Secret Congee
Recommended by: On one of our trips to pick up from Dumpling The Noodle, we noticed around the corner a group of people standing out in the rain. We assumed that if people were willing to stand out in the rain for something it must be good. We did some research and figured out people were getting congee.
Description on the Secret Congee’s website: Secret Congee is a congee specialist shop located in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. Our congee is authentically influenced by the South East Asia style of cooking.
Neighborhood/Type: Wallingford
Address: 4405 Wallingford Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank: Garlic Blue Crab Congee – 3 ounces of blue crab lump meat. Fried garlic. Jasmine rice cooked in chicken bone broth. Chopped ginger and scallion. Pepper. Soy sauce -$16. Tom Yum Shrimp Congee – Colossal shrimps. Fried garlic. Jasmine rice cooked in chicken bone broth. Chopped cilantro and scallion. Pepper. Tom Yum sauce -$14.00. Slow-Cooked Beef & Kimchi Congee – Slow-cooked prime brisket. Jasmine rice cooked in chicken bone broth. Young’s Kimchi. Chopped scallion. Pepper. Sesame oil -$14.00
Comments: I give credit to any restaurant that decides to open during the pandemic. Secret Congee, which opened in October, is actually located in Juisala, which is a vegan smoothie and juice bar. It’s located right off the busy corner of N 45th St & Wallingford Ave and is a take-out only operation.
Congee is a thick rice porridge that’s found throughout Asia. It’s Asia’s version of what chicken soup is to Americans. It’s a meal often given when people are ill. The rice porridge is often served with different types of toppings depending on what country your in. And as far as I know Secret Congee is the only place in Seattle that really focuses on congee as the main dish.
Before diving into each individual dish, what we enjoyed most about the congee, is that the flavor is not reliant on the toppings. The toppings add to it. If you eat the congee all on it’s own without the toppings, it’s still a very flavorful dish, but the toppings definitely take it to another level. Even though it’s take-out, the presentation is still very good and the congee was delivered piping hot.
It also mentions on Secret Congee’s website that “in an effort to help with sustainability, we use organic meats and sustainable seafood in all of our congee choices.” if that matters to you.
My favorite is the Beef & Kimchi Congee. The beef is perfectly seasoned and paired with the kimchi and congee provides the perfect “slurp”. Savory, a bit spicy and warm.
Slow-cooked prime brisket. Jasmine rice cooked in chicken bone broth. Young’s Kimchi. Chopped scallion. Pepper. Sesame oil. $14
My wife’s favorite is the Tom Yum Shrimp Congee. We weren’t sure what to expect mixing Tom Yum’s sourness with congee, but it really works. What we really loved is the size and quantity of the shrimp . There were 5 huge pieces of jumbo shrimp that we were not expecting.
The Garlic Blue Crab Congee was no slouch either. Like the shrimp, we were shocked by the amount and size of the crab toppings. The fried garlic and ginger were perfect compliments(again) to each other and the congee. A really good combination of flavors.
You can also add in for $1 a soft boiled egg or a century egg. The other side you can get is Youtiao Crispy Fried Dough which is great for dipping in the congee.
We’re not gonna lie, the price is a bit on the high side for the quantity, but trust us, the topping quality and the amount of toppings(especially the crab and shrimp) along with the deliciousness make it worth it in our minds.
Secret Congee is only open from Wednesday – Sunday in between 11AM – 3PM, so if you are ordering for dinner, you’d better plan ahead.
We ordered from Secret Congee right around the time of the February 2021 snow storm in Seattle and this was the perfect cold weather comfort meal to get us warmed up. Quality ingredients and ample amounts of toppings. The other thing about congee as a hot comfort food it keeps better for take-out/delivery better than some of our other comfort foods like pho or ramen.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: N/A Take Out only
Service: 4.50
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.
-
- 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****
La Conasupo Market
Recommended by: In our D’La Santa review we mentioned La Conasupo Market in our list of Mexican restaurants in Seattle.
Description on the La Conasupo Market’s website: They ain’t got one.
Neighborhood/Type: Greenwood
Address: 8532 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
What we ate/drank: Barbacoa Taco, Carnitas Taco, Asada Taco, Carne Asada Quesadilla.
Comments: As we have mentioned before there are three tiers of Mexican restaurants in Seattle.
