rockdoggydog

After much waiting and anticipation Fork is open. Went there last night with Scarlett and a friend to give Fork a twirl and the twirling was successful. The space is very cozy with some very cool Russian murals on the walls. We started with a charcuterie plate - which had pate, chicken liver mousse, and prosciutto, lobster corn dogs, and a pear and goat cheese terrine. The highlight of the apps was definitely the lobster corn dogs. Light, moist, and crunchy on the outside and studded with nice bits of lobster it came with a mustard aioli and a ketchup sort of sauce. The aioli was much more interesting than the ketchup which was tomatoey but seemed bland next to the aioli which offered a really good flavor to go with the corn dogs. For mains we had Poulet 50/50, Pork, and Fish and Chips. The Poulet 50/50 is a piece of chicken stuffed with duck, the result has a good flavor and is well executed, avoiding the major pitfall of dried out chicken. The pork was a nice pice of Kurobota loin well flavored and render but the standouts in this dish were the accompaniments, roasted carrots and lentils with either ham or bacon. The carrots were tender but still held together and still tasted like carrot, and the lentils were pretty damn good with a nice smokiness coming from the meat. The fish and chips is an interesting preperation, the fish is first cooked sous vide and then pan seared to give it a nice crust, leaving a piece of fish that has good flavor and tender but not overly flaky. For dessert we had Waterloo on Acid, Pina (I can't remember the rest of the name), and Cup O' Joe. The Pina had a really good pineapple flavor to it both in the cobbler like part and the ice cream. The Cup O' Joe is a coffee flavored creme brulee, it had a good sugar crust, but was a bit mild in flavor, it would be nice to see it either sweeter or with more coffee punch. Overall a very good meal, the service is very nice and into the food, seeming like they've tried just about everything on the menu. The wine list is not super extensive but covers all of the bases at a reasonable markup. After dinner we had a nice chat with Chefturnedbumturnedchef (that's a mouthful, :lol:) aka Scott Simpson, and he's very excited by what he's doing and there seems to be a lot of crerativity going into everything. This place is a winner and I'm looking forward to going back. Fork info 806 E Roy St Seattle, WA 98112 206-925-7400 Rocky

Ethan Stowell from Union caters as well at Boat St Cafe. Stay away from Jewel Catering and CaterArts, every time we've used them they sucked. The Wedge is solid, nothing really exciting but they won't screw up. Rocky

Went to Jack's Tapas Cafe tonight. Despite the name, the restaurant serves halal style chinese food. Judging from the menu it is not a strict halal restaurant. But they have requisite hand shaven noodles, sesame and scallion cake, and a large number of dishes involving lamb. We had the assorted cold appetizer, the scallion sesame cake, peppered beef tendons, lamb and scallion stir-fry, and slow-cooked meatball casserole. The appetizer was well executed with the usual assortment of sliced stewed beef, eggs, tofu, and kelp. The peppered beef tendon app was also very good, garlicky and gelatinous and good. The slow-cooked meatball casserole was very nice, it came in a small stone pot and had a very flavorful broth. The meatballs themselves were standard, tasty, and as big a small baby's head. The highlight of our meal was definitely the cake and stir-fry though. The lamb tender and thinly sliced and not overcooked, the scallions added a wonderful aromatic-ness to the dish, we made little sandwiches of the lamb and the scallion sesame cake garnished with a really great house made hot sauce and diced pickled cabbage. Jack's made a good first impressionand I will definitely be back. It's on The Ave, north of 50th Ave NE but south of the Irish Emigrant on the west side of the street. Rocky

