seattle Archives - Page 2 of 2

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 The interior is very old and outdated.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 Bellingham

Olive Garden (Bellingham)

January 24, 2011

On our way to Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham, we got quite hungry and decided to find some American food. CanuckGIrl, TaiwaneseGirl and I wanted to check it out, so on our way we went.

One thing I couldn’t help noticing was their chairs on wheels. In my head I thought “Only in America would they have rolley chairs for their people”. I’m sure it’s convenient to get in and out of the eat but…looking around the room, I only saw people of large sizes in the room where we were seated. I know…I shouldn’t think or judge.

They had their regular menu and they also has 9 seasonal dishes.

Since the Sampler Italiano ($11.25) looked very good in their menu, we decided to get it with 3 different choices. We could choose from calamari, stuffed mushrooms, fried zucchini, chicken fingers, fried mozzarella or toasted beef and pork ravioli.

We chose the fried mozzarella, toasted beef + pork ravioli and calamari. There was a mix up with the kitchen and they gave us mushrooms instead of mozzarella, they just gave us both! This dish also came with tomato sauce and ranch.

At first sight, you know these were frozen and just fried/heated up. We still enjoyed it.

With our main courses, we got bread.

We also got our choice of soup or salad. TaiwaneseGirl got the soup which I think was some cream soup. You can also add cheese to the soup too. Instead of the waiters offering salt and pepper, it’s cheese!

CancuckGirl and I got the salad. I came in a huge communal bowl. The salad had lettuce, onions , tomatoes, olives, jalapeno peppers, parmesan , and croutons.

CancuckGirl got the Chicken Alfredo ($11.95), it has grilled chicken tossed with fettuccine and fresh alfredo sauce.

TaiwaneseGirl got the Seafood Alfredo ($12.95), it has sautéed shrimp and scallops tossed with creamy fettuccine alfredo.

I ordered out of their seasonal menu and got the Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo ($17.25). It has balsamic glazed beef medallions served over fettucini in spinach and gorgonzola alfredo sauce.

I was already full by the time it got to the entrees. This dish is certainly super fatty and oily! I asked for the beef to be medium rare, but it came up done. It’s quite expensive too.

In the end, we all couldn’t finish the dishes, so we packed our food and headed to the mall.

Words of Wisdom:

Stay in Canada, Anton’s pasta surely beats Olive Garden
We have one in Langley, not need to cross the borders
Quite expensive

We rate Olive Garden:

Website: http://www.olivegarden.com/

Address:

4276 Meridian St
Bellingham, WA

In Lynnwood

Yogu San

January 23, 2011

On the way to Blaine to pick up some parcel (Yes I’m Canadian and Im cheap). TaiwaneseGirl, CanuckGirl and I stopped at Bellis Fair Mall to look around. This mall is about 1 hour away from Vancouver and you know it’s Bellis Fair Mall when half the parking lot is filled with people from BC.

We were just passing by and the shop Yogu san caught my eye. They have a cute little yogurt character as their logo and it just looked so cute.

They even have other items in the store to sell besides frozen yogurt.

They sell frozen yogurt, smoothies and other drinks. All items are under $6.

I got the small green tea with kiwis and strawberries ($3.50 + $1.25 = $4.75). I found the size of small like a medium. They do say “everything is bigger in America”. Perhaps it is. Even though this was green tea flavour,it really didn’t taste too much like green tea. No green color either. I guess that is fine because it still tasted good.