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.

Henry's Taiwan Restaurant-Chinatown, Seattle

Last week, I went with my parent's to eat at this Taiwanese restaurant located in Chinatown in Seattle, WA. Now first off, there are two restaurants that go by the same name, (same owner), on the same street, and you want to go to this one (closer to the Chinatown gate/king station side). 

They offer some more things than their other place

For appetizers, we started with an oyster egg fry (omelet type thing) and stinky tofu (popular in Hong  Kong and Taiwan). The oyster egg fry was a lot different than I expected. I was waiting for a yellow regular egg omelet you might find at say, an American breakfast place, but was a layer of oyster, spinach, fried egg, with this crunchy light pastry yet gooey batter on top. I actually liked this a lot, and the sauce that went with it matched well. It wasn't spicy like I thought it'd be due to the color, but was on the sweeter side.

Now the 'Stinky tofu' or chou dofu in Chinese, was not bad for being a stinky food. There isn't an overpowering scent, unlike if you're in Hong Kong and you can smell it a couple blocks away and you think you're smelling the sewage. lolz. The stank is more prominent when you actually bite into it, but it tastes very good. The sweet glaze that is drizzled over it complimented the sharp bite of the tofu, so did the pickled cabbage.

Now for my main course, I had knife cut noodles in a red braised beef broth along with baby bok choy or shanghai bok choy, onions, pickled cabbage, and cilantro. I kind of wished the broth was a little more flavorful, not to say that it wasn't, but it was a little clear for my liking. But this probably means there was no added flavor enhancers like MSG (monosodium glutimate, aji no moto) to it so it probably overall was healthier for me. The beef was nice and tender and flavor loaded . The hand shaven noodles were also nice and firm, an al dente like texture. I was able to finish this all and didn't feel overly stuffed.

The pricing is reasonable, with the two appetizers, my noodle dish and my parents food courses, it was around $40 with tax and tip included, so i'd say around $6 to $8 dollars per dish.