If you're talking about the one next door to Palisades that's Sanmi Sushi. Rocky

When it rains it pours, today's stop was Bistro Magnolia, if you've been following the Bistro Magnolia thread you know that I love this place and think very highly of the food. The eggs bene did not dissapoint. For $14.95 at brunch, you can get a prix fixe meal consisting of coffee, plus your choice of a Bloody Mary, Bellini, Mimosa, or OJ, fruit brochets with creme fraiche, and entree. I went with the traditional benedict and Malarkey went with the Florentine. The regular bene is served with canadian bacon here, though some others at the table subbed regualr bacon for the canadian bacon. The egg yolks were good and runny and fresh as evidenced by the orangeness of the yolks. The hollandaise is well made with just enough zing to it and overall the bene is well balanced with no one element overpowering any other. This bene comes the closest to giving 35th St Bistro a run for it's money, Bistro Magnolia earns a 9 for their benedict. Orange marmalade - made in house Bacon bene Eggs Florentine The Main Event - Eggs Benedict Rocky

Berkshire Grill, I had no expectations and was fully prepared to take one for the team here, but I was pleasantly surprised. Looking through my Breakfast in Seattle book I saw that Berkshire served eggs bene so in the interests of completeness I went on over to give it a whirl. First off, they have solved the problem of figuring out how people want their yolks by asking how you want it done, simply brilliant. The benedict is served with a relatively thick slice of ham, on an adequately toasted english muffin. The hollandaise was okay, a touch on the bland side but not bad. The yolks were appropriately runny and thus avoided my bene pet peeve of overdone eggs. The downside of the thick ham and slightly bland sauce is that it made teh ham the most important player in the dish and threw the balance off. Overall I would give Berkshire a 7 for their bene. Rocky

Went back to Bistro Magnolia last night and I have found Steak Frites nirvana. Met up there last night for drinks, tapas, and dinner with four others. We tried out several of the tapas, including the Casualita de la dia, the Tortilla de Papas, the Gambas al Ajillo, the Pintxos Moruno, and the Croquetas. All of these were very well executed and you could easily make a meal out of tapas at the bar. After drinks and tapas we went into the dining room and got ready to chow down. We ran our poor waitress ragged with questions that she kept going back to the kitchen to get answers for, she was very nice all night and very enthusiastic about learning about the cuisine. We started with pate, foie gras, oie de volailles, and salmon carpaccio. The pate consisted of three types, a liver mousses pate and two country pates, all made in house and very good. The foie was pan fried and served on pineapple with a pomegranate sauce and nicely done. The oie de volailles had wonderfully done chicken livers with a nice bunch of mixed greens. It was a very liver heavy starter course that we closed out with the salmon carpaccio that I enjoyed very much, though a few felt there was too much citrus. For dinner three of us had the steak frites, one had the lamb stew, and one ordered the roast chicken. The roast chicken came with a garlic glaze that was heavenly and the chicken itself was done incredibly well, moist and tender which we all know is harder to do than it sounds. The three steak frites were all ordered to different degrees of rareness and they ascertained very carefully just how rare we wanted them, and they came out all done to the exact right degree of rareness as ordered and what we had in mind. The crust on the steaks was incredible, a nice crunch as you bit into the steak that should be the envy of anyone who makes a steak. It was fantastic! We finished with a cheese plate, chocolate mousse, lemon tart, and chocolate souffle. We also shared a glass of Pedro Ximenez that was the last glass in the house but they will be getting more so don't despair. This was one fo the best things I've ever put in my mouth port-wise, smooth, velvety, chocolatey, figs, light raisin, did I mention smooth, wonderfully integrated, just bliss. If you like traditional bistro fare you have to get to Bistro Magnolia. Rocky

Try Yea's Wok in Newcastle for some properly spicy Szechuan food, as well as good Mandarin fare. Rocky

Getting back on the horse, we've had a serious gap lately but I promise that Malarkey and I will get back on task, I promise, maybe, we'll try anyways. I went to Tulio the other day for breakfast and what should I see but Eggs Benedict on the menu. The Hollandaise was fairly well executed, the muffin well toasted, and the ham had enough flavour to stand up. The egg though, ah the egg, it was overdone, oh the humanity of it all. This is becoming pet peeve nomber one on this crawl, overdone eggs. I want runny yolks dag nab it! Overall the bene earned a six, it would be higher except for the egg. Rocky

