Seattle

I'm heading to Seattle in a couple weeks for a long weekend and was wondering if anyone had any culinary suggestions for someone with little or no knowledge of the city? I'm staying in the "University Village" area and will have a car.

Thanks for your help!

The LTH search function is your friend. For starters - viewtopic.php?f=15&t=27608&hilit=seattle - numerous other posts.

For a real answer I suggest The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard neighborhood. I was in Seattle 2 times in January and went back both times for dinner. Cocktails are well thought out and tasty, oysters are best I have had, steak tar tar kills it. I could go on but this is a real solid find that's great.

Also if still in Ballard after dinner go to a bar called the Ballard Smoke Shop. Old dive bar for fisherman and boat captains that give away better than average free soup every night at 9 to customers and on Friday it's a very nice clam chowder. Also from time to time fisherman bring in smoked and cured fish that they have caught in Alsaka to sell by the piece. Last time I was there I got 3 chunks of home smoked Ivory King Salmon that rocked my world.

Regards,

Bourbon

Bourbon wrote:For a real answer I suggest The Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard neighborhood. I was in Seattle 2 times in January and went back both times for dinner. Cocktails are well thought out and tasty, oysters are best I have had, steak tar tar kills it. I could go on but this is a real solid find that's great.

Also if still in Ballard after dinner go to a bar called the Ballard Smoke Shop. Old dive bar for fisherman and boat captains that give away better than average free soup every night at 9 to customers and on Friday it's a very nice clam chowder. Also from time to time fisherman bring in smoked and cured fish that they have caught in Alsaka to sell by the piece. Last time I was there I got 3 chunks of home smoked Ivory King Salmon that rocked my world.

Regards,

Bourbon

Great, thank you Bourbon. I just went to the website and The Walrus and the Carpenter's website and it looks perfect for a casual dinner. Great recommendation!

Also, I'm going to be by Tacoma one day playing golf in the morning, does anyone have a good breakfast or lunch recommendation?

P. Channon wrote:
Also, I'm going to be by Tacoma one day playing golf in the morning, does anyone have a good breakfast or lunch recommendation?

I don't have a food recommendation, but the Tacoma Museum of Glass is really amazing, if you can fit that into your afternoon. They do have a cafe there, and it serves lunches, but I'm not sure it's better or worse than other food in Tacoma.

leek wrote:

P. Channon wrote:
Also, I'm going to be by Tacoma one day playing golf in the morning, does anyone have a good breakfast or lunch recommendation?

I don't have a food recommendation, but the Tacoma Museum of Glass is really amazing, if you can fit that into your afternoon. They do have a cafe there, and it serves lunches, but I'm not sure it's better or worse than other food in Tacoma.

Thanks for the heads up! I honestly would never of thought of visiting the Museum of Glass, but we'll have an afternoon to kill and that could be fun to see.

Oh it's very cool, and they often have live glassblowing demonstrations going on! Er, I guess it's hot, then.

Had a very good meal while in Seattle and its environs last week and thought I would share. The place is part of a regional chain but the quality of the seafood, the ambiance of the room and the cracking good service from the FOH staff made me want to add this to the LTH list for Seattle.

The Crab Pot in Bellevue (an eastern suburb) was kickin' it on a Monday night. My DC and I arrived at 8pm and the place was probably half-full, and it's a BIG place. Located on Lake Bellevue (and I mean atop Lake Bellevue, on pilings above the water) the Crab Pot specializes in "Seafests" where patrons order a variety of items and they are priced per person accordingly. The whole thing is then dumped onto the table for everyone to dig in and enjoy. I hope to be able to bring the family sometime and do this. The place was full of locals and I asked a couple if this was some of the better seafood of this type in the area - they agreed it was.

My DC and I were not in the mood for a "Seafest" so we ordered off the menu. I enjoyed an excellent seafood puttanesca while my DC enjoyed the crab cakes - ridiculously rich with crab meat. My pasta was perfectly al dente and the puttanesca sauce brimming with tomato and caper flavor. Four kinds of fish, shrimp and scallops rounded out the dish.

Not fine dining but very good and very fresh.

http://www.crabpotbellevue.com/

Davooda

Hi everyone,
Any recent Seattle recs, especially for someone staying downtown, near Pike Place, without a car?

annak wrote:Hi everyone,
Any recent Seattle recs, especially for someone staying downtown, near Pike Place, without a car?

