Seattle Archives - Foodology

In American

Cheesecake Factory: Chowing Down in Seattle

February 20, 2014

Can you believe it? I’ve NEVER been to a Cheesecake Factory till now. It’s taken me 25 years to make a visit and taste their cheesecake. I’ve never seen the allure of huge slices of cheese cake and horribly prepared food. I’ve always just had that impression in my mind.

On our recent trip to Seattle, we stopped by Cheesecake factory for an early dinner. It was really early…it was so early, they still had their lunch menu. What can I say? We had a schedule to keep if we wanted to go shopping.

The place was huge, but there always seem to be a line up near the door. It’s super packed during lunch and dinner.

Complimentary bread arrives and you have brown and white. We actually didn’t touch the bread since we had to save our tummies for our meal and dessert. No need to waste space for plain bread.

M ordered himself a coke. Free refills!

Koreangirl got herself a lemonade. Free refills too!

Tomato, basil and cheese pizza ($11.95) from their lunch menu is pretty crappy. There’s no tomato sauce, so it’s just the 3 basic ingredients over the pizza dough. I will not order the pizza again.

The pizza did come with a salad. The salad was pretty good. No complaints. It had a balsamic vinegar dressing. I definitely enjoyed the salad a lot more than the pizza.

Famous Factory Meatloaf ($11.95) comes with 2 sides. M chose corn and mashed potatoes with gravy. The lunch size was still huge but the dinner size is even larger. M likes the portion for lunch as he could actually finish it.

Renee’s Special ($10.95) comes with half a turkey sandwich, a cup of soup and a green salad. You definitely get a little bit of everything. The portion is large for lunch and its very filling.

Fettuccini with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes ($11.95) was ordered by Scarface and looked good.

30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake has layers of their original cheesecake, fudge cake and chocolate truffle cream. M gets this every time he comes here.

Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake ($6.95) has chocolate cheesecake with a layer of Belgian chocolate mousse and whipped cream.

Fresh Strawberry ($6.95) has the original cheese cake topped with glazed strawberries and whipped cream. It’s been their top seller for 30 years. The strawberries were huge and fresh. I really liked it and its a good cake to share. The classics are always the best.

Overall, cheesecake factory is ok. It’s a good price for their huge portions. I wouldn’t come back for the food but cheesecake is worth it.

We Rate The Cheesecake Factory:

Address:
700 Pike St
Seattle, WA

Website:
http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/

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In American

Rachel’s Ginger Beer: A Treat at Pike Place

February 9, 2014

Rachel’s Ginger Beer is the newest place in Pike Place in Seattle. We were wandering around the area after lunch and needed something fizzy to settle our stomachs after eating at Pike Place Chowder.

They started selling their signature Ginger Beer at Seattle’s Farmers Market and with great success, they opened up their shop in Pike Place during the summer of 2013.

When you walk inside, you’ll be mesmerized by all their drinks. These are the larger jugs that are to go.

Don’t be fooled by their name, they have more than just soda. They have boozy cocktails and ice cream. Some of the drinks can be made warm too instead of cold.

When you order a cup of the ginger beer, it comes right from the tap. I think it’s a really cute touch even though it is non-alcoholic.

Mango Tangerine ($5) , Pink Guava ($5) , Original ($4), and Blueberry ($5) were ordered and it has a very distinctive aftertaste of ginger. You can feel the drink slide down your throat and heating up your body. It can really shock the sickness out of you if you aren’t feeling too well. Good combination is all the soda’s but I liked the original to stay true to ginger beer.

It’s not a drink for everyone. If you don’t like ginger, you probably won’t have a keen liking to the drinks.

We were glad we stumbled upon this cute little shop. I would have never expected a ginger beer shop to exist.

We Rate Rachel’s Ginger Beer:

Address:
1530 Post Alley
Seattle, WA

Website:
http://rachelsgingerbeer.com/pages/pike-place-market

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In Fast Food

McDonalds: S’mores Pie and Cheap McNuggets

September 20, 2012

In the United States, they have some crazy menu items at some great prices. It’s always awesome to drive down to the states and try items that are not available in Canada. One of those items was the Smores Pie.

