Foodventure #1: Homey Japanese food in a really old restaurant.
Maneki: A restaurant that is more than one hundred years old (it opened in 1904), Maneki has 367 reviews on Yelp and has a 4.5/5 star rating. Best of all, it's only listed as "$," which means my family (and Japanese relatives) love it for its ability to give you decently-priced, homey Japanese food. All the people that work here are Japanese as well, so they have slight accents (which are cute/endearing). The only thing with this restaurant though is that you NEED to call to make a reservation because they have two "seating times," and cannot guarantee you a seat if you just walk in the door. Well worth it though. One of the top 3 Japanese restaurants in Seattle that I've tried (along with Izumi and Ginza).
Chirashi (I can't remember the specific name): I guess this is such a basic dish--raw tuna, yellowtail and tamago (egg) over sushi rice, but I still really liked it, because the portion size was perfect for my appetite, and had enough sashimi to eat with the accompanying rice. I love sashimi--definitely one of the things I miss in Chicago.
The rest of everyone's food, which was combinations of rolls (Spider Roll, California Roll and the Jojo Roll), gyoza (Japanese potstickers), chicken teriyaki and black cod collar with teriyaki sauce. I mean, it was all pretty standard Japanese food, but prepared nicely and deliciously in a comfortable environment. Satisfying, on the overall.
...except for this one, this one was good. This was the Crispy Drunken Chicken sandwich, which had breaded and fried chicken coated with a tangy sauce and topped with a lot of caramelized onions and cilantro. I really loved this sandwich (and Seattle Magazine does too), because the chicken was not dry at all, and the breading went really nicely with the caramelized onions that topped the sandwich. Additionally, the sauce was just enough to coat the chicken with flavor but not overpower the sweetness of the onion flavor. We split this sandwich evenly among the four of us who were there, but if I go there again, I can probably just eat one on my own. 
Foodventure #2: Interesting sandwiches
Baguette Box: This place takes the notion of Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) and combines it with the idea of a sandwich shop, and uses non-usual (organic) ingredients and seasonings in its sandwiches, as you can see on the menu, which combines Asian-type sandwiches (like the Lemongrass Pork) with American-type ones (like the Tuna Nicoise). Didn't get to try their truffle fries though, sadly (next time!).
So we ordered three sandwiches that looked similar to this (seriously, I took pictures of all of them but they all look alike so it doesn't matter), the Crispy Organic Tofu with Avocado, the Lemongrass Steak, and the Roasted Pork Loin with Apricot Aioli. They were good, but really, I can't say that much in depth about all these sandwiches, because they were really just sandwiches with yummy things in them at the end of it.
...except for this one, this one was good. This was the Crispy Drunken Chicken sandwich, which had breaded and fried chicken coated with a tangy sauce and topped with a lot of caramelized onions and cilantro. I really loved this sandwich (and Seattle Magazine does too), because the chicken was not dry at all, and the breading went really nicely with the caramelized onions that topped the sandwich. Additionally, the sauce was just enough to coat the chicken with flavor but not overpower the sweetness of the onion flavor. We split this sandwich evenly among the four of us who were there, but if I go there again, I can probably just eat one on my own. Foodventure #3: So my mother made friends with the tamale lady.
There's this tamale "house" in Seattle right outside a fruit/vegetable produce stand called McPherson's somewhere in the Beacon Hill area where a lady and/or her husband come a few times a week at specific times in the day to sell their tamales for $1.25 each (and 4 for $5). These tamales are homemade by the woman's mother, and come in different flavors: Chicken Mole, Cheese and Bean, Chipotle Beef and Pork with Salsa Verde. Basically, they are very delicious tamales because they have a lot of filling in them, and the corn is ground pretty coarsely, so they have a gritty texture to them. These tamales are delicious. We got 20 and put them in the fridge and they were mostly gone by the next week.
