kiliki

There are a lot of good neighborhoods for eating in the city, so I think that you should spend some afternoons exploring these places. Something else to keep in mind besides restaurants and coffee is access to a really good grocery and/or a farmer's market (if that's important to you-it is to me, since I shop every day). You could spend an afternoon walking and driving around Ballard and Fremont, Wallingford/Phinney Ridge/Greenlake, Belltown/Lower Queen Anne/Queen Anne Hill, and Capitol Hill/Central District/International District. Oh, and West Seattle, too. Maybe check out the farmer's markets in each place (they are all on different days-I put a link below). Each neighborhood has a different vibe, and you should be able to identify a place that really suits you and has good food. And though some places are definitely more expensive than others, I've been a renter in this city long enough to know that there are bargains in all neighborhoods. Seattle Markets Ballard and Fremont Markets And if you REALLY want to do neighborhood research before you head out, most of them have their own chambers of commerce (do a web search) or you can look at this PI guide, which includes restaurant reviews in their neighborhood links. Neighborhoods online

I don't think he needs a car, either, UNLESS he wants to expand out of the nearby neighborhoods and really roam the city (for example, in search of great Mexican in south Seattle). Bus/taxi service from his south Lake Union hotel to Capitol Hill, Belltown or Downtown is very quick and easy. If he's already busing to Ballard for work (the 17 goes from his hotel up Leary to Ballard, and stops right on the other side of the Fremont bridge for easy Fremont access) he can walk to whatever restaurants he wants to in those neighborhoods. I would be wayyy more of a pain to try to take a car to any of those 'hoods.

There are plenty of cheap good eats in Ballard. THe following are all on Ballard Avenue, which runs parallel to Leary a block away: La Carta de Oaxaca for Mexican/Oaxacan food-The plates are small, so you might need two (or get chips and guac to start), but they are only $5-$9 each. India Bistro (corner of Ballard Ave and Market)-inexpensive buffet lunch (great dinners in the $8-13 range). Thaiku is pretty good thai food in a nice space. Hattie's Hat has American with kind of a southern tinge from $7-12 or so. Soups, salads, blts, meatloaf, chicken fried chicken, all done well. They have a bar in front which is nice is you just want a beer. Bad Alberts has good bar food-burgers, sandwiches, done nicely. Things are more homemade than you normally find in a bar. On Market Street, Ballard's main thoroughfare, if you want iced coffee go to Than Bros. Pho. They have big delicious bowls of pho (beef, chx or even tofu/mushroom) starting at $3.85. And they start you with a free cream puff! The best deal around. Vera's Cafe, right off Market at 22nd Ave NW, has great diner (but not greasy diner) type breakfasts and lunches. Ray's Cafe, on Shilshole Ave right on the water, has a great happy hour in which all food is half off. You can get salmon, clams, mussels, etc quite inexpensively while enjoying the fabulous view. The Cafe is upstairs from the more expensive Ray's Boathouse. Here is a Ballard dining guide for maps and addresses: InBallard

I went to Soul Food Stop today and had a piece of Banana Cream Pie. The people there were so friendly that I really want to like this place but the pie was just allright.

Yeah, I don't think there is any good pizza by the slice downtown. The pizza at that other Italian take out pizza/pasta place in the market LOOKS pretty bad as well (haven't actually tried it).

I keep meaning to see if Fran's makes champagne truffles in my quest to find ones as good as Sprungli in Zurich...

I was short on cash yesterday-$2 in my wallet-but saw english peas, one of my favorite foods, at Frank's for 1.99/lb. So I asked for exactly a pound, saying I only had two bucks. They gave me well over a pound but still only charged me $2. They were so sweet and delicious.

Is the Lemon Ice Cream recipe in that book? That ice cream is divine.

Try both Vivace and Lighthouse Roasters.

My current fave that no one has mentioned: Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam, a soft ripened triple creme.

It doesn't affect me at all. I (purposely) live in a neighborhood that has all I need within walking distance, which includes a farmer's market and a good grocery. I've always thought of driving as a big waste of time and gas, so I minimize trips to places like Trader Joes or certain specialty stores, which are not in my 'hood.

In Ballard news...the old Ballard Firehouse space is going to become another in the Coastal Kitchen/5 Spot chain (the corporate name escapes me). While I'm pretty ambivalent about these restaurants, it certainly is an improvement over the previous business, which mainly hosted washed up heavy metal bands.

Oh, yes. If you haven't been to New Mexico you must go. You just can't get that New Mexican food anywhere else in the country, and most of it (outside of Santa Fe and Taos) is dirt cheap. And in the fall when the aspens will be turning in the mountains and the roadsides are lined with vendors roasting chilis over an open fire...sigh. If you need recommendations for some of the smaller, off the beaten path towns I recommend the New Mexico Handbook (Moon Handbooks). Not only is it a great guidebook to sights, etc, it is packed with great recommendations for small, mom and pop New Mexican home cooking kind of places.