Smores Pie is like a normal pie, but it’s filled with chocolate and marshmallow. You have all the components that go into a smores.

Whats different about this pie is that there is a large slit at the top, so the inside is exposed for all to see.

The smores pies was a tad sweet, but it did have a unique taste. It was like a smores, but less messy!

20 Piece McNuggets ($4.99) is so cheap in the states! You could easily order 100 and not break your wallet! This location didn’t have a larger box for them, so it was split off into 2 boxes.

It’s quite hard to eat 20 all by yourself unless you are super super hungry. My friend and I just split these.

Have you had the chance to try the smore pie or bought yourself a ton of McNuggets?

In Sandwich

Red Mill Burger: Bacon, Bacon, Verde, Bacon & Onion Rings

November 17, 2011

I have finally finished the last restaurant on my Man v. Food list – Red Mill Burgers. It took me a while to finally try this place since it’s always out of the way of Downtown Seattle and Bellevue. This trip, I made it a mission to try this. M was a little bit unsure about going out of the way, but after showing him the episode, it made him want to see their stack of bacon.

Here is the video of Red Mill Burger on Man v. Food!

It was probably 1 in the afternoon and this place is packed. This location is in Interbay (but i’m not from Seattle so I don’t know what that means). I dare you to peek over the counter to find this:

BACON! A WALL OF BACON! LOTS OF BACON! Imagine how awesome all of that would taste?

There are a few booth seats, but during peak hours they are all full. If you are coming with a friend, get one of them to snag a table as the other lines up. M and I had to do the tag team duo to stalk for a table.

Onion Rings ($3.19) were nicely battered and had a light fish & chips type of batter. M really loved it, but I still felt like it needed a bit of salt to it. People rave about the onion rings…. but I like A&W onion rings better. M and I clearly did not agree with each other.

Tartar Sauce ($0.23) accompanies it very well.

Bleu Cheese N’ Bacon Burger ($6.79) has Crumbled Bleu Cheese, Pepper Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Mill Sauce on a Kaiser Bun. The bacon is crispy and has fresh veggies. I just loved the blue cheese in this burger. I usually HATE blue cheese, but it’s much better when it’s cooked.

I was a bit disappointed by the patty. It wasn’t smokey at all and looked a like it was steamed rather than grilled. The patty is quite thin too. My favorite part was the blue cheese and bacon….Mmmm yum.

Verde Burger ($5.80) has fire Roasted Anaheim Peppers, Jack Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, with their Mill Sauce in a toasted bun. M added bacon to this.

M’s face lit up when he took a bit of the roasted anaheim peppers. He also felt the patty kinda fell short of expectations. Peppers + Bacon = awesome. It’s not crazy spicy or anything. It’ll just tingle your tongue.

Overall, we felt this place was a little too hyped up from the TV show. It’s still good to try and see what it’s all about.

Words of Wisdom:

Parking in lot or near the park
Delicious smoked bacon
Busy during peak hours
Take a picture of their bacon stack and tell all your friends. It looks crazy.
Under $10

We Rate Red Mill Burger:
Address:
1613 W Dravus St
Seattle, WA 98119
Website:
redmillburgers.com

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In Deli

I Love New York Deli: But This Is In Seattle, WA

November 16, 2011

What on earth is there to eat in Downtown Seattle early in the morning at 7am? M and I just used a food app to look it up and we just went to I Love New York Deli in Pike Place. There’s not many reviews, but it was the mystery that we wanted to unravel.

They are best known for their HUGE sandwiches that are packed full of flavour. Since they are located in the Market Place, the prices are very affordable!

They don’t have many seats, so you may need to fight for a seat or eat outside. You can also just walk elsewhere in the market place and find alternative seating.

