****NOTE: This review was done prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course, things are much different at the moment, but we hope things will get back to normal soon and hope you will continue to support these local businesses****
Dumpling The Noodle
Recommended by: A friend told us about a new place that just opened up similar to Xian Noodles. We thought we’d check it out for ourselves.
Description on the Dumpling The Noodle’s Facebook page: Hand-pulled Noodle(Lamen), Rice Noodle, Dumplings, Buns, Wontons, and Bubble Tea! Hand-made always tastes the best!
Neighborhood/Type: Wallingford
Address:1719 n 45th st. Seattle, Washington 98103
What we ate/drank: See below-various
Comments: First off, what a strange name – Dumpling the Noodle? One thing is for sure, we’ll never forget the name. Dumpling the Noodle is in the former Wallybuger location.
We’ve actually done take-out and eaten in. There’s nothing special about the seating arrangement, but the decor is quite unexpected with the large pictures and descriptions.
On to the food. One thing we really appreciated was that the dumplings are available in orders of 6 or 12, which makes it easier to come here with just one or two people and still be able to try a few different dishes without getting totally stuffed.
We tried different types of dumplings and in our opinion it’s a step below Little Ting’s or Dough Zone. The wontons and bao buns are a good quality for not having to go all the way to the ID. Our favorite dish by far was the Braised Beef Lamen in Chile. The noodles were imperfect, which means they’re hand made. It’s the prefect combo of beef, bean sprouts, cilantro and noodles. This might give Xian Noodles a run for their money. We also enjoyed the Seasoned Fried Chicken Bites, which is a perfect dish with beer. Our daughters’ favorite was the JaJang Beef Pancake Roll.
It’s a good dumpling/noodles/wonton/bao option if you live in Wallingford. Another nice thing is that they offer delivery for 99 cents depending on a minimum order and their delivery diameter is pretty big. Yes, you read that right, 99 cents! We’ve added Dumpling the Noodle to our rotation of Chinese take out restaurants along with Xian Noodles and Chiang’s Gourmet.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: 4.50
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.25
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 realized upon writing this blog post that we have not done a review of one of our favorites, Chiang’s Gourmet. We’ll be doing a post on this tried and true spot next.
Related Articles:
****NOTE: This review was done prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course, things are much different at the moment, but we hope things will get back to normal soon and hope you will continue to support these local businesses****
Salare
Recommended by: We’ve been to Edouardo Jordan’s(Two time James Beard Award winner) Junebaby and Lucinda Grain Bar.
Salare is his first restaurant and will complete our trifecta of visiting all 3 of his restaurants.
Description on the Salare’s website: Salare is a chef-driven neighborhood restaurant, nestled in the heart of Ravenna in North Seattle. We capture America’s diverse culture of food with influences from America’s South, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean Islands.
Neighborhood/Type: Ravenna
Address: 2404 NE 65th St, Seattle, WA 98115
What we ate/drank: See Below. We ordered a lot!
Comments: From Salare’s website:
salare, v. to season; to salt; to preserve
The name Salare draws its origin from the Latin word sal which means “salt” and the term “salare” which is the act of using salt to season, preserve, or cure. The term “salare” was introduced to Chef Jordan while spending time in Italy studying the art of salumi making. Chef Jordan’s philosophy is rooted in his passion for cooking traditions, primal techniques, and ancient methods for preserving foods; the name Salare embraces this philosophy.
Salare was opened in 2015 and since it’s opening has garnered rave reviews and awards. The one thing that has always stood out to us about Salare is their family-friendly stance that includes a children’s menu.
It happened to be one of the last restaurant we visited prior to the quarantine at home back in early March due to Covid 19. So glad we were able to squeeze this Saturday evening visit in.
Nothing about the decor stands out and the space is dimly lit giving it a romantic vibe.
Here are the dishes the two of us ordered. Our server was skeptical we could finish and hinted about getting some to-go boxes prepared for leftovers. We knew our eyes were too big for our stomach, but there were so many dishes that looked so good we couldn’t help ourselves.
All the dishes, as expected, were superb. The Octopus Guanciale was a bit of on the salty side, but flavors were there. If a little less salty, this would have been our favorite dish. Our favorite dish was the Squid Ink Trompetti with clams, mussels and sausage. It was just the perfect amount of spicy. The Cavatelli with bacon and parmasean was another winner. The pasta is so unique and the lamb bacon, name somewhere else you can find that? And if you’ve read any of our other reviews, we are suckers for beet tartare and order it wherever we go. Two words- sooooooo good.
Sunchoke Chips, Capers & Smoked Egg Vinaigrette (Score: 5.0/5.0)
We did it. The two of us finished every single dish, so no boxes for left overs needed. Our server was impressed doubting we could do it, but the food was that good. Salare definitely feels like the type of restaurant for special occasions due to the price point. We can’t wait to go back. This could easily be one of our top 5 favorite restaurants in Seattle. There were so many dishes that are surely in contention for the best dishes of 2020.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 5.00
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:
Related Articles:
****NOTE: This review was done prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course, things are much different at the moment, but we hope things will get back to normal soon and hope you will continue to support these local businesses****
Lucinda Grain Bar
Recommended by: We are huge fans of both Edouardo Jordan’s Junebaby and Salare. We had reservations at Salare, so we decided to arrive a little early for a cocktail at his Lucinda Grain Bar.