I had a great meal at Lola last August. It's loosely Greek, but with the sensibilities of the Pacific Northwest. I first read about it in this thread, and I'd strongly recommend it for you, considering how close it is to the Public Market.

I'm glad you asked this question because I never got around to posting about my trip to Seattle last summer and this will give me a chance to at least talk about Lola. We went there for our anniversary dinner and it turned ot to be a good choice.

We started out with some house made* pita with a couple different spreads. We chose Roasted Sweet Red Pepper and Fava Skordalia from a list of six available spreads.

Lola Pita and Spreads


We also had a take on a Greek salad. It was excellent, with all of the produce at its peak.

Jackie's Greek Salad, Barrel Aged Feta


As an appetizer, I couldn't resist ordering the Manti, which looked and smelled great as a plate of them came walking by our table.

Manti: Lamb Ravioli, Yogurt, Aleppo, Pine Nuts


For mains, the Chow Poodle ordered some lamb kabobs and I got a special of fresh caught salmon with marcona almonds and herbs.

Lamb Kebobs, Caramalized Garlic-Red Wine Glaze


This picture doesn't do these justice. The kabobs were well seasoned and served on a cast iron sizzle platter that was hot enough to eventually caramelize the onions on which the kabobs are sitting. As they cooked, fat rendered out of the lamb and contributed to the taste of the onions. These were really good kebabs.

My salmon was also very good, cooked to a perfect medium rare with a nice bit of sweetness and crunch from the marcona almonds.

Salmon, Marcona Almonds, Fresh Herbs


For dessert, an order of Loukamathes, to see how they stack up against the ones made by the Yia Yia's at the Greek Picnic. They were good, but you could tell you were eating a restaurant version of the Greek classic.

Loukamathes


Anyway, Lola was great and as I sat here typing this post, the Chow Poodle walked by and said, "I'd go to Lola again in a heartbeat!"

* Technically not house made, but baked across the street at the bakery sharing ownership with Lola and brought over as needed.

Lola
2000 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 441-1430

There are quite a few good places in the downtown area:

Tom Douglas has a lot of good restaurants around town. See http://tomdouglas.com/
I especially liked Serious Pie (upscale pizza) and Dahlia Bakery (amazing breakfast biscuits).

Matt's in the Market
94 Pike St
Corner Mrkt Building Ste 32
Seattle, WA 98101
206-467-7909
http://www.mattsinthemarket.com/index.html

Elliott's Oyster House
http://www.elliottsoysterhouse.com/
1201 Alaskan Way # 101 Seattle, WA 98101-2976
(206) 623-4340
A bit more touristy, but excellent oysters and good food overall.

Spur Gastopub
113 Blanchard St
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 728-6706
spurseattle.com
Very good, but a little full of itself.

Top Pot Doughnuts‎
2124 5th Ave
Seattle, WA 98121-2511
(206) 728-1966
toppotdoughnuts.com‎
Multiple locations. Very good doughnuts.

Alibi Room
85 Pike St # 410, Seattle, WA 98101-2001
Pike Place Market
(206) 623-3180 ‎
seattlealibi.com
Good place for beer, snacks, causal meal in the market.

Cockails:

The Zig Zag Café
1501 Western Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 625-1146
zigzagseattle.com
One of the best cocktail spots in the country. Near Pike's Market.

Bathtub Gin & Co
2205 2nd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121-2029
(206) 728-6069


A little bit of a hike, but doable (or take the bus or train)
Salumi
309 3rd Ave S
Seattle, Washington 98104
(206) 621-8772
http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/

Excellent, but further away:

The Walrus and the Carpenter
4743 Ballard Avenue Northwest
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 395-9227
thewalrusbar.com
No reservations, difficult to get in, but worth it. One of my best meals of the year. The neighborhood is worth walking around in.

Quinn's Pub
1001 East Pike Street
Seattle, WA 98122-3818
(206) 325-7711
quinnspubseattle.com
Also one of my favorite meals in recent memory.

Darren72 wrote:Tom Douglas has a lot of good restaurants around town. See http://tomdouglas.com/
I especially liked Serious Pie (upscale pizza) and Dahlia Bakery (amazing breakfast biscuits).

Those are all good recs. Tom Douglas also owns Lola, and Dahlia Bakery is the place I mentioned that bakes the pita for Lola. They're across the street from each other.

Since we're getting into places out of the immediate Pike Pace Market area, let me make a breakfast recommendation for you. Hop on the bus and go to the very top of Queen Anne Hill and visit The 5 Spot. Although we visited for breakfast, they serve three meals/day. Based on our breakfast visit, there's a lot of untapped potential there for other meals.

