korean lunch with japanese dessert

I asked the Mayor of Foodtown where the best Korean is in Seattle, and his response – “In your backyard.”

So about one block from our house the mixologist and I found:

 

affectionately called by us “the friendly pig and calamari”

I very stupidly forgot to take a picture of our table, but it was an amazing crazy mess of tons of kimchee and condiments and pickles and ribs and soups and and and………It. Was. Amazing.

Then we went to a Japanese dollar store and bought Mango Marshmallows.

They are cute….

…and full of mango jelly.

a seattle institution.

The mixologist told me about Beth’s. But I didn’t quite realize. After I posted a picture on some sort of social media – everyone chimed in to tell me that it is a Seattle institution. Open since 1954, I’m sure it’s one of the oldest standing businesses in this city that seems to be pretty new. This place reminds me a bit of home – and man do I love a real diner. We got the obligatory breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, toast).

 

It was good and greasy – the pancakes were a bit too dense for me. Along with the standard diner fare – the walls were covered in drawings done by patrons. It was something to do while waiting for the food, and made the place feel very loved and homey.

ballard bbq

Went to Bitterroot in Ballard last week. It has a great name, a good menu, and a beautiful interior. We ate a lot of things off the menu.

 

Cornbread, hush puppies, fries, pulled pork, nachos, ginger beer, mac n cheese.

All in all, it was good. But I would describe it as “white folks bbq.”

What does that mean, you ask. Well, it’s hard to describe – and it’s not really racially motivated – more like it’s cultural. The flavors were…subtle. Or you could call it lacking. I am used to bbq sort of hitting me over the head – or at least hitting me in the taste buds. Maybe I am biased, maybe I am a snob, but this is no Midwest BBQ.

I’m sure the lardoons (…um, it was bacon) in the mac n cheese were locally sourced and the corn chips in the nachos were organic,  but it left me super homesick.

Food Breakdown:

fries = perfect

hush puppies = overcooked and boring

pulled pork = underspiced and dry, bun was great

nachos = good

cornbread = interesting and good, honey butter was great

mac n cheese = lacking in flavor, but ingredients and texture were great

house made ginger beer = amazing, light and not sweet

sauce = good, needed a bit more umph

indian (dot not feather).

The mixologist and I shared a lovely dinner at Roti in Queen Anne a few nights ago. The food was good. Above standard Indian fare. It had a big menu and interesting choices. The naan was excellent, the green chutney was extremely enjoyable, and the service was nice. They claim to “grind fresh spices everyday” – and I would have to say that it did seem that way. All the flavors were fresh.

By far my favorite part of the place was the decor. There where a number of paintings, wood carvings, wall coverings, and chubby deities.