Canarsie Reuben ($11.95) is loaded with pastrami, pepper jack cheese, russian dressing and horseradish sauce on marbled rye bread. It comes with a side of your choice and a wedge of pickle.

Look how sexy this sandwich is!!!! This is what I call a sandwich!! Piled full of meat. I thought this sandwich was ok since I am not a fan of the taste of pastrami. If you like pastrami, you will probably like it.

Empire State ($10.95) has roasted brisket, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and horseradish sauce on marble rye bread. It also comes with a side and a pickled.

I LOVED this! The meat is very tender and works well with the caramelized onions. You must get this!!

Overall, it was a super cool unique find! This is my kind of comfort food! I’ve never been so excited for such a large sandwich.

Words of Wisdom:

Around $10
Your choice of sides and type of bread.
Can also build your own
Best known for Overstuffed Sandwiches
The brisket is to die for
If you go early morning, they might not have all their ingredients

We Rate I Love New York Deli:

Address:

93 Pike Street #4
Seattle, WA

Website:

http://www.ilovenewyorkdeli.net/

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In Cafe

Starbucks: The Original Store in Seattle, WA

November 15, 2011

M and I arrived in Seattle way too early during the long weekend since we expected there to be a wait at the border…there was no wait. So, we were downtown by 7:30am. Nothing is open that early except for Starbucks, so we decided to head to Pike Place Market to roam around. A lot of the merchants were getting ready, so the market wasn’t open either.

As you may or may not know, Starbucks originated in Seattle Washington and has grown into a global phenomenon. Every time I go here and it’s PACKED. Since it was so early in the morning, I knew it would be empty.

The interior is quite spacious when there are a few people inside. On a normal day, it is just filled with people grabbing drinks. If all you want is coffee, best to just go to another Starbucks a block away. They serve the same drinks as all the other Starbucks locations.

They have tons of cups, coffee and stuffed animals to purchase. Since its always so packed in here during usual hours, its really hard to get nice photos of inside this location.

It is a tourists hotspot and it is always packed with people buying coffee and purchasing the original Starbucks mug with their original logo. There’s another location on Firstand Pike that also sells the merchandise. If you hate crowds, thats an option.

Location:
1912 Pike Pl Seattle, WA 98101

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In Four Beakers

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese: “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese

September 16, 2011

I came here a while ago with a few of my friends. I’ve been to Pike Place in Seattle before, but I never knew it was home to the “World’s Best” Mac & Cheese. The next time I visited, I knew this had to be on my list of places to go. I found out through Follow Me Foodie’s post about Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.

When we arrived in the afternoon, this place was packed! Line ups out the doors and people were everywhere. All these cheese are made in house and used in all their products.

They have a large open room, so while you wait, you can watch their staff in action making all the cheese. There’s so much cheese!!

Here’s a very bad view of their menu! I couldn’t move around to find a good spot to take a photo.

I know this is the place for Mac & Cheese, but we really couldn’t leave without some grilled cheese. With a row of their panini presses, you can’t resist!

Ham & Flagship ($7.27 USD) has ham, their all natural Flagship cheese and tomato on a rustic artisan bread. Imagine your classic ham and cheese, but so much better! The outside in perfectly grilled, so when you bite into it, you get an amazing “CRUNCH”. The inside is savory and deliciously gooey!

Grilled Cheese ($5.91 USD) is made with the Flagship cheese in the rustic artisan bread. Nicely toasted and it’s so good! Good choice of bread and quality of cheese just make this sandwich amazing!

‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese (5oz- $5 USD) is very very very very good! It is made with penne pasta with a good amount of their Flagship cheese. The whole dish is very savory and is very rich. I’ve never had anything as good as this.

Mariachi Mac & Cheese (5oz- $5 USD) is a Mexican twist to the traditional Mac & Cheese. It contains roasted chilies, vegetables, their Flagship cheese with penne. We all shared this and it was not our favorite. It does have an added kick, but the ‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese is still our favorite.

Overall, very amazing eat here if you are a cheese lover. They take a lot of pride in their flagship cheese and the quality really shows when you grab food here.

