The family returned to Tutta Bella today and while I didn't really eat anything other than my trusty diet coke, the meal is worth blogging about because both guys loved and I mean LOVED the meatball appetizer. If I don't blog it, we'll never remember. The Critic got a Costanzo pizza which included Italian sausage, prosciutto, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, and a red sauce -- tasty by all three Guys standards (though the Big Guy took a lot of that stuff off and even FIT didn't like the basil). No pictures but we'll definitely go back as a family now that we know it meets The Big Guy's seal of picky approval.
Most fun are the Wiki Sticks they give the kids. The Big Guy made a fetching pair of glasses. There are pics, but I don't post faces on here, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Ten Mercer
Two dinners out in a week! Who are we? The old us? Too much fun!
Once again it is Seattle Restaurant Week. I think they have these twice a year but sometimes it feels like the "One Day Only" sale at Macy's... you know, the one that is only Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... at which point does that sale become the "every day sale"? That's how I feel about restaurant week.
This time The Critic and I each picked 4 restaurants we were interested in. From there, I copied their menu plan for the restaurant week website and removed the names (and any incriminating evidence like, oh, say, the Ten Mercer salad). From there, we made our decision. And Ten Mercer it was!
First up was the menu perusal. As usual for me, I opted to NOT do the restaurant week menu choice and instead go my own route. I do this nearly every restaurant week -- they lure me in with their $30 3-course (which used to be $24 as I recall) and then I realize that for about the same cost I can get two courses that I'd prefer to eat, usually scallops, and have a bite or two of The Critic's dessert since I rarely want a whole dessert and would rather have my "dessert" in the way of side dishes. My Ten Mercer experience is the poster child for this particular scenario.
The wild boar ribs were one of the things that intrigued us most and they ended up not being listed on the Restaurant Week menu, so I ordered them as an appetizer anyway. Pretty funny that what got us in the door was the only low-spot of the night. They were really tough. The dry rub was really sweet which was odd and most of them were lucky to deliver a sliver of meat. Also they weren't cut individually, which made them nearly impossible to eat since they were nearly impossible to cut. We, like McKayla, were not impressed. They came on top of some form of starch that I didn't note so it must not have been that great either. But something in my memory makes me think it was at least better than the ribs -- not hard to do that. In retrospect, we should have gone with the pancetta wrapped prawn and asparagus we had been considering. Even saw it on the table next to us and it looked delicious.
Next up... The Critic's Potato Leek Soup. It was fine... nothing stands out. It is about as memorable as a potato and leek soup ever is.
For my main dish, I had the scallops. I know! I'm as shocked as you are. They were cooked perfectly and served on a parsnip puree that was quite tasty. Had these tasty friccos that made The Critic say "Fa-REEK-o!" every few minutes that were fun as well. It was a good dish.
The Critic ordered a steak. No one ever asked how he wanted it cooked yet it was done perfectly -- fried onions on top, a red wine demi glace as well. Even some blue cheese crumbles. Very traditional steak house flavors with a bit of a modern twist. It was also a good dish.
Also ordered were two side dishes. This was a bit daunting for me because I have found my ideal recipes for these two dishes and have since found them done REALLY well and REALLY badly... Polenta and spatzle are like a box of chocolates. So I asked and was assured they were done well. So I ordered both simply because I couldn't decide which one to try.
The polenta was good, though it had some flaws. It had too much rosemary for both of us and too much pepper for The Critic -- I found it was fine as long as I added salt, which it needed. In the end it was finished, so it couldn't have been too bad. The spatzle was the best thing on the table this night. I'm sure a lot of that had to do it being fried in bacon fat. Let's just say it hardly fits on the 1200 calorie eating plan but was worth it in droves. Still, its one fault was again lack of salt. It's okay -- lack of salt I can correct! I would go back to this restaurant just for that side dish.
Finally, dessert. It was chocolatey and caramely and good (though we think we might have been missing one or two elements based on other tables around us).
The only other thing we remember about the restaurant was that it was COLD which is kind of unusual for the warmth that our fall has brought this year.
Ah, Ten Mercer. I think we earned our snob status at this particular place. The chances aren't great that we will return any time soon. But I'm glad we got to see you strut your stuff! Until (approximately) next week, Seattle Restaurant week.
