Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Pike Place Chowder

Pike Place Chowder

1530 Post Alley Seattle, WA 98101

Reviewed by Jimmy L.

My wife and I have a split opinion on this place. I enjoyed the england chowder and the crab roll, where my wife still enjoyed the SF fisherman wharf 's chowder better. However we do agree that the clam within the chowder is very tender and chewy. The crab roll is made of "real" crab meat, not those fake meat you may see some store used. I ordered the lunch special which contains a half crab roll and a 8oz soup with drink. The total including tax is about $12. If you are a soup person, you can try 4 different type of soups (8 Oz each) for $13.

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Seattle Trip

Summer in Seattle can not be more perfect. Without rain, the temperature is about 70ish degree. For someone who can not stand the heat, Seattle is great in the summer time. I arrived first in Seattle for Business initially with my wife and my kid following me few days later for our vacation and attending my cousin's wedding.

Transportation wise from the Airport to Downtown Seattle is very convenient. (Unlike LA, actually no major city is as non convenient as LA) A typical bus ride from the Airport to Downtown cost $2.25 at peak hour and $1.50 at non peak hour. I took 194 from the Zone B at the airport to the heart of the city and the entire ride takes less than 20 minutes. If you prefer taxi, I think the meter will run about $30 depending on the location of the Seattle you are staying in. After getting off the highway, the bus will then go underground through a tunnel. If you look at the floor of the tunnel, you can actually see the foundation of the track which may later be use by a subway system. Also, in Seattle, from 7am to 7 pm, 1st street and 3rd street are ride free zone. Basically you can go anywhere within downtown on a bus with paying a cent. (So convenient!!!)

Typically a hotel in the downtown area runs about $200+ a night. Staying in Belltown is about $150 a night and is about 5 blocks away (5 minutes walking distance). Even though the hotel, Ramada, is a bit old and the carpet seems dirty, overall the hotel is fairly pleasant. The staff are very attentive and very responsive. If you need any service such as Boeing tour (which is about $60 including taxes) or town car service (which is about $40 to the airport), the hotel clerk can easily arrange the service for you.

On the first day of the trip, my wife and I met with the family and went down to China town (which locates at the international district) for dinner. It was a typical Chinese food restaurant, nothing special. After dinner, my wife and I went back to my cousin's apartment since my wife is helping with bride's makeup for the wedding. After she finished the wedding makeup, my wife and I had to take the baby back to the hotel.

On the 2nd day of the trip, we walked from Ramda to Pike Market Place (which takes about 10-15 minutes). We saw the flying fish, the golden hog, and the giant clock. The flying fish tradition as many have seen on TV is a store front where after customer orders a fish. The stockboy on the outside will pick up what you ordered and throw the ordered fish in to the middle of the store and caught by the stockboy in the middle. While they do this, these men will also sing and dance as they progress. Turning right after you enter the market, you will see numerous fresh fruit and veggies. If you turn right on the intersection right before entering the pike market, you will see the pike place chowder, which is another famous local eat spot. After pike place chowder, if you headed down to the pike market again and then turn right, you will see La Panier Bakery. If you follow the road down, you will get to the original Starbucks store. After the visit to the Pike Market, my wife and I had to go back to my cousin's place in preparation of the wedding.

The 3rd day of the trip is pretty much taken by the wedding itself, therefore not much sight seeing was done. We did went down to the Scupture garden where the wedding took place. and after the wedding we went to Waterfront Seafood for the reception.