Katzenjammy-if you are still looking for that kind of deal in Seattle go to Elliot's Oyster House on the waterfront. During happy hour their oysters are 50 cents from 3 to 4, then they go up something like a quarter an hour until happy hour ends at 6.

Fyi, Braincell, none of the places I listed were dives. I too think that the Turf (which I've never actually been in) is an example of a dive and no way do these places get that low.

Two more diners I thought of, though while they definitely serve diner food neither are dives or too greasy: Pete's Eggnest on Greenwood Ave at 78th Hattie's Hat on Ballard Ave

I think Vera's in Ballard is great-it is a family run, diner style, old Ballard type of place, but it ISN'T greasy or a dive, so it might not scratch that itch if you have it. The food strikes a balance between traditional diner (chicken fried steak for breakfast, BLTs and pie for lunch) and slightly more yuppie (Avocado omelettes). You might like the Salmon Bay Cafe-I consider that a greasy diner. The Stone Way Cafe is good, too. Neither of these places are dives, though.

Is Frank's the one you can walk into?

Maybe try finding out where the offending mussels come from? They do taste different when raised in different locations. Here in Seattle, there is only one "brand" of mussels (Penn Cove) I will buy because I find them so much better than mussels grown elsewhere.

I'm glad someone brought up the fact that kids have way more sensitive palates than adults. You simply cannot expect every kid to like what your adult palate thinks is good. You can expose them to lots of different foods, but they could reject most to all of them except their favorite few, and then you are left with the choices of unfairly expecting them to eat to your tastes, letting them go hungry (which seems VERY unfair) or...making them endless boxes of mac and cheese (it takes 5 minutes. Get over it). My mom use to force me to eat what she made and I still shudder thinking about being forced to eat/drink milk, hot dogs and canned veggies. She finally gave up when I was about 7 and said, fine, cook for yourself. I did-I could make perfect crepes at age 8 (though mostly I made my same favorite kid foods over and over). My palate didn't really "grow up" until I was 18 or so, and it had nothing to do with my parents making me try different foods, and everything to do with a growing interest in cooking and food that none of the rest of my family shares.

Which is your favorite permanant produce vendor? All the years I have shopped there I still don't know who is the best. I love the temporary stalls set up right on Pike Place in the summer, and I don't have any complaints about the stuff I've bought in the past, but I don't usually take the time to see who consistantly has the best prices, quality and selection.

You can usually keep mint well behaved by planting it in a crappy spot in the garden. I've got some crammed in among bamboo and evergreens-it gets only a little sun-and it hasn't spread at all. When I've done tomatoes in pots, I've had the best luck with small/cherry early tomatoes. Someone above mentioned Sungold, which are fabulous. Sweet Million are also terrific. The online Territorial Seed Catalog is a great resource for learning about varieties that are well adapted for the northwest. They are at: www.territorialseed.com

For Vietnamese in Seattle: Huong Bihn (very inexpensive) on the first floor of the strip mall at 12th and Jackson. Try Bambuza at 8th and Pike if you want something a little nicer and a bit more Americanized (still good). If you just want Pho go to Than Bros-they have a number of locations around town-Capitol Hill, the U District, Greenlake and Ballard. The soups at Saigon Restaurant in the Pike Place Market are quite good. Chinese: Try searching past threads for more recs (do the same for Thai) , but I love Seven Stars Pepper on the second story of the same complex as Huong Bihn. They have great crab. All of these places are inexpensive (ie entrees $5-12) but I don't know if they are quiet. They aren't exceptionally loud, but people aren't talking softly. I might have recommended Chinook's for reasonably priced seafood but the place is very noisy. Matt's in the Market always has some good, not too expensive seafood choices. For lunch, try Pike Place Chowder in the Market for seafood bisques and chowders. There is a thread about Winthrop below.

Sun Mountain's breakfasts are big and reasonably priced-I've enjoyed dinners there as well but like others said, it's pretty expensive. They do have a pub with a less expensive menu but I've not tried it. Everything else I've eaten in Winthrop has been pretty bad, though the Duck Brand does have a nice deck so I will occasionally put up with the very mediocre Mexican food.

You know, much as I crave the bbq oysters from Tomales Bay, CA, good New Mexican food (ie sopapillas, which are not the same as the awful fried tortillas restaurants here call sopapillas), real Italian gelato, etc etc, I kinda like that there are some things that are unique to certain places. It makes life and travel more interesting in a rapidly homogenizing world.