- The fancy modernish ones like Barrio, Mezcaleria Oaxaca,
Chavez(RIP), Fogon Cocina Mexicana, Poquitos, Pablo Y Pablo - The mid-tier ones like D’La Santa, La Carta de Oaxaca, El Quetzal, Casco Antiguo, El Borracho,
418 Public House(RIP), Senor Moose - The hole-in-the-wall cheaper ones like La Conasupo, Mendoza’s Mercado, Taco Chukis, Gorditos
This is our 200th post on Seattle Unexplored and La Conasupo Market is a fitting review for such a milestone as it’s one of our favorite eateries in all of Seattle and bonafide secret.
Of all the “secrets” on this blog, this is the one I’m most scared about being “discovered”. What makes La Conasupo Market a secret. First it’s located in the back of an unassuming Mexican general store. It doesn’t stand out while your driving down Greenwood Ave, because it’s one of a long line of businesses located in the area.
Parking is hard to come by around here, so the only way you’ll find La Conasupo Market is if somebody tells you about it or if you happen to be walking in the area and accidentally stumble upon it.
As you enter the door it looks like it’s just a normal general store, but if you head all the way back you’ll see a small restaurant with a few tables in the back. We’ve never actually eaten here. We normally do take out and eat at home, but we often take it down the street to Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery and enjoy our meal with brews.
Our favorites are the tacos and the La Conasupo Market tacos actually made Our Top 15 Best Seattle Dishes of 2018 post and came in at #5. Here’s an excerpt from that post:
5. La Conasupo – Carne Asada and Carnitas Tacos
Take a look at these bad boys in the pictures. Each dish pictured below is just two tacos! If you take this home and have some extra tortillas you can easily turn this into 4 or 5 tacos. These are definitely the best tacos when looking at bang for your buck due to the portion size, but these are also the best tasting tacos in Seattle. I defy anybody to name me a better taco in Seattle.
As mentioned in the excerpt above, these tacos are huge. Not only are they huge, but for what you pay, it’s a total bargain. And not only are the portions huge and a bargain, but they are yummy as hell. Ordering just two tacos will have our family of four happily fed and full without breaking the bank.
Quesadillas are another option. Like the tacos, the quesadilla is huge, a bargain and yummy. It’s the perfect dish for sharing. Whenever we meet friends at Flying Bike Coop for beers and bring back a quesadilla from La Conasupo Market, their eyes widen in astonishment how big it is and then they start tearing off pieces of it and stuff it in their mouths.
Truly one of the best kept secrets in Seattle. Whenever we mention La Conasupo Market, most people are aware of it, but have never been there because they think it’s just a general store, not knowing what deliciousness lurks in the back of the store. Us Seattleites also know how badly we are lacking in really good, authentic and reasonably priced Mexican food. Check them out, but don’t spread the word. We want this to remain a secret.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.00
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 5.00
Bang for the Buck: 5.00
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:
Red Arrow Coffee
Description on Red Arrow Coffee’s website: Wander through the garden gates, 7 days a week, from 7 am – 1 pm to our little studio to find us pulling espresso and serving up a cup of joe in a quaint, fast & casual coffee shop.
Neighborhood: Fremont/Ballard
Address: 425 NW Market St, Seattle, WA 98107
What we ate/drank: Macchiato
Comments: One day we were driving down NW Market St and saw a Red Arrow Coffee sign out on the sidewalk next to one of our favorite restaurants, Brimmer and Heeltap. Our interest was piqued. It turns out their outdoor section has been turned into a an outdoor cafe.
If you circle around the back of Brimmer & Heeltap building, what you’ll find is a Secret Garden-type oasis that is unlike any coffee spot in Seattle.
In a brilliant move to pivot and get creative, the owners of Brimmer & Heeltap decided to use their unused outdoor space as a cafe while the restaurant was shut down due to Covid-19. Red Arrow Coffee was opened in July and I’m really hoping they continue this space even when they reopen the restaurant.
The name Red Arrow came from the name of the general store that occupied this building many years ago. You can read more about its history here.
The cafe is located in a garage-style covered area. Coffee is from Caffe Umbria and they’ve also got Chai and Tea. They also have some liqueurs if you’d like to spice up your drinks. Not only does Red Arrow Coffee have a normal selection of house made pastries(also $1.00 pastries. Holla!) like cookies, cake slices, scones and muffins, but also house made ricotta, salad and sandwiches straight out of the Brimmer and Heeltap kitchen.
