The Kingfish Cafe: Restaurant Review

On Saturday, my family and I went out to do some errands and then went to the Kingfish Cafe for breakfast. I've always seen this place since it was so close to my old high school, but have never tried it! Finally, I was able to fulfill my curiosities !

Located in a slightly quiet area of Capitol Hill, this restaurant is on the corner of 19th and E Mercer St. and is placed in a nice little neighborhood. They serve Southern style cuisine and have been in business for a little over 10 years.

I have always seen this place on the outside as I either have walked/bussed/or driven by and was excited to finally be able to sit inside. I didn't get to see the entirety of the place since we were seated pretty close up front to the windows but it had a relaxing atmosphere. The seats by the windows are actually very nice when it's sunny out because it is just nice and bright.

They had a paper menu with a breakfast and brunch option and most of us opted for the brunch side (except my brother who is in love with buttermilk pancakes).



My parents both got the same thing, the crab and catfish cakes eggs benedicts style and I have to say those cakes were really good! It was a little crispier than what I usually prefer to in a crab cake, but the crunch was a nice added texture. The crab and catfish were flavorful too and added with the poached egg and hollandaise on top made for a nice bite.

I had the grits topped with gravy, chicken and onions that came with scrambled eggs and a hot biscuit.

I kind of wished the gravy sauce was a little more 'savory'--it felt like it was lacking in something--but I liked the chicken and onion throughout. I had to give it a little kick so I added their habanero (I think) hot sauce to it and it made the dish a whole lot tastier.

 I don't care too much for scrambled eggs so I gave that to my brother. I did really like the hot biscuit though since it was freshly made and the jam that came with it was really perfect. I think it was raspberry, but that jam with the butter melted onto the biscuit was comfort.

I highly recommend checking this place out especially if you love or want to try Southern style food. I would definitely go back (I  want to try that bread pudding!) and also see their menus for what they serve for lunch and dinner. I think it is a good place for families, a friend get together, and even a date since the area is so quaint. The staff was nice and friendly and so very easy to work with. This is a definitely a place to check out.

Do you like Southern food? What's your favorite dish??

Birthday Celebrations w/ Food !

My birthday was the other day and I just wnated to share the family celebration I had that, of course, centered around food!

Last Sunday, we had a larger family dinner to celebrate my birthday and I decided to eat Korean BBQ!

If you haven't had K-BBQ before and you love meat, then you should definitely try it! We went to Palace BBQ in Bellevue (there's another one in Federal Way). To check out their menu and site click HERE)

I love the fact that you cook everything yourself and can watch it sizzle and smoke  >.< There's a large selection of meats and seafood and my personal favorites are the pork belly (pictured above--its like bacon), Kalbi (pictured above-marinated short ribs), shrimp and bulgolgi (marinated thinly sliced beef).

I also love the banchan (small side dishes) that they will keep refilling for you as well. My favorites are the cucumber kimchi and potato salad that they make. The dipping sauces for the unmarinated meat are so simple but good as well. There's sesame oil that I like to add dopanjang (fermented bean paste) and garlic. Then I like the citrus-y soy sauce with jalapeno to dip the pork belly in. It's all just so tasty!

If I have to be honest though, I think I do like the Federal Way restaurant slightly better than the Bellevue one, but they both make me happy =P

And of course, for some reason, I have to have beer (Korean beer of course) with my bbq. I'm not a beer drinker, but I realllly love OB--its not too heavy but isn't too watery. It has a nice lager flavor and I love the carbonation. It's good for washing down the grease haha. 

Just for kicks, but I did like it. It's a baby octopus (like calmari).



Then on my actual birthday day (yesterday the 21st ^^), my brother treated me out to Ramen at Kukai Ramen & Izakaya. I've been here before but don't think I've written a review on it. Anyways, in Chinese tradition, you are usually supposed to eat noodles on you birthday to represent a long life/longevity. I was feeling for some Japanese ramen so this is where we went!

We started off with some appetizers: their yaki onigiri (grilled rice balls) and their house salad. I wish their onigiri was less mushy and more hard/crunchy. The rice was too mushy for my taste and it was barely crispy on the outside--like it was too wet. The flavor of it was good though and there was some sake (salmon) bits in it I believe and I like it when it's wrapped in the nori (seaweed).

I didn't try the salad but it was just a simple one with tofu, chicken, nori, and a miso dressing.

Oh yea, and we also had agedashi tofu, which is basically a deep fried tofu in a dashi broth topped in bonito dried tuna fish) flakes and shredded daikon (a type of radish).

