Three weeks of great food

[Chufi]

Day 12

Unfortunately we had to leave Port Townsend. We loved it there. But luckily, we were headed to Portland!

The first evening we had dinner at Typhoon, as recommended by peppyre. It was really good! I had the crab Pad Thai - the noodles were delicious by itself, but even better with the heaping mound of fresh crab on top. Dennis had the duck curry.. the sauce was so good I could have eaten it as a soup Very nice restaurant, buzzing and crowded, and not expensive.

Day 13

Brunch at Sympatica. Now this is a place we never would have found if it wasn't for eGullet.. see the thread here for more about this place!

Dennis had the wild salmon hash and I had some picture perfect Eggs Benedict..

we stopped eating for the rest of the day..

late in the afternoon we went to the Bridgeport Brewery for some serious beertasting. These are samples of all there beers and 1 extra - the seasonal beer!

can you tell research like this really makes me happy?

After that we went to Peruvian restaurant Andina where we met eGulleter tejon and her husband for dinner! We had a delightful time, and were still talking until they started cleaning up around us... the food was fantastic. I did not get many good pictures, it was quite dark and I was impatient to keep chatting (and eating!)

appetizers (the stuffed peppers were my favorite)

my main, quinoa crusted scallops on golden beet puree, with pomegranate sauce. This was wonderful, the sweet scallops, soft puree, crunch from the quinoa, and the tangy sauce. Very unique and original flavors. Dennis had the Arroz con pato, which was a less elegant and more hearty dish of duck and duck sausage on cilantroflavored rice.. great earthy flavors.

Dessert: trio of creme brulee: white chocolate, ginger and pisco/raisins. The white chocolate was my favorite, but the ginger was also really good and very refreshing and gingery.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

day 14

the next day we spent many hours at the huge Powell's bookstore.. the most amazing bookstore I've ever seen.. the kind you want to camp out in! I browsed dozens of cookbooks and bought a couple. What a great place.

that night we went back to the brwery to have more beer.. had a decent meal (burger and steak) and very nice dessert.

Now I should explain that i have a special fondness for anything that combines peanutbutter and chocolate.. so when I see 'peanutbutter-chocolate mousse on a peanutbutter chocolatecookie' on the menu I can't resist! (during this vacation, I also consumed numerous reese's cups, peanubutter Twix, chocolate peanutbutter fudge, and chocolate peanutbutter icecream, and chocolate peanutbutter cookies...)

sorry, blurry.. all that beer you know... we really liked the stout!

beeramisu. Yes, made with beer. Good, but the Coho version is still the favorite

Edited September 28, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[ludja]

Thanks for the wonderful report, Chufi. It is fun to get a glimpse of your the culincary aspect of your travels.

...

Now I should explain that i have a special fondness for anything that combines peanutbutter and chocolate.. so when I see 'peanutbutter-chocolate mousse on a peanutbutter chocolatecookie' on the menu I can't resist! (during this vacation, I also consumed numerous reese's cups, peanubutter Twix, chocolate peanutbutter fudge, and chocolate peanutbutter icecream, and chocolate peanutbutter cookies...)

...

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So many of my friends from Europe dislike peanut butter in any form! Can you get chocolate-peanut butter candies in Amsterdam? Do you think you are unique among your friends in liking it?

What did you guys think, in general, of the microbreweries in PNW and how they compared with those in the Netherlands or other parts of Europe?

[Chufi]

Day 15

Drove from Portland to Packwood (near Mount Rainier NP). Picnic in the car, because it was raining, with these beautiful tomatoes we bought at Whole Foods in Portland. It may seem strange to make such a fuss over tomatoes.. but I don't when, if ever, I am going to taste tomatoes this good again

Dinner at Doobey's in Packwood.. nice little place with friendly people where the local color makes up for average fries and plastic cheese.. but the burger wasn't bad and the bacon was good!

Edited September 28, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Kouign Aman]

Fountain Cafe, PortTownsend, Anchovy Pasta...............:dreamy:

[ludja]

...

Then we shared the anchovy pasta:

...

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I thought the anchovy pasta dish looked and sounded great also. I don't know if you can remember it well enough, but if you were trying to recreate this at home, what would you try? (It look like there may be cheese in the dish although I know the dictum about 'no cheese and pasta' usually...)

[Abra]

I adore that anchovy pasta at the Fountain. It's really seriously spicy and garlicky and with tons of anchovies - a perfect date night food!

I'm guessing that Lorna will be re-creating that pear and blue cheese tart, it sounds so good, and like just her thing.

It's so nice to see our part of the world through such appreciative eyes. I had to laugh at Dennis having yogurt and granola while you had pancakes and bacon. Men!