Words of Wisdom:

Recommended items: ‘World’s Best’ Mac & Cheese + Grilled Cheese
Packed during peak hours.. or long weekends
Decent prices
Under $10
AMAZING Delicious food!

We Rate Beecher’s Handmade Cheese:

Address:

1600 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.beechershandmadecheese.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/beecherscheese

Twitter:

@BeechersSeattle

In Brunch

5 Spot: Long Line for Breakfast

June 19, 2011

During the last long weekend, KoreanGirl, TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl and I headed down back to Seattle for a day. We wanted to try some more jaw dropping restaurants as well as to get a little bit of shopping done.

Our first stop was at 5 Spot Restaurant. We arrived about 2 hours too early since I really gunned it down the highway at 160 km. Since there was no one on the roads and nothing was open, we just slept in the parking lot till it opened.

10 minutes before they opened, we started seeing a lot of people starting to line up, so we got out of the car and joined these early birds.

Soon enough, the restaurant was packed. We were super excited because we didn’t know what to expect.

Here’s a look at their menu.

The water even came in jars!

I started off with Green Tea ($2.50) since I need caffeine in the morning.

TaiwasneseGirl had the Herbacious omelette ($8.75). It has fresh chopped herb omelette hash browns and toast. She found the omelette to be average and nothing too special. She did like the hashbrowns. Extra crispy just the way she likes it.

CanuckGirl ordered the Breakfast Special ($10.25). It has some scrambled eggs with hashbrown and toast. There was something in the scrambled eggs but I don’t really remember what it was. She did like it and had no complains.

I ordered the K-Bob’s Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs ($10.75). Tenderized steak double dredged and fried. It comes with 2 eggs with potatoes and a buttermilk biscuit. I really did not like this dish. Since the steak is double dredged, you get more breading compared to the meat. It just ended tasting like fried flour with salt and pepper.

I loved the potatoes that came with it!

Porkopolis Rumble ($9.75) has scrambled eggs with house-cured pork belly, caramelized onions, thyme and cheddar. It is also served with potatoes and toast. KoreanGirl was not very impressed. The menu description sounded pretty good, but she really did not like it very much.

Overall, it was just ok food. I don’t think we really found this breakfast very unique. Just ok. Perhaps their lunch is better.

Words of Wisdom:

Free street parking in the front
Go early or wait in line
Decent portion sizes for price

We Rate 5 Spot:

Address:

1502 Queen Anne Ave N
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.chowfoods.com/five/index.aspx

In Cafe

Cyclops Cafe & Lounge

April 28, 2011

After walking around Downtown, then venturing through Olympic Sculpture Park and checking out Seattle Center, we were so tired of walking! It was time for dinner and we wandered into Bell Town.

After asking people of the Twitterverse where I should check out, I settled with Cyclops.

As we slowly got to Cyclops, we realized it was more of a pub setting. Since everyone was not 21+, we didn’t know what to do since there was a sign saying that people had to be 21+ to enter. Too bad the legal age isn’t 19 in the states. We walked a little bit further and we were super confused, there was another restaurant also named Cyclops. We stood there staring and staring at the doors until someone told us that one was the bar area and another was the dining area. It all made sense!

Cyclops is split in half to accomodate two types of crowds.

M thought of Jim Carrey’s character, Uncle Olaf in the movie, Series of Unfortunate Events, with all the different creepy one eyes in the restaurant.

Their menu is just 2 pages and there is also an additional one for specials.

Since I am over 21, I decided to get myself a Stella Artois. If I’m legal in the states, why not have a drink. Plus, since we did so much walking, I needed a little break. They had a lot of beers that I was not familiar, so I just got Stella.

I used to not like stella since it was a bit bitter than usual beers, but over the years it has grown on me. It has a nice refreshing finish and accompanies meals very well.

