Fremont Bowl
Recommended by: After writing our post about Seattle Fish Guys – Best Poke in Seattle, a local recommended Fremont Bowl as another place that has great poke.
Description on the Fremont Bowl’s website: Just a team of people who love food, like really love food – we have a slight obsession. We love to eat. We love food. We love Seattle. We love people who love food and eating. Most importantly, there’s no better feeling than seeing people enjoy and love the food that we’ve made. Our goal is to make Fremont Bowl a spot where people can just quickly stop by and pick up their order, but also be able to meet up with friends, family, or even a casual date. If you have any events coming up, let us know!
Neighborhood/Type: Fremont
Address:4258 Fremont Ave N Ste #4262, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank: Chirashi Bowl 14.95. tuna, chopped fatty tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore, shrimp, fresh water eel, masago with fresh wasabi + yuzu kosho (pepper). Una-Gyu Don 16.95. unagi + sukiyaki beef don. Crispy Tonkatsu Don 11.95 fresh pork loin, Aburi Sake Don-Seared salmon with sea salt with fresh wasabi + yuzu kosho (pepper)
Comments: As mentioned, a local recommended Fremont Bowl for quality poke, the funny thing is that since visiting we have never ordered poke from Fremont Bowl. They have so many other unique dishes that there’s no need to get poke here when you can get poke from a million other poke places in Seattle.
Fremont Bowl is located in a space that was formerly home to Suga, which had some really good curry dishes and Dot’s Delicatessen, which had some really good sandwiches. Unfortunately, those businesses didn’t last, but based on the traffic we’ve seen at Fremont Bowl, I don’t think Fremont Bowl will need to worry about staying in business. The place is packed and meal delivery drivers were coming in so often they should install a turnstile. For every party that came into eat at Fremont Bowl, there were three drivers to pick up meals.
I don’t think any changes were made to the space in it’s former incarnation as Suga. They have the open kitchen, a small high counter near the kitchen and a row of seats/bench along the wall. The place probably seats about 30 people max and it’s a tight squeeze. Getting to your seat without bumping into your neighboring party is a bit tough.
You order at the cash register. There’s a menu on the wall. After ordering you sit down and they’ll bring out your meal to you.
Due to how packed Fremont Bowl typically is, we order take out most of the time, but there are some advantages to eating there. There’s one dish the Aburi Sake Don that they only serve when you eat there. It’s a seared salmon with sea salt and yuzu kasha, which is made from citrus, chile pepper and salt. The pieces of salmon literally melt in your mouth and the citrus and salt a perfect compliments to the fish and rice.
seared salmon with sea salt with fresh wasabi + yuzu kosho (pepper)
seared salmon with sea salt with fresh wasabi + yuzu kosho (pepper) Score: (4.75/5.00)
Another advantage of eating in is that you get to enjoy their house made soy sauce(Dashi Jouyu). You can also ask for additional rice and sauce if you need more. Observing the workers while waiting for our dishes, you can tell they are a well oiled machine when it comes to making the dishes, preparing the trays for delivery to the tables and prepping for delivery orders.
One lone disadvantage of eating in is that you cannot take home any left over raw fish due to Health Dept restrictions, so you’d better finish your raw fish.
The cashier advised the Chirashi Bowl is their most popular and it’s easy to understand when seeing the dish. The different cuts of fish make for a colorful presentation that makes it one of the most photogenic dishes in Seattle. What separates chirashi from poke is that poke marinated in sauce with a bunch of different toppings. This can mask the quality of fish as well as the quantity of fish. Chirashi is just pure raw fish, so the fish quality and quantity is apparent.
Here are some of the other dishes we’ve tried at Fremont Bowl.
Although their other dishes are very good, The Chirashi Bowl and Aburi Sake Bowl are definitely our choices here.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4,50
Service: 4.75
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.65
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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Venture Coffee
Description on Venture Coffee’s website: After taking over a small coffee shop called Java Bean in 2016, Maria Beck spent years honing her vision for the perfect neighborhood cafe that would bring together the unique personality of the Pacific Northwest and her culture of Danish Hygge. With the innovative mind of an engineer, a body supported by a dedicated team, and a soul driven by a passion for people, Venture Coffee Company was finally born in 2019.
Neighborhood: Ballard
Address:5819 24th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
Music Playing: Put A Light On – The Generationals
What we ate/drank: Cortado, Hot Mamas breakfast sandwich on a jalapeño cheddar bagel.
Comments: The last time we visited this location it was called, Java Bean. We had a friend in town who was staying at an Airbnb close by. She asked to meet up and catch up at Cafe Besalu, but it was closed, so she saw and suggested a cafe next door that was open, Java Bean.
