Sitka & Spruce: Father's Day Dinner--Review

Yesterday for Father's day, my family and I went to Sitka & Spruce located in Seattle's Capitol Hill.

The little restaurant is located inside Melrose Market , which also has a bunch of other little shops inside as well. It is a farily open space with windows all around letting the light in offering green house feel to the atmosphere which I found really comforting.

They're menu, I believe, changes every day so click HERE to see updated menus for Sitka & Spruce.

We started off with their bread of the day which came from the Columbia City bakery (located in south/central Seattle).  The baguette was nice and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. The whipped butter with the sea salt flakes paired nicely with it as well.

The brined & baked ham with fermented rhubarb was also a nice pairing to the bread. I've never had rhubarb in a fermented/pickled form and found it quite nice. It had the sour/tartness of a pickled radish and went well with the mild flavor of he ham. The fresh Italian flat leaf parsley also added an earthy element to the dish and when eaten together, it offered a nice, clean, fresh taste. The tartness of the rhubarb really enhanced my appetite.

 

Then came our salad which consisted of young lettuce (romaine I believe) hazelnuts and a cow tomme cheese. Nothing much to say about this salad besides the fact that it was indeed fresh and the vinagrette enhanced the sweetness of the young lettuce. The cheese added a nice salty touch and the nuts added a crunch of texture.

 

Then we had the black morel (mushroom), garlic spear, and egg soup. At first glance, it looked like a typical Chinese egg drop soup, but that is where the similiarities end. the flavor of the broth was more robust than your typical egg flower soup but I can see inspiration taken from the Chinese soup. The morels were excellent and provided a meat like texture to the soup. It was quite unexpected but welcomed. It brough a sense of heartiness to the soup. The chopped up garlic spears/scapes also added a nice mild onion-y flavor and texture to the soup. Then the beaten egg that was added to the soup created a fullness to the soup as a whole. Overall, this was a really excellent soup.

 

I really wanted to try the raw salmon, but was a little put off by this dish since it had zucchini in it. I'm not a huge fan of zucchini but found that it worked really well in this dish. The soft texture of the zucchini paired nicely to the raw salmon (which by the way was not fishy at all and you could taste the pure flavor of the salmon.) Along with the crunchiness of the rye bread, the texturse flowed nicely. I found the dill to be a little too overpowering in flavor, but the sea bean added the right amount of tart and salty flavor to the overall mild flavoring dish.

 

Then came the lamb belly and lentil dish. This dish is the perfect way to consume lentils, in my opinion. The lamb was nice and soft and flavorful without being gamey, like most lamb dishes are usualyl known for. I was nice and moist, most likely from the fat, and paired nicely with the lentil and emmer and borani (a Persian appetizer with yogurt).

Then came the halibut dish which though it was good, didn't impress me as much. The piece of fish was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The flavor and method of cooking the fish also wasn't too impressive. It was packed with a butter flavor, but I will say it was cooked well and wasn't too fishy in smell. I did enjoy the terragon leaves however as it added an unexpected twist. The potatoes were also good and gave a new appearance to how to present potatoes since it looked like meat. Overall, this dish was okay and something I could pass up.

Lastly, we tried the gateau basque which I would say is like almost a soft thick custard type of pie. It was not to sweet and it was creamy on the inside with a nice flakey crust. The strawberries paired nicely with the this tarte like dessert as it was sweeted and seemd to have had the strawberry flavor enhanced.

It went really well with the coffee we had as well.

As we got our check for the evening, they came with the caramels (which I also believe they hand made). They were nice and soft, but seemed a little greasy since the butter that was used to make the caramel perhaps was too much? It oversaturated the paper wrappers they were held in.

Overall, I would like to try this place again, maybe for their brunch or lunch even! I like the idea and concept behind using fresh ingredients on the daily and providing a new menu almost every day to keep things unexpected.

It is a little pricey, but you are paying for the services (which by the way is excellent) as well as the quality of the food.

Awaokoshi: Japanese Puffed Rice candy

My mom's friend came back from Japan a couple of weaks ago and brought us some goodies!

This first one i'm featuring is Awaokoshi-a Japanese puffed rice snack that is sweetened.

  

The left features the wrapped packaging. The right is the box unwrapped.

Amount of bars you receive in the box. All of them are individually wrapped in a similar paper as the outside box.

Back labeling of the snack.

A look at the puffed rice snack. As you can see, the rice puffs* are very small compared to rice puffs of the American variety. It also contains some black and white sesame seeds throughout. The puff wasn't overly sweet and had a nice ginger flavor to it as well.

*Aha! These 'rice puffs' are actually millet--another type of grain that are really small. That's why these are so small. No wonder! I can't read Japanese and having the packaging saying 'puffed rice' is misleading/confusing! Thank you to the readers for catching that =)

I just love Japanese packaging on their products. It just makes everything that much more enjoyable!

RTN Uwaji's June Foodtruck Round up

This past weekend, I attended the Renton Uwajimaya June Foodtruck Round Up. The rise of the Mobile foodtrucks have been growing popular in the greater Seattle area over the past couple of years and I was able to try two new trucks that I haven't had before.



