Seattle Restaurant Week 2013: Lunch at the Steelhead Diner

Seattle Restaurant Week ran this fall from October 13th-17th and the 20th-24th. I went out twice the first week, once for lunch and once for dinner, and one time for dinner during the second week. If you don’t know, restaurant week gives you the opportunity to have a 3 course lunch or dinner (respectively $15 or $28) at a number of Seattle/Bellevue/etc. area restaurants. It’s a great chance to try a new, high-quality restaurant for a very reasonable price. The last thing that I cannot stress enough about restaurant week is that YOU NEED RESERVATIONS. Even for lunch. There may be certain restaurants where you do not, but if you have your heart set on going somewhere, check it at least a week in advance. Many of them allow you to reserve Via Yelp/OpenTable which I’ve had no problems with and which is my favorite way to reserve.

All 3 that I visited had great options for all the courses and very generous portions. But first, I’m going to talk about the Steelhead Diner. First, the menu. There were 3 options for each of the 3 courses, and I chose the tater tots, the pasta, and the pear crisp bar. I do kind of regret not choosing the sandwich for the second course, because it sounded really interesting and the pasta was such a large portion that, while delicious, it was impossible for me to finish.

The restaurant itself is located right over from the Pike Place Market which makes parking obnoxious, but which makes for a pretty view if you have a window seat.

 

We were given bread and herbed butter to start.

 

 

The crab and shrimp tater tots came with a great celery leaf salad garnish and a pretty good sauce, considering I am not an “add sauce to everything” kind of person. Also, note the adorable plates that go with the fly fishing theme.

 

The next course for me was the pasta, which was a trenne with mushrooms, cheese, and roasted cauliflower. As I mentioned, the portion was huge so I couldn’t finish it, but it was a very good pasta dish.

 

The absolute BEST part of this meal was the pear crisp. But while we waited for dessert, I had my friend try to get some sneaky decor pictures of the flies in the glass case next to where we were seated.

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And now for the dessert! As I mentioned, it was a pear crisp with hazelnut streusel and vanilla icing. It also had the best whipped cream I’ve ever tried, which was so thick and flavorful that it tasted like vanilla ice cream.

 

Overall, I would definitely go back to the Steelhead Diner.

 

Restaurant Week returns Spring 2014, and if you have the opportunity, go for it!

Post and photos by: Melissa

 

Alki Beach and Me-Kwa-Mooks Park (+lunch at Bada Bistro)

After seeing a photo gallery on the Seattle Times website about Me-Kwa-Mooks Park I went there with my mom. We love the area and when I was younger I went to school nearby. it was a beautiful day, not too warm, not too cool, and just right for wearing shorts and a sweater on the beach. We also had lunch at Bada Bistro, across from Alki Beach, which is sandy and very nice on hot days, but can get crowded.

We found a crab at Me-Kwa-Mooks!

 

We also found a sea star (starfish, if you’re not being proper.)

 

And a rock full of fish eggs.

 

Such a pretty, rocky beach!

 

 

 

We also found Lady Liberty hanging out at Alki, brought to you by the boy scouts.

 

 

 

Now onto lunch!

 

 

We split some happy hour items and a burger, because we love trying as many things as possible for a good price. We had the gourmet burger, (with bacon. it was amazing), the calamari, the salad and the truffle fries. It was all delicious and very reasonably priced as we split everything and still had calamari to bring home.

 

 

 

 

Hope you’re enjoying summer, and getting out to the beaches if you’re on the coast or near the water and you enjoy the sort of thing.

Post and photos by: Melissa

Bite of Seattle 2013 & Olympic Sculpture Park, plus some Chihuly

This weekend is the bite of Seattle. Naturally this means I’m quite excited and had to partake in the festivities. Twice. Once on Friday and once on Saturday. I highly recommend going to the Bite of Seattle, or any other “bite” type activity you have in your area, as it’s a great way to enjoy a variety of foods from the area at a reasonable price. In my case I went to “the alley“, which is the event’s largest fundraiser, donating the money to Food Lifeline, a local charity. The menu is different on all 3 days, so I posted a link to it above (“the alley” link) but I’ll explain as I show you the food below. But first, the Space Needle. You can also see the fountain spraying water below the Space Needle, which is a fun attraction especially for children as they try to run away before they get wet.