Once again it is Seattle Restaurant Week. I think they have these twice a year but sometimes it feels like the "One Day Only" sale at Macy's... you know, the one that is only Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... at which point does that sale become the "every day sale"? That's how I feel about restaurant week.
This time The Critic and I each picked 4 restaurants we were interested in. From there, I copied their menu plan for the restaurant week website and removed the names (and any incriminating evidence like, oh, say, the Ten Mercer salad). From there, we made our decision. And Ten Mercer it was!
First up was the menu perusal. As usual for me, I opted to NOT do the restaurant week menu choice and instead go my own route. I do this nearly every restaurant week -- they lure me in with their $30 3-course (which used to be $24 as I recall) and then I realize that for about the same cost I can get two courses that I'd prefer to eat, usually scallops, and have a bite or two of The Critic's dessert since I rarely want a whole dessert and would rather have my "dessert" in the way of side dishes. My Ten Mercer experience is the poster child for this particular scenario.
The wild boar ribs were one of the things that intrigued us most and they ended up not being listed on the Restaurant Week menu, so I ordered them as an appetizer anyway. Pretty funny that what got us in the door was the only low-spot of the night. They were really tough. The dry rub was really sweet which was odd and most of them were lucky to deliver a sliver of meat. Also they weren't cut individually, which made them nearly impossible to eat since they were nearly impossible to cut. We, like McKayla, were not impressed. They came on top of some form of starch that I didn't note so it must not have been that great either. But something in my memory makes me think it was at least better than the ribs -- not hard to do that. In retrospect, we should have gone with the pancetta wrapped prawn and asparagus we had been considering. Even saw it on the table next to us and it looked delicious.
Next up... The Critic's Potato Leek Soup. It was fine... nothing stands out. It is about as memorable as a potato and leek soup ever is.
For my main dish, I had the scallops. I know! I'm as shocked as you are. They were cooked perfectly and served on a parsnip puree that was quite tasty. Had these tasty friccos that made The Critic say "Fa-REEK-o!" every few minutes that were fun as well. It was a good dish.
The Critic ordered a steak. No one ever asked how he wanted it cooked yet it was done perfectly -- fried onions on top, a red wine demi glace as well. Even some blue cheese crumbles. Very traditional steak house flavors with a bit of a modern twist. It was also a good dish.
Also ordered were two side dishes. This was a bit daunting for me because I have found my ideal recipes for these two dishes and have since found them done REALLY well and REALLY badly... Polenta and spatzle are like a box of chocolates. So I asked and was assured they were done well. So I ordered both simply because I couldn't decide which one to try.
The polenta was good, though it had some flaws. It had too much rosemary for both of us and too much pepper for The Critic -- I found it was fine as long as I added salt, which it needed. In the end it was finished, so it couldn't have been too bad. The spatzle was the best thing on the table this night. I'm sure a lot of that had to do it being fried in bacon fat. Let's just say it hardly fits on the 1200 calorie eating plan but was worth it in droves. Still, its one fault was again lack of salt. It's okay -- lack of salt I can correct! I would go back to this restaurant just for that side dish.
Finally, dessert. It was chocolatey and caramely and good (though we think we might have been missing one or two elements based on other tables around us).
The only other thing we remember about the restaurant was that it was COLD which is kind of unusual for the warmth that our fall has brought this year.
Ah, Ten Mercer. I think we earned our snob status at this particular place. The chances aren't great that we will return any time soon. But I'm glad we got to see you strut your stuff! Until (approximately) next week, Seattle Restaurant week.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Din tai fung
It's been a while since The Critic and I have had a chance to go out just the two of us. The occasion of "The Ball Gym" came up for The Guys to hang out for the evening and The Critic and I decided to return to Din Tai Fung.Here's the brief story of our first time to go. We went soon after they opened with The Guys and, well, it was a disaster. The wait was horrendous which we expected, but even after receiving our pager that our table was "ready" we probably waited 30 more minutes before being served. Apparently this is common because the same thing happened tonight -- though it is truthfully just easier to deal with that delay without little kids in tow.
Once we were finally seated (last time) it was one whiny whine after another... the food is too hot, too cold, too mixed together, I don't like [fill in the blank], that looks weird, that smells weird, I don't even know what that is... this might not seem unusual with little kids but ours aren't usually so vocal about their complaints and as far as asian food goes, DTF is really recognizable. What kid doesn't like a potsticker? Ours apparently. Weirdos.