Athena's food truck


Athena's was the first place I went and their truck was really cool! They had I believe Triton, messenger of the Sea and a Greek warrior (sorry I don't know who it is! Achilles maybe?) painted on the side of their truck. It really caught my eye. I had their Lamb Gyro.

It was fairly big and cost $8.00. The lamb part wasn't what I was used to (usually the sliced salted and soft lamb I usually have in other gyros). This was more like straight up lamb with not much seasoning and ha a little chew to it. I didn't mind it since the feta and olives gave it complimentary flavor. Overall, I was pleased.

You can check out Athena's info HERE.

One of my friends had a shrimp po'boy from Jemil's Big Easy, Cajun/Creole food, and I had some of hers. It was absolutely amazing! The dressing/sauce that they put in it really blended well with shrimp which was nice and crunch on the outside, and moist inside. I loved that they used the french bread with it. The texture and mild flavor of the bread paired nicely with the shrimp. Check out Jemil's HERE.

Lastly, since I was craving something sweet, I went over to Street Treats, which features a 'build-your-own ice cream sandwhich! I picked the snickerdoodle cookie to match with the Toasted coconut ice cream! This was absolutely delicious and was a pretty generous portion for a gourmet dessert. It cost me $5.00. The only downside is that the ice cream did melt before I could finish the cookie so it became a little messy.

Check out their stuff HERE.

 

Every Burger, Chocolate Cookie Snack: Review

My goodies review today will be on this ever so popular 'Every Burger" which is basically a cookie snack with chocolate that is shaped into burgers.

Each individual box comes with 2 separate sleeves of the chocolate cookie snack.

As you can see from inside, there are a few little burgers in each tray.

I have to say that the concept of this snack is quite cute and perfect for kids. They're small, cute, bite-sized cookies that resembles mini burgers so its no wonder kid gravitate towards them or even people getting them as a little gift.

The cookie and chocolate are actually not bad either. It isn't anything I haven't tried before since I feel it is fairly similar to any type of choco/cookie combo out there.

The only down side to some people may be the price. I bought this at my local Japanese store for around $2.69, but this item is from Japan and somewhat of a novelty item. I'd recommend this as a gift for anyone who is into Japanese snacks or small cutesy items in general.

Only place I found it online was HERE

Peyrassol: A place for relaxation--Restaurant Review

Yesterday, I had a wonderful Mother/Daughter dinner date with my mom that was followed with shopping.

We went to one of our local favorites, Peyrassol-Cafe at Southport located by Gene Coulon Park in Renton, Washington.

The service is always wonderful and the food is always delicious. I finally now have the chance to write a full review of the place (and probably more to come as I try their other dishes)

Check out their menu and other info HERE (note that the website is not updated for their current menu)

Bread service is always a must. They serve a Grand Central Bakery bread that is delivered fresh and paired off nicely with an aromatic olive oil.

We had the charcuterie that came with nice ham, coppa (i think?) and salami with pickled fennel.

The fennel matche perfectly with the drier cured meats and overall very appetizing.

We also had a small cup of their soup of the day which was a lentil soup. For some reason, the chef made this extremely flavorful and I would love having this all the time compared to the plain lentil soup my mom makes >.< It had tomatoes and was topped with olive oil and filled with all sorts of spices.

Then we had one of their special salads that had bresaola (I believe) topped with arugula, mushrooms, parmigiano reggianom, olive oil, salt and pepper. This dish was so simple but very well put together, along with the presentation. My mom had a little trouble with the cured meat since it was a little too chewy for her, but other than that, it was very enjoyable.

Now for our main dishes. My mother ordered this Beouf Bourguignon- a slow roasted beef chuck with a polenta cake. Flavor wise, I feel like it could have been better and the beef could have been more tender. I do believe my mother could have made this dish better, at least flavor-wise, maybe adding a hint of star anise or some spice. It felt like a layer or 2 of flavor was missing. However, the polenta cake was excellent. Nice and crunchy on the outside, but nice and moist on the inside with a nice mild flavor.

Then my dish came and I was definitely happy! I ordered their Papparadelle in a bolognese sauce and it was exactly the type of flavor I had imagined and craved! The wide cut noodle texture was nice an aldente. The sauce was amazing with the right amount of meats running through it along with just enough pepper spice and it wasn't too heavy with tomato. By far one of my favorite dishes I have had at this restaurant and I highly recommend it.

better up close shot

If you're looking for a nice relaxing atmosphere or even one with romantic ambiance, then defnitely check this place out. It is in a nice little quite corner right by the lake with both indoor and outdoor seating which is perfect for the nice sunny days. It isn't too crowded in here and the service is excellent. It does take a little while for food to come out since it is basically all home made and made to order. The price is decent too for the quality you receive with some items right under $20. I think this place would be perfect to take for a special birthday or even a date. I have only been here for their dinner menu and will need to go back to check out their Brunch and Lunch offerings.