Anyways, to get back to my story of the relatives who were underwhelmed by other burger joints in Seattle that were publicized on the Food Network. Of course after trying Uneeda Burger, they admitted, “You were right, Seattle Unexplored, this is much better and one of thee best burgers we’ve ever had”. Uneeda Burger is the perfect place to bring any visitor who craves a burger. It’s low key enough to bring my parents who want simplicity, but has the superior ingredients for those snooty friends who have a more discerning palate. I’ve brought friends from France, my parents, my wife’s family from overseas, country bumpkin friends whose ideas of a good burger is Burger King, my snooty co-worker who dismissed Uneeda Burger prior to stepping foot in the place(“There’s no way this is as good as Palace Kitchen). Every single person is won over by the end of their meal.
Stop N Shop Poke
Recommended by: An in-the-know co-worker brought it to my attention back in April of 2016.
Description on the Stop N Shop’s website: They ain’t got one.
Neighborhood/Type: Wallingford
Address: 2323 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank:
Comments: If we’re being honest, this post should have been published two and half years ago. It was around April 2016 that a co-worker in my office spilled the beans on a little secret poke place inside of small convenience store. What made this secret so tantalizing was not only was it secretly located, but if memory serves it was thee first place to serve poke dishes(not counting the seafood markets that sell it by weight). As word of mouth spread, the secretive nature added to the allure of the shop. Almost immediately there were lines out the door.
. 
I used to live in Fremont and I’d typically take N 45th to get to the I5, so I used to pass by the location all the time. Prior to a Stop N Shop, it was home of the famous Erotic Bakery, which used to make X-rated cakes. From the nondescript outside, you’d think it’s just a normal convenience shop where you’d pick up some gum or some cigarettes. It is that, but as you enter you’ll see a little poke stand to the right.
The convenience store portion.
IIt still gets crowded, but due to the proliferation of poke places all around Seattle shortly thereafter the opening of Stop and Shop, the novelty quickly wore off. But whenever I take out of town guests, they still get a kick out of “this secret place”. I find the Stop N Shop Poke bowls to be a decent size, has quality ingredients and I think it’s faster because they automatically add on the side items instead of letting the customer pick and choose. I think this makes the orders go quicker.
So you start with the bottom of the bowl-either rice or a salad or you can half/half. Then you can choose one fish($11), two fish($12) or three fish($13). Choices are tuna, salmon, izumidai, shrimp or veggie(tofu). They also have unagi for an extra two dollars. You can have the fish with a regular sauce or a spicy sauce. I prefer spicy myself. Then they add on krab salad, seaweed salad, edamame, ginger, tobiko, pickled cucumber. Voila. There are only a few tables, so we always take ours to go. A normal practice for us, is to order poke from Stop N Shop and then eat it at a local brewery which allows outside food.
A note about Seattle poke places: It seems as soon as Stop N Shop opened a poke place, so many poke places opened up that in less than one year after Stop N Shop opened many of these poke places were closing down due to saturation. So in less than one year, the poke craze started and went down in flames. Here’s an article from The Seattle Times talking about the Seattle poke saturation. It’s easy to understand why so many poke places opened. Most places use the Subway Sandwiches model where you start with rice, add the fish and then the toppings. Everything is already prepped, so you just need somebody to listen to the customers and put the poke dish together. Also, there is no cooking involved(except for the rice) since the fish is raw and mixed with sauces. Don’t get me wrong I love poke, but you can see it’s an easy business to replicate. The only thing that will separate the poke places that survive and the ones that won’t, are quality of the fish and customer service. My two favorite poke places are Stop N Shop and goPoke in the International District.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4 Cmon, it’s a convenience store, but due to the secretive nature it gets a 4.
