Coastal Kitchen feat. The Amalfi Coast: Restaurant Review

Last Sunday, a few of my old co-workers and I headed over to Capitol Hill in Seattle to try out Coastal Kitchen for 'Blunch'!

 

I have never been here before and have always driven by it or hear people talk about it, so when we got together, we thought, why not? The cool thing about this place is that each month or so (not sure how often, it is probably on their website) they feature and tour a new area showcasing the flavors and some dishes of that region and when we went, they were featuring the Amalfi Coast which is located in Southern Italy.

They don't feature a whole ton of dishes from the region, the whole menu only has 3 dishes for each side with foods from that region and the rest of the menu is a regular blunch/lunch menu.

I didn't get anything from the regular lunch menu but I did choose 2 items from the blunch side.

First thing I tried was the Sfogiatelle and not gonna lie, it was a little disappointing. The description made it sound really good and as if the ricotta inside would be nice and creamy. The flaky outside was a bit chewy and took some work before you could swallow it. The inside was more moist than the outside makes it seem, but it wasn't exactly the creamy type of cheese (like a danish perhaps) I was expecting. I did enjoy the flavor of it though--the lemon flavor was refreshing and it wasn't overly sweet. I had expected these to be a bit more fresh, but in honesty I feel like it was a bit stale. Not that good for a first impression...however, my main course made up for it!

I choose an item from the blunch side again and this time it was the Risotto Hash con Polpo. The risotto had pancetta, octopous, and argula while topped with two eggs over easy served with grilled foccacia bread.

The presentation on this was excellent and immediately made me giddy with excitement to dig in! It was almost too good to eat..almost. haha. It came with its own little wok and the colors of the fresh herbs and other ingredients were so inviting.

I love octopus but hate when it is overcooked and I was very pleased by the way the octopus was prepared in this dish. It wasn't too chewy, but rather nice and tender. I loved breaking the egg yolks up and mixing everything in together with the rice. The pancetta bits added a nice salty layer of flavor to the dish as well. The grilled foccacia was nice and crispy too and was perfect for dishing up the risotto on top of it.

My only gripe about the dish was that it was a bit greasy. You could see a lot of oil at the bottom of the pan--but it did help in making the rice sticking to the pan crunch up--it was just the leftover oil that was a bit much.

Overall, I was satisfied with my dish and am definitely wanting to come again, either for a happy hour or dinner, or even when they change touring location. The place is always busy and you should make RSVPs for dinner time (I don't think you can reserve space in the morning/lunch time). We had about a 30 minute wait, but since it wasn't raining and the fact that there were many little stores to check out, it wasn't too bad. The price was very reasonable and the portions are quite generous as well. 

Have you ever tried a dish like this? What's your favorite Italian food??

More Food: Marination Station + Vostok Dumpling House in Capitol Hill

The other week, I did a post on this Soviet inspired dumpling house in Capitol Hill, Seattle called Vostok Dumpling House and decided to go back and try more food along with grabbing some goodies from Marination Staton (right next door) to bring to-go for home.

A look inside Marination Station.

Marination Station is a fusion food place mixing Hawaiian, Korean, Mexican, etc. all together.

Now a look at what I ordered!

From Marination Station, I ordered the Kimchi Fried Rice w/ Beef (comes with a Fried Egg $7)

I love when the egg yolk is like that above, so perfect when it oozes over the rice.

This is probably my most favorite item to order at Marination Station. Being that this was the second time I ordered from here ever, I just had a craving for this fried rice. The beef was a little tough, but it really didn't bother me and I overall enjoyed it and had some the next day for lunch and it was still good!

I also had ordered 1 of each of their tacos. The best of the pork and beef ones. The chicken and tofu ones were mediocre...and I probably won't order those again.

Teriyaki chicken soft taco.

Next are the items from Vostok!

I ordered the chicken dumplings with the Garilc and herb sauce (above) and also their pork dumplings with their KGB (a super spicy sauce) pictured below.