The 5 Spot is a bit of a chameleon. Every month, they change to a different theme. Kind of like Next, but not nearly as fancy and with a menu, rather than a tasting menu. The 5 Spot is more akin to a slightly more downscale Nightwood in decor. During our visit, the theme was "Portlandia". Viewers of that web series were rewarded with tons of inside jokes on the menus and in the decor. The room was decorated with paintings designed in mocking tribute to Portland.

The 5 Spot Portlandia Artwork


In the men's room, they were playing an old radio documentary about the early days of the longshoreman's union on the docks of Portland. Eclectic? You bet! Just what I like in my Pacific Northwest eateries.

For breakfast, The Chow Poodle ordered her usual of scrambled eggs and sausage, which was made in house, as were the baked goods including the bread used for toast.

The 5 Spot Eggs and Sausage


I had Arleta Library Hash, named after the Arleta Library Café in Portland. For corned beef hash lovers like myself, this version has to go on the list of top 10 hashes the country, even though technically it was a brisket hash. It was made with braised brisket, poblano peppers, onions, red potatoes and parmesan cheese.

The 5 Spot Portlandia Arleta Library Hash


I don't know if this hash stays on the menu all the time, with only the name changing to reflect the current theme of the restaurant, or if it was something offered just for the run of Portlandia. In any event, if you visit The 5 Spot and you see something like this on the menu, order it.

The 5 Spot
1502 Queen Anne Avenue N.
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 285-7768

Arleta Library Bakey & Cafe
5513 SE 72nd
Portland, OR 97206
(503) 774-4470

I had a fantastic and truly memorable Dungeoness Crab BLT with house smoked bacon at Tom Douglas's Seatown Seabar, and some excellent gnocchi with chanterelles at Lecosho. Thanks LTH for helping me find several delicious meals all within walking distance of the Convention Center.

http://tomdouglas.com/index.php?page=seatown
http://lecosho.com/

Seconding the Seatown Seabar suggestion. While in Seattle visiting a client (think large coffee co) we asked for food suggestions and Seabar was the hands down fave. Dinner there after some fun strolling and shopping in the market was perfect. Douglas knows how to make use of all that amazing food sitting on his doorstep. The crab dishes were super and one of us had a great rabbit special.

Not near Pikes but worth a trek - and they will pick you up at the light rail - is the Cedarbrook Hotel which used to be an executive retreat center for Washington Mutual - and is a wonderful hotel very near the airport. There are three buildings with guest rooms and each building has a shared living room stocked with all sorts of late night snacky foods free for guests as well as fridges full of haagen daz ice cream cups, a range of yogurts, and more. The restaurant is open to the public and called the Copperleaf - http://www.cedarbrooklodge.com/copperle ... r_menu.php - our meal there was superb. Rather similar in quality and sensibility to say Naha. After dinner, we sat in the lobby which is more like a family room with fireplace, etc and had dessert of "Theo's Hot Chocolate Pot for Two with Homemade Cinnamon Doughnuts" ... a fresh made for you pot of Mexican hot chocolate with warm donuts. Before dinner there's a lovely lounge that again feels more like you're visiting a very well off friend's country home with a skilled bartender and top of the line as well as local options (http://www.cedarbrooklodge.com/copperle ... pirits.php) And just to sound even more like an ad, they serve a glorious breakfast buffet for hotel guests.

I have no connection to the Cedarbrook - just stumbled across it when we needed a hotel near the airport on a rather insane business trip. I didn't expect much at all ... but fell in love. It has a Frank Lloyd Wright sorta feel to the spaces, is very quiet even though near the airport, and the folks who work there really go all out for you. I keep trying to get scheduled for another trip out there so I can have the hot chocolate and donuts again!

A visit to Pike Place on a Sunday yielded lots of great people watching, and pooch sightings were outstanding as well:


Seattle, Pike Place Market by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Seattle Pooch with Frisbee by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We had lattes at the French bakery next to the original Starbucks, where the line for coffee, and the experience (?) was very long. Sure, they had some musicians playing to entertain the patient folks on queue, but still. Starbucks is not a stop on my bucket list. And while I'm on that topic, I've always shuddered at the thought of a memorial involving a rest stop on an interstate, an overpass, or a bus shelter, but I can rest easy now that I know my name is already on this delicious creation:


Strawberry Cream Puffs at Pike Place by Josephine2004, on Flickr

In some ways, Pike Place Market is the same as ever, in other ways, not. Too many do-dads and t-shirts, in spite of the gorgeous flowers everywhere. After we were bystanders to a ruckus involving fishmongers and a flopping salmon, my husband put it this way: "They still throw fish around, but now they can't catch 'em!"