BusanGirl was not feeling very hungry, so she ordered the Roasted Corn & Chicken Quesadilla ($7 USD). In this quesadilla is roasted chicken breast, roasted red pepper, caramelized onions, roasted corn, feta, and cheese in a flour tortilla.

She was amazed by the great flavours of the quesadilla. The roasted onions and the roasted corn added a lot of savory flavour.

M and Fabo both ordered the Meatloaf sandwich ($10 USD). As I mentioned before, M loves Meatloaf… 2nd time today he has had meatloaf. This sandwich has BBQ glazed meatloaf on sliced sourdough bread with basil aioli served with fries.

TanGuy ordered the El Cubano ($11 USD). It is a sandwich with roasted pulled pork, sliced ham, cheese, thin pickles, dijon mustard, poblano aioli on a grilled ciabatta bun. He thought the sandwich was ok, but the dijon was very potent.

I ordered the Pepper Bacon Mac n’ Cheese ($8 USD). It has penna pasta, cheddar, swiss, pepper bacon and bread crumbs all baked in the oven and ready to serve. It even comes with some toasted bread on the side.

The Mac n’ Cheese was pretty good, the amount of bacon gave the mac n’ cheese a more salty flavour to the dish. It also added a bit of texture since the bacon was crispy.

Words of Wisdom:

Unique artwork on the walls, check website for info about them
Under $10
Lots of tables and great for groups

We rate Cyclops Cafe & Lounge:

Address:

2421 1st Ave
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.cyclopsseattle.com

In Seattle

Jamba Juice: Beats Canada’s Jugo Juice + Booster Juice

April 28, 2011

We were making our way back to Vancouver and decided to stop by Alderwood Mall to do a bit of shopping. I love Alderwood Mall! It has basically everything. Since the sun was shining and we were exhausted from sitting in the car, we decided to get refreshments.

We wanted something healthy so we headed to the food court. Nothing but soda and coffee could be found, so we looked at the directory because we knew there had to be a juice bar somewhere close. Sure enough, there is a Jamba Juice right outside the food court.

For a Friday afternoon it was quite busy.

Their menu has lots of smoothies and even hot drinks.

Fabo ordered the Razzmatazz (16 oz – $3.40 USD). This contains mixed berry juice blend, orange sherbert, strawberries, bananas and ice.

BusanGirl ordered the Mango A-Go-Go (16oz – $3.40USD) . It contains passionfruit mango juice blend, mangoes, pineapple sherbert and ice. She liked the smoothie a lot because a few hours earlier, she got another smoothie from another store but it only had 1 strawberry and 3 blueberries. She was impressed by the quality and the amount of fruit at Jamba Juice.

M ordered the Strawberries Wild Smoothie (Original size $4.40). It contains apple strawberry juice blend, non-fat vanilla frozen yogurt, strawberries, bananas and ice.

I ordered the Apple n’ Green Smoothie (16oz – $4.20 USD). It has apple-strawberry juice, vegetable juice (carrots, spinach, bell peppers, kale, and lettuce), peach mangoes, bananas and ice.

The thought of having a fruit/vegetable drink might sound weird, but it was really good! It had very smooth consistency and it did not get icy at all. It had a distinct tastes of apples and then hints of mangoes afterwards. The best part of this drink are the little fruit bits left behind from the blender. Maneuvering your straw to suck up all the little mango chunks.

Overall, we loved this place! Hands down, we all agreed this place was 100x better than Jugo Juice and Booster Juice.

Words of Wisdom:

Free Boosts of your choice
Lots of flavours and options

We Rate Jamba Juice:

Address:

3000 184th St SW Ste 880
Lynnwood, WA

Website:
www.jambajuice.com

In Brunch

Beth’s Cafe: 12 Egg Omelettes

April 27, 2011

Beths Cafe is most famous for their 12 egg omelets! They have been featured on Man v. Food when Adam takes the 12 omelet challenge. After watching that episode, it was on my ‘to-do’ list for Seattle. Who wouldn’t want to tell the tale of having eaten a 12 egg omelet?

