Seattle visit

"Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see, and he recommends Gelatiamo, Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

Bob

When I go to Seattle, I always have to go to Duke's Chowderhouse for their
Dungeness Crab Chowder with Bourbon. If you don't mind a few thousand
calories, it's absolutely fantastically to die for. They also have great
salads, great fish entrees, wonderful steamed clams and nice ambience.

kili

"Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see, and he recommends Gelatiamo, Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

How much did you want to spend on food? I agree on the Piroshky. For
higher-end eating there's Harvest Vine, a Spanish/Basque tapas place.
Dahlia Lounge for seafood.

Less pricey, I really like Cedar's in the U. District for
Indian/middle-eastern.

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see, and he recommends Gelatiamo, Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

I'll second Gelatiamo though I haven't been there in a while.

Try Yarmaka Cafe before Piroshky Piroshky - I love their stuffed cabbage:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/restaurants/cafyarmarka.php

From the creative food / finer dining category try Matt's in the Market:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/restaurants/mattsinthemarket.php

On the other end of the spectrum is [censored]'s drive in restaurants:

http://www.ddir.com

Matt said:

How much did you want to spend on food? I agree on the Piroshky. For
higher-end eating there's Harvest Vine, a Spanish/Basque tapas place.
Dahlia Lounge for seafood.

Less pricey, I really like Cedar's in the U. District for
Indian/middle-eastern.

Thanks for the recommendations. As far as budget, the sky's the limit. (But
then it *is* only for three nights!)

That reminds me: I'm picking someone up at the airport just after 11 PM on a
Friday night. Is there decent food to be had in Seattle or Tacoma at that
hour?

Bob

Bob said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

Wild Ginger. Creative, but for taste's sake, not just to be novel,
several Asian cuisines represented, large, trendy, downtown (Third St.,
I think). Really good food. The only drawback is that there is so
much that sounds good on the menu you want to come back several times
just to try it all. Come to think of it, there are probably reviews
that would serve as a guide to the menu if you were going with a group.
-aem

aem said:

Bob said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

Wild Ginger. Creative, but for taste's sake, not just to be novel,
several Asian cuisines represented, large, trendy, downtown (Third St.,
I think). Really good food. The only drawback is that there is so
much that sounds good on the menu you want to come back several times
just to try it all. Come to think of it, there are probably reviews
that would serve as a guide to the menu if you were going with a group.
-aem

No, Third Avenue.

at Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:54:01 GMT in <42ea9722$0$91670$bb4e3ad8
@newscene.com>, virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz (Bob) wrote :

Quoted message said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see,

The real must-see is the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The "straight" SAM
downtown is good but SAAM up the hill in Volunteer Park is great. However,
when you visit SAM, you get a free ticket to SAAM within the week, so you
can kill 2 birds with one admission stone.

Along different lines, provided the weather is good, Seward Park is a good
way to see old-growth forest without having to drive outside the city. You
have to take the trails that go into the interior of the park, though -
don't just take the paved loop trail around the lakefront or you'll miss
the forest part. But you can take a trail through the middle that winds up
connecting with the lakefront loop at the tip of the park, and thus combine
both in the same visit. Nice place to bring a picnic, too.

and he recommends Gelatiamo,

In mid-september you should pick the hazelnut flavour which is one of their
best (perhaps only the blueberry is better but it peaks in August). They
let you pick multiple flavours per size (small=2, medium=3, large=4) but
IMHO it's best to pick out one flavour rather than combine 2 or more and
create either disappointment with one or more flavours or a combination
that just doesn't harmonise well.

Don't be fooled by their new competitors, Bottega Italiana, situated in the
Pike Place Market. BI has a more modish look and handsome Italian servers
with thick accents, but while their ice creams are good, Gelatiamo's are
better overall. A lot of the local reviewers I think have been fooled, to
be honest, I think, charmed by the servers since most of the reviewers
locally have been women. Gelatiamo I think seems too polished in
appearance, too American in the help, for the reviewers to be able to see
through. It's yet another case of people judging a book by its cover.

Did I mention Caffe D'Arte for coffee? If not this is the best espresso
store in a city famous for espresso. It's on 2nd and Stewart, a stone's
throw from the Pike Place Market.

Quoted message said:

Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

There are some new places that have opened up, too, that are exciting and
good. The Marrakesh is a good Moroccan restaurant in Belltown, just north
of the downtown core. Belltown is the restaurant district, as it were, so
if you're in the mood you can simply park and random-walk until you find a
restaurant that catches your eye.

La Vita e' Bella not far away has good pizza - something of a first for
Seattle. However, I should be clear that we're talking good, not great.

Essential Baking now has a nice retail shop. Essential bakes the best bread
in Seattle, makes the best pastries, and produces the best chocolates quite
possibly in the USA. That's not just my opinion, either: William Leahmann
headed up the winning team at the World Cup of Baking in Paris, as well as
winning multiple categories in Next Generation Chocolatier competition.
Among the chocolates the one to try is the Essential 70% - the ultimate
ganache chocolate. Among the breads I favour the ciabatta (take this with
you on a picnic to Seward Park).