I loved both of them and couldn't have been happier! The pork with the KGB was a real kicker, in terms of heat and I would totally recommend this to any spicy food lovers. I can't say much else about the dumplings besides that they were delicious and satisfying. My parents also tried it and liked it as well. It's a nice change to the Chinese style dumplings we usually eat.

Pork w/ KGB sauce

Chicken w/ Garlic & Herb Sauce

Last but not least, I had to also order the borscht (red beet soup) from Vostok. I had always been curious about borscht but have never tried it. I saw it on their menu and ordered it with the sour cream.

I have to say, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SOUPS I HAVE EVER HAD! I don't know where borscht has been my entire life?! To b honest, I'm not a fan or cooked red beets (I prefer them juiced) and I usually eat golden beats. This just changed my mind about red beets in general. This was a vegan recipe I believe, but still had bold flavors from the other veggies used. My mom was also obsessed with this so the next day, she went out and bought all the ingredients and we made a big pot of this stuff! It's pretty easy, but it wasn't as good as Vostok's, but still, tasty.

Okay, that's it with my food post! I hope you enjoyed this post and the pictures >.<

Do you like fusion foods? What are your favorite food fusions?!

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Edamame: Snack Review

The other day, I went into Trader Joe's and was looking to try the Dark Choco covered pomegranate seeds but they were out of stock! So I kept my eye open for something else and spotted these

 Dark Chocolate Edamame.

Edamame is basically soybeans before they are taken out of the pod and dried (I believe). I picked up this 10 oz size for around $3.29 (somewhere around there).

They're about the size of a chocolate covered raisin or peanut.

Now for the actual product itself, it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. When I usuall eat edamame at home or at at Japanese restaurant, it's boiled/steamed and soft and nice in texture. I didn't realize these were dried and roasted (I guess they'd have to be to be covered in dark choco-but not necessary..). The soybean inside was very dry but I guess it pairs well with the smoother dark chocolate? I found this really plain and the soybeans themselves really dry and grainy. I ended up not caring too much for it, but my mom loved them, so I think it really is a preference thing.

Overall, I wouldn't repurchase this item. It just wasn't unique/special enough and wasn't up to my expectations.

Have you tried any Trader Joe's snacks/treats? What's your favorite?

Vostok Dumpling House: Restaurant Review!

I was in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle the other day and was in the mood for a quick meal. I was going to head over to Marination Station, but I noticed this place Vostok Dumpling House right next door! Since I haven't really had Russian food and love all kinds of dumplings in general, I figured it be a good of time as any to try something new =P

 A look at their menu

Basically, you can pick the type of dumpling you want and your own sauce and any additional add-ons. They had other items such as their sides, but I didn't have enough money on me so was only able to get a half order of dumplings to try >.<

Decor inside-Soviet inspired.

I picked the Potato Cheddar Varniki which already comes with their traditional butter sauce and caramelized onions (so I didn't have to do any extra thinking!)

A half order came with around 9 dumplings I believe and nice slice of thick bread.

I'm all about the skin of a dumpling. I'm not too picky, but I like a good dough and this one didn't disappoint! It wasn't too thick or too thin and had a good chew to it.

The inside filling wasn't quite what I expected. I certainly tasted the potato but I think I expected more flavor, especially from the cheese, but it wasn't disappointing either, just not what I had originally expected. I absolutely loved the caramelized onions and felt that it went perfect with the mild butter sauce and potato cheddar dumpling. It definitely added that bit of flavor I was craving. It is especially good too when you swap up some of the onions and sauce with the thick slice of bread provided! This half dumpling portion with the bread was the perfect amount for a filling lunch for me.

My total was less that $5.00 ($4.93 to be exact) and I couldn't have asked for a better meal at that price. I highly recommend checking this place out if you are in the area or if you want a feel for Russian food.

I will definitely try some other dumplings next time with a side of Borscht!

Have you tried Russian/Soviet inspired food? What is your favorite dish? What would you recommend?!