We arrived around noon, which is probably the worst time to go to any popular restaurant. Can you guess why? Line ups. There were people lining up. There were probably a good dozen people or so infront of us, but the time passed by pretty quickly. They have chairs set up outside and the sun was shining! We basically spent most of the time looking at the menu contemplating which 12 egg omelettes to order.

What is super cool about Beths Cafe is that all the walls are covered in customers art work. This is the ultimate hole in the wall restaurant. Old outdated furniture, tons of tape and paper on the walls. It’s actually quite interesting to see a few of the drawings on the wall. I even found a cool Charlie Sheen reference! I also found Angry Birds too!

M was so happy he sat in the exact same seat where Adam Richman of Man V. Food was sitting in! I think it made his day.

Their covers of their menu even has artwork. When flipping through the menu, the only thing we were interested in was the omelettes. 6 different types or you can even customize your own.

TanGuy needed his caffeine fix since we clearly walk around too much. M ordered Mr. Pibb, the Pepsi version of Dr. Pepper. He went nuts when he could order it here. It was his childhood drink that he has long forgotten. They don’t sell it in Canada, so he wanted to get his hands on this drink.

As we waited for our meals, we began doodling! Fabo drew a scary version of the Deuce Panda and the rest of us collaborated to draw a picture of the Nyan Nyan Cat. The Nyan Cat is this viral website featuring a cat non-stop singing. Similar to badger badger badger. No worries there are no viruses in the above links.

M and TanGuy shared the Triple Bypass 12 Egg Omlette ($20.75 + $1.50). You need to add on an additional $1.50 per person sharing the dish. This dish is so huge that it needs to be served on a pizza tray. Inside the triple Bypass are bacon , sausage, ham, double swiss and double american cheese. The egg is folded up and placed onto a bed of bottomless hash browns. Then you also get 2 pieces of toast on top. You also have ketchup, tabasco sauce, salt and pepper to season your omelette if needed.

The girls wanted in on this 12 egg omelette, so the 3 of us ordered the Makin’ Bacon 12 egg omelette ($17.25 +$1.50 +$1.50). this was also massive! It had mass amounts of bacon, sour cream, tomatoes and swiss cheese.

Eating this was quite interesting, I started off with 1/4 of the omelette was a piece of cake, then I ate the hash browns and I started feeling the barrier. The hardest and most filling item is not the omelette, but the hash browns! If you really want to finish the whole 12 egg omelette, your best bet would be to finish the eggs first and then dig into the hash browns.

Just be warned, there is no reward for finishing the entire omelette. It says specifically on the menu to stop people to attempt the hard challenge. The only reward you will get is self satisfaction and bloating. As all women know, feeling bloated is not a good feeling. If you plan to attempt this, make sure you walk around for a few hours to burn it all off.

Overall, it was a great experience and the omelette was actually tasty! I would eat this again if I was in Seattle!

Words of Wisdom:

Try their famous 6 or 12 egg omelettes
Best HashBrowns EVER (Never Frozen)
Psych yourself up by watching Man v. Food (episode about Seattle)
Open 24 hours

We Rate Beth’s Cafe:

Address:

7311 Aurora Ave N
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.bethscafe.com

In Four Beakers

Pike Place Chowder: Award Winning Chowder

April 26, 2011

As we were around Pike Place, there was one place I had to check out – Pike Place Chowder. Nicolb highly recommended this place, so we were basically anticipating their Clam Chowder all day.

Pike Place Chowder is in Post Alley – perpendicular to Pike St. On a nice sunny Friday, this place was packed for lunch. All the tables were taken up and there was a long line up. Pike Place Chowder was voted to have the best Clam Chowder in Seattle, so there really wasn’t any surprise.

They sell more than just Chowder. They also sell sandwiches and salads. Since it is called Pike Place Chowder, can you guess which item is most popular? Of course, Chowders! Since it was their specialty, we all ordered their famous chowders.

You can have their chowder in a cup or add $3 to have it served in a sourdough bowl.