Flowers @ Pike Place Market by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Darren72, thanks for posting about Elliott's Oyster House. We had a terrific meal there, with a selection of oysters, and whole steamed Dungeness crab. Not cheap, but how often do I get to Seattle? Not often enough! The oyster I enjoyed most was the tiny Olympia oyster, according to our server, the only oyster truly native to the region. The crab was very fresh, as it should be, and such a treat. Elliott's, though large, touristed, and on the waterfront, seemed to have its act together. Front of house was impressive across the board. Atmosphere: Elliott's avoids the kitschy, nets and such decor of many such restaurants. No pictures, sorry!

We had intended to visit the Walrus and the Carpenter in nearby Ballard, but were just too beat to make the trip, even at the recommendation of friends who live in the area that know their food. Instead, we walked 20 paces from our pensione (about a block from the Pike Place Market neon sign) to Le Pichet, a French bistro right out of central casting.


Le Pichet Exterior by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Le Pichet Interior by Josephine2004, on Flickr

As someone who devoted years to learning the language, I especially appreciate a French menu written in correct French. Not a mistake noted on their menu, and the waiter pronounced all of our choices correctly. Bravo! Formidable!

Le Pichet delivered stellar house charcuterie. We began with this plate: (from 12 o'clock) unctous, fine grained, ever-so-slightly pork-funky rillettes de porc; cornichons; salumi whose provenance, other than San Francisco, I cannot remember; cured beef tongue (nicely corned-beefy in spicing, suggesting bay and coriander); (at center) duck liver pate (OK-I don't know how to do an accent aigu on this computer-sorry for the grammatical hypocrisy) with green peppercorns; and terrine de porc. This last terrine was my favorite, as it had both pork liver and other cuts of pork, and it seemed a cure was involved in preparing the meat, making for a hammy taste.


Charcuterie Plate at Le Pichet by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Along with excellent bread that had the unmistakable taste of Paris to it, I would have been satisfied to stop there. But we had ordered the evening's two specials, a Ling Cod with deconstructed caraway "bread pudding" and a garlic cream sauce, and braised pork on lentils ragout. I thought the caraway quite interesting, and the cod was perfectly cooked and sauced. The garlic in the sauce had worried me in the description of the dish, but I need not have worried, as the sauce merely underscored the subtle flavors of the other ingredients. This was a well-conceived and well-executed pleasure. The pork braise was tender and the lentils outstandingly intact and flavorful, however the pork itself may have been too lean for a truly successful dish, or the dish may have been slightly overcooked. In any case, the dish was enjoyable, and lightened by the addition of greens.


Ling Cod and Caraway Bread Pudding by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Braised Pork @ Le Pichet by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Instead of sweets, we opted for a 5-cheese selection that included my favorite, Epoisses. With a bottle of good, drinkable $40 Bordeaux (and no wine over $45 on the menu) and digestifs, dinner and drinks came to $135 plus gratuities, an outstanding value. For those who cannot make it for dinner, Le Pichet is open for breakfast, and throughout the day as a cafe with omelets, sandwiches, salads and such.

Le Pichet
1933 1st Avenue Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 256-1499

Nice, Josephine! Congrats on doing French well; I don't, but even so, Québecois hurts my ears.

Happy Hour at Elliott's is one of the universe's Good Things. Le Pichet looks like a great find. Tnx for reporting on it.

Geo
PS. I'm beginning to wonder if you're not in some sort of a contest with Hammond to see who can travel more in a two-month period. I simply canNOT keep track of the whereabouts of you two!
PPS. What are you using for a camera?

Geo, you are too kind. And you are correct, I have been traveling a great deal. In fact, you just reminded me to post on the best Indian restaurant in Fairfield County, CT.
Actually, I am looking forward to staying home for awhile. . . And that camera? I confess that it is an iPhone 4 special.

My husband just reminded me of the provenance of the salame. It was from Zoe's Meats in Seattle.

Here are a few quick thoughts after spending a couple days in Seattle. In order of preference from best to worst


Book Bindery - an absolute can't miss if you have time/budget for a fine dining meal check out this beautiful restaurant featuring a former Per Se chef. Everything was phenomenal - I would go here often if it were in Chicago

Serious Pie - Tuscan style wood stove pizza place mentioned earlier in this thread. Best pizza of this style I've had by a far margin. Great for lunch. Crust was crispy and so thin. Had a nice squid salad too.

Canon - Whiskey bar. The single largest list of whiskeys I have ever seen. Many of them are pre-prohibition. If you don't have the desire/coin to spend $500-$1500 for a pour of these rare whiskeys, order a craft cocktail or tell the bartender a base spirit and they'll create on for you. Small bites menu too. This would be popular in Chicago

Pikes place fish market- ordered 5 pounds of king crab legs and carried those fuckers around (in an ice packed box) for 36 hours as we made it down to Portland and eventually the Oregon Coast. They were a phenomenal addition to the food at the party we attended. The place is fun to see too, but it's nice to know the fish is good too.



Walrus and Carpenter - A quaint oyster bar mentioned upthread. Get there before 5:00 for 1/2 price oysters. Get there before 6:00 for 25% off oysters. Get there after 6:00 for an hour wait or more...they had other small plates...seemed like a fishbar/gt fish type menu, but atmosphere was more casual than gt. if this were in Chicago I'd go frequently for oysters before dinner.

Sitka and Spruce - you are eating in the kitchen of this country type farm to table resto. It was pretty good, but not memorable like serious pie or book bindery. I'm sure I'd go more frequently if it were in my town since the menu probably changes frequently , but I won't go back next time I'm on Seattle since there are probably other options I'd rather try. Menu features a lot of grains/greens/seeds/nuts/berries you may not have heard of. Check it out of you would love to try something a bit new rather than a more conservative/safe choice.

Crush - Our most expensive and most disappointing meal. Cuisine reminded me of Blackbird or June in Peoria, but was not nearly as successful. Service was a bit aloof and pretentious. Atmosphere was cool...a modern interior of a Victorian style house. I would go to Book Bindery a dozen times before I'd go here once.



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My wife and I spent some time in Seattle last month. The culinary highlights were:

The Whale Wins
3506 Stone Way N
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-9425
http://www.thewhalewins.com/
We had lunch here and it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Highlights were the simple, expertly prepared vegetable dishes, but everything we ate was superb. Same owner as Walrus and Carpenter. I would make this part of my regular rotation when visiting Seattle.

LloydMartin
1525 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 420-7602
http://www.lloydmartinseattle.com/
Based on some reviews, I was expecting the restaurant to be a bit more formal, both in terms of atmosphere and cuisine, but we enjoyed the meal a lot.

Breakfast at Serious Biscuit (aka Dahlia Bakery/Workshop-see above). This was the only place we hit on the trip where we've already been.

Sitka and Spruce
1531 Melrose Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 324-0662
http://www.sitkaandspruce.com/index2.html
We had lunch here. milz50 is exactly right that they feature a lot of nuts and berries. I like this kind of thing and it worked great for lunch.

Ma’Ono Fried Chicken and Whisky
4437 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 935-1075
http://maono.springhillnorthwest.com/
The highlight here is fried chicken. They ask that you include your fried chicken order (i.e. none, half chicken or full chicken) when you make a reservation. The rest of the menu is Hawaiian-inspired.

Little Uncle
1509 E Madison St
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 329-1503
http://www.littleuncleseattle.com/
(There is also a location in Pioneer Square)
This is a sidewalk walk-up stand that serves a small number of very high quality Thai dishes. They are rightly well-known for a beef cheek bun.

Cascina Spinasse
1531 14th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 251-7673
http://www.spinasse.com/
This place is worth scheduling a trip around. I have a funny relationship with seasonal Italian cooking. I love it. But I never think of it as interesting enough to include in an out-of-town itinerary, instead favoring more of-the-moment and of-the-place restaurants (like Sitka and Spruce). But that's my problem and I'm getting help.

Darren72 wrote:My wife and I spent some time in Seattle last month. The culinary highlights were:

The Whale Wins
3506 Stone Way N
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 632-9425
http://www.thewhalewins.com/
We had lunch here and it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Highlights were the simple, expertly prepared vegetable dishes, but everything we ate was superb. Same owner as Walrus and Carpenter. I would make this part of my regular rotation when visiting Seattle.

The Whale Wins wins ninth spot on Bon Appetit's best new restaurants.

We've been out here for a few days and we have dined at a few solid restaurants:

Dahlia Lounge: One of Chef Tom Douglas' main ventures in Belltown. The crab cakes are justly renowned, but the halibut is also very good.

Bastille: A nice bistro in Ballard that is reminiscent of Le Bouchon or Bistrot Zinc, but will a big outdoor space as an added plus.

Nell's: This neighborhood restaurant in Green Lake is wonderful. My wife had halibut with zucchini "spaghetti" (thin julienned strips of zucchini) and I had black cod with meaty lobster mushrooms, grilled radicchio and romano beans. The apricot tart with oregano (!) ice cream was also memorable.

Just a few more data points for Seattle:

Top Pot doughnuts was a big hit-- no trendy flavors, just well-executed doughnuts.
Raised glazed, chocolate old-fashioned, blueberry cake


Top Pot Doughnuts‎
2124 5th Ave
Seattle, WA 98121-2511
(206) 728-1966
toppotdoughnuts.com‎

We tried to get ramen in the International District one night, but Samurai Noodles was closed, so we ended up at an outpost of The Boiling Point, a small chain that specializes in individual-sized hotpots. Really good-- I wish they had one in Chicago. My daughter and I split a miso hotpot that came with all kinds of seafood bits-- half a small crab, fish balls, etc., plus a lot of nice, sweet cabbage and some udon. My husband's chin and his spicy kimchi hotpot are in the background.


Boiling Point
610 5th Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104
b/t James St & Weller St in International District

Finally, no photos but Tom Douglas's "Serious Pie" was some really excellent pizza. I already love woodfired pizza and the crust on these was even better than my Chicago favorites (sorry Reno and Coalfire). The toppings were creative without being too out there and they were abundant without being overloaded. Great stuff.

Seattle is a great eating town... except for some nasty place on the waterfront billing itself as "Seattle's best hot dogs" (edited to add, it was "The Frankfurter"). Bleh. Skip the dogs, go for the pizza.

Jen

After driving up from Lake Tahoe with stops in Klamath Falls, Bend, and Portland, we arrived at a Belltown area condo, near Pike Place Market, which we are renting for 3 weeks. Since we work on a computer, it’s a way to see the Pacific Northwest and still try to be a productive member of society. We finished our first week and the eating and sights are good. The rain sucks as we had 4 straight days of it.

Umi Sake House, one of the top rated sushi restaurants, was our first dinner and it was a great start. Interesting selection of sashimi, including wonderful geoduck, creative rolls, and a large selection of sake. They also offer specials such as uni shooters.
Because we are trying to make this a workation rather than a strict vacation, we are staying in for lunch and carrying in things like smoked salmon and other wonderful items from Pike Market. Their prices are high but the quality is good. There is a Costco like Asian grocer called Uwajimaya in the International district with a mindboggling array of all things Chinese, Japanese, etc. Packaged sushi items are restaurant quality. Dungeness crab is offered live from tanks or cooked and sold at a much lower price than Pike Market. We had 1 dinner of pristine crabs and another dinner of hanging duck and crispy pork from the BBQ area in the store, including some tasty noodle dishes.

Tom Douglas is the Lettuce Entertain You of Seattle with a slew of restaurants, mostly in the Belltown area. Serious Pie is his homage to pizza. The restaurant is very small, very casual, and features Neapolitan crispy crust pizzas baked in a wood-burning oven. He cures his own meats including guanciale, coppa, etc. Salads are good and the pizzas are terrific.
Matt’s in the Market, adjacent to Pike, seems to be on everybody’s short list for must eat restaurants and rightfully so. It’s always busy and difficult to get in which is why we ended up at Serious Pie the previous night. Most items are local and prepared unfussingly but pack loads of flavor. Highlight were boudin noir, the silkiest, creamiest chicken liver mousse ever, and halibut with chanterelles, house bacon, corn, corn broth, and herbs.

Our first weekend trip was to the Orcas Island, to stay with friends. The ferry ride and the islands are spectacular. There aren’t many dining choices but New Leaf Cafe in the historic Outlook Inn overlooking the water was surprisingly good. Lana and I shared lardon salad, with local bacon, garlic croutons, gorgonzola cheese, warm dijon-sherry vinaigrette, and poached egg. It was a great Lyonaise salad with mesclun in lieu of frisee. Lana enjoyed her Wagyu beef sliders with cambozola cheese, grilled onions, and truffle fries while I had perfectly cooked grilled lamb loin steak with black truffle butter, garlic fries, and dijon mustard.Sunday we took the ferry to San Juan Island. It's the largest island of the group and offers more choices, but we were only there for lunch. If you're in the area there is a can't miss sculpture garden on the north part of the island. The Cask and Schooner, in Friday Harbor near the ferry terminal offers a good selection of microbrews. Razor clam chowder was chock full of fresh razor clams swimming in a light, not too creamy delicious broth. Char grilled squid was served cold on a thai like salad of shaved green papaya and mango. Fish and chips were served with fresh black cod and fried nicely crispy and moist, same as the fries. I opted to substitute poutine, figuring they would do them well being so close to the Canadian border. Poutine are fries served in gravy with cheese curds. Not for the faint of heart, literally and figuratively. As I have no way to compare these to the originals in Quebec I don't know if their version is respectable but I didn't care for it. The gravy was ok but didn't work with the fries and I just don't get the cheese curds. I'll stick to ketchup.

Perfect timing for this thread to pop up again! I'm also headed out for a workation the first full week of November. After reading this I think it's time to start my list of places to hit while there. Looking forward to more updates! Hopefully some gems that I've not been to yet.

We finished up our 2nd week in Seattle and tried a bunch of different places so I will just run thru the list.

I did a little grazing around Pike Market. A little Filipino storefront aross the street from the market was given a shout by Andrew Zimmern a couple years ago on Bizarre Foods Seattle so I had to stop in and try the salmon collar soup. It was delicious. I followed that up with a wonderful clam chowder chock full of fresh clams, as opposed to mini hockey pucks. I ended with a good crumpet from the Crumpet Shop.

Walrus and the Carpenter is a popular, tiny oyster bar in Ballard. If you arrive before 5pm, oysters are 1/2 price and you many not have to wait an hour for a table. the bonus was that we loved everything else on the menu featuring small plates including salmon belly salad, padrones peppers, amazing fried oysters with cilantro aioli, and fries with eyes-fried smelt with cauliflower puree.

I was headed out hiking to Mt. Rainier so I started the day at Serious Biscuit, an outpost of the Tom Douglas empire. Biscuits seem to be popular in the northwest. It was basically a biscuit sandwich featuring a great buttermilk biscuit, but the fillings were wonderful. I was with my brother in law so I was able to try 2, each of which is pretty big. Homemade ham, egg, beecher's cheddar, topped with apple mustard and fennel sausage, egg, pepper relish, and fontina. They were seriously good and seriously filling.

Revel, in Fremont, is creative Korean cuisine served tapas style. There are a few offerings in each of 5 catagories-salad, pancake, dumpling, rice, and noodle. It was all good.

Lana and I did a bit of grazing in Belltown, our home base. You may notice a theme in that we love to be able to try more places by ordering a bunch of smaller dishes rather than sitting down for one large meal. Local 360 is a farm to table theme while Spur is a gastropub featuring modern american cuisine and craft cocktails. I recommend them both.

We finished off the week with omakase at Shiro's, also in Belltown. It was spectacular. It's only available if you get a seat at the small sushi bar. The chef keeps presenting dishes until you say no mas. I lost track after about the 12th item. No soy or other dipping sauce is offered as every piece presented is to be eaten as is. We were a bit disappointed because on the website the chef/owner was the young apprentice who was in the kitchen with Jiro in the Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentary. He recently moved from Seattle and opened a restaurant in New York. The website has just been updated. His influence however was obvious. The meal was pricey but probably 1/2 the price of an omakase at a bigger name restaurant in a larger city.

We took the ferry for a 1 night stay in Victoria, BC which I'll mention on a separate thread.

http://thewalrusbar.com/

http://seriouspiewestlake.com/index.php ... kshop-menu

http://www.revelseattle.com/

http://local360.org/
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http://www.mccrackentough.com/spur/

http://shiros.com/

Our final week was equally delicious, starting with delightful Vietnamese at Green Leaf.

We knew Mezcalaria Oaxaca was going to be good when we noticed the lady behind the counter rolling out and pressing fresh made tortillas. Guacamole with homeade chips accompanied by excellent mezcalaritas(it is Mezcalaria after all) were a good start. The mole negro with pork ribs were amazing. I've never been to Oaxaca but I can't imagine a black mole being better than this. We also shared a wonderful goat dish-slow roasted marinated cabrito with black beans and corn masa. We are stopping in Oaxaca for 3 nights prior to our annual Puerto Vallarta trip so I will report back.

