Seattle – Teinei

With a dreary final June Saturday wanted some comfort food. Initially we both wanted ramen but K decided Japanese curry would be better. Teinei has both and even sushi so put in the order and went to pickup. Unfortunately, they forgot the roll so had to go back and my haste alleviate my hunger forgot to snap a pic of my ramen, the noodles were very good as they make them in house. The flour-covered machine was visible in the corner. After a quick turn in the microwave we dug and really enjoyed the meal. Almost tasted like we were in Japanese Izakaya.

Takoyaki

Dragon Roll – snow crab, avocado, cucumber, eel, eel sauce, sesame seed, black flying fish egg, green onion

Chicken Katsu Curry

Seattle – Seafood!

Had a lot of seafood this week from Seattle Fish Guys over a few meals. I haven’t gone back to Pike Place Market recently to see if more shops are open so SFG are a good alternative. Poke is tasty although only have octopus in addition to the two types we got. Pan roasting salmon and serving with bacon in a apple brandy reduction is one of my favorite ways to prepare it and very easy. The dog wanted some and wasn’t happy had to go to her crate since she was begging, which for her is thankfully just standing near the dining table and looking up at us. I’m glad Shibas don’t bark most of the time.

Mac Salad, Salmon Poke, Tuna Poke

King Salmon: bacon and apple reduction, fingerling potatoes, green beans

Maple Valley – Crockett’s Public House

After a fun mountain bike ride in one of my favorite areas tried out a new restaurant. I didn’t have high hopes given it’s a deep suburb but I was gladly proven wrong. The waffle was light and crispy, they had real maple syrup, and the chicken had a great light crispy breading. Will be likely my new favorite after a ride down in Maple Valley. I did think the mule would be wear with coconut rum but it did work, was refreshing.

Maui Mule – cream of coconut rum, lime, simple syrup, ginger beer

Seattle – Kedai Makan

We had only been to this incredibly popular Malaysian restaurant once since they don’t take reservations and I hate waiting. When we did go went when they opened since had three small kids in the group and couldn’t order too many overly seasoned dishes, not that easy at a SE Asian restaurant. Buddy told me they just added a new fried chicken dish to the take out menu so had to try, while their to go menu is small it is all well done. The fried chicken was very good super crispy and tons of flavor although not spicy enough.

Roti Jala – dhal curry

Nasi Goreng Belacan – prawn fried rice, belacan (shrimp paste), curry powder, sprouts, kecap, green onion, fried egg

Chili Tumeric Fried Chicken – ghee and spices, raita, spicy mint chutney, jasmine rice, chat masala, cucumber, onion

Seattle – EHP “Olive Garden”

Eden Hill went back to comfort foods with their signature twist. Not sure any other family restaurant would take the time to make an octopus terrine, I really enjoyed it as the octopus was very tender and the citrus dressing tasted similar to a key lime pie. I asked for the shrimp raw a week in advance since it might be the single worse thing to try and reheat later, last minute I figured there would be pasta too and got it uncooked. Got the pasta to my preferred al denteness and diluted the thick butter and garlic sauce, it’s solid like peanut butter, with some of the pasta water and then topped with the shrimp cooked in ghee and garlic. The breadsticks were spectacular, dense and chewy with a flaky crust. Cheesecake was equally tasty. Chauncey’s letter this week is mostly procedural about the future of both restaurants so probably uninteresting for you to read.

Seattle – RockCreek

So now that Seattle is allowing dine-in at 25% capacity, and soon 50%, K and I really wanted to go out for dinner for the first time in two months. We asked our friends who are splitting EHP Family Meal with us if they’d want to go to my favorite seafood restaurant. RockCreek is the restaurant I’d recommend to anyone who only had time for one dinner in Seattle as other than Starbucks everyone thinks of seafood and they exemplify everything good about the region. Also seafood travels horribly other than sushi which is still questionable after more than 30 minutes an while I love cooking seafood at home no way would I make more than two courses. It was great to be able to sit down, have a cocktail, followed by a favorite rose from our cellar, enjoy a ton of seafood, and most importantly not have to worry about a bunch of cookware and dishes to clean.

Other guests seemed to be really reveling in a somewhat return to normalcy a bit too much. They were dressed up more than normal for Seattle and even saw one guy in a three-piece suit. It was the first time I’d worn a collared shirt in three months. Sadly they didn’t anticipate being so booked and had run out of my favorite dish of a a salad with fried calamari, with so few restaurants actually open to dine-in I think should’ve anticipated being crushed from opening day. Nonetheless we had a great meal, the mackerel was my favorite as I like the taste of it an general and it was perfectly cooked. The smelt a close second and we eschewed using silverware to eat like meaty french fries. While I find Copper River salmon to be not worth the hype in terms of quality to price when you consider how good the salmon is here year I ordered it, yes everyone entrusted me to order for the table, I really enjoyed it. My favorite fishmonger where I’d gladly get Copper River hasn’t been open down at Pike Place Market, but then again I haven’t gone in over a month to see. It saddened me to head down to see it as a ghost town with a few shops open for the even fewer customers.

