tighe

Some time back, we had a fairly animated debate over whether beers brewed in the Pacific Northwest are overhopped and basically uniformly unbalanced. Any opinion on this? Full disclosure: I'm a Seattle native and an unabashed fan of beers made in this region.

I haven't ever cooked them, but... The latest edition of Art Culinaire has an entire section devoted to different ways of preparing softshell crab. Some seem very interesting...

Gleaned from the website whose name shall not be spoken..... Jones Barbeque has opened a third location near the Starbucks HQ in SODO. Just that much closer to mi casa....

How about a big goeduck? It would get a reaction at least.... If they're wine drinkers, you could get them something from one of the smaller Washington producers that likely isn't available in their area.

Do you perhaps mean 'imbue' rather than 'imbibe'? Not sure how one would drink 'street cred'. I've been to the same place here in Seattle that LEdlund refers to, and you're exactly right, I certainly am a grown-up Gen-Xer who is obsessed with underground street cred. Ask anyone.... I imagine that 'underground' restaurants, or whatever you want to call them, exist anyplace where there are government regulations on how food is prepared and served for public consumption and taxes that have to be charged on it. It's called the black market kids....

Here's a thread on Bandol early on, some good experiences and some not so good. I'm going there for dinner on Saturday and will update my opinion after that.

This was certainly unlike any crepe I'd ever had, very crisp and tasty. A local (Rennes) web page I found before my trip claimed that this place was the best creperie in Rennes, but I have no way of knowing if its true. The cider was also an experience, totally lacking in sweetness but powerfully flavorful. I would love to do a systematic comparison of creperies in Brittany some day....

I had a very pleasant lunch at Le Grand Large in Cancale. I don't know that its better than the other waterfront restaurants in town, but the monstrous plat de fruit de mer was tasty and reasonably priced. Also enjoyed my dinner of crepes and local cider at La Maison des Galettes on Place St Anne in Rennes. Good food and sitting outside surrounded by medeival buildings added significantly to the experience.

tighe: Good 'Fried Clams" everywhere I've tried them in the Seattle area tasted as if came out of the Freezer pre-packaged never better then mediocre. Too true, too true. My wife is from Boston (and I went to school there), so she knows what the real deal is. Every time she is back there, she has to have them.

That's so cool that you made it to Ganino, and even cooler that its still good. Any trouble finding the place? When I was there I had the bistecca that was excellent and of rediculous size. I still have dreams about that steak and the white beans on the side..... Thanks for writing up your adventures. I'm such a slacker....

If you had good fried clams Irwin, my wife would probably give you enough business to stay solvent. I actually suggested this on the "what does Seattle need" thread....

AMEN BROTHER!! I wonder where Bulent ended up. I'd donate body parts for another one of those sandwiches....

I've eaten there a few times. My post about it here. Nothing wrong with the place, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

A higher end Middle Eastern/Eastern Med place like Oleana in Boston. A crab shack kind of place serving good quality seafood would be good too....

For lunch or dinner, Osteria La Spiga at Broadway and Union offers excellent rustic Italian. Their crescione sandwiches, soups and pastas are particularly good. They've been discussed extensively here: search results. Lark is a great recommendation for a great dinner. It's gotten mixed reviews here, but I really like Crave on 12th (a couple blocks east of Broadway) for all three meals of the day.... Here's a link to a recent thread of suggestions, many of which are in the general area that you're interested in.

Your double-negatives confuse and frighten me...I'm just a simple caveman... I will say that there is wild variation in the quality of individual offerings at Hunan Garden, but once you learn your way around the steam-table, it can bee a good thing. Heavily sauced things aren't their forte; vegetables on the other are usually very good. The woman who owns the place is so nice that I always feel guilty if its been a long time since I've been. Maybe I'll go tonight.....

Hunan Garden in White Center has a good all-you-can eat buffet. I'm not saying this is exquisite Chinese cuisine, but it is well above the normal Chinese buffet quality standard, is very cheap and the food stays fresh because of how busy they are.

It's easy to drop that much or more per person for dinner in Seattle, and several places where I've found it to be well worth it. There is certainly some significant element in Seattle that is as you describe, unwilling to spend that kind money on food, period, but I think they are becoming endagered. I've never been to Seastar, so I can't comment on it. I know that I've heard enough negative things about from a variety of sources (eG and otherwise) that I wouldn't make a point of going but also enough positive comments that if I was looking for a higer end place in Bellevue for some reason, I would be willing to give it a try. I don't think you, or anyone else here, is fabricating their feelings about it, I think there is probably some difference in tastes and even more likely that the restaurant is plagued by inconsistency. Edit to add: I believe there may also be a definitional issue in play here, as in, what is meant when someone says "this place sucks". I would use that to describe a uniformly bad experience or a situation where there was some dramatically horrid event. Maybe reesek's Seastar experience would have met my "suck" definition and maybe not, but it certainly met hers....

On my trip to Paris, Astrance was the best meal I had, by a wide margin. That being said, I didn't eat at any of the other places you're considering, but I did go to Gagnaire. The othe thing to keep in mind is that you could eat at Astrance twice for a little more than what a meal at a *** will run you.

If there's one thing that Seattle does very well, it's bread. For Italian style bread, my favorite in La Panzanella at 14th & Union on Capitol Hill. Grand Central baking in Pioneer Square (is it still there?) is a Seattle institution and produces a variety of great breads.

I've been to Dragonfish once and it would take wild horses and a lot of alcohol to get me back. I thought it was truly wretched. If you want someting quick and casual, I like Otis Cafe, on Boren just north of Madison. Good sandwiches and salads, may offer more in the evening. If you want something nicer, the Hunt Club at the Sorrento is reliable and you can eat at the bar if you want something quick.

Steve...I'm having a hard time envisioning how it could be 'next-door'. What direction is it from the entrance to Les Gourmandes? I would have thought that if Bruce were going to open another place, that he would have gone 'down-market' from Le Gourmande, but this doesn't sound like its much less expensive.

Geez Kim! If it really bothered you so much how I leave food on my plate so often when we eat out together, you could have just said someting, not start a whole thread about it!.....

Looked to me more like she had you in tow.....

I've had good luck going there towards the end of the day. Some vendors are running out of stuff, but there always seems to be enough left to make it worthwhile. If all else fails, you can have dinner at La Medusa or now, Tutta Bella.