There’s a few covered tables inside the garage area, but the real attraction is the outdoor area. There’s just so much green as you can see from the pictures and a variety of outdoor sections. There are overhead heaters and a fire pit for the cold mornings. There’s a long table with barstools and there are numerous individual tables with a string of lights overhead. The small running fountain gives it that tranquil feel.
Because it was created on the fly and most of it is located in a garden, Red Arrow Coffee is not outfitted with electrical outlets like many cafes are, so if you plan to work on your laptop or recharge your phone, be warned.
Red Arrow Coffee is by far the most beautiful outdoor space for a coffee shop in Seattle. It’s open everyday from 7am – 1pm. Many of the patrons were taking their drinks to go. I’m assuming they are from around the neighborhood. But if you have the time, order a coffee and some food and enjoy this rare tranquil spot.
Ratings(1-5)
Favorite Thing: The entire patio full of green.
Atmosphere: 5.00
Service: 5.00
Food Options: 4.75
Overall: 4.85
Eavedropping Convo:
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
****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****
Outlaw Tamales
Recommended by: Nobody. A testament to how much of a “secret” this place is. I stumbled upon it visiting Tempesta Coffee (RIP)
Description on the Outlaw Tamale’s website: Steve is an artisan, small batch tamale designer making new and original (as well as traditional) tamales in Seattle. Always handmade. Always small batch. Always made with love and care with the consumer in mind.
Neighborhood/Type: Belltown
Address: 2025 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121 in a Jiffy Lube parking lot.
What we ate/drank: Sausage, Egg & Cheese- $8, Shredded Beef & Cheese(diced green chiles, onion & pepper jack cheese – $9, Salsa Verde Chicken -$8
Comments: Outlaw Tamale is a couple, a cart and a covering in the Jiffy Lube parking lot in downtown Seattle(Belltown to be exact).
There were 10 choices – 2 breakfast, 7 regulars(classics) and 1 special. The special today was Salsa Roja Chicken w/free roasted tomato, but we opted for a breakfast(Sausage, Egg & Cheese- $8) and two classics(Shredded Beef & Cheese w/diced green chiles, onion & pepper jack cheese – $9 , Salsa Verde Chicken -$8).
On this particular day the tamales had pretty traditional fillings, but my understanding is they do experiment with non-traditional fillings like spicy barbecue beef with bacon, Philly cheesesteak and meatball parmesan.
We got the breakfast tamale heated up to eat and took the Shredded Beef and Salsa Verde Chicken refrigerated to eat later. They offered to open up the tamale for us if we were going to eat it on the spot, but we decided to take it back to the office to eat.
While waiting for them to prepare the tamales, I spoke to the owner. I thought this might be a side hustle business, because they are only open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am – 2pm. He advised this was indeed his full time job and that they are only open on these days because he can only make so many tamales in a day.
First things first, the price is higher than normal, but the size of the Outlaw Tamales are probably twice the size of normal tamales. It’s more of a burrito size than a tamale size. Tax is included in the listed price.
Normally, tamales are 80% masa and 20% or less filling. The Outlaw Tamales do have a thick masa, but the filling is just as plentiful. The ratio is perfect in our opinion. The masa is firm, but moist.
Many times a tamale filing can get dry and clumped together, but the Outlaw Tamale filling is nice and gooey, almost like when you cut open a chicken pot pie. They offer small containers for either a green medium verde salsa or a Poblano hot salsa. Both homemade and both delicious.
The fact that these are made in small batches assures quality control for each tamale. This is really a “mom and pop” operation, so in order to survive they really rely on word of mouth for increased business, which means their product better be tasty enough for people to rave about it to co-workers, family and friends. The common sight of “sold out” on their chalkboard proves word is traveling. We love supporting these small businesses.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: N/A. It’s a cart located in a parking lot.
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.50
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!
Servers recommendations to visit in the future:
Related Articles:
Linda’s Tavern – The Last Place Kurt Cobain Was Seen Alive
Recommended by: Nobody. We talked about Viretta Park (aka Kurt Cobain Park)and It’s history with Kurt Cobain. Linda’s Tavern is the last place anybody saw Kurt Cobain alive.
Description on the Linda’s Tavern website: A nice place for nice people.