Service: 5
Food/Drinks: 4.5 on the poke scale
Bang for the Buck: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
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Eastern Cafe
Description on Eastern Cafe’s website : Coffee, Loose leaf teas, beer, wine, cocktails, sandwiches, crepes, pastries
Neighborhood: International Districut
Address:510 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
What we ate/drank: Macchiato
Comments: I’ve always known about Eastern Cafe, located in the International District, but never went there for a few reasons. One, it’s in the International District(ID), which is not close to my work. Second, I don’t mind traveling a little further to check out coffee shops if they open early, but they open at 7:30am, which means I’d have to come in late to work. I can handle 7:00am or earlier. Third, the International District is known for its tea places, not its coffee, so I wasn’t expecting much from any coffee place in the ID.
On one particular Sunday morning, our family had lunch at Dough Zone, which is a few blocks away from Eastern Cafe. I was dragging for a coffee, so while my wife went to Uwajimaya to grab some groceries, my daughter accompanied me to Eastern Cafe for a quick Macchiato.
The storefront looks like any other in the ID, but once entering it feels like you’re in Capitol Hill. First thing that came to mind was that Eastern Cafe looks like a rustic Capitol Coffee Works. Both have second floor lofts looking down on the baristas, the high ceilings and a first floor main seating area. The main difference is that Capitol Coffee Works is updated and Eastern Cafe has a weathered feel to it with it’s paint stripped walls and creaky floors, which makes it quintessential ID.
They use Lighthouse Roasters beans, which is always a sure bet. They have both savory and sweet crepes. I noticed they also have six drafts for beer and appear to have mixed drinks too. Like most spaces with the long narrow configuration, there’s a lot of light near the front, but the second floor loft area is situated in the back so it’s dark. I still enjoyed being able to sit up there and people watch and look down at the barista making the drinks. There’s both bigger community tables both in the first floor and second floor. The natural wood table in the loft area is especially beautiful. The rest of the cafe is rounded out by multiple tables and chairs for parties of two or solo.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, but it’s really the only place to come for good coffee in the neighborhood and considering it’s the only choice, the quality is surprisingly good.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Having a viable coffee option in the ID. A coffee oasis for this neighborhood.
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 4.50
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.55
Eavedropping Convo: None
Related:
Uneeda Burger – The Best Burger in Seattle
Recommended by: Nobody. We discovered Uneeda Burger on our own.
Description on the Uneeda Burger’s website: Uneeda Burger is a casual, roadside-style burger shack with seriously delicious burgers, sandwiches, sides and shakes created by Chef Scott Staples. A great selection of fine wine and craft-brewed beers complement the menu’s premium quality and locally sourced beef burgers, chicken and veggie options.
Neighborhood/Type: Fremont
Address: 4302 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank: #8 Crimini Mushrooms Burger – porcini & black truffle salt, shallots, gruyere cheese. Croque Madame -black forest ham, gruyere, dijon-mayo & truffled shoestring potatoes with sunny-side egg.
Comments: Update 9/22/19: Uneeda Burger just made Seattle Met’s 100 Best Restaurant
From our very first visit to Uneeda Burger, it’s always been our favorite burger joint in the city. Red Mill Burger has been here longer and gets most of the national pub outside of Seattle. They’ve been featured on many shows, including Man vs Food. Lunchbox Laboratory has also gained some national exposure with their Burger of the Gods being named #1 Burger in all the US on the Food Network.
I’ll never forget the moment that my wife’s family visiting from outside the country were watching Food Network during the episode and my wife and I were gobsmacked when the #1 Burger in the US was from Lunchbox Lab. Of course her family insisted on visiting Lunchbox Lab and also had Red Mill Burger on their Seattle To Do List. After visiting both, they were a little underwhelmed. Perhaps, unfairly, the publicity and build up played a role in their feelings. It’s not that the burgers were bad, but not mind-blowing. Once their feelings of being underwhelmed were known, we suggested our favorite, Uneeda Burger. They were skeptical. How could this place be better than Lunchbox Lab and Red Mill Burgers when those two places were publicized on the Food Network?
Uneeda Burger is housed within an old automotive/boat repair garage, which explains why it looks like a garage with huge garage doors, concrete floor and bare bones walls. The name of the former garage was Uneeda Auto & Boat Rebuild, hence the name Uneeda Burger. The actual signage from Uneeda Auto & Boat Rebuild was actually incorporated into the counter at which you order your food.