So basically based on that first experience we didn't understand the hype. It was okay, but not outstanding.
Enter phase two: Operation Don't-Bring-The-Kids-This-Time. Guess what? The food is WAY better without the whine! The whole experience is more fun -- atmosphere, company, and even the waiting. We had a great time. The following notes and pictures will be used on our next phase: Operation Return-To-Din-Thai-Fung... not sure if that will be with The Guys or not.
First up is the waiting game. The fun part of this is watching the skilled chefs make the dumplings. One of these was the famous juicy pork, the other was some kind of dessert with black bean curd I think.
After a lengthy wait, we finally sit down and from there on out, it's actually a pretty fast process to order and be served.
We began with a plan. Thankfully they have a HUGE picture menu and, as I might have already mentioned, we had a few minutes (or 30) to peruse it. So the plan was as follows: Famous juicy pork buns, shrimp and crab shi mao, and some chicken noodle dish. We also went back and forth on trying to remember if the garlic green beans were worth it, or not. I think we finally decided no, we'd pass. Once our server arrived, he had other suggestions. First thing he said... "Have you had our shrimp and pork wontons with spicy sauce?" "No." "You have to try them." "We were going to get the pork buns instead." "Yes, those are good. But the wontons are amazing." "We've had wontons tons of places. They are really that special?" "They are REALLY that special." He went on to suggest we try a rice cake dish instead of the noodles -- he got The Critic's attention with the words "like the Asian version of gnocchi". So, with suggestions in our head, plans changed. Here's the final product we ended up with.
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| Crab and Juicy Pork Dumplings -- eat these in one bite or they drip all over. We liked them dipped in soy sauce with ginger added to it. In the future, skip the crab. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't apparent either. Save the few pennies extra and just go with the juicy pork. |
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| Here they are! Shrimp and Pork Wonton with Spicy Sauce. The Critic didn't think the sauce was that spicy but I sure did. We finally realized it was because I needed to eat one in about 3 bites where he could just inhale it. The result was that my lips burned but his were fine. So worth it though. These are as delicious as our server implied! |
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| Shang Hai Rice Cake with Chicken -- These were delicious as well. The rice cakes looked very much like water chestnuts so the texture would throw me off every now and then but the flavor was really good. Definitely need to get this again sometime! |
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| Sautéed String Bean with Garlic -- Ultimately we decided we needed more vegetables. Granted the amount of oil used to sautée them sort of negates the "healthiness" of them. Like bacon wrapped asparagus or fried zucchini... anyway, these were DELICIOUS and we need to remember next time that YES they are worth it. Not soggy, lots of garlic flavor. Delicious. |
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Calico Cupboard
Over the weekend we had the opportunity to visit with my folks and some friends of theirs, visiting from out of town. We learned that Skagit Valley has a "Farm Festival" which is sort of a combination between the tulip festival (only in the fall) and a bunch of pumpkin patches on steroids. The neat thing is just how varied the idea of "farm" around here is... there was an apple orchard, a winery, a dairy farm, and a shellfish farm, just to name a few. Our family had an incredible time at three farms and each founds something great to enjoy.
In the midst of it, we stopped for a break for lunch. I think this speaks well to my interest in this blog because it never even occurred to me to take pictures. In this case, it wasn't about the food -- it was about the people and the time with them. It just so happens that the food is also amazingly out of this world and worth the trip! I wasn't really looking forward to it. It seems like the kind of place that would be a typical heavy bakery and, quite honestly, I was concerned about The Guys' tastes and that they wouldn't find anything they liked. Well low-and-behold, they had a plain cheeseburger. And it came with a gingerbread boy! That made for one happy Big Guy dude... let me tell you! FIT didn't fare to poorly either. He enjoyed his first ever peanut butter and banana sandwich with a snickerdoodle the size of his cute adorable face. Precious. And delicious.
For me, I just decided on the garden salad. Remember when I said that I wouldn't blog about it if it wasn't blog worthy? Well, it was! A simple garden salad was AMAZINGLY fresh and delicious. I had the oriental dressing with was low-fat on the side, but came with exactly the right amount. I should have ordered it without the croutons but they were oh-so-tasty that I was okay that I forgot to ask those to be omitted. And the bread on the side, OH THE BREAD ON THE SIDE. That was so delicious. I highly recommend a stop here if you're finding yourself on that long drive between Seattle and Bellingham. Definitely tastier than I recalled.