On the 4th day which Seattle downtown happened to be hosting Bite of Seattle event. the whole event is hosted on the park next to the music project and space needle. My whole family and I went to this event in the afternoon. walking through the crowd we saw varies type of food vendor. The mini carnival was fairly interesting and entertaining. When we almost done, my nephew wanted to go on the carousel, here has to be the fastest carousel I have ever seen. This carousel had to be operating at 5 times the speed of a normal carousel. Later in the afternoon, we met up at downtown again eating dollar oyster in a local bar. I guess Seattle is full of seafood bar where oyster is extremly cheap. On a normal weekday, you can go to Eilliot Oyster house and get an oyster for $.50 each.

fifth day is our final day at the city, we walk on the pier and was just enjoying the view of the ocean. The 5 day trips went by so fast, my wife and I still can not remeber everything we done. We did learn a few thing in this trip to Seattle

1. if you have a young baby, some taxi may be willing to take you and your family without a car seat. But some taxi may not
2. if you have a baby and arrived the airport early, don't worry. Between Gate A and B, there is a playground for the kid. Take your kids there, they will enjoy for sure.

Palomino Restaurant Rotisseria Bar

Palomino Restaurant Rotisseria Bar

1420 5th Ave Ste 350 Seattle, WA 98101

Reviewed by Jimmy L.

With a strong recommendation from my brother-in-law. My family and his went to this restaurant for dinner. Since there was a bunch of us, we decided to order a few entries and share among our-self. We ordered cups of mushroom soup, salad, pepperoni pizza thin crust, seafood Alfredo fettuccine, and Paella.

the cups of mushroom soup was very good. very rich in cream and mushroom flavor with a hint of spaciness. The fettuccine was cooked just perfect. Never had I have a better pasta prepared. The fettuccine was not too soft and not undercooked. The paella on the other handy was a little bit too tangy for me. Personally I prefer the Peruvian version of this dish much better. The sauce was too watery for my liking as well. The pizza was not bad. nothing special but not bad either.

As for dessert, my wife ordered the creme brulee and my sister ordered the tiamisu. Tiamisu was very rich and flavorful. The creme brulee was done very well. the creme was nice and smooth with a strong vanilla taste.

This is a very nice restaurant and I kind of feel bad for people sitting next to us. we had 3 under 5 year old. So our table was a bit loud for this place.

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Waterfront Seafood Grill

Waterfront Seafood Grill

2801 Alaskan Way Seattle, WA 98121

Reviewed by Jimmy L.

My review may not apply to the overall dinning experience at this restaurant since my cousin had her wedding reception in this location. However here was my experience.

Upon the start of the reception, we were greeted by very attentive waiter service. there are some satay chicken and beef, along with prawns and tomato + mozzarella on a stick. All these Hors d'Ĺ“uvre were fairly tasty and were all nicely prepared. The Prawns were very fresh and big. The balsamic vinegar on the mozzarella ball balance nicely with the sweetness of the tomato. The satay are not over cooked. The beef and chicken are both very flavorful

For kids, my cousin order spaghetti. Couldn't resist the look of the dish, I took one bite. The sauce was very tasty. The meat sauce does not over power the tomato paste and the noodle are not cooked to soft or undercooked.

For main dish, I had the scallop with a white fish (not sure if is the halibut). Both types of seafood are cooked extremely well. the tenderness of the seafood were well preserved. Rarely I had such a great seafood dishes. I was very impressed.

for my wife, she had the salmon with fillet Mignon. The beef was a little bit well done for her (since she likes medium rare), but the meat was still very soft and tender. The salmon was crusted outside and soft inside. This probably the 2nd best salmon dish I ever had in my life. The first was at the Emerald's restaurant in Vegas.

Again, since this is for a wedding, some of the food I taste may be a bit different than what was on the menu, but I have to say this restaurant does know to cook and I am sure it is not cheap as well. However if you ever want to impress a date, look no further than this restaurant.

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Sunday, July 20, 2008

Elliott's Oyster House

Elliott's Oyster House

1201 Alaskan Way Seattle, WA 98101

Reviewed by Jimmy L.

After a long meeting today, my co-worker decided to treat the customer to this location for some quality food. Seeing the reviews from everyone at yelp prior going, I was full of anticipation and excitement.

One we arrived the restaurant, it took the waitress about 15 minutes to seat us, even though we had a reservation. Can't blame her since we do have a big party (11 ppl). After 15 minute, we were led to the dinning room in the back. The waitress put us in a small tiny table where everyone is pretty much bumping elbow. We had to request for a new seat, and luckily an outside seating was just cleared up for us.