Friday:

From the yellow rice, clockwise, and then the middle:

Far-Eats: Tender chicken morsels simmered in an aromatic sauce with herbs & spices then slowly baked with basmati rice until flavors blend
Dahlia Lounge: Ginger pork salad with blueberries, mint and chilies
O’Asian Kitchen and Lounge: Baked Barbecue Pork Pastry
Purple Cafe: Summer Quinoa Salad
Din Tai Fung: Veggie & pork wonton with spicy sauce
Yippie-Pie-Yay: Peach-Bourbon Hand Pie
Belltown Pub: Chicken & Seafood Gumbo

I really liked everything, except for the Belltown Pub’s gumbo. However, if you like extremely smoky flavors, you might have liked it. My favorite was the Dahlia Lounge’s ginger pork – it was amazing. Another favorite was the wonton from Din Tai Fung. Fortunately, the wonton was served on both days that I visited.

Saturday:

From the bun, clockwise:

Local 360: Root beer glazed pork belly
Palace Kitchen: Slow cooked brisket, blueberry BBQ, sweet corn pudding & blueberry pickles
O’Asian Kitchen and Lounge: Baked Barbecue Pork Pastry
PinkaBella Cupcakes: Root beer float cupcake
Din Tai Fung: Veggie & pork wonton with spicy sauce
Shanik: Roasted spiced eggplant, squash & tomatoes with crispy wheat flatbread
Salty’s on Alki: Fresh Oregon BayShrimp Cocktail with marinated local vegetable slaw finished with a house-made cocktail

The brisket was amazing, (and of course blueberries are my favorite food) and the shrimp cocktail and spiced veggies on flatbread were respectively fresh and nicely seasoned. The root beer float cupcake was delicious, though very heavy on the frosting, to the point that it fell over in my corn. But it was still good!

After we left the bite we walked around the area, and ended up at the Olympic sculpture park where there were a few interesting pieces that I hadn’t seen before, and a few I think I just haven’t taken a close look at before. We also wandered by a new Chihuly piece which was visible from the walkway. They reminded me of Dr. Suess flowers.

Metal tree!

Eyeball chair! As demonstrated by lady with stroller.

The infamous naked fountain, though the other figure is obscured by water.

I’m told that this sculpture is fashioned after an old-timey eraser with a brush on the end. I thought it was some kind of sea creature…

Temporary art installation:

And the flowers.

Post and photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Nine (Tallahassee: Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Park)

I decided to take my parents to Wakulla Springs on their last day here, because it was a sunny day and the last time I had attempted to take it in it had started pouring rain as soon as we got on the trail. It turned out to be a great decision because we saw plenty of turtles, alligators, and even got a chance to see manatees in the wild! This is what I’d been hoping to show my parents all along, so I’m glad we all got a chance to experience it together. If you go to Wakulla Springs, I STRONGLY recommend taking the river boat tour. It’s reasonably priced and without it you most likely will have a very difficult time spotting anything. the glass bottom boat tour wasn’t running when we went, because of “dark water” but we still saw plenty. I highly recommend visiting this park. Also, you will get to see the untouched “real” Florida if you take the tour (from the boat), at the end of the stretch of spring where people are allowed to go, and where they only visit a few times a year. The first and third movies in The Creature of the Black Lagoon series were filmed here, as well as Tarzan. If you’re going to take the trail anytime in the spring/summer, wear bug spray! I got many mosquito bites. We did see some lizards though.

We even got to see a turtle on our way into the park, crossing the street! The car you see in the sign above contained people that also stopped to admire the turtle.

There is also a swimming area, a beach-y place to lay about in the sun, and a lodge with a soda shop (for milkshakes, hot dogs, etc.) and a real restaurant where we chose to eat lunch.

Here’s the menu:

We got the Chicken Caesar salad, Po Boy shrimp sandwich, and the grilled shrimp salad.

Everything was great! My parents agreed the shrimp was very fresh and I thought my salad was great too. The lodge also offers lodging (imagine that) and beer/wine. Anyway, highly recommended, and a great way to end my parent’s visit.