Neighborhood/Type: Capitol Hill
Address: 707 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122
What we ate/drank: Manny’s, Black Raven Pale, Pfriem Pilsner
Comment: Linda’s Tavern is supposedly the last place that Kurt Cobain was seen alive before he tragically took his life. I’m not sure this is well known about Linda’s Tavern amongst Seattleites. Linda Tavern has been a mainstay in Seattle(est 1994) for such a long time, it’s generally known for it’s low key Western-themed quirkiness.
According to Wikipedia, Linda’s Tavern has made servers Thrillist lists including “Seattle’s 26 best Boozy Brunches”, “The 21 best dive bars in America 2014”, “14 Seattle Bars That Are Open on Christmas Day”, The Best Dive Bars in Seattle” (2016). Those accolades should give you better picture of the type of tavern this is.
If you are interested here’s the booth that Kurt Cobain was last allegedly seen:
We’ve never eaten at Linda’s Tavern, but we’ve definitely done a lot of drinking here over the years. With so many high-end cocktail bars, clubs and craft breweries in Capitol Hill, Linda’s remains one of those rare places that’s laid back. It doesn’t take itself seriously. Just take a look at their “Hippies Use The Side Door” sign, the massive buffalo head above the bar, the Laura Palmer(Twin Peaks) high school photo, the stage coach wagon chandelier , the large print of cow herding.
There’s also some blasts from the past. They have some old school arcade games, their jukebox is full of CDs, not the digital jukeboxes you see in all bars nowadays. You get the feel like Linda’s Tavern is stuck in time-the song playing when we came in was “No Excuses” by Alice in Chains.
Linda’s Tavern has three main sections- the bar area, the elevated seating area where the jukebox and arcade games are and the huge outdoor patio that has it’s own bar. This is definitely a hidden gem during the warmer days and nights.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 4.50
Service: 4.50
Food/Drinks: Not rating. Never eaten and have only had beers.
Overall: 4.50
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:
Watson’s Counter
Recommended by: Nobody. We saw it on the way to Biscuit and Bean a few blocks down the street and decided to try it.
Description on the Watson’s Counter website: We’re native Seattleites who want to provide a space for people to come together and build relationships over some damn good coffee and food. We have a full espresso bar as well as a kitchen focused on classic brunch foods and afternoon bites. We’ve drawn upon our Korean heritage and taste for nostalgic flavors to add a bit of our personality to the offerings.
Neighborhood/Type: Ballard
Address: 6201 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
What we ate/drank: Loco Moco, Chicken & Waffles, 1 + 1 = espresso and 4 oz latte, Anchorhead drip coffee. Update 7/19 below- KBBQ PORK PLATE-Roasted pork belly, rice, assorted kimchis, perilla leaves, tofu, lettuce wraps, Korean peppers, and sauce
A few weeks ago we noticed Watson’s Counter on our way to Biscuit and Bean down the street, so we decided to check it out. We found out they’ve only been open for a little over a month. When first walking in you really wouldn’t know they served food since the first thing you see as you enter is the espresso machine and the coffee/drink board hanging overhead.
Upon entering it reminded us of a mini Mr West Café & Bar -white marble table and counter tops, lots of plants, fancy pendulum lighting , dark wood bench and cabinets, lots of natural lighting, airy. There’s limited seating, a couple of 2 seat tables, a couple of 4 seat tables and a community table for 8. They also have a small counter that’s probably more conducive for standing than sitting. Even with its limited seating, it’s really family friendly. I counted 3 high chairs stacked and they have a changing table in the rest room.
We happen to be there for breakfast and it’s served all day. Watson’s Counter opens at 6:30am and closes at 4:00pm(7:00pm on Fri) on the weeknights, but opens from 8:00am to 7:00pm on Sat and Sun. To start, I ordered the 1 + 1, which is a solo espresso and a 4oz latter. My wife got a drip. Anchorhead is the coffee roaster they use. Can’t go wrong there.
They don’t have a lot of dish choices, but we prefer that a restaurant have fewer plates that they do well, than a restaurant that has a lot of options, but of mediocre quality. Although the menu is small, it’s still varied-Soba Noodles(Japan), Loco Moco(Hawaii), Poutine(Oh, Canada!), Chicken Wings(Korean). The menu definitely has a Korean slant to it.