Description on the Lucinda Grain Bar’s website: Lucinda Grain Bar is a 25-seat Bar and Cafe located in the heart of Ravenna. Lucinda is a place for people to relax, gather with old friends, meet new friends, and explore the wonderful world of grains through food and drinks.
Neighborhood/Type: Ravenna
Address: 2120 NE 65th St, Seattle, WA 98115
Music playing: Let it Whip- Dazz Band, Got To Give It Up – Marvin Gaye
What we ate/drank: Barley Old Fashioned-Bourbon, Barley Syrup, Cardamom 13, Long Grain Iced Tea – Moonshine, Calvados, Gin, Grain Tea 14, Rhubarb Daquri – Rum, Rhubarb, Lime – 14
Comments: When you think about the best cocktail bars in Seattle, you think about Capitol Hill, Ballard or Downtown. These are the usual suspects, but Ravenna?!? Ravenna is a neighborhood made up mostly of families and former yuppies who have decided to settle down in a nice quiet area relatively close to downtown.
In a way, the location is not surprising because Lucinda Grain Bar is part of Edouardo Jordan’s(Two time James Beard Award winner!) growing empire and located right next to his renowned restaurant, Junebaby and down the street from his equally renowned, Salare. Still, I think it’s pretty brave to open a cocktail bar in Ravenna. We were thinking about it. The closest cocktail-centric bar might be The Backdoor all the way in Fremont. We’re not complaining since we live close by and now have an option for quality cocktails.
Unlike many of the swanky cocktail bars around Seattle, Lucinda Grain Bar has a casual inviting atmosphere. It’s an intimate place with about 20 seats, a few seats at the bar, and L-shaped counter along the window and wall and a few tables.
We didn’t order food since we were having dinner at Salare, but both their food and drinks are grain inspired and Edouardo’s great grandmother’s name was Lucinda thus the name, Lucinda Grain Bar. We’re sure the food is great, but when you have Salare and Junebaby in such close proximity, it’s hard to envision ever eating here.
The drinks as expected were top notch and again a quality cocktail you could not find anywhere in at least a 3 mile radius.
Moonshine, Calvados, Gin, Grain Tea
14, Rhubarb Daquri – Rum, Rhubarb, Lime – 14
We love the idea of having a quality cocktail bar so close to where we live without having to make a trip out to Capitol Hill. It’s the perfect spot for entertaining out of town guests without having to go very far and a place for a night cap after a night out on the town. It’s has a neighborhood intimate feel, but with top notch bartenders and liquors.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.75
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
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’ve posted about Junebaby and now Lucinda Grain Bar. We’ll next visit Edouardo Jordan’s Salare.
Related Articles:
*****NOTE: This review was done prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course, things are much different at the moment, but we hope things will get back to normal soon and hope you will continue to support these local businesses****
Koa
Recommended by: We were having friends over for a visit and craving Hawaiian food. Since we were going to the University Farmer’s Market, we decided to head over to nearby Koa for take out.
Description on the Koa’s website: Hawaiian Food. Coffee + Food
Neighborhood/Type: University District
Address: 4754 The Ave, Seattle, WA 98105
What we ate/drank: Japanese-style curry (beef or veggies) with rice, kahlua pork and cabbage with rice, or Portuguese sausage & eggs with rice
Comments: We’re big fans of Hawaiian grub. It’s the ultimate comfort food for us. Seattle has a wide variety of Hawaiian food places from the upper scale, Ma’ono and Super Six, to the more relaxed casual places like Kona Kitchen and Kauai Family Restaurant. Koa is even more “relaxed” and “casual”. It’s located on The Ave. That’s all you need to know.
Koa is actually in the old location of Morsel, which moved down the street to a brand new building. And the owner of Koa also happens to be the owner of Morsel, but that’s where the similarities end. The menus could not be more different. Where Morsel specializes in fancy biscuit sandwiches, Koa specializes in just three Hawaiian dishes.
- Japanese Style Curry
- Portuguese Sausage & Eggs
- Kahlua Pork
That’s it! When you only have three dishes, you can run lean and mean with the number of ingredients needed and you can really concentrate on those three. Although they only have three dishes and it’s easy to try each one on it’s own, Koa allows you to split dishes. For example you can order half a plate of curry and half a plate of Kahlua Pork.
The Portuguese sausage and eggs is pretty basic. Can’t really screw that up. But still it’s nice to have a place to get it when you have a craving.
Kahlua Pork is also a simple dish, but it’s gotta be seasoned correctly. Koa’s has the perfect amount of salt and smoke and is tender and juicy. It’s topped on top a bed of shredded cabbage and rice.
Japanese style beef curry are normally thicker and a little sweeter than say Thai or Indian curries. Koa’s curry is indeed thick with beef and huge chunks of potato and carrot. This is the perfect dish for those cold PNW days.