It was the one and only time we went to Java Bean. My recollection was that it was dark and felt dated-massive chalkboard menu, refrigerator display case, a huge hand painted mural of Mt Rainier(?), carpeted floors. It also had some quirky details like a stove in the middle of the space that was on a stone platform, a greeting card stand and the type of sofa you might find in your great grandma’s house. Let’s just say, you knew it had a very eccentric owner.
I can’t recall how Venture Coffee was brought to our attention, but it took awhile to put 2 and 2 together and figured out it was the old Java Bean location.
The transformation feels like the previous owner was a older person who liked the way Java Bean looked and didn’t care what anybody thought. That’s how they liked it and if people didn’t like a stove in the middle of the space and blue carpet, tough, they can go somewhere else. It feels at some point, the previous owner said, “I had enough with this business! I’m turning Java Bean over to my hip granddaughter.” And the new owner made some minor tweaks and made into a totally transformed space.
Venture Coffee is now bright and airy. Natural wood counter/tables. Garage style doors that open during warmer weather. No more carpet. The antlers on the wall stayed from Java Bean, but it feels like it fits in with the framed photos of elk(their logo) and wilderness. I believe the brown leather couch is also something from Java Bean, but it fits in with the rest of the decor. There are nice touches such as the ice tub full of bottle and canned drinks instead of the normal fridge, the old fashioned water jug, antlers, the steel orb hanging lights. Just the right amount of plants /succulents.
The place probably fits about 35 people inside but some areas are pretty tight. There are also a few outdoor seats in front and on the side.
They appear to have their own beans. They have a small amount of pastries and breakfast sandwiches. I had the Cortado along with a Hot Mama sandwich which had bacon, cheese, spinach, egg and Mama Lil’s peppers. And you know I’m a sucker for Mama Lil’s-I’ve mentioned it as an ingredient in my blog posts-Toulouse Petit, Porkchop & Co., Il Corvo – Best Pasta in Seattle, Morsel vs Biscuit & Bean – The Battle of Seattle’s Best Biscuit Sandwich. You have the choice of getting this on brioche or bagel. I chose a jalapeño cheddar bagel.
Venture Coffee definitely has that neighborhood hangout vibe. While we were there, it seems most of the patrons are regulars and on a first name basis with the workers. There were people reading on their kindles, people reading newspapers, two people having business meeting and two fellows conversing in sign language. The word that comes to mind is comfort. Reminds me a lot of Lighthouse Roasters , Preserve and Gather and Cloud City Coffee in that respect
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The Hot Mama sandwich
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.75
Eavedropping Convo:Two guys talking. One was complaining about his wife/girlfriend(?)
It’s ridiculous she doesn’t want to put food in microwave because she thinks it kills nutrients. Seriously when it’s 3:00 in the morning who cares about nutrients being zapped from god damned frozen French fries! I told her, “I’m drunk! I’m starving! I want fucking fries right the fuck now!
Related:
- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Seattle Coffee Shops
- Best Seattle Coffee Shops For Each Stage of Dating
- Part 4 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops to Impress Visitors, Impress Visiting Coffee Snobs, Make Visitors Feel Like Locals.
- Part 5 – Best Seattle Coffee Shops for Food Options, Friendliest Service
Brother Joe – Georgetown
Recommended by: Nobody. We mentioned our tradition of stopping by in Georgetown whenever we have a trip out of the Seatac Airport in our Square Knot Diner post. We thought we’d try Brother Joe down the street as a change of pace.
Description on Lighthouse Roaster’s website : One of Seattle’s original roaster cafes, Lighthouse has spent more than twenty years creating a loyal following of coffee lovers by treating the coffee buying, roasting and drink-making as a noble call
Description on Brother Joe’s website : What we do. Truly Great Coffee and Teas, Weekday Breakfast and Lunch, Weekend Brunch.
Address:5629 Airport Way S, Seattle, WA 98108
What we ate/drank: CHILE VERDE Hatch chile and tomato braised pork over cornbread with a fried egg, cotija cheese, crema, and cilantro. $13, KALUA PORK ‘LOCO MOCO’ Braised pork with bacon, jasmine rice, miso slaw, sunny side up egg, and aloha gravy. Herkimer – Oh Miso Coffee, Mocha
Comments: We mentioned our tradition of stopping by in Georgetown whenever we have a trip out of the Seatac Airport in our Square Knot Diner post. This time around we made a detour to another Georgetown establishment. We went to Brother Joe for the first time, which is right down the street. Upon entering it appears to be a coffee-centric café with its huge visual infographic coffee menu(We’ll get back to this a little later), but they actually have a kitchen and have a pretty big selection of breakfast dishes, sandwiches, wraps and salads.
