Terra Plata: Restaurant Dinner Review

This past Sunday, we celebrated my brother's birthday with a dinner at Terra Plata, located in Seattle's Capital Hill.

I started off with their fennel and grapefruit soda. It was citrus than anything and I found the fennel taste to be almost non-existing. However, it did remind me of a drink I've had in Malaysia which tastes very good so I wasn't totally disappointed.

We also selected this wine to pair with our dishes which was majority seafood.

Our first appetizer dish were these large beef bone marrows. Prepared very simply with just a little salt and a date compote mixture, the juicy (almost fat like) bone marrow melted onto the crusty bread and paired very nicely with the date mixture. It is very rich and not recommended for those that do not like the texture of fatty foods.

We also had this baby turnip dish, cooked with orange and some other garnishes. This was absolutely wonderful. The flavors complemented so well together and the texture of the turnips themselves were nice and tender--a wonderful start.

Then came one of the earth dishes that would probably the mos 'not worth it' dish. This small wild mushrooms gratin was a bit pricey, and didn't come with enough of the toasted bread.  However, the mushroomws, especially the morel mushrooms, were very delicious. The creme fraiche melted nicely with the sauce that gave it a ricotta cheese feel and the sauce was butter heaven. I just wish there were more components to this dish, maybe even pair the sauce with rice, to make it more worth the price.

Next was the risotto. I loved the little baby asparagus in this, which added a nice texture throughout, however this was a very rich dish. I couldn't have too much since it was quite heavy, but the flavors were there.

The Manila clams with their homemade chorizo sausage was probably my favorite dish. It was a total flavor impacted dish with just the right amound of textures and flavors mixe around. The smokiness of the sausage balanced out nicely with the chickpeas and pickled onions which all complimented the flavors of the clams. Not to mention the giant crouton pieces of bread throughout the dish to soak up all the juices!

The next dish to come to us was their so called 'sea bass' dish. Now, this isn't the typical Chilean seabass, that a single steak would weigh more than this small fish, but a part of the bass family. I think they should've made that distinction, but honestly, I don't think they really knew.

This was one of the first times I have seen a whole fish, head and all, steamed in it's entirety at an American restaurant. I see it all the time at Chinese ones but this is a first seeing it at an American one.

The preparation of this fish was simple and did not leave a fish/seafoody smell, which is always difficult to accomplish. I'd only wish the fish was bigger for the price, but overall it was decent and very fresh.

The last dish to come out was this pork belly and lentil dish. Very reminiscent of the way Chinese restaurants prepare it with a hint of five spice, this was a very comforting and delicious dish. Half a piece even satisfied me. The pork belly was very tender and melted right in your mouth. Then it also had a crunchy element of the skin. The lentils paired nicely with it along with the fruit compote along the top to glaze it.

Then for essert we had the creme crulee and the cookies and milk.

A light and creamy dish that wasn't too sweet and had a nice crunch on top with the fired sugar top.

I mostly picked this cookies and milk out because of the horchata (mexican rice drink with cinnamon and sugar). The cookies were so-so (probably not worth 8 dollar at all) but their horchata was very good.

This restaurant was definitely a good experience, but the prices can add up. Our total bill was slightly over $200. We did however have wonderful service. Our server was very gentle and checked up on us frequently and thoroughly explained our dishes. He also changed our dishes to make sure we had clean ones and kept refilling us with their bread.

If you're looking for a cute place to go with the family or a date, this is a good place to try out in Capital Hill.

Miyabi 45: Japanese with a fusion twist

Miyabi 45, a Japanese fusion restaurant located in Wallingford, Washington (just west of the University of Washington) has always been on my to try list ever since I heard about its opening.
I was finally able to try it out last weekend for an early Mother's day dinner with my family.
To me, this place is nothing like the original Miyabi restaurant (located in Tukwila) but it does have a nice atmosphere to it. Since it was a hot day, the side paneled window/doors were open right at the front of the store allowing a nice breeze. The seating was a bit tight since I think they get packed pretty early so they were not able to give us an extra half a table (even though no one was really there yet right when it opened).
Now I'll jump right into the food :

They started it for us by giving us these complimentary tofu bites? I'm honestly not too sure what these were, but I believe it was some type of soybean product. It was soft and creamy and seasoned with ponzu and wasabi.