Did I also talk about the Metropolitan Grill as a good splurge restaurant
for steak? If not and you like steak, you should go. Don't be tempted,
however, to move away from the steaks in terms of dinner selections or
you'll be missing the point.

Also, don't think of seafood restaurants in Seattle. Sadly, Seattle's
seafood restaurants are all uniformly uninspiring. Again, you can have
*good* fish at any number of different locations: Flying Fish, Oceanaire,
Ray's Boathouse, etc. etc., but *great* fish isn't to be had by eating out.
It's something, in fact, of a Seattle malaise, that as you reach the upper
restaurant tier, there is, it seems, a quality ceiling, so that with the
exception of the Metropolitan Grill, even what are called "elite"
restaurants are nothing more than passable high-end establishments, serving
passable food. Critics around here lap it up and seem to suffer from a lack
of imagination when thinking about how good a restaurant can be. They don't
look for or expect a restaurant to be truly transporting or revelatory in
quality and thus that kind of dining experience isn't usually to be had
here.

--
Alex Rast
[email hidden]
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

at Fri, 29 Jul 2005 23:19:02 GMT in
<[email hidden]>, virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz
(Bob) wrote :

Quoted message said:

Matt said:

How much did you want to spend on food? I agree on the Piroshky. For
higher-end eating there's Harvest Vine, a Spanish/Basque tapas place.
Dahlia Lounge for seafood.

Less pricey, I really like Cedar's in the U. District for
Indian/middle-eastern.

Thanks for the recommendations. As far as budget, the sky's the limit.
(But then it *is* only for three nights!)

That reminds me: I'm picking someone up at the airport just after 11 PM
on a Friday night. Is there decent food to be had in Seattle or Tacoma
at that hour?

You should drive straight to the Sea Garden. It's open until 3 am. Food is
good, it won't break the bank, and it's not too elaborate, too fussy, or
too reservations-required to be the sort of hassle and overly exhausting
experience you don't need after having picked someone up late from the
airport.

--
Alex Rast
[email hidden]
(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

Alex Rast said:

[snips]
Did I also talk about the Metropolitan Grill as a good splurge restaurant
for steak? If not and you like steak, you should go. Don't be tempted,
however, to move away from the steaks in terms of dinner selections or
you'll be missing the point.

Yes, think classic high end steak house -- wooden plank floors, simple
but well-matched side dishes, cigars after dinner (not in the
restaurant anymore), emphasis on prime-grade, thick cut, succulent
beef. If that's what you're in the mood for. -aem

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Alex Rast) said:

Also, don't think of seafood restaurants in Seattle. Sadly, Seattle's
seafood restaurants are all uniformly uninspiring. Again, you can have
*good* fish at any number of different locations: Flying Fish, Oceanaire,
Ray's Boathouse, etc. etc., but *great* fish isn't to be had by eating out.
It's something, in fact, of a Seattle malaise, that as you reach the upper
restaurant tier, there is, it seems, a quality ceiling, so that with the
exception of the Metropolitan Grill, even what are called "elite"
restaurants are nothing more than passable high-end establishments, serving
passable food. Critics around here lap it up and seem to suffer from a lack
of imagination when thinking about how good a restaurant can be. They don't
look for or expect a restaurant to be truly transporting or revelatory in
quality and thus that kind of dining experience isn't usually to be had
here.

Interestingly, the Oceanaire here in Minneapolis probably is by good
measure the finest seafood restaurant in town (second place is held
down by a Chinese restaurant (Shuang Cheng) that does marvelous
things with seafood. McCormick & Schmick's is a few rungs down that
ladder. I would imagine Oceanaire here is serving much the same fare
being served at the Seattle edition, since the same fish is flown
in. So it's a matter of perspective and local competition. Oh, to
live in a town where a restaurant as good as Oceanaire is considered
"passable."

sd

For places to visit:

Pike Place Market. Yes, it's full of tourists, but it's also a magnet
for residents. The Market is the beating heart of Seattle's downtown.

I'll second the recommendation for Caffé d'Arte, which is just above the
Market, at 2nd Ave and Stewart. If you like coffee, but thought
espresso was too bitter, you need to try it at C d'A, perhaps their wood
roasted blend. It will be a revelation.

The downtown branch of the Seattle Library is worth a stop if you are
interested in cutting edge architecture. The building was designed by
Rem Koolhaas, and it is stunning.

If you are into outdoor activities, you might like to visit the flagship
REI store (Stewart and Eastlake, north of downtown). This is a mecca
for bicyclists, kayakers, hikers, climbers, campers, etc.

If you have a bent for rubber rats, brain-shaped Jello molds, and
similar silly or absurd toys, you will find tons of this stuff at Archie
McPhee's (in Ballard).

Aviation buffs like to visit the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.

The Museum of Glass is a bit further away, in Tacoma, but it has one of
the country's largest collections of art glass, including many by Dale
Chihuly, who lives and works nearby.

If you have time, a ferry ride out to Bainbridge Island is a great way
to catch some sea air and some nice views.