Keeping the original garage feel gives it a laid back atmosphere. The outside patio are simple wooden picnic tables, the inside have simple tables made from 2 X 4s and the chair are of simple metal. You line up and order at the counter, then find a table after ordering and then they’ll bring your burgers out to you. One note is that all burgers are cooked to medium, but the cashier always asks how you want it cooked. This laid back atmosphere definitely invites a family-friendly atmosphere. I guess you can say this of most burger joints, but one Seattle food critic once said something to the effect that the parents who let their kids run rampant at Uneeda Burger, “don’t need a burger, uneeda babysitter”.
I enjoy Uneeda Burger so much that during my last birthday, my wife asked where I wanted to celebrate? It wasn’t Revel, Junebaby, Adana or Sushi Kashiba. It was Uneeda Burger. I don’t know, I’m just simple that way.
We’ve tried most of the burgers here, but we’ve settled on our favorites, so we always order the same burgers over and over again- The Crimini Mushroom Burger and the Madame Burger. This is why you see only two pictures of burgers. It’s all we ever get.
I’m a huge fan of the French breakfast staple, the Croque Madame and of egg yolk in general. Add a hamburger patty to this breakfast staple and you’ve got me hooked. Everything about it is perfect. The egg yolk and burger of course, but also the gruyere cheese, black forest ham, truffled shoe string potatoes and the switching of a burger bun to buttered toast.
The Crimini Burger is my wife’s favorite. She’s a huge fan of mushroom burgers in general, but she loves the truffle flavor added to it and of course the gruyere cheese tops it off.
We also sometimes get a side order of fries, chile cheese fries or poutine. These sides are nothing to write home about, but what are burgers without fries? So they’ll do.
Poutine – fries topped with beef gravy & cheese sauce (3.75/5)
I would say the ingredients they use are not innovative or trend setting, but definitely quality ingredients from the burger patty to the cheese, ham and sauce. This plus the preparation is what sets it apart from other burger joints. You can increase the quality of your patty for $2 or $3 more. I actually have never done this, but some local Food Critics swear buy it. Maybe I should try a regular burger and an “upgraded” burger as an experiment to see if it’s really worth it.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: 5.00
Bang for the Buck: 4.75
Overall: 4.70
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
-
- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future: The order taker at Uneeda Burger, Mark, suggested a place down the street called, Roxy’s Diner for good pastrami sandwiches.
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Fonte Coffee Roasters Cafe
Description on Fonte Coffee Roasters Cafe’s website :Our story begins in 1992 in the Pacific Northwest coffee capital of the world — Seattle, WA. It was here that founder and owner Paul Odom followed his passion and started Fonté Coffee Roaster. Our name is Italian for source. We help coffee lovers brew the freshest cup of coffee.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 1321 1st Ave, Seattle WA 98101
Music Playing: Always Forever by Cults
What we ate/drank: Macchiato
Comments: Fonte Coffee Roasters Café is connected to the same building as the Four Seasons(I actually used their wifi while at Fonte), right across the street from the Seattle Art Museum(SAM) and two block aways from Pike Place Market, so similar to Seattle Coffee Works there are a lot of tourists as opposed to locals that come here. It’s always crowded because of it’s proximity to the aforementioned places, but also because it’s right on First Ave. Anybody walking along this main avenue going to Pike Place Market to Pioneer Square or vice versa will pass Fonte Coffee Roasters Cafe. It’s also one of the few places open at 6am in the area, so you see a lot of business people or a lot of people with suitcases getting ready to head to the airport having breakfast here.
The morning is not so bad but by mid-morning on, it’s normally crowded. Caffe Ladro , which is right around the corner doesn’t have this problem, because it’s not directly on 1st Ave and also doesn’t have the food options or drink options or space that Fonte Coffee Roasters Café has.