Now the best part--the actual ramen! I really like their Tsukemen (dipping noodles) with a tonkotsu (thick pork broth) dipping stock.  I like dipping ramen sometimes because I can control the amount of flavor and bits of what I eat since I don't always like mixing everything together. I choose the regular broth (they have a lighter portion) so I could enjoy the full flavor of the pork broth. It was very rich, thick and savory and slightly intense in flavor but it's exactly how I like it. The pork slices were also very flavorful and tender so it wasn't chewy at all.

One of my favorite parts to the dish is the half boiled tamago (egg) and how the outside was nice and cook but the inside yolk was nice and runny--having none of it cooked at all! They must have their timing down to be so consistent. Anyways, I definitely loved that and always love my yolks in eggs extra runny.

Of course to top off the night (even though the weather was basically freezing!) I picked up a mini treat of Menchie's frozen yogurt which was basically only one store over!

I picked the mango sorbet (hella bomb), blueberry pomegranate (I wanted to keep in the same tart theme) and of the plain original flavor. I topped it off with some mochi (chewy rice cakes), popping boba in mango, cheesecake chunks, cookie dough, pomegrante seeds, kiwi and strawberries and I was very content for the night.

Hope you guys enjoyed the food post! I love sharing good meals with photos =P

Calbee Fall/Winter Limited Edition Sweet Potato Chips Review

It's that time of year for seasonal/limited edition flavors to come out from Japan and today's review will be on the limited Fall and Winter Osatsu (sweet potato) chips.

Back of bag.

Inside of bag.

As you can see from the shape of the chips, they aren't the usual long shrimp chip shape or typical sliced oval. The chips have a petal like shape but it can sort of also looks like garlic clove. 

The flavor of the chip itself is very flavorful and has a true yet somewhat artificial sweet potato flavor. It seems the flavor is in the chip itself along with some type of flavored powder coated over the chip. 

The chip has a nice crisp texture with a bit of fluff to it (if that makes sense). Overall, it is a very nice snack/treat since I usually like sweet potato flavored snacks. If you're a fan of sweet potato and can find this in your local Asian grocery store, then I highly recommend checking it out!

Bissinger's Quinoa Agave Crunch 75% cocoa bar: Review

Today's goodie post is on a healthier treat, Bissinger's All Natural Quinoa Agave Crunch Chocolate.

When you have a craving for something sweet or something with chocolate, Dark chocolate is the way to go (especially over milk or white chocolate). The higher percentage of cocoa, the better. Dark chocolate has many benefits to the body including lowering blood pressure, improving cognitive function, controlling blood sugar, being full of antioxidants, etc.

This bar would be a good alternative for those who also like toffee bits in their chocolate bars. This contains agave covered puffed quinoa which gives you that sweetened crunch you are looking for. Quinoa is a true grain high in protein, gluten-free and a good source of calcium. Agave is a sweetener derived from the blue agave plant, however, it is still not as healthy of an alternative as people may believe, but it is still better than regular table sugars and there are only 8gms of sugar in this bar.




You can see the puffed quinoa inside the chocolate

I did indeed receive this at as a sample, but you can buy this on the Bissinger's website for around $5.00. I would also check out more health food related stores like Whole Foods or PCC for this item, and they would probably retail for around $5 too 7 dollars depending on the area (or cheaper).

Food Truck Event 092113

This past weekend, I attended another food truck event. Since I'm on a restricted nutrition plan, I had to see what was the healthiest item I could possibly eat. It was sort of my 'cheat day,' but I made sure to not eat anything to fatty or deep fried!

The first stop I went to was to Crisp Creperie and I ordered their Proscuitto and Brie crepe w/ almond butter, arugula, and apples.

It was indeed a fairly big crepe and it cost $12. The pricing is a little higher than i'd like for a crepe, but I wanted to try it so forked up the cash.

I will say that the crepe was very good though. They weren't stingy on the ingredients either (and I would hope not since I did pay $12 for it). The only downside to this is the crepe dough/pancake thing itself. I wish there was a little seasoning to it instead of tasting like plain flour. Even a little pinch more salt or something would've been better. Other than that, I did enjoy this crepe and unlike other crepes i've had, I had to use a knife and fork to actually cut it and eat it up.

The other item I tried (just a small piece from what my dad ordered) was from Outside the Box, which is basically a Paleo diet sort of food truck where they don't use any processed foods and supposed to have more healthier foods.

We tried the Pork Belly , and I was a bit confused of the fact that it was on the menu since pork belly is not really healthy at all. I guess is just that is local and better raised swine? I'm not sure. Anyways, this item came on a bed of kale and we did expect something more than just a few slices of meat on greens. It was also a really long wait for this item so may not really be worth it

The pork belly was $8 for 4 slices. The flavor was decent but the meat wasn't overly tender. I wasn't too impressed with this and would have rather tried a different item from them.

