I love going up to Seattle: the city has a great vibe and their food scene has got it going on. A great blend of culture, incredible ingredients and a culture of collaboration has them pushing out some amazing dishes. The only downside, for me, is that I’m up for work, and not getting the chance to eat as much as I’d like to 😂😂😂 I really need to come up here just for a break.
I got up there in the late afternoon on a Sunday, so the only natural thing to do was to head down towards Pike Place Market to The Tasting Room to test out some Washington wines. Sadly, despite the sign broadcasting itself as a ‘great place to try local wines’ it didn’t deliver on that. Most of the wine was European & Californian. That being said, there was 1 Washington white by the glass: a reisling by Sparkmam Cellars. This is not my drink of choice but my helpful barman convinced me to have a taste and he was right ‘it’s not your typical reisling’. It was really good. Even though I was disappointed with the selection of local wine, it’s a really nice space with great staff. I can see why people were queuing to get a space.
After that I headed back to my neighbourhood to grab some dinner, but promptly got distracted by The Cursed Oak. A great selection of gins to try (significantly more whiskey if your a whisky fan) and nice looking food. The staff and clientele were really friendly, giving me the inside scoop on where to go in the city.
I usually use my trusty @wherechefseat book for guidance in a new city, and Seattle is no exception. This book never steered me wrong! While I don’t use it for all my choices, I usually incorporate at least 1 or 2. So I had to try Dick’s Drive- In, the Seattle In n Out. It’s a nice little burger, but it is little!! I felt like I was having a happy meal, which probably serves me right, because I should have been going and testing some pho that I had meant to hit up last time I was in town!
I finally made it here!! This sort of place brings me serious joy. It kind of looks like a dive bar version of a restaurant and is knocking out some seriously delicious pho. I opted for a tofu & veggie as I was feeling a serious vegetables deficiency (of my own making, no reflection on Seattle) but because I’m NOT veggie, I added a side of prawn summer rolls. Totally not needed, would 100% do it again.
The pho is seriously good. The broth is super light and full of flavour. I didn’t even feel like I was missing anything not having meat.
Wow!!! A menu full of surprise and delight of deliciousness!!! Luckily I went with someone who is a sharer because it is really hard to narrow down what to choose. I’m pretty happy with the choices we made though:
- Tomato- nectarine salad
- Wild sea scallops
- Octopus
- Brussel sprouts
Every dish was amazing. They all brought something slightly unusual about it that just worked!
The tomato nectarine had this hint of smokiness, and these full on croutons. Normally I’m not big on croutons but these soaked up the juice and still held their own flavour.
The scallops themselves were fat & juicy with the sweetness heightened by the cauliflower purée. But the highlight with this was the contrast of the chili pops in it.
The octopus. Man the octopus!! Cooked to perfection: crisp outside with a juicy inside. I seriously love octopus. They put it with this ink infused rice that had secret nuggets of chorizo. Yeah! What a combination!
Brussels. Can you go wrong with these anymore? Cooked very well, but it was the anchovies and bit of peppers in here that transformed this from another Brussels dish.
These guys operate a collaborative kitchen and it is shown clearly in their dishes. I also love that it’s a woman-led restaurant.
Sushi is a must in Seattle. The fish is so good, and there are an abundance of good places to choose from. I tested out Umi Sake house this trip, and it was a good choice. Less traditional sushi house than previous visits, more sushi-chic. My waitress kindly stopped me over ordering (I don’t normally allow myself to be stopped, but was trying to be good). They have lots of great daily specials and an extensive list of normal and speciality rolls.
I am a sushi traditionalist at heart, but every now and then push myself to try one of the crazy speciality options. I was honestly so tired by this point I couldn’t tell you exactly what I ordered. But it was spicy and had a citrus accent to it. Interesting. Tasty. A little flavour overwhelming for a traditionalist but nice. Reminded me of some of the combos from Brazil.
The great thing about heading up to Seattle for work is I know I get great food and I find the prices better than LA. What I really need is a visit up there not work related, there’s some neighbourhood I am dying to check out. Next time.
Jilltopia 