Sunday, September 2, 2012

Seattle Day 3: Last Day of Vacation!

Today was the most excitable day of Seattle: Chinatown!
The International District in Seattle is a key point. There are many restaurants that serve amazing Dim Sum, and of course some awesome shopping goes along with it. We were going to go to the Jade Garden, the most popular, where they serve Dim Sum on a cart. I assumed they would be so busy and I knew we could still get some amazing Chinese and not have to wait for too long. So we went to 'Sichuanese Cuisine'.

Everything is cheaper in Chinatown, including parking thank god. We entered the restaurant and to a surprise and relief it was not packed at all (the advantages of eating lunch at 2 o clock). The menu was vast and very hard to decide what to order. I had heard that the 'boiled fish' was amazing there, so I decided on boiled beef since I was pretty fished out. The Chinese lady was super sweet, especially to that brat of mine. Another lady was at the table next to ours rolling egg rolls. I love that kind of shit! When our meal came I instantly regretted ordering so much damn food, we could have all shared two plates and been stuffed. The egg rolls were only so-so, but the rest of the meal made up of for it. Be prepared for some heavy greasy food if coming here, though this can be the style of Sichuanese.

Boiled Beef














Dinner was nothing to write home about but I will mention it. We wanted to some good BBQ and let me tell you:Seattle is NOT the place to go to for BBQ. With all the research I did I found nothing. We decided to go to 'Bitterroot'- which was the highest ranked bbq on Urbanspoon. We ordered a pulled pork sandwich. They gave us a tiny as bun with a crap load of meat on it. The meat was dry and I had to add loads of bbq sauce for flavor, as you an see. I also ordered cornbread that was some of he worse cornbread. It was dry and much too crispy on the bottom. Someone needs to teach Seattlers about cornbread.You really don't have to hipster everything out! Us southerns have been doing it right for decades, and it does not need changed.


Goodbye Seattle! Keep your amazingly high gas prices, non-kid friendly restaurants, and stupid 5 way intersections to yourself. (No but really we had a good time)though the BBQ was a downfall, I love how this city has so many authentic cuisine options, cooked by people of the ethnicity. Sometimes Portland chefs cross that cultural boundary that has been set long ago for a reason.

Seattle Day 2

We got up and go ready right away so we could stop and get coffee and a little morning snack. I can't remember the bakery we went to but they had a great cappuccino and some pretty good french onion soup (all savory breakfast for me). Some girls that were behind the counter were bitches, so maybe that's why I didn't remember the name.

We were debating back and forth about going up the Space Needle, since tickets were 20 bucks an adult and I felt like you could stand up on a mountain top for the same effect. With some persistence from Danzig and the thought that we had already spent a shit load of money thus far so whats another 20 bucks, we decided for it. The space needle is a 5 minute walk from our hotel, which was awesome. It was busy but the line moved very fast.

Going up the elevator scared the crap out of me which I knew it would, since the elevator shaft is all clear glass. I was still freaked out walking around up top, but I am glad we went and experienced such an awesome view and can finally saw we've been to the space needle.

 We then went to 'Salumi' for lunch. Salumi is a very popular, small, crammed packed, line out the door, deli that serves only house cured meats. There menu of meats you can order to take home is intense. I ordered a Mole sandwich, which had salami and chocolate sauce and came on a homemade Italian bread. It was very delicious, but we did wait in line for an hour and I wish the sandwich was able to have had veggies on it because it seemed like I was eating mostly bread.
We then went to see Batman: Dark Knight Rises on the Imax. It would BADASS. I wanted to see it twice: the whole movie my eyes were glued to the screen.

For dinner we vouched for Mexican. Surprisingly we hadn't had it the whole trip. Mind you I've planned at least 75% of our vacations culinary experience around Urbanspoon, for the last time, and I came up with this restaurant called "La Carta de Oaxaca". The place was small like every other restaurant and the place was so loud you had to shout at the waiter who can hardly speak English....and I would definetly go back again. I ordered the carne asada. We had to order chips as extra but they had this neat little salsa bar on the opposite site of the 'line' that had at least 6 different salsas. They weren't just tex-mex or white people salsa either: they resembled much of what I've had my Hispanic cook bring into work to share. Since the kitchen was open and sort of the centerpiece for the restaurant, I was able to sit and watch a little Hispanic woman slap tortillas back and forth.
Carne Asada

My mouth is watering just thinking about the experience.This is how Mexican food is really cooked in the comfort of their homes, and there is usually a woman behind it. It is so customary for the man to be cooking in the restaurants and the woman at home. I see now that the culinary world has not only revolutionized to make room in the restaurants for woman to cook (okay, we might have shoved our way in a little bit), but done so for not only American born citizens but others with cultural barriers. Thumbs up Seattle!