Since the area where they sell their chowder is quite small, they make their chowder elsewhere. If you walk a few more steps into the building, you can find their kitchen. You can see them in action making their delicious chowder.

M ordered the Clam Chowder ($10). He got it in the Sourdough bowl. The Clam Chowder was very delicious and the only words that came out of M’s mouth was “Epic”. Thats how he would describe this soup. There was lots of clams in this! The sour dough bread definitely accentuated the deliciousness of the creamy chowder. M loved dipping the top bread and when there was only a bit of soup left, M made a Chowder mini sandwich.

I ordered the Seafood Bisque ($7). I also got it in a bowl since you really can’t enjoy this without the bowl. It had a lot of shrimp, cod and salmon. The soup is made up of their creamy tomato basil broth. It was very good and flavourful! One of the best I have ever had! I even devoured most of the bowl since it worked really well together. If you ate the bread by itself, it really would not be as good. The combination of the sourdough and the chowder makes this dish amazing. I highly recommend getting the bread bowl with this dish!

Words of Wisdom:

Get the Bread Bowl, best extra 3 dollars spent!
Go there in unorthodox times such as 2-4 for lunch/dinner to avoid standing!
Buy to go, if possible.

We Rate Pike Place Chowder:

Address:

1530 Post Alley
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.pikeplacechowder.com

In Bakery

Le Panier: Very French Bakery

April 26, 2011

Every time I’m in Seattle at Pike Place, I must have my dose of Le Panier! They are most famous for their macarons and croissants. I also have a crazy obsession for their cookies. Since we were in the area, we decided to take a look and buy a few goodies.

It is usually quite busy with lines close to the door.

They have a lot of bread and different types of croissants.

Lots of cookies and pies!

Of course, there are macarons! Fabo ordered one of each macaron ($1.50 USD). They come in many flavors – Chocolate, raspberry, coffee, vanilla, lemon, pistachio and orange. I had these in the past and they were so good! Probably one of my all time favorite places for macarons.

There are also other pies and cookies that are packaged. It’s great for gifts and to bring back home. I got a package of mini hazelnut cookies to bring back for my parents (~$5 USD). These were all finished within a day! It had large chunks of hazelnuts and I really just love their texture and the satisfying way they crumble with every bite.

I also ordered all of their cookies they had that day.

Sable Chocolat ($1.75 USD)

Sable Noisette ($1.75 USD)

Sable Duo Chocolat ($1.75 USD)

Sable is the french term for their Butter Cookies. They all have a nice crumbly texture and is by far the best cookie I have ever had. My favorite is still the Sable Chocolat because it has both chocolate chips and hazelnuts integrated into a butter cookie.

Overall, all the items at Le Panier are really good! Their Danishs were also very good!

Words of Wisdom:

Macarons and cookies are a must!
Long Lines
No parking

We Rate Le Panier:

Address:

1902 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.lepanier.com

In Brunch

Toulouse Petit: $7 Breakfast Happy Hour

April 25, 2011

I love watching the “Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the Food Network. The first thing we did in Seattle was visit Toulouse Petit for their cheap Happy Hour breakfast. Melissa d’Arabian, the host of Food Network’s Ten Dollar Dinners said her favorite “bang for the buck” meal was at Toulouse Petit for their Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash.

Arriving 5 minutes before they opened, there was already a line up. We quickly parked across the street and I was amused at how the parking receipts had to be stuck on the inside of the windows.

It is quite easy to pass by Toulouse Petit without noticing it, but when you see the green building and this board, you are at the right place.

The max capacity is 176 people, but it fills up fairly quickly when everyone want to devour their Happy Hour Breakfast. After 5 minutes of opening, every table was filled and there were people waiting for tables! The interior is very old and outdated. The lamps are quite eerie as they hang off the ceilings.

The menu is quite large and everything is $7 USD unless noted on the menu. A lot of the items are quite different from what you would find at usual brunch places in Vancouver. It took us a while to figure out what to get, because of all the choices.