[Chufi]

That anchovy pasta was mysterious. It seemed quite salty when we ate it (we shared a plate, which was still two very generous portions) but we did not have any of the 'afterthirst' which you can sometimes get after eating something very salty!

There was definitely cheese in there, lots of anchovies, onions, garlic, I think chiliflakes. It was creamy, too, but not very creamy, and baked. I think it was baked briefly on the plate it was served on though, not baked in the oven for a long time. oh and I think some herbs.. parsley, some thyme and rosemary maybe. And black olives.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

Where are we? Oh, Seattle, this must be

Day 16

Packwood - Seattle

arrived in Seattle early in the afternoon. Visited Uwajimaya, (bought Pocky!!) and after that, went to have dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant Green Leaf. See this thread for more about this place.

Vietnamese food is non-existent in Amsterdam, so this was new to us.. we loved this place. We had the sweetest waitress who helped us order.. she was afraid we would have too much food and was very proud of us when we ate it all

On the table: green mango salad, Ban Xio, one of the specials: pork and jicama on Vietnamese bread, and a dish that I forgot the name of, i think it was some sort of duck in a spicy coconutsauce, very good and quite different from the other dishes. We had the coffee-flan and the fried banana pastries for dessert, both were very good, much better than desserts I am used to in Asian restaurants. We ate so much and still did not feel full.. instead we felt pretty euphoric. Wonderful food.

Day 17

early morning visit to Dahlia Bakery.

Now this cookie doesn't look very impressing but it was one of the best cookies I ever had.. chocolate with pecanbutter.. kind of a sophisticated twist on my peanutbutter/chocolate hangup.. oh this was really good..

next stop, Le Panier Very French Bakery (that's how they describe themselves).

Palmier, sable noisette, coffee macaroon.

The macaroon was wonderful, but I haven't tasted many macaroons in my lifetime, so it was hard to compare it to others. I thought the palmier was a little chewy, and the sable was a little dry and to be really honest, the hazelnuts tasted a bit stale.. Not the best pastries we had on this trip.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Ling]

^They give out free hazelnut and chocolate sables sometimes...I agree, they aren't good. But the almond croissant from Le Panier is good (especially hot out of the oven!) I don't buy many other pastries there though.

And Abra is right...I definitely have to make a pear and blue cheese tart sometime soon...

BTW Klary--I love the picture of you eating outside Dahlia!!

Edited September 28, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Chufi]

Lunch on day 17 at Baguette Box. Another place that we wouldn't have found without eGullet's (hhlodesigns) advice. Great little place.. the truffle fries spoke to me but I had all these pastries in my belly.. so we had two 'light' sandwiches: braised tofu for me, roasted vegetables for Dennis.

Baguette Box seems to love dogs.. there's a dog on the window and lots of dog pictures inside!

Dinner at Monsoon. This was, maybe, the best restaurant meal we had on this trip. I wanted to eat everything on the menu.. this food is so wonderful, it's original, creative, it surprises you with every bite, it's fresh and spicy and you can really feel that all ingredients are of the highest quality.

crispy duck wontons

squid stuffed with duck and shii take

caramellized catfish in a claypot

really bad picture of one of the most delicious things.. firm fish in a spicy sticky sweet sauce.. the sauce reminded me of very thick Indonesian kecap.. we scraped the pot clean!

spicy green beans with butternut squash and fresh corn with chanterelles. The corn was so good.. I wanted to eat bowls and bowls of that.. one of the best things I ate on this trip.. As I write this I remember that 2 years ago, when we toured New England in September, the best thing I ate on that trip was a simple side dish of creamed corn.. I guess this just tells you that it's impossible to find good corn in The Netherlands.. let me sing my refrain again.. why can't I buy that here???

Anyway, this was a wonderful dinner. We started talking to the couple next to us and the woman advised us to get the coconut creme caramel for dessert.. we did but i was foolish enough to order one creme caramel and one pandan leaf icecream. The icecream was good but the coconut creme caramel was divine.. the most creamy texture, with a subtle cocnut taste - unbelievably good. Next time I am in Seattle, that better still be on the menu!

[Ling]

Mmmm...those pictures make me want to go to Monsoon again. We haven't been back since our first date!

[Della]

Your pictures and descriptions are wonderful! It is making my hungry Your Monsoon dinner sounds wonderful........I keep forgetting to visit that restaurant and it's on my list. I'll have to go soon.

Glad you and Dennis got back home safely.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Della (log)

[docsconz]

Spectacular report, Klary! You ate well, indeed and provide ample testament to the bounty of the PNW. I love your photos. My favorite of all, though is this one:

It speaks volumes.

[snowangel]

Klary, what made you and Dennis choose PNW as a destination.

Thanks for the full report!