The Other Side of Broadway

This will sort of be a random post and mini review of my day yesterday. I had an appointment in the afternoon in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle on the side of Broadway with less of the bars and more of the casual food and local businesses.

It is always interesting there with fun characteristics and personality of the location. On my walk back, the first thing that caught my attention was this stone sculpture like baby plastered on the side of a recycle bin!

It was too good not to take a picture of. And not to make it more typical for being in Seattle, but I'm pretty sure that is a Starbucks card right next to it. Haha. Not sure if the person wanted to be creepy, have fun, or was just bored, but it definitely made a  statement and got my attention.

After my appointment, I walked with my friend to go get some lunch.

On our walk to the Melrose Market for some grub, I saw this beautiful flowering tree out in the front of apartments. It also turned out to be a sunny and warm day so the flowers just stood even more out to me. The place right on the top middle with the flowers outside made me think of how cute and lovely it would be to live there and walk out to some gorgeous flowers.

Right across from those flowers is Melrose Market which contains a few stores such as Homegrown a sandwhich shop, a few shops, cheese and meat counters, and other quaint things. I love how the stores inside use mainly locally produced items and it just makes the place feel really homey.

Since I am on a pretty strict nutirtion plan, I decided on a vegetarian half sandwhich at Homegrown.

My choice was the Portobello + Goat Cheese w/ caramelized red onions, mixed greens, and a hazelnut arugula pesto on whole wheat bread.

The size was just perfect since I am now eating smaller portions. They make their own bread I believe and for the most part use what is local which is awesome. It is more on the healthier side, but they don't lack in flavor. The portobello mushrooms added a meaty texture to the sandwhich which, for me, made up for the missed meats in most sandwhiches. The greens added a nice fresh crunch, the caramelized onions were the perfect sweetness and added an extra element and layer of flavor to the sandwhich. The hazelnut pesto held the sandwhich well together and balanced it all out with its earthy flavor. I think hazelnut is an awesome alternative to making pesto as opposed to pine nuts, since I do believe they are cheaper and less fatty (for a nut that is). This was $7 + tax for half a sandwhich, which can seem a little high for some people, but you have to remembr the quality of the ingredients used that makes up for it.

Then on my walk back to my car, I noticed this awesome Pokemon wall of cards on the window of a coffee shop! I love how it has the rainbow effect and that the cars are alternated with the element energy cards. Sorry, but I really geeked out! It was a "nerdy" moment for me, whatever that really means. It made me really happy and made me thought of my childhood.

Overall, it was a short lovely afternoon where I got to spend time with my dear friend, try a new place out that i've always wanted to try, and see some really neat things.

For those who may be visiting Seattle, I highly recommend checking out the Capitol Hill area if you want to try good food and be in a good, fun environment.

Since the warm and sunny weather is becoming less and less, I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to go out for a walk and try some place new! =P

Kokiri Korean Restaurant Review !

This post will be short and simple to get a glimpse of a Korean restaurant I tried a couple of weeks ago.

A few pages of their menu below. Everything looked so good!

First up is Pajun/pajeon, or the Korean green onion pancake with seafood. I usually like most restaurant's pajun, but this one was exceptionally good. The octopus/or squid pieces inside were nice and tender and not chewy at all, which tends to be the case with a lot of restaurants. The batter was also not overly thick and had the nice crisp to the bottom of it as well.

Now my personal favorite dish, dukbokki/toppokki, was next and I usually order this wherever I can if they serve it. I liked that the sauce wasn't too over the top spicy but still had a kick. The rice cakes were nice and chewy and the added slices of fish cake is a plus. 

Now probably the most worth it dish was this Kalbi tang aka kalbi/short rib soup. It was packed with flavor, loaded with meat, and had veggies and egg dropped into it. The soup was very robust and full and had almost a creamy like consistency to it without the actual dairy. 

They also had a typical assortment of banchan (side dishes). My favorites are usually the potato salad, fish cake, and cucumber kimchi. They're version of the cucumber kimchi was by far one of my favorites out of all the ones i've tried.

I highly recommend coming here for dinner if you want good Korean food at a good price. You know a place is good when everyone in the restaurant is Korean except you! The only negative I have to say about the place is the service since it did take some time to get served and some of the Korean servers can seem to be rude.

If you can get over that (or just go with someone who can speak Korean) then go check this place out.

The restaurant is located south of Seattle in Federal Way.