You order your drinks and food at the counter, take a seat and they’ll bring it out to you. The counter area has an old weathered vintage – vintage fridge, weathered wall, exposed bricks. There’s a pretty big dining area that serves close to maybe 30+ people. This area has a rhino theme with huge gold rhino trophy head, rhino painting and book ends. The rest of the wall space is filled with different animal portraits dressed in human clothes. Our two year old daughter was both amused and confused to see a cat in a cowboy outfit.
We ended up sitting in their little “living room” section, which basically looks like a mid century modern sitting area with a leather couch, coffee table, shelves, a floor lamp, seating nooks in the window and a couple of chairs. My understanding that this is normally used as a waiting area on the weekends when it gets crowded, but we ended up going on a Friday morning, so they told us it was fine sitting there.
The coffee used here is Herkimer Coffee and as mentioned above there’s a huge visual menu of their coffee drinks, which is definitely needed due to some of the one of a kind specialty drinks, such as:
- You Know Chata? -Cold brew with rice, vanilla and cinnamon
- Black Rhino – Espresso affogato with a cardamom and chocolate fudge ice cream
- Holy Mole Mocha – Espresso with Mexican chocolate, chiles, orange zest
- Oh, Miso Honey – Espresso with orange blossom honey-miso caramel
- Off-White Velour – Espresso with salted caramel, white chocolate
- Egg Coffee – Drip coffee with egg yolk and condensed milk
My wife got a regular mocha, but I tried the Oh, Miso Honey. To be honest, I was expecting a little more flavor, but it was fine. We also ordered food and this is where we were pleasantly surprised.
Unfairly, we had low expectations since our mindset was a coffee shop that happens to serve food as an afterthought, but the meals stand on their own. All sauces and syrups are made in house. We had the Chile Verde and the Kalua Pork Loco Moco. As mentioned in our Watson’s Counter post, we’ve had a lot of Loco Mocos in Seattle and although not as good as Watson’s Counter’s, it was just a small notch below, but still very delicious. Brother Joe’s take on the dish uses braised pork instead of a beef patty, but we really liked their variation it. The addition of the miso slaw and bacon along with the standard Loco Moco ingredients of a sunny side up egg, rice and gravy gives it a one of a kind twist.
KALUA PORK ‘LOCO MOCO’ Braised pork with bacon, jasmine rice, miso slaw, sunny side up egg, and aloha gravy. Score: (4.75/ 5.0)
The Chile Verde was a closer to a traditional dish, but delicious none the less. The menu says the pork is over cornbread, but ours came with fried potatoes, which to be honest we prefer. To have tortilla and cornbread seems a bit redundant. Glad they gave us potatoes instead.
Square Knot Diner has been our defacto Georgetown breakfast destination ever since Carmela at Roxy’s Diner suggested it, but after visiting Brother Joe, it’s given us options now. We will for sure be back after our enjoyable experience here.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 5.00
Service: 4.75
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.75
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: We met a young lady outside who had a dog. She was waiting for her coffee to be made. Our daughter wanted to see her dog. We told her it was our first time at Brother Joe and if she could recommend any of her other favorite places to eat. She suggested The Hangar Café a few blocks away.
Related:
Cafe Javasti
Description on Cafe Javasti’s website: We strongly believe in the power of community, an amazing cup of coffee and a delicious bite. Café Javasti was founded with the purpose to bring these three things together. Since 2001, we have been committed to serving high-quality coffee; pastries and savory items made from scratch daily; and a wide selection of made-to-order crepes with fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Neighborhood: Wedgewood ,Maple Leaf
Address: 8617 35th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: Doppio Espresso, White Mocha, #7 Crepe-Cooked apple, cinnamon, sugar and whipped cream, #11 Crepe-Chicken, pesto, mozzarella, tomato
Comments: Café Javasti is a no frills, solid, neighborhood cafe. When we think of Cafe Javasti we think of crepes. And not only do they serve sweet crepes, which you might expect in a coffee shop, but also savory as well. On our recent trip this past Easter we had one of each. We had the sweet #7 – Cooked apple, cinnamon, sugar and whipped cream. As you can see from the pics below, they are not chintzy with the amount of apples in the crepe.
We also had the savory #11 – Chicken, pesto, mozzarella, tomato, which was also a hearty portion.