[tamiam]

Klary, thank you so much for posting your trip. We were so glad to meet you and Dennis. And seeing our home through your eyes makes it even more special. What a treat. You certainly ate well.

If anybody knows more about that thready bread they had at the Szechuan feast in Vancouver, please do tell. My curiousity is totally piqued.

[Ling]

^The "thready" bread is called "Ngun See Geurn" in Cantonese or "Yuen Si Jeurn" in Mandarin. It is soft, pretty much flavourless on the inside and does pull apart in threads. I had it on my "currently in love with..." sig about two weeks ago, except I called it "fried bread with condensed milk".

Edited September 29, 2006 by Ling (log)

[Pan]

[...]Lavender cheesecake

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They used a sweet little orange tomato as one of the fruits garnishing the cheesecake, didn't they? Nice touch.

[Chufi]

^ actually, no, that's not a tomato.. it's a physalis, aka as cape gooseberry, very often used as a garnish for desserts because of their paper 'wings'. In fact, Chef Metcalf brought some with her on the hiking trip that first day, shew grew them herself! it's a tart and firm little fruit, very nice actually.

[Chufi]

Klary, what made you and Dennis choose PNW as a destination.

Thanks for the full report!

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actually, eGullet did! as I was reading the forums I noticed how many people from the PNW and BC were active posters.. this got me interested in the region. There were some great blogs... Daddy-A's Okanagan Adventure was inspiring.. Abra's last foodblog.. and so much more. Last summer I met Chef Metcalf and her partner in Amsterdam, and they really made me want to go to Vancouver!

It was a region I never would have thought of visiting without eGullet.. many other regions were on my list.. but I am so glad we went.. the scenery, the food and last but not least the people, exceeded all expectations.

[Chufi]

Day 18

Our final morning in Seattle.

me: "I hear Ballard is a very nice neighborhood".

Dennis: "why, what's there?"

me: "uhm, a bakery.. a really good bakery.. and uhm.. I think.. a Mexican restaurant..?" (Ofcourse, I knew there was a Mexican restaurant, and I was dying to go there, but knowing that Dennis does not have a very high opinion of mexican food (and you can't blame him, if you know the 'mexican' food served in Amsterdam) I'd thought it best leave to this part sort of vague, until we got there )

Dennis not only drove me around the country for 1800 miles, but very kindly and patiently drove me to every out-of-the-way bakery or restaurant I wanted to go to. He would say "so, someone recommended this place to you, eh? Okay, let's go! " I think after a couple of stops he knew that eGullet recommendations can be trusted!

Anyway. On to Ballard!

cafe Besalu. I'm so glad we went there.. this was, I think, the best pastry I had during the whole vacation.. light, crisp, melt in your mouth pastry.. a little bit of (I think) pastry cream.. just a couple of glorious raspberries. Perfection.

Dennis' cookie is a cornmeal/apricot sage cookie.. I think he tried to be virtuous there

Then, we just 'happened' to pass La Carta de Oaxaca around lunchtime.. So we had lunch! Really good.. Unlike any Mexican food we ever tasted...

we also visited a very nice wineshop, Portalis, on Ballard Avenue. Dennis had discovered a used cd-store (fortunately, used cd-stores are often located near bakeries, bookshops or other places I like to visit ) and was browsing there, while I had a chat with one of the owners of the winestore. She was genuinely surprised that a couple of tourists were wandering around the neighborhood! "So how did you find Ballard Avenue?" she asked. Well, someone I know recommended it to me - thanks little ms. foodie!

Edited September 29, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[docsconz]

Pray tell, what is on this delectable looking plate?

It strikes me as a mole with guacamole. Was it as good as it looked?

[gus_tatory]

^ actually, no, that's not a tomato.. it's a physalis, aka as cape gooseberry, very often used as a garnish for desserts because of their paper 'wings'. In fact, Chef Metcalf brought some with her on the hiking trip that first day, shew grew them herself! it's a tart and firm little fruit, very nice actually.

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okay, *that's* what they're called--i've heard them called "cerises de terre": ground cherries. is that the same thing as a tomatillo, or the same family? they look almost the same...

[chocomoo]

^The "thready" bread is called "Ngun See Geurn" in Cantonese or "Yuen Si Jeurn" in Mandarin.

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Which translates to "silver thread roll" There's also a steamed version, but really, why pick steamed when you can pick fried? Also, the steamed version doesn't come with condensed milk.

[Pontormo]

Klary, wonderful report! Would make a great travel feature in a Dutch publication especially since you have so many enticing pictures. I never bother with the special travel section in my local newspaper unless words related to food appear in the titles of articles.

Before looking through this thread your love for sweets just never registered fully somehow. Many of these posts strike me as entries that could have been written by Ling!

Did you ever make it to Salumi in Seattle?