When we first discovered Koa in the beginning of 2019, their prices were lower as you can see in the table below:
We really don’t have an issue with the higher prices for one reason. Let’s talk about the portions. Take a look at the photos. On this particular visit we bought three large portions and split it amongst 4 hungry adults and 2 kids. We didn’t even make a dent. We had left overs for a few more nights. When you look at the portion size even with the price increase, it’s still a screaming deal.
Koa fits the bill for when our family has a hankering for Hawaiian food. They have 3 simple dishes that they do well, huge portions, quick service and guaranteed leftovers.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: 4.25
Bang for the Buck: 4.75
Overall: 4.40
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:
Related Articles:
****NOTE: This review was done prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course, things are much different at the moment, but we hope things will get back to normal soon and hope you will continue to support these local businesses****
Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery
Recommended by: We stopped in for coffee at Caffe Fiore, which only has pastries. We asked if they could recommend a place close by that served heartier breakfasts. There were three people working there and they kinda gawked at each other and had no answer. A customer overhead our conversation and piped up, “There’s a cafe across the street that has really good breakfast sandwiches. I think it’s called Alison’s”.
Description on the Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery’s website: To provide high quality scratch baked goods, coffee and eats for the people of Seattle. At the same time serving the community of Ballard and mentoring teens as employees and leaders in their schools and communities. We don’t serve seafood…we just LOVE the Coast and it makes us feel at home. So our space is your space and we want you to feel at home!
Neighborhood/Type: Ballard
Address: 5404 Leary Ave NW Seattle WA 98107
What we ate/drank: Bacon Waffle Sandwich – Buttermilk bacon waffle, stacked with avocado, fried egg, cheddar and spinach, Cinnamon Roll, Famous Sandwich – House biscuit, egg, spinach, cheddar,, sausage, B.E.C.A. – Bacon, Egg, Cheddar, Avocado on house bread.
The owner of Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery started out as a caterer prior to opening a brick and mortar in the Summer of 2014. They are open everyday for breakfast, which makes them a rare option in Seattle on weekdays. They have normal sandwiches that they start serving at 11:00, home made bakery items(scones, cookies, banana bread, cinnamon rolls) and take-home items like quinoa salad, lasagna, fruit salad, burritos. But we believe their real specialty is their breakfast options, specifically their breakfast sandwiches.
Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery is made up of a small outdoor seating area and an assorted mixture of tables and chairs inside. There’s definitely a beach/ocean vibe with octopus and starfish prints with walls painted sea foam blue. A print out on the wall says the Oregon coast is the inspiration. Pictures and information about the staff is a nice touch, especially if you’re a regular.
The mish mosh of furniture and themed décor definitely creates a very laid back and comfort feel to the café. The kids nook in the corner was definitely an area we appreciated when we brought our 9 month and 2.5 year old with us. There’s also an impressive collection of cake photos which I assume is from the catering side of the owner. If so, it’s quite remarkable.
Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery serve their breakfast dishes all day long and everything is made in house, which is pretty impressive because there’s a wide variety of options-baked goods, prepped to go meals and to order meals. They use Lighthouse Roasters for their coffee.
We’ve been to Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery a few times and each time it appears there’s been some training going on. I’m not sure if this lead to orders taking a bit longer, but our orders did take a tad longer to make than expected during our multiple visits. This is definitely where the kid’s nook and ordering a cinnamon roll to start definitely helped.
Everything we ordered was delicious including the cinnamon roll, but the best by far was the Bacon Waffle Sandwich. Instead of using regular bread or a biscuit, waffles are used. The buttermilk waffles are fluffy and airy with bits of bacon in it and it’s such a unique presentation that we’ve not seen anywhere else. It includes avocado, fried egg, cheddar and spinach.
Buttermilk bacon waffle, stacked with avocado, fried egg, cheddar and spinach
The Famous Sandwich, which is a house biscuit with egg, spinach, cheddar and a choice of meat, in this case sausage, is sufficiently good. But when compared to Morsel and Biscuit and Bean, who both have very similar biscuit sandwiches at slightly lower prices, it’s hard to not place this sandwich a distance 3rd.
The B.E.C.A. sandwich is made up of bacon, egg, cheddar and avocado on house bread. How can you go wrong with runny egg yolk mixed with cheese, bacon and avocado in between toasted house made bread? This hit the spot.
Summary: Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery is a nice comfortable café. Due to its size it’s probably not a good option for larger groups, but definitely a good option for take out. We saw many food delivery drivers come in to pick up meals while we were there. The breakfast options we’ve tried are very good, but a bit on the expensive side for what you get. It’s an ideal spot for early risers in Ballard who want more than just a pastry with their coffee. A quick search shows that Alison’s Coastal Cafe & Bakery is the only breakfast option at 7:30 on weekdays in downtown Ballard area south of NW Market Street. We will be back and we’ve got our eye on the Cinnamon Roll French Toast.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 4.25
Food/Drinks: 4.50
Bang for the Buck: 4.25
Overall: 4.25
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: