get out of here

where does one go in our fair seattle for some outdoor eating AND on the happiest of hours, happy hour? i am not sure but tomorrow i am going to either try marjorie or potentially somewhere else new so this is a preview of sorts?! i mean, i just think eating outdoors is quite simply underrated in so much that people here in seattle just assume we are supposed to eat indoors and thereby there are not a lot of great places to eat outside...thank you grey weather. and i hate to bitch and moan about this very issue but since everybody (even people who don't live here) are talking about the prognosticated 80+ degree weather - i want to eat on a damn patio and the food better be good! do i sound angry? i am not - just frustrated in that there are so few choices. i like marjorie and although there is no view (bfd), i am happily going to report on them or anywhere i may land tomorrow - that day known as friday.

good times people.

bowling me over

you know what i love about my food blog? other peoples food blogs!! so, the time has come to blog about another blog... the weirdos at msg150. if you are in my fair city of seattle you might have heard about these guys as they are attempting (or better, are) eating at every place in our international district aka chinatown. i prefer chinatown only due to the million chinese places and uh, last time i checked, ain't nobody selling me a schwarma, an eggplant parm or any carnitas...international district, grrrr! back to the msg150 group, they rule. this is the kind of food writing i love largely due to the idea and execution is insane. i love the fact they are already burned out on chinese (duh) and that mostly the food is good and not that outstanding. they love the schezuan noodle bowl and that makes me happy because i do too. the picture above just makes me salvate like pavlov's dog...so, good reading for you and yours when you check out these guys adventures. good eating to all.

rhymes with feather

this weekend the seattle art museum was throwing down a 36 hour marathon to promote a show on its way out and it gave me an excuse to go there at some weird hour - read, after midnight, to check it out. yet to get this weekend started, i went there on friday to TASTE, the nice little place to eat at the museum, at 4:00 to check out the happiest of hours and get my snack on. i had some cioppino which during the happy hours of 3:00 - 6:00 is a mere $5.00! this is a modest serving with a couple clams, a mussel, some salmon and a bit too sweet for me but tasty tomato broth. oh yeah, it made me hungry so i ordered to sliders. i refuse to call them mini burgers because that just sounds too precious. these were awesome - juicy, and toasted buns along with melted gouda, some nice relish and pickled jalepenos! nice! these burgers are just great!!! i talk with ms. mvc and she throws down a pass to the museum for above mentioned marathon so lo and behold, i am there after midnight on saturday...where i got this ice cream sandwich. a double shot of espresso (decaf people) and two chocolate chip cookies with some vanilla ice cream...a great way to just fall apart with a midnight snack. good times. eating at museums can be pretty touchy - er, downright bad but the folks at SAM got it going on. easily one of the best happy hours in town and get this ice cream sammich!

not veggies

but vij's.

if you have ever visited vancouver, bc and have never been to vij's - then you are really seriously missing not only thee (in my not-so-humble opinion) best indian joints to dine at (and yes, i am including london and nyc) but one of the finer places to eat hands down. i would say the place is perfect but alas, they do not take reservations and i am starting to really hate that...er, wait - i hate that. and i too can write endlessly about this much admired resturant but instead i think this article by owner/chef vikram vij from the globe and mail is outstanding. here is another reason to love this guy...

ah hell, i have to include one photo of vij's stellar lamb popsicles dish. mmmm, mmmm, this is what it is all about.

boy meets grill

i got a new neighbor...well, kind of. f.f. just purchased a place in beacon hill (1.7 miles away) and she had me over recently to show off her new digs. she used to live in fremont (ugh - and one of the worst neighborhoods in seattle to eat at)so beacon hill is unchartered territory for this chick...and man she loves two things: eating and dancing. i like eating so she asks where? the first place i think of is el asadero on rainer blvd. this is the taco BUS not truck that makes some of the best carnitas outside of so.cal and this place is totally inexpensive too! $1.00 tacos and even better $1.50 mulitas (hello kak!) which are kinda a mexican pupusa but not really. a mulita is two corn tortillas stuffed with the meat of your choice, avocado slices and some jack cheese...grilled!!! these things are incredible - just perfection. everything at el asadero is outstanding but why eat burritos when you can have a torta (hello bksmag!) which seems to be tastier with every visit. this is the place to eat on rainer...and as you can see from my photo, the only thing left is an empty plate. this place is no secret either - everybody and their grandmother goes here and for good reason, the place rocks.

oh yeah, we went and got sushi at maneki that night. jean-san took great care of ff and i - we had an exceptional time. next stop, el asadero!! vamanos!

not a diner and not a steal but damn good

so in writing about a place to eat i find that after one visit can be enough yet after a couple - i then feel as though i can put both feet down and write something a bit more complete. steelhead diner fits this criteria. what pushed me here was last weeks sunday LA times article and i was just there a week back. my two other previous visits i liked this place - and i liked it a lot yet there was something nagging about this place. i think it was because it is called a diner and it ain't no diner but that is really dumb. so maybe it was because i thought the food was great but it seemed to lack something...yet i could not put my finger on that (more on that later). whatever the reason - here is my assessment from three visits - - last one first. a week back frank and i were starving and she had to eat something "bad" and when she says bad, that means gravy or chicken fried steak or something to that caloric/arterial death defying meal. we were downtown, half awake and ready...we ended up at the steelhead diner and good thing. we ordered family style and got a house salad which was iceburg lettuce, bacon, blue cheese, boiled egg, red onion and lorenzo dressing. a shitload of dressing - too much as i want to taste my bacon!! still it was tasty and fullfilled "bad" desires. next up, fried chicken sammich with fries but we went the gravy route and got poutine (!!) as written about below. the sammich was great, white meat cooked perfectly, hot and with slaw - tasty. the poutine was not as exciting missing a serious bite that i like with poutine and frank said she would have liked the fries crispier...me too - good point. we got some desert in the form of rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream...perfection. we napped after this meal but wait, i said i was going to write about a couple other times i went there - what about the caviar pie? what about the crab cakes? the meal i detailed above was the lesser of the three visits as the caviar pie and the crab cakes as well as the pork sandwich and the black cod i had there before were pretty close to perfect. does a place go up or down after being open an extended period of time is a case by case study but i will give them another try as my family is visiting this week and god knows, they read that damn LA times article.

PBC pt. II

people love their breakfast out in our fair emerald city. i'd be hard pressed to say i have a favorite however that is enough pressure for me to say my favorite for the past couple years + is the portage bay cafe. and a funny place in that people i trust their food opinions think it is merely ok to downright bad to other folks who say it is a godsend - truly fantastic! the place is wildly popular - every single saturday and sunday morning it is crowded and a wait is going to happen. i have my favorites here including some greek style omelette with spinach, bacon (and damn good bacon too), myzithra cheese and some basil pistou on top. another favorite is the black bean pancetta cake with two poached eggs...good potatoes too. the many people who are big sweet fans go back for the pancakes, french toast and daily specials so that they can go to the breakfast bar which is basically, dress up your sweet morning treat with a variety of berries, nuts and god only knows what...about four years back i was there with my pal FAH and she ordered something sweet which we shared...and they had marcona almonds...which i later learned was a mistake to have those out instead of the regular california almonds. oh well. anywho, i am writing about the portage bay cafe as they are about to launch their second location in the south lake union locale. i went to the opening party last friday night and they snagged a great location and an even better look inside! following suit with so many other places as of late, they will have a community table and lots of space. no matter this place will be nuts like the original on roosevelt.

great news too...the menu remains the same and that means they will probably loosen up some of the flow from the original location. so, whether you like the portage bay cafe or not - i think this will be a great addition to the neighborhood that also houses my gym. oh the irony!