As for restaurants, my standards might not be as high as Alex's. I've
had good seafood at a number of Seattle restaurants. Ray's boathouse
may not be the cutting edge of culinary artistry, but they are quite
competent, and the atmosphere is pleasant. Because of our northern
latitude, you can dine there at 9pm and enjoy a beautiful sunset over
Shilshole Bay.

Actually, my favorite seafood items in Seattle are found at a couple of
very modest establishments. I love the clams in black bean sauce at
Hing Loon Seafood, in the International District. Thai Dusit (25th Ave
NE and Blakely) serves a fabulous salmon in red curry. Not always on
the menu, but whenever I've asked for it, they were able to make it.

I second the recommendation for Wild Ginger.

Etta's (near the Market) is justly famous for their cocoanut cream pie.

Agua Verde (university district) has very good and reasonably price
Mexican food, with a menu that deviates from the usual list of burritos,
tacos, and greaseblobs. They also have a patio overlooking Portage Bay.

--
Julian Vrieslander

One time on Usenet said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see, and he recommends Gelatiamo, Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

I don't haunt Seattle as much as I used to, but the last time we ate at
the Space Needle, it was awful. Go for the view, avoid the food...

--
Jani in WA (S'mee)
~ mom, VidGamer, novice cook, dieter ~

One time on Usenet said:

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see, and he recommends Gelatiamo, Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

I'll second Gelatiamo though I haven't been there in a while.

Try Yarmaka Cafe before Piroshky Piroshky - I love their stuffed cabbage:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/restaurants/cafyarmarka.php

From the creative food / finer dining category try Matt's in the Market:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/restaurants/mattsinthemarket.php

On the other end of the spectrum is [censored]'s drive in restaurants:

http://www.ddir.com

OMG, I haven't eaten at [censored]'s since I was a struggling college
student -- for cheap food, it's not bad...

--
Jani in WA (S'mee)
~ mom, VidGamer, novice cook, dieter ~

One time on Usenet said:

Alex Rast wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[snips]
Did I also talk about the Metropolitan Grill as a good splurge restaurant
for steak? If not and you like steak, you should go. Don't be tempted,
however, to move away from the steaks in terms of dinner selections or
you'll be missing the point.

Yes, think classic high end steak house -- wooden plank floors, simple
but well-matched side dishes, cigars after dinner (not in the
restaurant anymore), emphasis on prime-grade, thick cut, succulent
beef. If that's what you're in the mood for. -aem

http://www.themetropolitangrill.com/metgrill/metgrill.html

When I attended school in Seattle, I lived in Bremerton and had to
take the ferry. I often walked past the Metropolitan Grill on my way
to Coleman Dock, and I wished I could afford to check it out. Now that
I can, it sounds like I really should...

--
Jani in WA (S'mee)
~ mom, VidGamer, novice cook, dieter ~

Dee Randall said:

Don't eat the prosciutt' & melon -- yikes, I can still taste their
prosciutt. It's awful that I can remember that and nothing else good about
the dinner I had there many years ago; and I know it had to be good from
what others say. I hate to admit that it was one of those times that I spit
out my food into my napkin. I'm almost wretching again -- tee hee!
I could not afford the dinner myself, a rich relative took my husband and I
there; otherwise perhaps I would've tried to choke the appetizer down.
Previously, a Vashon Island resident and ferry rider in the 70's and 80's.
Dee Dee

I don't like prosciutto either - no matter what the price and how
ritzy the restaurant.

sf wrote on July 30, 2005:

Quoted message said:

I don't like prosciutto either - no matter what the price and how
ritzy the restaurant.

Dee didn't say that she doesn't like prosciutto. Maybe she doesn't, but
that's not what she said. Reading a bit between the lines, I believe
she said or implied that she didn't like it at a particular Seattle
restaurant.

Your turn for a typical snide, dismissive reply - if any.

Kevin_Sheehy said:

Your turn for a typical snide, dismissive reply - if any.

Here it is:

On 29 Jul 2005 18:19:02 -0500, "Bob" <virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz>

Quoted message said:

That reminds me: I'm picking someone up at the airport just after 11 PM on a
Friday night. Is there decent food to be had in Seattle or Tacoma at that
hour?

13 Coins has some support. They're open 24/7.
--
-denny-

"I don't like it when a whole state starts
acting like a marital aid."
"John R. Campbell" in a Usenet post.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob' virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

I'll be in Seattle for three nights in mid-September. Any recommendations
for places to visit and/or eat?

(I've got an old post from Alex Rast where he recommends the Seattle Art
Museum as a must-see, and he recommends Gelatiamo, Piroshky Piroshky, the
Sea Garden, and Kabul as places to eat.)

I would add a trip to Uwajimaya in the International District, just east
of Qwest and Safeco Fields (the football and baseball stadiums,
respectively). You will see all kinds of unusual foods, including the
infamous geoduck. It does have a food court, but I recommend hiking
into the ID to the aforementioned Hing Loon or the Phnom Penh Noodle
House.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me