But yes. My mom made friends with the lady selling tamales, and had a short conversation with her, where we later found out that the lady and her husband are planning to open a taco truck sometime in the year (exciting news!). The conversation ended with my mother greeting her Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Spanish, and giving the lady a small wallet for her daughter, Emily. Awww.
Chicken Mole: Oaxacan food is known for its mole, and this one did not disappoint. The mole was smoky from the peppers and slightly sweet from the cocoa, and had a complex but balanced flavor from the mix of spices in it. The flavor of the mole was just executed so nicely and perfectly. It's difficult to describe mole in general, because I find that descriptions fall short a lot of the time--the flavor of mole is a much more intuitive thing...and this one was delicious.
Sopa de Camaron (shrimp soup): The weather outside was cold, wet and rainy, and this soup just hit the spot. I ordered it on a whim instead of the normal pozole or menudo that I would normally order, because I knew that Oaxaca has a more seafood-based cuisine and that this had a good chance of tasting great...and it did. The tomato-based broth was slightly thick and had a strong, mellow shrimp flavor, but had an underlying kick of subtle spiciness that made you feel nice and warm. This soup had some side garnishes of onions, cilantro and lime, which offered a "break" in flavor and added a bit of texture to it (onions) while injecting a burst of freshness to the hearty soup (lime and cilantro). And of course, the shrimps were cooked nicely. It was perfect rainy-day soup.
Foodventure #4: The bridge was closed, but we really wanted good Mexican food.
Muy Macho: One of the places where we go to for good Mexican food, this family-run establishment is somewhere in South Seattle (in a Mexican neighborhood) and serves authentic, inexpensive Oaxacan food.
Chips and salsa: Not bad, but I wish that both were freshly-made. 
Champurrada: I saw this on the menu under "drinks" and didn't know what it was, but the lady (whose family owns the restaurant) who took our order said that this was her favorite, so I was convinced and ordered it. A champurrada is essentially a cocoa drink made with sugar, milk, masa (hominy flour) and other spices (vanilla, anise, cinnamon). It was warm, had a light chocolate flavor and had a slightly thick texture because of the masa that was in it.
The champurrada was really interesting, because in the Philippines, we have a snack/breakfast dish called champorado/tsampurado which is made of sweet glutinous rice porridge mixed in with cocoa, sugar and milk, and usually eaten for breakfast, often with salty fish. Of course, both tasted pretty different from each other, but it was still cool to consider how the galleon trade in the past under Spanish rule in the Philippines might have influenced the prevailing similarities of both dishes.
Tlayuda: Kind of like a Mexican pizza, with a crispy tortilla "crust" topped with refried beans, meat, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and avocados. It was served with a smoky, red pepper sauce that was not very spicy, and according to Wikipedia, this is a snack that is specific to the Oaxacan region. Aside from looking similar to a large pizza, it reminded me of eating an open faced crispy taco as well.
Chicken Mole: Oaxacan food is known for its mole, and this one did not disappoint. The mole was smoky from the peppers and slightly sweet from the cocoa, and had a complex but balanced flavor from the mix of spices in it. The flavor of the mole was just executed so nicely and perfectly. It's difficult to describe mole in general, because I find that descriptions fall short a lot of the time--the flavor of mole is a much more intuitive thing...and this one was delicious.
Sopa de Camaron (shrimp soup): The weather outside was cold, wet and rainy, and this soup just hit the spot. I ordered it on a whim instead of the normal pozole or menudo that I would normally order, because I knew that Oaxaca has a more seafood-based cuisine and that this had a good chance of tasting great...and it did. The tomato-based broth was slightly thick and had a strong, mellow shrimp flavor, but had an underlying kick of subtle spiciness that made you feel nice and warm. This soup had some side garnishes of onions, cilantro and lime, which offered a "break" in flavor and added a bit of texture to it (onions) while injecting a burst of freshness to the hearty soup (lime and cilantro). And of course, the shrimps were cooked nicely. It was perfect rainy-day soup.
0 comments:
Post a Comment