Post & photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Eight Part Two (Traveling & Tallahassee: Dade Historic Battlefield State Park & Momo’s pizza)

On our way up through central Florida to Tallahassee we came across Dade Historic Battlefield State Park. Not knowing that this had nothing to do with the civil war, an interest of my dad’s, we stopped in. We quickly learned that this park was focused on the history of the battle that started the Second Seminole War. Having just graduated from Florida State University, (for which the mascot is the Seminoles) I figured this was a great opportunity to learn a bit about this event.

 

AND! After a long drive back to Tallahassee we ended up at Momo’s pizza, where I got a huge slice with pepperoni, sausage and bacon. Gosh I love pizza.

Post & photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Eight Part One (Tampa: Lettuce Lake park, Bangkok Jazz)

On day eight we headed out early from our hotel and over to Lettuce Lake Park, where I had heard we could possibly see alligators. And we did! We spotted two small alligators over the course of the boardwalk, about 3 feet in length, in different spots. We also saw a large variety of birds and at least one turtle.

 

Do you see the gators in the next two pictures?

After that we went to lunch at Bangkok Thai. I ordered the fried rice, and we also got a steak salad and a seafood dish. Mine was the best of the bunch. The Thai iced tea was also delicious and very refreshing before we started our drive back north toward Tallahassee. It was located in a cute pink building, called a victorian village.

Our lunch also came with soup.

Bangkok jazz also has live music once a week, check them out online.

Post & photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Seven Part Two (Tampa: Columbia Restaurant, St. Petersburg Beach & Samurai Blue)

After the zoo, we headed to Ybor City for lunch at Columbia Restaurant. It was delicious! We decided to go with the tapas platter (3 to split) and order 2 desserts (key lime pie and bread pudding.)

Here’s the menu, it has so many pages! Sorry if they’re a bit hard to read. =/

First, we were greeted with warm Cuban bread and delicious butter.

Above us was the balcony.

Our three tapas choices (above) were the Devil Crab Croquettes, Stuffed Poquillo Peppers and Shrimp Supreme (I believe? we were between the two shrimp choices.) All were good, but my favorite were the peppers. they were very cheesy and had chorizo inside. We just had water but the sangria pitchers looked great. We followed this with the key lime pie (super refreshing and great) and the bread pudding (which was very large, sweet, and flavorful without tasting too much like rum for my taste.)

Then we went to St. Petersburg Beach. It was quite a drive, but not too far for a nice beach on a warm day. We passed the Don CeSar Beach Hotel and parked a ways away, then walked down to it and back. Such a pretty, big building! It looked like a lovely place to stay.

There were lots of shells and some were inhabited.

And of course, bread-hungry birds.

Then we went back into Ybor City for dinner at Samurai Blue, which I would say might’ve been my favorite meal of the whole trip. If this place was around where I lived I would go here often. Everything here was delicious. The prices were also great especially considering the amount and quality of the food.

It has an industrial, old-warehouse kind of feel with brick walls inside, but the interior is also quite modern and nicely done. They have a sushi bar, separate sushi menu, and full bar inside.

We got the calamari and blue crab rangoon hot starters and they were both great but the sauce on the crab was amazing.

We also split the cucumber, seafood salad. I LOVED this salad and I am not a salad kind of girl.

For main dishes my parents split two sushi rolls and I had the amazing Tokyo Beef Short Ribs. The hibachi rice underneath was possibly the best fried rice I’ve ever had, and I love fried rice.

RIBS!

We walked around the square afterward.

We discovered the Tampa Bay Brewing Company and I thought I’d just mention them and their beers.

I hope you enjoyed! If you’re in the area and like Japanese food at all, DEFINITELY stop in Samurai Blue (either location is probably great.) I was very impressed and they were very friendly.

Post & photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Seven Part One (Tampa: Lowry Park Zoo)

This post was a tad too long, so I’m splitting it into two. I decided to make two posts because when I was looking at the pictures for this day, I had over 100 I wanted to use and that seemed like way too many! This first part will feature the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, and the second part will focus on the Columbia Restaurant (lunch), St. Petersburg Beach and Samurai Blue (dinner.) Enjoy the zoo (I know we did!)

