1514 Pike Place in Pike Place Market

The Pike Place Market, arguably Seattle’s most famous destination, is too vast with too much to offer to write one entry based on one visit, so I will just start with the most life changing.

It’s called Salmon Candy and you can find it at Jack’s Fish Spot. Located across from the one where they toss the fish featured on every travel channel show out there, it’s a friendly place that has fresh fish, a bar around back where you can chow on oysters, fish and chips, and clam chowder (to name a few), and bins of smoked fish.

Salmon Candy was recommended by the man on duty and he certainly didn’t steer me wrong. The best smoked salmon I’ve ever had. So good that I opted to send a pound to my mother in lieu of flowers for mother’s day.

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Posted on May 8, 2013

4130 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle

We arrived in Seattle a couple weeks ago (we are still settling, hence the lack of posts). We stayed at the comfortable and friendly Watertown Hotel until our things arrived. A few blocks away we found Portage Bay, an most appetizing welcome to our new home city.

Everything we tried on the menu (yes, there were return visits) was delicious. They had Swedish pancakes, made with fresh, real ingredients that I didn’t have to embarrass myself with a trip to IHOP for! They had a vegetable hash that had Jim, yes Jim, shoveling vegetables into his mouth! There’s a fruit and toppings bar, a number of omelett options, and Benedicts of all kinds that will impress (I had to try the salmon, a food I’ll always associate with the Northwest since a visit here years ago) but the dungeness crab was remarkable too.

The space is huge and child friendly (though admittedly I am coming from Brooklyn, where spaces tend to be pint sized and hating children is a new pastime) but I’ve read it can get very crowded with long waits on peak brunch hours.

I imagine this will be a favorite of our family in the years to come as we settle into our new town. It’s service with a smile and incredible food with a conscious: ingredients are local and organic.

See more: Restaurants American Breakfast Seattle University District

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Posted on April 17, 2013

176 N. 9th

After just dipping our toe the rental world (good god) its naive to pretend the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where I’ve lived over a decade, haven’t changed. It’s also, I have to remember, grumpy to resent it. After all, I was part of the beginning of these changes and I sure didn’t like being resented for it, but all that knowledge doesn’t make a mammoth, hologram-bedazzled, meat packing restaurant with a kama sutra bathroom (that surely made the copywriters of Thrillest faint with the innuendo opportunities), any less unnerving… After all, the conversion of this part of Brooklyn to an extension of pricey Manhattan has actually driven us out of the city (we move West in three weeks).

Fortunately for you all we leave behind, Qi Thai Grill also has good food. It reminds me a lot of the late Planet Thai: A place for new Brooklynites to take their parents (who are helping with the astronomical rents) to show off what a cool place they are moving to. Yet, it’s also a place that locals can get a decent meal (good Thai in the area is a rarity) including some cheap lunch deals.

One big positive about the menu, which is already drawing crowds because of the chefs who hail from Pong and (the ever awesome and considerably less glamorous) Sripraphai, is that it’s not afraid to go spicy and as much as possible features traditional, even challenging ingredients: beef tendon, pork trotters and jaws sit next to Pad Thai (for the less adventurous). Even with that dish, though, you’re encouraged to try the traditional way – with dried shrimp (which does sound great).

I opted for a very filling Chicken Chiang Mai Noodle that had a flavorful curry broth and was perfect for the chilly weather. Of all our appetizers, the spicy wings were the biggest hit but the papaya salad and curry puffs are also worth a taste.

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Posted on January 20, 2013

178 N.10th Street, Brooklyn

Sips and Bites may be a wee sliver of a shop (I’d passed by it a few times without noticing) but it’s big on charm and boasts a great menu of sandwiches. While I look forward to trying most once I am no longer pregnant (darn that no deli meat rule!), the tuna sandwich I’ve had is excellent. It doesn’t try too hard, but the flavors and mix of ingredients (black olive tapanade, anchovies and haricot vert to name a few) is far from boring.

The baked goods are rotating and always great (we all enjoyed the homemade lemon curd pop tarts) and the tea and lemonades have been ideal thirst quenchers more than once during all this crazy heat.

The staff is exceptionally nice – which is always a welcome and happy thing and there’s a great deal of charm and style to the interior.

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Posted on July 28, 2012

at Smorgasburg

The brick and mortar ramen shop Yebisu has been eagerly awaited and delayed but if their cold ramen dish at Smorgasburg is any indication, it will be worth it.

Toothsome noodles, with a delicate and refreshing splash of sauce, a perfectly semi cooked egg, and flavorful pork.

This is a dynamite dish. I could eat it everyday.

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Posted on July 10, 2012

at Smorgasburg and 284 Van Brunt Street

The Red Hook Lobster Pound lobster roll is gauaranteed to be one of the best bites at smorgasburg but it’s also one of, if not the priciest at $16. Makes it hard to accept if you want to sample lots of goodies.

So here’s a tip. For a mere (ha!) $10 you can enjoy their tarragon tinged shrimp roll which is arguably as good as their name sake sandwich.

It’s a refreshing summer bite on these record breaking hot days.

See more: Restaurants Red Hook Sandwiches Seafood Williamsburg

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Posted on June 28, 2012

at The McGolrick Farmer’s Market

The second and third great bites from the McGolrick Farmer’s Market come from Orwasher’s Bread and Ronnybrook Farms.

The Amazing Real Live Food Company boasts an incredible gooey, mild but flavorful camembert, all it needed was some bread…

Enter Orwasher’s amazing sour dough – a loaf which is truly excellent. As a fan of sourdough, I have rarely found any as good as this.

Together – they make a delectable treat that is hard to stop gorging on.

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Posted on June 3, 2012

at Smorgasburg

Last week we tried and loved Mighty Quinn’s but they’re not the only brisket party in town. Lonestar Empire boasts a juicy meaty sandwich themselves with excellent toppings like pickled onions and jalapeño (both optional but a great idea).

More than worth the few extra bucks? The mustardy smashed potatoes that taste like summer barbecues.

See more: Restaurants American South Fairs/Markets Sandwiches Williamsburg

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Posted on May 5, 2012