And check out the farm festival next fall. With 16 blog followers, I'm allowed to let you in on that. Too many more people who find out about it so that it becomes, oh, say, the tulip festival, and I'll have to put that on my "that was a nice thing to do before the crowds showed up" list.
In the midst of it, we stopped for a break for lunch. I think this speaks well to my interest in this blog because it never even occurred to me to take pictures. In this case, it wasn't about the food -- it was about the people and the time with them. It just so happens that the food is also amazingly out of this world and worth the trip! I wasn't really looking forward to it. It seems like the kind of place that would be a typical heavy bakery and, quite honestly, I was concerned about The Guys' tastes and that they wouldn't find anything they liked. Well low-and-behold, they had a plain cheeseburger. And it came with a gingerbread boy! That made for one happy Big Guy dude... let me tell you! FIT didn't fare to poorly either. He enjoyed his first ever peanut butter and banana sandwich with a snickerdoodle the size of his cute adorable face. Precious. And delicious.
For me, I just decided on the garden salad. Remember when I said that I wouldn't blog about it if it wasn't blog worthy? Well, it was! A simple garden salad was AMAZINGLY fresh and delicious. I had the oriental dressing with was low-fat on the side, but came with exactly the right amount. I should have ordered it without the croutons but they were oh-so-tasty that I was okay that I forgot to ask those to be omitted. And the bread on the side, OH THE BREAD ON THE SIDE. That was so delicious. I highly recommend a stop here if you're finding yourself on that long drive between Seattle and Bellingham. Definitely tastier than I recalled.
And check out the farm festival next fall. With 16 blog followers, I'm allowed to let you in on that. Too many more people who find out about it so that it becomes, oh, say, the tulip festival, and I'll have to put that on my "that was a nice thing to do before the crowds showed up" list.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Bunk Sandwiches
There's an app for that.
Food Network has a new app. It's called "On the Road" and, among other things I have yet to research, it allows you to search by location for restaurants nearby that have been featured on Food Network shows. I need to see if there is something similar with Top Chef, but until then, this has already proven to be a useful tool.
A while back I watched an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate that sang the praises of pork belly Cubano in Portland, OR. I made a mental note that if we were ever in Portland, we would stop by. One, it's pork belly. And it is almost impossible to mess up pork belly (one unfortunate experience ruins the universal truth). Two, well, it's a Cuban sandwich. And that is probably the greatest love of the critic.
This weekend I found myself in Portland. I was at a convention where I opted to NOT pay the additional $10 for a box lunch. Oh what good planning on my part! Thanks to my handy-dandy phone app, I learned that Bunk Sandwiches is a mere 1.1 miles from my exact location! Guess what? I can walk a mile for a sandwich (and I can walk a mile back too... which is good because, well, it's pork belly and swiss and ham and bread a bunch of other things on the not-approved eating list). And that pork belly Cubano rings it at $8 or $9 and is more food than I could finish... so it just made good economic sense as well.
So I left the convention a teensy bit early for lunch, in case there was a line (there wasn't). It's not in the "best" part of Portland but it was safe enough to walk alone and it was a GORGEOUS day so that really can't be beat. And well, the sandwich, it was worth walking much further than 1 mile for.
I purchased two. One for me, and one for The Critic to eat once I got home that night. I remembered his without mayo. It was a DELICIOUS sandwich. I'll have to watch the show again to figure out what the smokey hit that came on occasion was. And to see if Chris Cosentino ordered it with the housemade cherry peppers (I didn't... but really thought about it). And there will be a repeat performance... only next time it will be on a Portland trip with The Critic. He deserves to enjoy that sandwich the way it was intended and not reheated 9 hours later in the microwave. Though he will be the first to tell you it was still delicious and well worth it.
Food Network has a new app. It's called "On the Road" and, among other things I have yet to research, it allows you to search by location for restaurants nearby that have been featured on Food Network shows. I need to see if there is something similar with Top Chef, but until then, this has already proven to be a useful tool.
A while back I watched an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate that sang the praises of pork belly Cubano in Portland, OR. I made a mental note that if we were ever in Portland, we would stop by. One, it's pork belly. And it is almost impossible to mess up pork belly (one unfortunate experience ruins the universal truth). Two, well, it's a Cuban sandwich. And that is probably the greatest love of the critic.