For Seattle standards the cafe is rather large. It has a modern-romantic vibe due to the warm lighting and use of dark materials-dark woods, dark leathers, and a dark ceiling. One really cool feature is the dark wood two by four lighting running the length of the cafe. For contrast most of the upholstered seating are a light tan.
As you enter Fonte Coffee Roasters Cafe you’ll notice they have two small elevated patio areas on either side of the door. Once you enter, on the left are upholstered seats that run along the store front and and individual chairs and tables that probably seat around 15 people.
On the right the high upholstered seats with a foot rest continue along the store front and then forms an “L” along the north wall. There’s a group table in the middle and then booth seats that round out the area. This area probably seats about 30 people.
Kudos for making a concerted effort for wheelchairs/stroller access both having ramps inside and out on the patio. One qualm I had was the cleanliness. As you can see from my pictures on this particular day and time, it was not busy in the cafe, yet many of the tables were not clean and there were newspapers all over the floor near the ordering counter.
There is a huge variety of food-For morning options they have pastries, but also savory dishes for breakfast -breakfast burrito, vegetables hash, scambles, french toast, omelettes, frittata. For lunch options there’s Italian sandwich, baguettes, salads, grilled cheese, chicken club. fried chicken Caesar wraps. Food is brought to table after ordering, but drinks are called out at the counter for pick up, which can be confusing. Nice touch of self serve water in recappable bottles that you can take back to your table. They also have beer, wine and mixed drink option.
As you can tell by their name they roast their own coffee. Actually, the person in charge of roasting at Fonte Coffee Roasters was one of the first roasters trained under the original owners of Starbucks and earned the title of Master Roaster before coming to Fonte.
I don’t mean this to be a slam, but Fonte’s not a place I’d hang out at for relaxation, but it is a place I’d bring my parents or non coffee drinking out-of-town friends. It’s not because the coffee is bad. It’s really good and they do have some coffee drinks you can’t find anywhere else such as Desert Rose Latte, Aztec Mocha Latte, Turkish Latte. It’s just that usually it’s too packed/busy with tourists to relax or meet up for a nice conversation. To prove a point, just go to their Yelp reviews. Look at the last 10 reviews. You could look today or a year from now I’d bet the majority of the reviews are from out-of towners. The reason i’d bring my parents/non coffee drinking out of town friends is due to the fact that it’s a very nice place and has a lot of drink options besides coffee. It also has a lot of snack options and is in close proximity to places I’d take out of town guests-Pike Place Maket, SAM, Pioneer Sq.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: High upholstered seats with foot rest. This might seem like a weird favorite thing, but it makes a huge difference to have the foot rest.
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 4
Food Options: 5
Overall: 4.35
Eavedropping Convo:
Guy 1(G1) – I’ve been going to Barnes & Noble a lot lately and reading a bunch of investments books. I’m addicted. It’s the only type of books I buy now.
Guy 2(G2) – No fiction or any other non-fiction? Only investment books?
G1- No, just investment books. I thought it would be mundane, but it’s really interesting. It’s all I read now
G2- Why are you into it?
G1- I never really was interested in finance, but I’m working now, saving some money finally and I want to put it to work. You know? I want to get to a point where I can buy a house too.
G2- Good luck with that(sarcastically)
Related:
This Bolivian visitor is the eleventh installment in a series of What Visitors Think of Seattle. We’re big fans of Couchsurfing. We’ve had the pleasure of hosting over 40 visitors from around the US and Internationally. Visitors always have interesting observations about Seattle and it’s great seeing Seattle through the lens of a fresh pair of eyes. We profile some of our visitors and noted their comments about Seattle, the US and some of our learning about where they’re from.
S(Female-30) was originally from Bolivia, but grew up in Las Vegas and now lived in Denver. She had recently quit her job and was doing a west coast US road trip with her brother D. They’d been doing some hiking, rock climbing and camping, but wanted to hang out in the city of Seattle for a break. They were looking for a place to stay for a couple of nights and I could tell they were really easy going because they were okay with sleeping in a small place, sleeping in their sleeping bags and had no plans and open to doing whatever was suggested while in Seattle. The capper for me was when they said they’d arrive with beers in hand for sharing. How could we turn down that offer?
