Fooood galore

Posted on June 17, 2013 by hiyezz

I’m really excited to post about this!! I won tickets from the WA State Beef Commission to Seattle Weekly’s Voracious Tasting & Food Awards. My brother went last year and after I saw his pictures, I knew I really wanted to attend this year. I’m glad I got the opportunity to go because there was such a ridiculous amount of food to try!

Atmosphere: This was held at the Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle. Gorgeous venue!

Pricing: Free for me! General admission is $45. There’s also VIP (you get a swag bag and also early entry, which is a huge plus because you get to skip the huge crowd) which is $85.

Service: Self serve, grab as you go kind of dealio.

Food:

Overall: This is just some of the collection of pictures I managed to get while scavenging for food! There were 50+ vendors, including some food trucks stationed outside. Some of my favorites were the salmon, tuna ahi, and Cake Envy cupcakes. There was really so much food I could barely sample everything with just a bite. Those grasshoppers though.. were really interesting. I’m ready to be on Fear Factor! Jk. Crunchy and salty, as expected. I can’t wait to attend next year

Seattle Restaurant Week – 2

Posted on May 23, 2013 by hiyezz

Sorry I know it’s been a while, but here’s another Seattle Restaurant Week post that I haven’t gotten a chance to blog about yet. I went to Capital Grille, located in downtown with some people from my pharmacy school for some nice fine dining. Same pricing goes for the meal deals! (refer to previos post)

Atmosphere: Right upon entering, the lights were pretty dim and it was a little dark throughout the restaurant – makes it nice for a romantic dinner. An interesting observation, they have taxidermy animals hanging for decor. Not sure if that’s a little weird to display or not.. One thing I also noticed was that the menus were huge!

Pricing: $28 for appetizer, entree, and dessert

Service: Really great service! The servers were really kind and kept checking in on us with our food. This restaurant is very classy and everyone seemed well-trained in their manner of serving food.

Food:
Their giant menu!

Typical mashed potatoes that we shared. We mostly ordered steaks and that didn’t come with any sides, which I thought was a little odd. I guess it’s a good way to get your money. I would say it was pretty buttery and the mashed potatoes were pretty thick as opposed to airy and fluffy.

Lobster mac and cheese! I thoroughly enjoyed this side dish. Nice crumbly bread topping with the soft interior. Probably the most upscale mac and cheese I have ever tried.

Kona crusted dry-aged sirloin steak (bone in) with shallot butter sauce. It was a lot of meat, probably more than I could handle. It was much thicker and tougher than I thought (I usually order a medium rare). Unfortunately, it wasn’t as rare I would have liked.

Creme brulee for dessert! My go-to for restaurant weeks. The portion was quite larger than your typical. I liked that it was nice and flat, which means more room for the burnt sugar top! Strawberries were also a nice added touch.

Overall: Not pictured was their appetizer. I got a salad with vinaigrette. Nothing special about the salad. I just thought it was pretty average and a filler in their menu. Another option was clam chowder, and that didn’t look too shabby. I would say this elegant restaurant is what I expected it to be. Nothing really blew me away except for the lobster mac and cheese. Would I pay $16 bucks to try it again? I’m not quite sure (mashed potatoes were also $16). I’m glad I got a chance to try this restaurant though!

Seattle Restaurant Week – 1

Posted on April 24, 2013 by hiyezz

It’s that time of spring again! Seattle Restaurant Week occurred for 2 weeks with some of the best restaurants around the city. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s where these featured restaurants have a set menu for their guests to choose an appetizer, entree, and a dessert for $15 for lunch and $28 for dinner. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to go to the lunch, because personally I think that’s the best deal for such a nice restaurant! This year, I went to Palace Kitchen for dinner with some friends. This is a Tom Douglas restaurant so I knew that I can’t go wrong with this choice.

Atmosphere: Upon walking in, their bar is dead center of the restaurant with tables framing around it. Wide open spaces with high ceilings. It’s also pretty dimly lit.

Pricing: $28 bucks for dinner!

Service: Very helpful server who was really knowledgable. She was also attentive.

Food:

Grilled asparagus, salt and vinegar chips, onion aioli, and dill. Great combination with the aioli and asparagus! Very tasty and a nice portion just for the appetizer.

Grilled korubuta pork tenderloin, coal roasted broccoli rabe with garlic and chili, fried barley, pickled rhubarb, caramelized ham broth. The broth made it a little more tender, even though it already was. I must say there quite a serving of the barley!