Tried out Bistro Magnolia last night and all of my hopes and dreams for a good neighborhood bistro may be answered. First impressions are very positive for me and I could see myself falling in love with this place. Located on NE 65th in Ravenna right near McCarthy Schiering they are open until 10 on Tue and Wed and until 11 on Th-Sun, with a weekend brunch served from 9-3. There are two menus, one is a tapas menu served in the bar until midnight, heavy on the Spanish tapas and it looks pretty good. The other menu is the bistro menu which has everything my heart could desire, moules mariniere, steak frites, steak tartare, roast chciken, onion soup, pate, charcuterie, on and on. I was so happy to see these things I had a hard time ordering, I wanted it all. We settled on Moules Mariniere and Frites, Onion Soup, and the special of the night lamb stew, followed by Tarte Tatin. We were also treated to a couple of glasses of champagne which was a really nice touch by our wonderful waitress, who was really nice and tried very hard even though she admitted that she was still learning the menu and was quite willing to go ask the chef anything. The Moules were exellent and the frites were well executed, and the lamb stew was sublime. Speaking with the chef later he said that he would love to have a group of foodies in at some point so he could make dishes that normally wouldn't sell. There are rotating specials for each day of the week, the highlights of which for me are Cassoulet on Sunday, and Thursday alternating gibier or short ribs. I will be back and hopefully everything will remain wonderful. Rocky

The ateries haven't clogged yet, just a little busy lately. I swear we'll be back on this ASAP. Rocky

La Campiello in the the space that used to be Stella's is open also serving Italian food. First impressions so far have been positive, good casual Italian and friendly service. Rocky

Boat Street Cafe is now open, went there for dinner on Friday evening and it was really wonderful. We started with the pate, the cheese plate, and pickled vegetables plate with a Marsanne/Viognier. For our mains we had roasted salmon, kale flan, and roast chicken. They were all well executed and the flavors melded well, this was accompanied by a Beuajolais Village, that complemented the meal well. For dessert we had the fabulous bread pudding that is to die for. The space is really nice, I can see it getting fairly loud though on a busy night. It you're a fan of the old Boat Street, it's back, for anyone who's never been, definitley give it a whirl. Rocky

I've heard through the grapevine that they were available last January at Whole Paycheck mislabeled as Seville Oranges. Rocky

We've been down both the doughnut and cannoli roads before, but I admit "cannoli" didn't turn up any hits on search, for me. The answer? Good luck. But I recall recently seeing some empty shells waiting to be filled at the gelato place on the hillclimb. ← Postmark Gelato in Fremont also has cannoli ready to be filled. I haven't tried them yet but I haven't ahd anything bad from there yet either. Rocky

Volterra was today's stop on the eggs bene crawl. Volterra does not have a traditional bene per se, but rather a mushroom bene. Malarkey, Dubkat, and I met up at Volterra at 1100 and started out with the assorted pastry basket, which contained croissants, pain au chocolat, apple, and cinnamon pastries. I started out with a good Bloody Mary - it occurs to me that this could also double as a Bloody Mary crawl for me and a champagne cocktail crawl for Malarkey, the second best on the crawl so far. We all ordered the Mushroom Benedict and I added a side of bacon. The mushrooms in the bene were chanterelles, morels, and criminis. The hollandaise is perfumed with truffle oil and very light. The eggs were nicely done, cooked whites and runny yolks. the mushrooms offered enough substance that we didn't miss the presence of ham at all. The potatoes were excellent, crispy on the outside and cooked just enough on the inside. Overall a really excellent bene and one that came closest to giving 35th Street a run for its money so far. My only nitpick, and here I am nitpicking, is that there was perhaps just a touch too much truffle oil in the hollandaise. There was very little lemon/vinegar bite in the sauce so as not overpower the truffle scent but as I ate more of the bene I began to feel that maybe it was just a bit much of a good thing as truffle oil is a very strong flavor in and of itself. My score for the Volterra mushroom bene is 8.5. And now the pictures Rocky