Sure enough when they arrived they brought two six packs to the door-Ninkasi Total Domination IPA and Elysian Space Dust IPA. First thing we did was crack open beers and get to know each other. She had mentioned she had never drank beer before arriving in Denver, so I was impressed with both the amount she drank and the fact that she liked IPAs. They were easier to talk to than our normal couchsurfers because they were both super outgoing. Before coming to Seattle they had been doing some camping and rock climbing first in Leavenworth and then in the Olympic National Park on the beach. They had also visited Forks, but weren’t aware it had anything to do with Twilight until they got there and saw all the references to the book/movie.
Before settling down in Denver, S had lived in Sucre, Bolivia and had hosted couchsurfers. Although she had hosted surfers, she had never couchsurfed herself so we were her first host. She also said most of her friends in Denver were met via the Couchsurfing Happy Hour events.
S & D’s Questions/Observations about the US:
- She thought people in the US were more down-to-earth than in Bolivia and mentioned Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle as example, but said Las Vegas folks were a “bunch of phonies”.
S&D’s Questions/Observations about Seattle:
- They had a hankering for burgers the first night in Seattle, so we went to Rain City Burger, which they loved.
- We went to Molly Maguires in Ballard for pub trivia and actually came in 3rd! Unfortunately, there were only 4 teams. It was their first time doing pub trivia and they were really excited to play and amazed they actually knew a lot of the answers, which were basically useless pop culture info. They were surprised that there was such a thing as trivia and drinking.
- Like many visitors before her, she commented on how short the Space Needle was when seen in person.
- I took them to Gas Works Park during one evening and they mistakenly went there the next day because they didn’t realize it was the same park they’d already been to.
- The places they wanted to go to before coming to Seattle was Fremont Brewing, Capitol Hill and to see the troll in Fremont. They visited them all.
- We recommended going to Paseo for a sandwich if they were going to Fremont. She texted me that it was the best sandwich that she or her brother ever had.
My observations of S & D/Learnings from S & D:
- LaPaz, Bolivia has what is considered to be the most dangerous road in the world due to extreme elevation, blind curves and landslides. She advised you can arrange bike tours to ride it.
- Salar de Uyuni, Lake Titicaca and LaPaz are must sees.
- She said if we were ever in Denver, Vegas or Bolivia, she had friends or relatives that could host us.
- They were some of the most conscientious surfers I ever had. They prepared and made dinner for us. I tell all guests they can take anything out of our fridge to eat, but they bought all food/drinks for themselves and for us to share. They always took their trash and recyclables out themselves. They never argued with each other like most siblings do. You could tell they were very close and kind to each other.
- I told her of my intention of going there some day and she wrote down places to see, towns to visit, restaurants to go to and general Boliva pointers.
- S actually contacted me from Bolivia a few months later asking if I was coming to visit to make sure we could meet up and get hosted. Unfortunately, my plans fell through and ended up not going to Bolivia.
- D gave me one of the best compliments I’ve ever had as a host-“I feel like I’m home”
- They woke up early to present me with a drawing they made of Bolivia as a parting gift.
Related Articles:
- See what a 33 year old from Slovenia thought of Seattle
- See what a 24 year old from Taiwan thought of Seattle
- See what a 36 year old from Japan thought of Seattle
- See what a 30 year old from Spain thought of Seattle
Victrola Coffee Roasters – The Most Heavily Guarded Cafe in Seattle
Description on Victrola Coffee Roasters’s website : Victrola Coffee has been sourcing, roasting and serving premium coffee since 2000. Shop our coffee online or visit one of our Seattle coffee shops.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 300 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101
Music Playing: Challengers by The New Pornographers
What we ate/drank: Macchiato
Comments:
Like most Seattlites, I try to avoid 3rd and Pine (aka 3rd and Crime), which for as long as I can remember has been the de facto crime spot in all of Seattle. I actually had some visitors from France who witnessed a stabbing here. If I ever want to scare straight my daughters, this is where I’d bring them and say, “If you don’t listen to your parents and study hard in school, this is where you’ll end up” and then I’d point to the plethora of shady characters who hang out here. I had an appointment and was walking to my office and took a path that took me by 3rd and Crime. What is this I see? Lo and behold, what is this new place in the Macys building? A Victrola Coffee Roaster? I had to rub my eyes to make sure it wasn’t a mirage.