I got the green tea ($3.50 USD) and everyone else needed a caffeine fix so they got the press coffee ($~3 USD)

Fabo and TanGuy both ordered the Creme Caramel French Toast ($7 USD). It has nice thick slices of toast drizzled with caramel with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar. You can also add a side of meat or eggs for an additional $3.00. Fabo and TanGuy both thought the eggs and the meat were for free since the waitress asked so casually if they wanted it, so they said yes. Fabo asked if it came with the meal and she heard the waitress say yes, but later when the bill came, the waitress seemed a bit annoyed and said very firmly that she did indeed say no.

M loves his meatloaf so he ordered the Cajun Meatloaf and eggs with Tasso Gravy ($7). It comes with hashbrowns, eggs, gravy and 2 large pieces of meatloaf.

Even though it says Cajun, it wasn’t spicy at all. M really loved it and he dubbed this the best breakfast he has ever had. The meatloaf had a nice texture, and the potatoes were finely covered in cajun powder.

BusanGirl and I shared the Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash ($7 USD). The pork cheek had a nice smokey flavour and it is very flavourful when you start chewing on it. There is also some potatoes in it as well. It is topped off with an egg.

It’s a very simple dish but the flavours were really incredible.

BusanGirl and I also shared the Rustic Duck and Pistachio Terrine ($7 USD). It comes with hash and 2 poached eggs. I’ve never had a terrine before, but it’s basically a meatloaf. It was wrapped in bacon and you can clearly see the pistachio inside. The bacon added a nice salty texture and the pistachio nuts added some nutty flavour to the meatloaf. I really like it because it was different and was incorporated together very nicely.

Overall, we all had a great time. We were all so surprised how cheap the meal was! Great price, great meal! One thing that could be improved was the service.

As our meal ended, we headed off to more food adventures, as well as sightseeing!

Words of Wisdom:

Arrive Early
Cured Pork Cheeks Confit Hash Featured on Food Network
$7 Breakfast Happy hour (Weekday 9am – 11am)

We Rate Toulouse Petit:

Address:

601 Queen Anne Ave. N.
Seattle, WA

Website:
www.toulousepetit.com

In Fast Food

Jack In the Box: Crossing the Border

April 25, 2011

A few friends and I decided to go away to Seattle for a little bit of sightseeing, shopping and of course FOOD! After leaving the house at 4am, we got to the border at 5am to encounter a 45 min line up. We sat waiting in the car sipping on canned coffee and eating Koala crackers. After we crossed the border, we all got really hungry and decided to head to Jack In the Box!

Jack In the Box is an American Fast Food Chain… similar to McDs. It’s basically located at most highway exits.

What is great about US fast food chains is how they have to inform their customers about how many calories are in each item. Even though it is awesome, you do get a horrible feeling knowing how many calories is in the item you order. It made me want to order the item that had the least calories.

Everyone had Minute Maid orange juice with their meal. All you do is stab your straw in the center. M was not that smart, so he opened it up like a milk carton. I guess it was too early for his brain to function. Later he told me he was just lazy to get a straw.

M ordered the Sausage Croissant Combo ($3.75USD) with 855 – 990 calories.

He loved the croissant bun with the yummy sausage patty. The hash browns come in little sticks. Very delicious and its not even comparable to Mc Donalds. M is a huge fan of Jack in the Box, lunch items, and this was his first time eating their breakfast menu.

Fabo and BusanGirl shared the Grilled Breakfast Sandwich Combo ($4.49 USD) with 885 – 1020 calories. DAMN! Thats a lot of calories. They asked them to cut the sandwich in half and it was no problem. The sandwich was actually quite large, so it was no problem sharing between 2 people.

I ordered the Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Biscuit ($2.39 USD) with 570 calories. Told you I was tempted to find something with the lowest calories. This biscuit was way better than Mc Donalds Buttermilk biscuits! It held together firmly and did not crumble. The sausage was so good because it was just saturated with fat and all that yummy goodness.