As you first come into the Lowry Park Zoo, make sure to keep your receipt handy as the lady at the desk needs to view it before admitting you. Snag a map, or use their Zoo Map app (I opted for the paper copy.) There was a lady with a green snake standing at the entrance, which was a fun introduction to the zoo. Off to the right, there was an enclosure with many different birds and of course the ever-present wild squirrel which is everywhere in northern and central Florida as far as I’ve experienced. Squirrels love the zoo too. A few things of note about this zoo: Voted #1 zoo for children/families by a parenting magazine (can’t remember which one), has several opportunities for direct animal contact/interaction/feeding, and has rides for the children as well. I think these features make it a very unique and fun zoo. If you go early-ish (we were there before 10) the animals are all fairly active as well, even in the sun.

Then we saw the warty pigs, which made me happy. I also feel bad for them for having such an unappealing name. They’re more hairy than warty, and pretty cute.

My dad and I agreed these birds look like college professors. Let me take a moment to apologize that this post will mostly be pictures. Hope you don’t mind!

I fed this guy some nectar from a cup.

These lizards were everywhere in the zoo! Something very unique to this particular zoo, Lowry Park, is the amount of wildlife that is included, including various random wild lizards, squirrels, and birds throughout the zoo and its enclosures. I really liked that it seemed like a very natural setting.

They also had a lot of zoo babies. Here are a few: baby elephant and baby pygmy hippo!!

I do apologize to the lady above for catching her looking at the koala… Oh well. This glass was so reflective.

if you know anything about me by now, you probably know I love goats. And zoos that let you pet/feed them, which I did!

And the Florida black bear.

Such big alligators!

The main attraction for me was the manatees. Here’s my very first manatee viewing (in person.)

I also love seahorses.

I think there were a couple kinds of rays in the enclosure. You could feed these guys if you wanted to, which was another thing I liked about this zoo. They had plenty of opportunities for you to interact with the animals (my mom fed the giraffe and on some weekends you can feed and touch the rhino.) These guys were so funny to watch. They would sometimes splash you as they swam by and you could reach in and touch them, like in the aquarium.

And what zoo is complete without pony rides?

And now, finally, I can’t remember what this guy was exactly… but he basically had a heart on his chest. And I thought that was too cute not to show y’all.

Post & photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Six (Tampa: Oakley’s Grille)

Sorry I’ve been slacking on blog posts! Just been very tired, a little bit under the weather, and busy. But I’m here to finish up the last 4 blog posts from the trip for you now.

On this day we really didn’t accomplish much, as we got up late-ish and had a bit of getting ready to do (and catching up from our previous day of excitement) before we got to driving to Tampa. Today was mostly full of driving, and then having a quick but nice dinner at Oakley’s Grille by our hotel in “New Tampa” and then swimming in the evening, and enjoying the hotel’s promise of free ice cream.

I had the bacon cheeseburger, plain, with pepperjack cheese. Sorry it looks so plain, but it was juicy and delicious.

All burgers come separately from sides, so we split a basket of sweet potato fries.

My parents also shared a burger and a fish sandwich (the blackened tilapia)

This was painted on the wall and I liked it.

Sorry the post is so short! To make up for it you will get WAY more than enough in the next few, so don’t worry. I’m off to make them now!

Post & photos by: Melissa

Post-classes: Vacation Day Five (Tallahassee: Graduation, El Tapatio & Kool Beanz)

I graduated! PROOF:

I am now a master of science.

None of us really ate breakfast this morning (as we frantically raced toward the civic center instead), but we did have lunch at El Tapatio, which I enjoyed. Both times I’ve been there I got the carne asada and was not disappointed.

I also tried to show my parents around Lake Ella, but it started raining. We got in a look at some food trucks that happened to be there, as well as the rose garden by the church.

The main attraction of the day for me was a well-deserved graduation dinner at Kool Beanz, my favorite Tallahassee spot. My hints: get there early and be prepared to wait. Fortunately we spent time at a local boutique, Cole Couture, while we waited for our table. I also forgot that Kool Beanz always gives you delicious bread and butter before your meal. The bread is so crusty and the butter is so creamy, I could eat the whole basket.

My mom and I each also had a glass of wine.

We had the clam appetizer, the spring salad, and the two pasta dishes at the bottom (the crawfish and the scallops/shrimp.) It was ALL amazing but we couldn’t pass up dessert.

Lastly, the dessert menu and our chosen dessert (the smoky bacon brownie!)

Sorry the picture is dark, it was getting late! This was wonderfully unique and smoky and delicious.

Post & photos by: Melissa