It’s actually not that unexpected since Amazon just leased the floors on top of the Macys store and you know Amazonians love them some good coffee. So this Victrola Coffee Roasters is located in the lobby of the entrance to Amazon offices, but it really is on the corner of 3rd and Crime. This is where you can witness the ultimate Seattle worlds clashing and why I’ve named this coffee shop, “The Most Heavily Guarded in Seattle”. After seeing this Victrola Coffee Roasters, I decided to visit it a few weeks later.
UPDATED 9/14/19- If you still don’t believe me about 3rd & Pine & here.
UPDATED 2/23/20 –Another shooting and fatality. The Seattle Times article even talks to a Victrola employee. More here.
The first thing you notice are the security guards everywhere. When I went, there were two guards stationed outside of the doors. Inside there was a desk with another security guard sitting and one guard standing. Near the elevator to the offices there was another security guard and a another guard sitting having a coffee in Victrola. That’s six security guards total! In the café sat four patrons, including myself. If these security guards were not there, I’d guarantee you this place would be teeming with a cast of 3rd and Pine characters.
If you’ve been to the flagship Victrola Coffee Roasters in Capitol Hill you would never have guessed this is another Victrola Café. It is the exact opposite. The Capitol Hill Victrola is cozy, with worn wooden furniture, exposed brick and feeling of yesteryear. The 3rd & Crime Victrola is sleek, modern, new and I don’t want to say sterile, but it’s not as inviting as the Capitol Hill Victrola. It has pendant lighting and modern straight line furniture.
Take a look at the picture below of the long table with a purple neon light running down the center. Is this really Victrola? I understand that the feel of this café probably has a lot to do with matching the aesthetics of the company that inhabits the offices upstairs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice café, but I wasn’t expecting the huge difference in atmosphere and décor.
Another difference is they have no Mighty-O Donuts! What? But they do have Soco Tacos, La Parisienne pastries. They also have drinks such as Izze, San Pellegrino and Naked Juice.
The definite highlight of the café is the corner facing out on 3rd & Crime is completely all glass and quite impressive. It makes that part of the cafe bright and airy. You can sip your coffee and watch the drug deals going down right in front of you across the street at McDonalds.
Although this Victrola is closer to my work, I’d still prefer to walk a little further and go to the one in Capitol Hill. I’d most likely come here if I were shopping at Macys or Westlake Center and needed a coffee break or if I needed to scare my daughters straight.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The huge all window corner of the cafe looking out on 3rd & Pine
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 4.00
Food Options: 5.00
Overall: 4.35
Eavedropping Convo: None
Related:
Kokkaku
Recommended by: The hostess at Kamonegi mentioned Kokkaku in Miyabi 45th former location, as having interesting presentations on Wagyu beef and staying within the Japanese food theme.
Description on the Kokkaku website: Kokkaku, a “Japanese inspired Meat House” where whole beast butchery is the focus and local sourcing of farmed, foraged, and artisan craftsmanship is at the forefront of interpretation and creativity.
Neighborhood/Type: Wallingford
Address: 2208 N 45th Street, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank: Wagyu Four Ways-A5 Wagyu sashimi and sushi, and two American Wagyu tartar, one with quail egg and one with nori. Ton Katsu, Lan Roc Pork Tenderloin, Wagyu Bolognese Linguine, 2 Asahi beers, Shoyu Ice Cream
Comments: As mentioned in our Kamonegi review , my wife and I were always big fans of Miyabi 45th. Well, the ex-chef/owner of Miyabi 45th opened up Kamonegi, but whatever became of the space that Miyabi 45 used to be in on the main street of Wallingford neighborhood on 45th Street? We actually had no idea, but the hostess at Kamonegi suggested it as another Japanese restaurant to visit and mentioned they had unique presentations on Wagyu beef.