This weekend I found myself in Portland. I was at a convention where I opted to NOT pay the additional $10 for a box lunch. Oh what good planning on my part! Thanks to my handy-dandy phone app, I learned that Bunk Sandwiches is a mere 1.1 miles from my exact location! Guess what? I can walk a mile for a sandwich (and I can walk a mile back too... which is good because, well, it's pork belly and swiss and ham and bread a bunch of other things on the not-approved eating list). And that pork belly Cubano rings it at $8 or $9 and is more food than I could finish... so it just made good economic sense as well.
So I left the convention a teensy bit early for lunch, in case there was a line (there wasn't). It's not in the "best" part of Portland but it was safe enough to walk alone and it was a GORGEOUS day so that really can't be beat. And well, the sandwich, it was worth walking much further than 1 mile for.
I purchased two. One for me, and one for The Critic to eat once I got home that night. I remembered his without mayo. It was a DELICIOUS sandwich. I'll have to watch the show again to figure out what the smokey hit that came on occasion was. And to see if Chris Cosentino ordered it with the housemade cherry peppers (I didn't... but really thought about it). And there will be a repeat performance... only next time it will be on a Portland trip with The Critic. He deserves to enjoy that sandwich the way it was intended and not reheated 9 hours later in the microwave. Though he will be the first to tell you it was still delicious and well worth it.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Specialty's Cafe
My definition of a worthy splurge.
Every time I go to Bellevue Square I get a happy tingly feeling at the idea of enjoying one of these mini quiches and today was no exception. It is simply delicious and I would much rather splurge on this than any sweet thing... or even any crunchy thing and that is saying something. Roasted veggies (I'm sure there are mushrooms in there but I just pretend they are eggplant) which include broccoli and carrots and "eggplant" and onion. A fabulous cheese that is a tasty Swiss I think, but might have some parmesan and a few other things I'm not sure of, and eggs and flour to hold it together but not give it a pie crust because that would just detract from its awesomeness. I do love this. I am so glad that I infrequent Bellevue Square and this remains a splurge I can have.... rather than one that will jeopardize my 25 (YES, 25!!!!) pound loss over the past few months.
I am told I cannot think of food as a reward, nor as a reward or a treat or any other intrinsically valued item. And I don't. But this isn't food... this is a worthy splurge!!!!!
Every time I go to Bellevue Square I get a happy tingly feeling at the idea of enjoying one of these mini quiches and today was no exception. It is simply delicious and I would much rather splurge on this than any sweet thing... or even any crunchy thing and that is saying something. Roasted veggies (I'm sure there are mushrooms in there but I just pretend they are eggplant) which include broccoli and carrots and "eggplant" and onion. A fabulous cheese that is a tasty Swiss I think, but might have some parmesan and a few other things I'm not sure of, and eggs and flour to hold it together but not give it a pie crust because that would just detract from its awesomeness. I do love this. I am so glad that I infrequent Bellevue Square and this remains a splurge I can have.... rather than one that will jeopardize my 25 (YES, 25!!!!) pound loss over the past few months.
I am told I cannot think of food as a reward, nor as a reward or a treat or any other intrinsically valued item. And I don't. But this isn't food... this is a worthy splurge!!!!!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Armory
You have probably assumed I fell off the face of the earth, right? Not quite... just not eating out like we used to. My plan is working well... down 22 pounds a bit. I still have a ways to go but all in good time, my pretty, all in good time.
I now get to eat two days on my own. This week we had tickets to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center (last time it will ever be here, or something like that). So we planned to eat at the Seattle Center House. What? What's that you say? I swore I'd never eat there again? Absolutely right... until they gave it a swanky foodie makeover and called it The Armory. Now THIS I had to check out...
First, the proprietors are updated, many of them spinning off from some of my favorite food trucks/Seattle restaurants. I was most excited to hear that BigFood would be there... and probably most disappointed to hear that they didn't have the same menu, including their fabulous flatbread. I had dreams of this that were quickly squashed. But I had also heard from a friend, we'll call her The Volleyball Player, who said a friend set up a new place called Bean Sprouts designed for those looking for a healthy option for kids. Walking in also saw names I recognized like Mod Pizza and Skillet Counter. And a bunch of new places I'd never heard of before. All of it looked fresh. All of it looked swanky. And all of it looked metallic and shiny and new.