My dessert – red velvet cheesecake, whipped with white chocolate ganache and red wine syrup. Wow I couldn’t believe how delectable this was!

My friend ordered this very classic dessert that Tom Douglas restaurants are known for! Coconut cream pie. This literally just melts in your mouth with each bite. Fun fact: You can order this at any Tom Douglas restaurant and if they don’t have any, they will go to a nearby TD restaurant and get it for you!

Overall: I would love to come here for happy hour sometime. I would also definitely get their coconut cream pie…. You can never go wrong with Tom Douglas!

Dinner by the water

Posted on March 25, 2013 by hiyezz

It’s that time of year again! Dine Around Seattle is back! If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically where there’s a month of delicious, but a little more expensive meals, that are offered as a set menu. You get to choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert and there are usually about 3 options per. Great opportunity to try many things at an affordable price.

After some sleepless nights and rough exams, my second quarter of pharmacy school is complete. I celebrated this among with many girls from my class at Ray’s Boathouse.The evening ended with a gorgeous sunset right by the water.

Atmosphere: Located in Ballard, right next to the water.. the atmosphere couldn’t have been any better. Downstairs, on the main floor is the bar with dining and upstairs is the cafe, which is more casual and where happy hour happens.. which looks like I will have to return for.

Pricing: Being that is was Dine Around Seattle – it’s $30 for dinner. They don’t offer a lunch menu, but at other restaurants it’s $15 for the meal.

Service: We had a rather large party of ~16, but the wait staff was really gracious about some of us being late and accommodating all of us. The only negative side I would say is that towards the end of our meal, they lagged a little bit and it took quite some time to wrap everything up.

Food:
Night view of Ray’s

My delicious and very large appetizer. Puget Sound Mediterranean mussels. It was smoked with onion butter, red peppers, and herbs. Served with some crunchy bread. I would have to say my portion of mussels were quite large! The broth was sooo silky and buttery. Soaking my bread into this broth was utterly delectable.

My entree! I was so excited for this one. Idaho wagyu beef prepared at medium rare, served with red chili ponzu sauce, potato puree, and braised spinach. This steak was definitely one of favorite ones so far. Its crust was nice, crispy, and smoked. The meat was tender and quite juicy. The puree of potatoes was definitely pureed to the max. It was sooo fluffy, I’ve never eaten anything like this.. it was like eating clouds.

Dessert! Chocolate Feuilletine (definitely couldn’t pronounce that one). Rum ganache, coconut, and banana run ice cream. The ganache was very, very rich, but the ice cream balanced that out completely. Personally.. I wished there was more of the ice cream

Overall:
I really enjoyed Ray’s and like I said earlier, I will have to come back to try the happy hour. I can see this place being very popular as the weather gets warmer. The food was really great and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Side note, their entrees made it difficult to pick Not a bad thing to have such delicious options! Happy dining There’s one last week!

Almost Like Mom’s Cooking

Posted on March 8, 2013 by hiyezz

After a round of midterms, a group of us decided to go to the International District and eat some Vietnamese food. Vietnam House is next to Tamarind Tree, which attracts many people with its lavish decor and pretty much a fancy fancy Vietnamese restaurant. Vietnam House is much more simple and authentic. They provide a variety of dishes that’s almost as good as my mom’s cooking.

Atmosphere: There are larger tables in the middle made for larger parties and smaller tables surrounding it. It’s not a particularly large restaurant, but a suitable size. They have some simple decor such as the light fixture posted below. Besides that, they keep it to a minimum.

Pricing: Dishes range from $8-$10 for individual entrees. There are also family style dishes that can be shared.

Service: There are only 1 or 2 waiters helping out, but they’re pretty nice and know their dishes. I can tell it’s a family owned restaurant just by how they interact with one another.

Food:

This is called bun thit nuong cha gio. Aka – vermicelli noodles with grilled pork skewers and egg rolls. Probably the next popular dish after pho. This is always a classic, served with fish sauce (essential!).

This is what I got! It’s com tam dac biet. AKA – broken rice with grilled pork skewers, shrimp cake (in the back), and a fried egg on top. Also served with essential fish sauce. Portions are large, and I was so hungry I ate all of it. This is also another classic Vietnamese dish that you can’t go wrong getting here.

Overall: I really like this restaurant because it has such a variety of dishes to choose from. Another one I really enjoy bun bo hue – spicy beef noodle soup. Not like pho, but these noodles are thicker and the broth is much different and spicier. There is an array of meat, including oxtail. If you’re craving some authentic Vietnamese food, this is the place to try!