my current favorite, Serious Pie, decent deep dish (Wallingford Pizza House), Salumi has decent food but is much too limited, there is nothing similar to SF's La Osteria for Northern Italian, and I haven't found anything for good East Coast-style Southern Italian. Help.
Chef Holly Smith and salty food
Surely the other chef was also given salted jellyfish and the same amount of time. Iron Chef is a gimmicky and oftentimes silly show, but the point to it discovering how a chef deals with limitations posed by the available main ingredient. I did not see the episode, but maybe the point was selecting supplementary ingredients that would benefit from added saltiness...
Whats with the beef @ Fred Meyer???
I tend to pick up NY Strips or ribeyes. I'd love to get some of the roasts, they look gorgeous, but it is just my wife and I so a full on roast would be overkill. Smaller cuts can be subdivided and tossed in the freezer then eaten at leisure. At the risk of being accused of being a snob myself, try grinding the beef yourself... get some decent cuts and toss into the meatgrinder kitchenaid attachment or pick up a standalone grinder. I've seen manual ones at 99 ranch in Lynnwood, WA and some mexican markets. I think supermarkets will also grind up the meat for you if you select the package and ask them to grind it. I think it tastes better and you know what goes into the ground beef you eat.
Chicago Style Pizza - Seattle or surrounding for today??
Wallinford Pizza House on 45th. As close as it gets in Seattle to decent deep dish. BJs is pretty average and North Bend... isn't.
Yakima Valley...really so bad???
I think El Porton is better than El Grullense #2 or Los Primos, we haven't tried Mariscos El Nayarit yet since the idea of mariscos in Yakima is a little unnerving. The only decent al pastor we've found in the northwest was a place in eastern Beaverton, OR although last time the wife and I drove through Everett there was a patio expansion on one of the Mexican places on north side of Broadway that had a spit setup going. I'll be trying that ASAP.
Yakima Valley...really so bad???
El Porton de Pepe on S. 5th. It is a local chain with several other locations, but this location is apparently owned by an uncle/cousin/whatever of the people that own the other ones and has much better food. Be sure to order off the sheet of mexican specialties in the menu, not the main menu. Try the carne asada molcajete.
Astoria Dining
Try "Drina Daisy". They offer Bosnian food that is simply outstanding. It may not be exactly what you're looking for, but their lamb specialty is fantastic, the goulash is really good and the appetizers that we have tried are excellent. I've only eaten there once, but next time we'll make a special trip to Astoria to try more selections there.