Seared Norwegian Mackerel – roasted eggplant, mint, basil, nuoc cham, tomatoes, fried shallots dill

Black Garlic Caesar – gem lettuce, anchovies, rustic croutons, lemon

Heirloom Tomatoes – pickled red onions, salsa verde, banyuls vinaigrette, fresh burrata, sea salt

Crispy Fried Surf Smelt – jalapeno-malt vinegar aioli, lemon, dill, sea salt

Wild California Prawns ‘St Helena’ – brown butter, serrano, rosemary, McEwan & Sons grits

Barron Point Manila Clams – toasted fennel seeds, pastis, lemon, parsley, grilled bread

Copper River Sockeye Salmon – caramelized onion jam, pickled leek, pistachio, sherry gastrique, parsley

Key Lime Pie – Smores

Seattle – EHP Family Meal

Max and team took out their metaphorical passports and went to Japan and Korea for this week’s meal. I’m always a fan of pork belly and while it was very tender and the marinade was flavorful I was wanting it to be stronger rather than subtle. Maybe a small container of the marinade to pour over during the reheat since it looks like it was marinated in slabs, cooked, then sliced to package. The milk rolls were great, not too sweet and fluffy and dense at the same time. Mochi cake was the best dish and quite artful presentation.

Wow, what a turnout! We’ve been busy here on Queen Anne loading burgers, sandwiches, fresh fruit, and water bottles into various vehicles all destined for the protests, where we’ve been donating them to those who’ve chosen to march against systemic racism. While we’re happy to give to and support our community’s push for higher ideals, we recognize that what needs to change most is an an increase in our efforts not only to hear, but to really listen to those members of our community who are being forced to live by a separate set of rules and circumstances than everyone else. How rude!

That being said, who are we to sit upon our hill typing missives/ The words of which, left standing without actions satisfy the reader, yet afterward morph over time from well-intetioned-if-overwrought soap-box sermons into dusty trophies in a hall full of platitudes, relics of lip-service which ultimately celebrate the sentiments of the speaker, affirm the biases of the reader, and then… what? No one whose voice matters no benefits in that story. What could be more wasteful? That is to say, that yes there’s a lot to say right now, but we are not the people who should do the saying! Instead, we stand with those who seek a more peaceful, just and inclusive future. Instead of words, action is required of us, and we’ll have to do more than watch. Don’t worry! We’ll have plenty of excited news coming up soon regarding our fresh takeout service at Eden Hill Restaurant, and a new wing of the Eden Hill bottle shop, among man other fun things. For now though, hang in there, be kind, and really listen to one another.

Seattle – Cupcakes

Another weekend another baking adventure, before you know it I’ll be more Dominique Ansel than Dominique Crenn (if you ignore gender transformation). In all seriousness I avoid baking since it is generally not healthy to eat that much sugar and flour, but more importantly it’s too exacting. I already have to have an extreme attention to details at work and when I cook I get to improvise like I’m playing jazz rather than reading sheet music that is baking. Somewhat ironically I was horrible at improvisation playing the upright bass and stuck to orchestra with its order of little black dots on a piece of paper through college.

It’s also why I dislike most cooking shows, having to create a dessert course when most cooks or chefs aren’t properly trained in the dark arts of pastry is cruel. I think I’d do a pretty good job at making an appetizer or entree when presented random protein to cook with but then to try to make even a cupcake off the top of my head would be impossible. Which is why I had to look at this simple cupcake recipe multiple times to make sure I didn’t F it up. At least K said they were amazing so I can follow directions properly. I used half chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, frosted with leftover EHP Easter meal cream cheese frosting.

 

 

Seattle – Lark

Lark offers up a weekly menu augmented by an a la carte selection of some more luxurious items. On top of the spring roll and fish I ordered with my eyes and added the foie and tartar, of course it ended up being way too much but we got a second evening of dinner from it. As typical of Lark everything was very good and the fish was amazing even after being reheated in the oven. it was great that the veggies were uncooked and only took about seven minutes to prepare at home.

Vegetarian Vietnamese Fresh Spring Roll

Foie Gras Torchon: cherries, baguette

Beef Tartar

Bok Choy & Sugarsnap Peas

Black Cod: Porcini fried rice

Coffee Cake

Seattle – EHP Burgers

EHP just created a limited time porchetta burger and after missing out on the foot long pork belly dog made sure to head over before it disappears into the ether, or bellies. It helps that didn’t eat lunch after Wandering Goose so at least still keeping to a reasonable amount of calories. Right???

The porchetta was amazing, as good as Sawyer in a handheld form. The cracklins on top were way better than putting fries (looking at you Primanti Brothers) or tiny onion rings. Lots of flavors that have lingered in my mouth for a few hours. Frose was nice and refreshing and I avoided the dreaded brain freeze.

Garlic marinated roasted pork belly, spicy aioli, arugula, mustard, and cracklins

Frose