The Big Guy was the first to ruin the illusion. "I want Subway". Yep. One of two old standards, the other being Quincy's burgers. Which is what he got. Fine. We all know he doesn't appreciate interesting food. I still have my little FIT to get involved in the foodie scene. Off to Bean Sprouts we go!
Bean Sprouts was cute. It resembled those Bento lunches everyone is pinning these days. FIT picked something called an "Apple Apple Bo Bapple" which had apple slices, cheddar cheese slices, and a parmesan dressing, all on whole wheat bread shaped like an apple. All organic, of course. And side options included FIT's favorite "Edamommy". Seemed like a win-win-win! Not quite though... the dressing was very strong, which sort of took the appeal away from anything it touched. And the edamommy was cold, which is a Cardinal sin in his book. So it definitely wasn't a favorite. He was excited to go back and get a cake pop for dessert, as was The Big Guy... he picked a chocolate cone with teddy grahams and other stuff on a cone... until he realized that it was chocolate hummus. Um, he passed. Surprised? Me either. When we asked about the chocolate hummus she gave us a chocolate chickpea cake pop. FIT tried it and was not a fan. The Big Guy of all people thought it was awesome and loved it. All in all I don't think we are Wallingford enough for a place like Bean Sprouts... but I'm still glad its there.
The Critic enjoyed a meat pie via a pie place whose name I can't recall because the Blogger app didn't save my most recent notes. :-/ (I have a love/hate relationship with that guy... it also removed my location. Hmph...). He thought it was quite tasty.
I headed to the aforementioned Big Food to get (which turned into NOT get... did I already mention that?) my flatbread. Instead I got a small side of mac and cheese with bacon and what I tasted of it was tasty, but most of it went to the FIT. Sometimes you have to to take one for the team. The Critic did get me a sample of their rosemary-balsamic lemonade. This was quite intriguing to me as The Critic was quick to point out... I consume balsamic like its going out of style these days. The calorie plan I am on allows for unlimited vinegars as a flavor enhancer and I have found all sorts of applications for the glorious balsamic vinegar... adds a ton of flavor without the calories. So yes, I was certainly intrigued. But I hate to "drink" my calories so lemonade wasn't in the cards for me. Ah, but a SAMPLE... that would be fine. Here's the weird part. It tasted just like lemonade. Now for some, that's a great thing. But to me, I was really WANTING it to taste unusual... special... unique. I was so busy noting how much it just tasted like everyday lemonade that I kind of forgot to listen to him when he said it was sugar-free. See they added strawberry to keep the sugar out. And then the balsamic takes out the strawberry flavor. Or the rosemary? And the other did something else to neutralize it. It took so long to process all this that it was easily the next evening before I realized I *could* have had a glass without worrying about straying from my calorie-plan. But then I remembered it just tasted like lemonade... so I was okay with not getting it. Weird.
I went to Kabab for my dinner and got... what else? A kabab. A Kafta kabab. The meat itself was pretty good but the pita was sub-par for me... too thin and too tortilla-like. The sauce had no where to go but out and the lettuce on it was simply shredded iceberg lettuce and there was too much of it.
But a dinner anywhere within spitting distance of Skillet just wouldn't be complete without pie in a bowl. And as much as The Guys don't like it (they don't like the salt... which just shows that they don't know a thing about delicious food), The Critic and I can't resist it. So the evening ends on a delicious high note. And next time we will be happy to try out any of a dozen other places that we had to pass over this time.
My overall opinion on The Armory is that I hope it continues to evolve. It is not quite what I hope it will become. But it is amazingly improved over what was there before.
I now get to eat two days on my own. This week we had tickets to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center (last time it will ever be here, or something like that). So we planned to eat at the Seattle Center House. What? What's that you say? I swore I'd never eat there again? Absolutely right... until they gave it a swanky foodie makeover and called it The Armory. Now THIS I had to check out...