Since we are seating outside in the patio, some of the people in the group were feeling a bit cold. The waiter actually brought blankets to the seats since there was no heat lamp. I thought this may be a Seattle thingy, only later learned is not.

Anyway, back to the food, we ordered the 2 types of appetizer towers. I have to said, the crab cake is actually quite good. The dip was not bad either. The Calamari on the other hand is nothing special. The ultimate tower ($85) contains about 10 oyster, a few crab legs and shrimps. To be honest, I just don't think the ultimate worth the money. The Oyster is decent, but I def. had better.

For main course, I ordered the mushroom ravioli with crabs. the dish is actually fairly tasty, but very light in volume too. If I ever goes back to this place, I will probably order the crab cake, since I do think it is phenomenal.

Typically, I will give a 4 for this type of food quality, however the waiter service was just incredibly slow. We started to ordered around 8:30, it wasn't until 9:30, the waiter asked for our main course. We waited another 30 minutes for the main course to be ready. Therefore most of the evening we were just sitting, and waiting for food.

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Thai Bite at Aliso Viejo


Thai Bite

26921 Aliso Creek Rd Ste J Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

Reviewed by Jimmy L.

Ever since our favorite Thai restaurant changed ownership, we have not find a decent Thai restaurant yet. Well, at least until tonight.

First of all, the map shown was not really accurate. The restaurant locates on the the intersection of Aliso Creek and Pacific Drive. Right next to Juice it Up and Ralph.

For the appetizer, my wife ordered GOONG SARONG, which is a deep fried corn shrimp (like corn dog, but with shrimp instead). There are a total of 5 shrimps per order. Also included in the dish are some fried onion, carrot and broccoli. The taste of those deep fried veggie covered by a wanton skin is very similar to a veggie tempura.

For the main course, I ordered the lemon fish, my wife ordered the Pad Thai (she was just overwhelm by the selection and decided to go with the most common dish), and my friend ordered a Green Curry.

The Pad Thai was not very greasy like many we had tried before. Also, this was the first time I had a bean curd in the pad thai. Kinda different.

The Green Curry was decent too. I think the stuff we ordered are some what safe, and rarely you will find a restaurant screw up those 2 dishes.

As for my lemon fish, I have to say the fish was a bit dry. I had better before when I was in Asia. Half of the plate was garnish with Veggie, so you really are not getting too much fish on that dish. However the sauce on the lemon fish is actual quiet good.

The total bill is close to 60 after tax and tip, so this restaurant is not cheap. However with the service, and the food quality, I would say it is worth the money.

p.s. This is also the most non-spicy Thai restaurant I have been too. Even though there were pepper symbol next to the Green Curry and the Lemon Fish, both dish are fairly mild.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Tacos Ensenada at Lake Forest, CA

Tacos Ensenada

24601 Raymond Way Lake Forest, CA 92630

Reviewed by Jimmy L.

Are you in a search for a good authentic cheap Mexican food, if you are, you should definitely try this place. The restaurant locates right on the cross corner of the lake forest post office and across from the lake forest library.

I am not Mexican, so it is a hard sale for me to say this place serves authentic Mexican food. However, every time I am at the restaurant, you can see local Mexicans gathered at this joint. You know this can only mean one thing. This place is da place in Orange County for good Mexican eat.

Usually I ordered the sandwich (torta) with the shredded pork. the pork is not dried and is very moist. Even my wife who does not like the dried taste of the pork too much approves the dish. I had also tried the carne asada variation which is also very tasty.

my wife usually ordered the tostada with shrimp. My wife was surprised when she ordered the shrimp tostada for the first time. This place makes the tostada the way it was supposed to made, layer of corn chips, (not the bowl shape), lettuce, and meat.

I had also tried to burrito here before, and as most people had reviewed already, the burrito is well worth the money. Here is also the only location I can find beef tongue as a meat source.

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