Stay away from Top Gun in Bellevue for the love of Odin! The food is okay but the sanitation leaves so much to be desired. I feel like I need a shot to eat there, not that I would ever go there again. Too many dead floaters in the live tanks, dirty plate, dirty utensils, and sticky tables. Rocky

I've seen the mustard seeds at various times at Central Market and I think I've seen the soy granules too. They have a very extensive bulk section there. Rocky

Sunday morning Blue Heron joined a few friends and I at Etta's for brunch so we could push forward on the crawl. I ordered the crab benedict and a bloody Mary with a side of bacon. The muffin was well toasted and the the eggs were excellently done, with nice runny yolks. There was a nice amount of crab on the muffin but the hollandaise was bland, bland, bland. It had no tang and no zip and I couldn't detect a single hint of the supposed chipotle that the menu said was in the sauce. There was also a little too much spinach on the muffin and made it a little bit watery. The potatoes were really good and tasty and bacon was excellent, coming from Bavarian Meats. The sticky pecan bun we shared was excellent also and is the same one that comes from Dahlia Bakery. Blue Heron ordered the crab cake special which I'll let her comment on. This is my least favorite bene so far, earning a 5 on my scale, it would be lower but everything else was good enough to keep it from going lower.. I enjoyed everything else very much and I would go back to Etta's for brunch, but I think I'll stay away from the bene. Bloody Mary - (singing) Bloody Mary is the Girl I love Pecan Sticky Bun - Mmmmm, good Crab Cake Special Veggie Frittata Bacon! The main event Rocky

Mmmmmmm I think I might pass on this one Rocky! ← I may go just because I'm contrary. Rocky

Congrats Jason! Macho, macho, duck, I wanna be a macho duck. Crawl? But of course! Mmmmm, buche. Rocky

manioc? (seasoned cassava flour, farofa) ← Farofa, thanks. Rocky

Samba! As Jason has been counting down, Sam Hassan's new new location in Maple Leaf is now open. A friend and I went there for dinner last night, and for the second night in operation, everything was amazingly smooth. The room is still a little bare but the lighting and the colors are warm. Good solid wine list heavy on Portugal, and four beers on tap and several more by the bottle. There were three other tables occupied about half filling the place. We started with the steak and onions appetizer and I ordered the honey lime pork, which came with collards and potato salad. The pork was a little on the well done side but had a really nice flavor, the collards were shredded and still had a littlte crunch to them but good. My friend had the Fejoada Carioca, and as she is not very adventurous in her eating I had to ask the waiter if the fejoada was made traditionally with the salted ears, snouts, tails, and feet to make sure. The waiter sighed a little wistfully and said that because people here are not into the traditional meats they don't use them, he said even in Brazil many places no longer use the traditional meats. He said that he himself still makes his fejoada with the traditional meats and laments their passing. Having said all that the fejoada is very good and thick, and came with the yucca flour fried rice stuff that I can't remember the name of right now. For dessert I had a dulce de leche flan and my friend had a dulce de leche crepe. The flan was very dense and had an almost cheesecake consistency to it with a wonderful caramel flavour. I had a Xingu beer with dinner, which is a dark Brazilian beer with a sweet finish and very malty and smooth, you could almost have it for dessert. Every now and then you could hear Chef Hassan instructing his cooks about the finer points of Brazilian cooking and meat quality. The service was excellent and cheerful and it seems that overall that Samba has hit the ground running. Get here when you can, it's worth going to, I'll miss the churrascaria, but that's ok. Rocky

You up for it Rocky?! ← Let's do it! Rocky

Here's a picture of the 35th St Bistro eggs benedict. Rocky