I wanted oysters for the hot day so we tried out the Shigoku and the Olympias. I've never had the Shigoku before and I have to say that I did enjoy it more so than the Olympia which I had before. They're mild and sweet and a larger size.

Everytime I go to the Miyabi in Tukwila, I almost always order an Uni (sea urchin) shot. They are $2 more here, but I still love them.

Here we had a chop salad with golden beets, asparagus, pea vines, and more. I really liked the dressing that they paired with this salad. The noodles were a little too hard for my liking, but I really enjoyed the tender beets.

A deep fried sweetbread that was on their special, this dish was on the more mediocre side and the sweetbread was a little chewy and not as flavorful as I would've liked. Also, the pea vines underneath were stringy since they didn't remove the top vein (as with most people that prepare pea vines UNLESS you're at an authentic Chinese restuarant). So overall, this dish wasn't as impressive.

Cheese plate with 5 different cheese and homemade crackers. The Meyer lemon marmalade pictured on the far left was amazing and paired with the cheeses really well. My favorite was the koji yeast fermented tofu (cheese on the bottom left ) since it reminded me of the Chinese fermented bean curd used in their cooking.

Foie gras with jerusalem artichoke (sunchoke) and brussel sprouts. This foie gras had a nice aromatic flavor which infused into the veggies. The piece I had (since we split it amongst 5 of us) was a little bit undercooked, but didn't bother me too much. It was still a nice succelent piece.

The main courses were our Soba dishes! (I had the Zaru Soba--cold dippng styple soba) while the hot ones other people had.

My mom ordered the duck and leek (kamo nanban). I only had a piece of the duck which I liked the texture of, but wished it carried a little more flavor.

I ordered the dipping soba. This handmade soba is very good. The texture is different than of the dry packaged ones you buy at the store or even have at other restaurants. It is nice a light and chewy but not overly aldente. Definitely a good soba and a good place if you want something handmade.

For dessert, we had this Japanese fusion style and their interpretation of a french beignet. I liked the idea of it, adding the bacon and having maple syrup that flavor-wise, should pair nicely with kinako (soybean flour). However, the buckwheat tofu reminded me more of the sesame paste with a too gooey of a center that reminded me of mochi (rice cake). It was okay, but I wouldn't miss not seeing it since it was on their special menu.

Overall, I was very pleased with my experience. The location was nice and on a sunny day, its even better because you can walk around and check the area out--(where we also got Molly Moon's ice cream about 3 blocks down!).

I would definitely go back and maybe try some other items like something off the Seattle's Best Bukkake (bad name..for certain reasons!) style of soba.

And below are pictures of the menus and pricing.

Mike's Noodle House-A Chinatown Favorite



image taken from http://msg150.com/2008/01/lunch-22-mikes-noodle-house.html

Mike's Noodle House, located in Chinatown in Seattle's Internatonal District right across from Hing Hay Park, is a Cantonese/Hong Kong style restaurant that serves an assortment of noodles, congee, side dishes, etc. For some reason, it has become a local favorite and is a popular lunch time location for not just strictly Chinese people but an array of people. The place gets crowded and packed quick so it is best to go there earlier in the day to guarantee a spot and not have to wait. The service isn't exactly the best since I found a lot of the waitresses to be rude (but its pretty typical of many Chinese places) since they have to work in such a fast pace environment.

My parents and I usually come here during the week day (when I was in school, we'd go before I had class) or now on  a day off if we go shop in Chinatown, my dad will usually want to come here. Here's a look at our usual order:

 

We usually always have congee, this one is the 'century egg (preserved egg) with pork.

Then for myself, I usually almost always order the wonton noodle soup w/ soft beef brisket-the flavor of this is really flavor packed and delicious!



Then for the more adventurous, or those who like the 'innards' this is a plate of cleaned and blanched pork kidney and beef tripe served with veggies. The tripe is sort of flavorless but is cooked just right so it isn't chewy or tough at all. The kidney does have a stronger/gamier taste, but dipped in the spicy soy sauce, it is a nice snack!

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