We noticed that it appears Café Javasti’s website hasn’t been updated in awhile. Under their News section, the last entry was from June 2015, which probably means that if you are looking at their menu for pricing prior to visiting Café Javasti, it’s probably not current. They also have pastries that I believe are made in house at their bakery, Little Kitchen.
One other thing we noticed were the lack of certain coffee drinks that are pretty common for most Seattle coffee shops. They have espresso, Americano, lattes, mochas. My wife got the white mocha, so no issues there. I’ve kind of morphed from a pure espresso or Americano drinker to a Cortado/Macchiato/Gibraltar/Flat White drinker, but they don’t appear to serve these smaller drinks that are commonplace in Seattle. At least it’s not on their menu, so I’m assuming they don’t.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: Savory and sweet crepes
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.00
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.25
Eavedropping Convo:Two 40ish yr old women talking.
Woman 1(W1) – Did you here about Ryan?
Woman 2(W2) – Oh my God! Don’t tell me. He got dumped?
W1 – Mm hmm. Like yesterday’s trash.
W2 – Not again?! How long did this one last?
W1 – Six or seven months. He has the worst luck. He can’t hold on to them. He falls so hard for them too. He’s destroyed over it.
W2 – You know the reason…. He’s too nice. Women want to be challenged. They don’t want somebody to walk all over, buy them gifts and say, “Yes, Dear” all the time. We all want somebody who’s nice, but he’s too nice and women get bored. I’ve told him this a billion times, but he just ain’t got it in him to be a little bit of a bad boy. It ain’t in his nature.
W1 –You know what they say. Nice guys finish last. And it’s the damn truth. You should give him a call to cheer him up. He needs it.
Related:
Revel – Our Favorite Seattle Restaurant
Recommended by: Nobody. After visiting Trove recently we decided to revisit our favorite in the Relay Restaurant Group.
Description on the Revel’s website: Revel—a lively, casual space filled with bright art and music—has been attracting crowds with its menu of street food-style comfort food including dumplings, savory pancakes, noodles, and rice bowls, since 2010. Now located in South Lake Union, Revel features unique lunch, happy hour, and dinner specials to cater to our new neighborhood. Stay tuned for more information and updates regarding our move back to Fremont in Fall 2019 for the opening of Revel 2.0!
Neighborhood/Type: Currently: South Lake Union. Soon: Fremont
Address:513 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109
What we ate/drank: Albacore tuna, fennel kimchi, escarole $17, Caesar Pancake – White anchovy, spinach and bonito flakes, Lemongrass beef, cilantro noodle, yu choy, pickled tomato $18, Kalbi Beef Dumplings w/pickled shallot, scallion
Comments: Update 9/22/19: Revel just made Seattle Met’s 100 Best Restaurant
Revel is part of the Relay Restaurant Group created by Chef couple, Rachel Yang and Seif Chirichi. In addition to Revel, Relay Restaurant Group includes Joule right down the street and Trove in Capitol Hill . They also have a restaurant in Portland. Rachel Yang and Seif Chirichi actually appeared on Iron Chef on the Food Network, so that should tell you something about their popularity and skill.
Revel is currently in their temporary space in South Lake Union, but will be moving back to their original location in Fremont later this year once construction is completed. Although in their temporary space, two things remained from the old location. The huge pop art of Randy “Macho Man” Savage and an open kitchen where you can get a seat at the chef counter, so you can watch the chefs do their thing. Since you get to see them prep all the dishes if you sit here, it gives you an opportunity to see what dishes look interesting and what to order.
The thing we love about Revel is that they have a very simple concentrated menu, but it’s always changing menu so on each visit there are new dishes to try. They have four house made sauces you can add to your dishes- a soy sauce, a spicy fish sauce, miso sauce and sweet chile sauce.
Here are just a few of the dishes we’ve had on our visits
No matter how many times we come to Revel or how many dishes we order, we are never disappointed. This isn’t the cheapest place, but we don’t feel the prices are out of whack for the quality of food received. As we were writing this, I’m just reminded of the occasions in which we visited Revel-Dinner with visiting friends from out of town, it was the last meal we had prior to the birth of our first born, we just went here for our anniversary. So you could say Revel holds a special place in our hearts, but not only is it about the memories and occasions, but more importantly the food. Oh my god, the food!
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 5.00
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 5.00
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.85
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!
Related Articles:
- Our Top 15 Best Seattle Dishes of 2018 (Part 1)
- Our Top 15 Best Seattle Dishes of 2018 (Part 2)
- Kokkaku
- D’La Santa
- Kamonegi – Best Soba in Seattle