So what is Wagyu? It’s basically four types of Japanese beef cattle breeds, the most famous being Kobe beef. So what makes Wagyu beef so special? The main difference is that Wagyu beef is highly marbled, which means it’s highly fatty and leads to a better taste and a buttery flavor. The Japanese have taken developing Wagyu cattle to a whole new level through distinct breeding methods, special feeds and longer periods of fattening the cattle.
Let’s first talk about the restaurant. As you enter on 45th Street, you’ll notice their herb garden as you enter the front door. There are two tables near the window, which is where we were seated. Like most of the places in Wallingford on 45th Street, the space is long and narrow, so besides the two tables near the window, the rest of restaurant is pretty dark. It’s a little too dark for my liking, but it does set a low key romantic ambiance for a perfect date night. Soft instrumental jazz playing overhead also adds to the romantic ambiance. I wouldn’t call the type of décor here minimalist, but it is very simple. On one side of the wall are white hexagonal tile and the opposite side of the wall are plain white walls. The middle portion has two long benches on either side of the wall for larger groups. The rest of the space comprises of a bar that seats maybe 6 people and 5 tables of two.
The staff was very attentive throughout, refilling water, general check ups and explaining the dishes. We didn’t order straight up steaks since we had just been to Daniel’s Broiler the week before, but we did order two dishes with Wagyu meat. First the Wagyu Four Ways, which is served as sashimi, sushi, steak tartare on nori and steak tartare with a quail egg. The Wagyu of course melts in your mouth and all four were delicious, but I’m a sucker for steak tartare and I’m an even bigger sucker for anything served with a raw quail egg, so that was my favorite of the four preparations.
The second Wagyu dish we ordered was the Bolognese Linguine. This was also a super tasty dish, although I don’t know if the Wagyu really added to this dish. The sauce and cheese are what really make this dish.
The other entrée we got was the Pork Tenderloin Ton Katsu. Normally, traditional tonkatsu is a slender piece of pork and here they replace it with a thicker pork tenderloin. I always have issues keeping pork tenderloin moist whenever I attempt to make it at home, but this dish is a homerun. So damn tender and moist! They provide a mortar and pestle to ground up sesame seeds and then you can put the ground seeds on the tonkatsu and pour the sauce over it or combine the seeds with the sauce and use it for dipping, which is what we chose to do. We also ordered a bowl of rice to eat with the tonkatsu, but they also provide a huge mound of shredded cabbage with citrus. We washed these down with a couple of Asahi draft beers.
Ton Katsu, Lan Roc Pork TenderloinWe were definitely stuffed and don’t normally order dessert, but when our waiter explained the desserts they had, one caught our attention. It was the Shoyu(soy sauce) Ice Cream that is made in house. We were so curious we had to order it. Surprisingly, it was quite good. It tasted like salted caramel, but based on the after taste you could tell it was shoyu. You can take a look at the pictures of all these dishes and see how the presentation was flawless. As far as bang for your buck, I would say the dishes we got were fairly priced when taking into consideration the portion size, the presentation and the yumminess.
It’s always good to try different things on the menu whenever you do a repeat visit to get a variety of dishes, but we enjoyed these particular appetizer and entrees so much, I fear we’ll just order the same exact dishes on every visit to Kokkaku.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 5+
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.60
Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.
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- Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
- Most locals know about it
- Locals “in the know” know about it
- Only those who live close by know about it.
- You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!
Servers Local reader recommendations to visit in the future: After a reader read our post about Kokkaku they suggested another upscale Japanese restaurant, Tamari Bar. Took us a year to get out there, but we finally tried it.