Le Petite Cochon is the Seattle nose to tail restaurant. They offer seasoned nuts with duck cracklins-everything goes better with cracklins! I've had chicken feet in Chinese restaurants and have never been a fan. Here though they serve crispy duck feet with cilantro yougurt and black bean vinegar. This will surely give you a foot fetish. Another interesting and tasty item were duck fries-duck testicles with corn, smoked pickle, and Treviso salad with bacon vinegar and hatch chile puree. I was pretty impressed by the size of the testicles relative to the size of a duck. These lord over rocky mountain oysters. We also a great smoked pork chop.

Our final dinner was Lark, which features small plates using Northwest seasonal ingredients. Suffice to say everything was top notch and should be on any visitors' list.

A noteworthy lunch was Marination Ma Kai, which has roaming food trucks in Seattle and a small permanent stand next to the ferry terminal in West Seattle, which bills itself as Hawaiian-Korean, noteworthy for it's spam musabi which is grilled spam on a rice cake wrapped in seaweed. I wouldn't touch that but there were several people around enjoying it. We loved Kalua pork sliders, a kimchee quesadilla with Kalua pork, a Kalbi beef taco, a fish taco, and a finish of a double coconut muffin.

Loved Seattle and would return anytime.

http://greenleaftaste.com/#!/home/
http://www.mezcaleriaoaxaca.com/
http://www.gettinpiggy.com/#!
http://larkseattle.com/
http://marinationmobile.com/

We had a whirlwind of 2 days in Seattle prior to our Alaskan adventure and I had to post about our amazing dinner at Shiro's

First of all, if you are going to come here- reservations are a must. must.
The ladies in the group decided on the Omakase dinner
The men decided to go for california rolls and tempura (!)

We all shared an appetizer of Geoduck butter. How can you go to Seattle and not try it?
It was delish- sweet and meaty, and the asparagus, etc were wonderful.


We didn't get a pic of the california rolls- they were perfect, with real crab- but here's the tempura the guys had:


Omakase: Our first course we were instructed to eat L to R
A morsel of fish (I forget what), tempura fried and then marinated in vinegar, an oyster with a dollop of some house made sauce, and eel rolled inside tamago.


Second course: Sashimi; delicate fatty tuna, freshest salmon, and halibut-so soft and sweet


Next course: tempura shrimp and I think squash? and a piece of miso glazed black cod? really great- flaky and full of umami


Next up: Nigiri sushi; more tuna, thrid from left is raw geoduck, sweet raw shrimp, chopped fatty tuna, for this course, they brought a little pot of slightly-spicy chef-made spy sauce and "painted" it on the sushi, so you have the amount the chef thinks you should have, and you're not supposed to then dip it in any more soy. JUST. AMAZING.


Next: Manila clams in Miso broth (There were actually a lot more clams, but I took my picture a little late LOL


After this course they asked if we were still hungry. I think if we had said yes, they would have brought us more food, but we were stuffed. After that there was tempura-fried green tea ice cream for dessert.

This had to be the best sushi meal I have ever eaten in my life.
Now I must find more Omakase. LOL
Cannot recommend this too highly for any sushi lovers in Seattle

Must make reservations or be prepared to wait a LONG time. It's a pretty small place.

Shiro's Sushi Restaurant
2401 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
http://shiros.com/
E: contact@shiros.com
C: (206) 443-9844

Beautiful report!

Highlights from a recent trip:

The Walrus and the Carpenter has already gotten some love here (and in the press) and justly so. We had a light dinner, but every single dish was a hit. The oysters were amazing, obviously.

Joule (same owners as Revel) is French-Korean or Korean-French, but who cares: they do a crazy weekend brunch buffet based on a cuisine that changes monthly. Last month it was Hawaiian. Next month it'll be something else, but it doesn't matter because these guys cook very, very well. Reservations strongly suggested.

We liked Ba Bar so much we went twice in three days. It's traditional Vietnamese with high-quality ingredients. Apparently the chef stirred up a bit of faux controversy a few years ago among a certain class of foodie who is convinced that ethnic food is required to be cheap by charging $10 for his pho (vs. the seattle standard of ~$5). Silliness aside, the oxtail pho ($13, $2 upcharge for tendon, which, trust me, you want) was fantastic, with a phenomenal broth. But really, we loved everything here.

A few places were just so-so: Ma'ono's fried chicken was pretty dry. That could be because I didn't pre-order it, I don't know. The loco moco was wonderful, though. Also, Kisaku came highly recommended for sushi. Ankimo was excellent, but the sushi was kind of average. I'd skip it next time.