First, the proprietors are updated, many of them spinning off from some of my favorite food trucks/Seattle restaurants. I was most excited to hear that BigFood would be there... and probably most disappointed to hear that they didn't have the same menu, including their fabulous flatbread. I had dreams of this that were quickly squashed. But I had also heard from a friend, we'll call her The Volleyball Player, who said a friend set up a new place called Bean Sprouts designed for those looking for a healthy option for kids. Walking in also saw names I recognized like Mod Pizza and Skillet Counter. And a bunch of new places I'd never heard of before. All of it looked fresh. All of it looked swanky. And all of it looked metallic and shiny and new.
The Big Guy was the first to ruin the illusion. "I want Subway". Yep. One of two old standards, the other being Quincy's burgers. Which is what he got. Fine. We all know he doesn't appreciate interesting food. I still have my little FIT to get involved in the foodie scene. Off to Bean Sprouts we go!
Bean Sprouts was cute. It resembled those Bento lunches everyone is pinning these days. FIT picked something called an "Apple Apple Bo Bapple" which had apple slices, cheddar cheese slices, and a parmesan dressing, all on whole wheat bread shaped like an apple. All organic, of course. And side options included FIT's favorite "Edamommy". Seemed like a win-win-win! Not quite though... the dressing was very strong, which sort of took the appeal away from anything it touched. And the edamommy was cold, which is a Cardinal sin in his book. So it definitely wasn't a favorite. He was excited to go back and get a cake pop for dessert, as was The Big Guy... he picked a chocolate cone with teddy grahams and other stuff on a cone... until he realized that it was chocolate hummus. Um, he passed. Surprised? Me either. When we asked about the chocolate hummus she gave us a chocolate chickpea cake pop. FIT tried it and was not a fan. The Big Guy of all people thought it was awesome and loved it. All in all I don't think we are Wallingford enough for a place like Bean Sprouts... but I'm still glad its there.
The Critic enjoyed a meat pie via a pie place whose name I can't recall because the Blogger app didn't save my most recent notes. :-/ (I have a love/hate relationship with that guy... it also removed my location. Hmph...). He thought it was quite tasty.
I headed to the aforementioned Big Food to get (which turned into NOT get... did I already mention that?) my flatbread. Instead I got a small side of mac and cheese with bacon and what I tasted of it was tasty, but most of it went to the FIT. Sometimes you have to to take one for the team. The Critic did get me a sample of their rosemary-balsamic lemonade. This was quite intriguing to me as The Critic was quick to point out... I consume balsamic like its going out of style these days. The calorie plan I am on allows for unlimited vinegars as a flavor enhancer and I have found all sorts of applications for the glorious balsamic vinegar... adds a ton of flavor without the calories. So yes, I was certainly intrigued. But I hate to "drink" my calories so lemonade wasn't in the cards for me. Ah, but a SAMPLE... that would be fine. Here's the weird part. It tasted just like lemonade. Now for some, that's a great thing. But to me, I was really WANTING it to taste unusual... special... unique. I was so busy noting how much it just tasted like everyday lemonade that I kind of forgot to listen to him when he said it was sugar-free. See they added strawberry to keep the sugar out. And then the balsamic takes out the strawberry flavor. Or the rosemary? And the other did something else to neutralize it. It took so long to process all this that it was easily the next evening before I realized I *could* have had a glass without worrying about straying from my calorie-plan. But then I remembered it just tasted like lemonade... so I was okay with not getting it. Weird.
I went to Kabab for my dinner and got... what else? A kabab. A Kafta kabab. The meat itself was pretty good but the pita was sub-par for me... too thin and too tortilla-like. The sauce had no where to go but out and the lettuce on it was simply shredded iceberg lettuce and there was too much of it.
But a dinner anywhere within spitting distance of Skillet just wouldn't be complete without pie in a bowl. And as much as The Guys don't like it (they don't like the salt... which just shows that they don't know a thing about delicious food), The Critic and I can't resist it. So the evening ends on a delicious high note. And next time we will be happy to try out any of a dozen other places that we had to pass over this time.
My overall opinion on The Armory is that I hope it continues to evolve. It is not quite what I hope it will become. But it is amazingly improved over what was there before.
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| Apple apple bo-bapple (I don't know why it's upside down and I'm too tired to fix it) |
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| Options available at Bean Sprouts -- Kids size counter |
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| The awesomeness that is pie-in-a-bowl (as we call it) |
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| The Critic believes these are the best fries ever (Skillet) |
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| Kafka and Mac and Cheese side... Quincy burger plus cold edamame as well. |
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