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Storyville Coffee – 1st Ave
Description on Storyville Coffee’s website : Find us on the bustling corner of 1st Avenue and Madison Avenue in Downtown Seattle. We are located at the base of the renowned Kimpton Alexis Hotel; a center point to the city’s landscape, just blocks away from the waterfront.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 1001 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
Music Playing: Same music as their Pike Place Market location-some type of new agey jazzy instrumental spa like music.
What we ate/drank: Macchiato and Cinnamon Roll($9.76)
Comments: We dubbed the Storyville Coffee Company in Pike Place Market the Best Coffee Place to Impress Seattle Visitors. This is pretty much a smaller version of their Pike Place Market location and similar to Fonte Coffee Roaster Cafe because this Storyville is right on 1st Ave, so it’s very visible to visitors and is nearby a few hotels. This one doesn’t have the “secret” nature of the Pike Place Market location though. While sitting at this Storyville, I noticed it was part of the cashier’s greeting to ask if the person ordering was from out of town and more times than not, they were. The Kimptom Alexis Hotel is right next door and Hotel 1000 is right across the street.
Sometimes you go to different branches of the same café and it’s completely different. One might be vintage cozy and another branch might be sleek modern. This Storyville on 1st Ave is the exact replica of Pike Place Market version, but smaller. Like the much bigger Storyville in Pike Place Market, the 1st Ave version has the same dark wood panels, orange hue lighting and new agey jazzy instrumental spa-like music. They also have a kitchen in the back. And also similar to the Pike Place Market version, they make a damn fine macchiato and cinnamon roll.
This Storyville Coffee only has one regular table that seats 4. The rest of the drinking area are 3 individual standing only tables, a patio area on the sidewalk that seats 8 at a wooden high counter and a beautiful wood L-shaped counter that can probably accommodate 10 stools. The L-shaped counter looks on to 1st Ave & Madison through a massive floor to ceiling window that lets in tons of light. The rest of the café is rather dark due to the deep colors of the walls, floor and décor. Although they are pretty close to Pioneer Square, they are not quite in it, but they do have the prerequisite exposed brick wall that most Pioneer Square cafes have.
There are a couple things that stand out about this location
- They bring you a cup of water as soon as you sit down. This is even prior to your coffee drink being made.
- They bus the dishes/cups for you. I touched about this being a rarity in Seattle cafes here.
- Because the place is so small and due to the acoustics, you can pretty much hear any conversation going on, so having an interview here probably isn’t a good idea. Shout out to the graphic designer being interviewed. I hope you got the job!
- The cashier was super friendly and helpful. As mentioned I heard the cashier ask where most patrons were from to see if they were visiting. (Eavesdropping conversation below)
I find the prices to be a bit on the high side with espresso being $3.65, macchiato being $4.10 and cortado being $4.65. On average I would say this is about $.25-.35 higher than average.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: They bring a cup of water automatically to wherever you’re sitting and they bus your dishes. Just like a real restaurant!
Atmosphere: 4.25
Service: 5.00
Food Options: 4.50
Overall: 4.65
Eavedropping Convo: Cashier(C) asked where the patron was from and he said Philadelphia. The guy(G) said he didn’t drink coffee, but he was getting one for his wife back at the hotel room. She then asked what he wanted to order.
G- Looking at the drink menu on the wall. I’m not used to these fancy drink names.
C- Well describe to me what your wife enjoys drinking.
G- I think she just wants a regular black coffee, but since we’re in Seattle she wants something different and better than what she normally has.
C- Well, I think you should get an Americano or a French Press. Both are more flavorful than a normal black coffee, but it doesn’t have any cream or foam or additional flavors like vanilla, you know?
G- What’s the difference between an Americano and French Pass
C- Americano is espresso shots with water and a French Press is a pot with a plunger with a filter on it and we press the hot water through the coffee grounds.
G- Which is quicker?
C- The Americano.
G- Give me the Americano.
C- No problem. You can’t go wrong with either. They are both really tasty. I hope she likes it.
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