I got the waffles and chicken. On the menu it’s listed with a honey butter, but the owner advised it comes with an in-house made gochujang option and recommended it, so that’s what I went with. The waffles came with two huge chicken wings and was prepared to perfection-crispy outside, juicy inside. It came with an organic maple syrup, but I thought the waffles tasted best eating it plain in combination with the savory gochujang flavored wings.
CHICKEN & WAFFLES
two of our honey-butter wings on top of our house rosemary Belgian waffle. Served with organic maple syrup and Louisiana hot sauce. gochujang. Score: (4.0/5.0)
My wife got the Loco Moco. I know it’s early in the year, but this dish is a contender to be on our Top Dishes of 2019. We’ve had our fair share of Loco Mocos in Hawaii and around town at Kona Kitchen, Maono, Cheeky Café. This is the best we’ve had. The patty is made with a blend of chuck, short-rib, and pork belly and you have the rice and egg, but the showstopper is the house-made gravy. It’s a thick peppery flavorful smack in the mouth. Mixed with the egg yolk, generous sized patty and topped with sesame seeds and green onions = Broke Da Mouth! As mentioned the dish selection is on the small side, but there are definitely a lot of other interesting dishes we’ll need to try in the future. The K-Poutine, soba noodles and a cereal French toast creation covered in Fruity Pebbles that the gentleman next to us ordered, all look really delicious.
Tips are included so the prices are rightfully a little higher and payment is made at your table-Canadian style. I think I saw a notice/application for a liquor license in their window, so alcohol is likely on the way. We asked about the logo since it’s hard to figure out what type of animal it is. The owner said that it’s his dog wearing a tiger outfit, whose name is Watson, the namesake of the restaurant. We also found out that the owner is the former Director of Education at Caffe Ladro. Quite the pedigree.
For only being open for a short time, it felt like they’d been open for years-attentive service, good suggestions, organized, efficient, spotless.
Prediction Time: Right now this small Watson’s Counter is new and at the moment largely unknown, but trust us this place will soon go the way of other popular Seattle small spots like Fat Hen, Wandering Goose(RIP 2020), Il Corvo(RIP 2020) and have crowds waiting and lines forming when word gets out, so get your ass over there soon!
Update 7/19: Went back for breakfast and got the Loco Moco again and it was as good as we remembered. We also tried a new dish, the KBBQ. You can eat it as just as you see below or you can use the provided lettuce leaves to create a lettuce wrap. As you can see below, there area a ton of ingredients that you can mix and match and come up with your own favorite. One ingredient I’d never seen before was kim chi apples.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 5.00
Service: 5.00
Food/Drinks: 4.75
Bang for the Buck: 4.50
Overall: 4.80
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 Locals recommendations to visit in the future: Back in the spring, a friend of ours mentioned a new Mexican restaurant that opened on 15th Ave NW that served breakfast everyday. He couldn’t recall the name of the place, but on the way to one of our Watson’s Counter visits, we saw Sazon Kitchen and tried it.
Related Articles:
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!
Related Articles:
Green Lake Park Secrets- Murder, Crocodiles, Led Zeppelin, Ted Bundy, WWE, Secret Skatepark Island!
Neighborhood/Type: Green Lake(of course)
Address: 7201 East Greenlake Drive N, Seattle, WA 98115
There’s no doubt that Green Lake Park is thee most popular park in Seattle. So why is this blog post located in the “Seattle Secret Places” category? Well, most locals know Green Lake Park as the park with the perfect lake setting that you can stroll around, run around(perfect 5k), fish in, swim in, paddle on, play basketball or baseball or volleyball at or just hang out. We mentioned Green Lake Park in our Revolutions Coffee and Coffee Shops for Each Stage of Dating posts, but did you know about these little tidbits about Green Lake Park?
- Led Zeppelin and The Grateful Dead had concerts here.
The southern most part of the Green Lake still has the remnants of the grand stand that used to be the Green Lake Aqua Theater. It was built in 1950 and was shut down in 1970, but not before Led Zeppelin played a concert there in May 1969 and the Grateful Dead a few months later in August of 1969. Bob Hope even performed here. When the Aqua Theater was first built it, there were variety shows during the summer, but as we all know during the Fall, Winter and Spring, outdoor entertainment is not feasible due to the Seattle weather and so the use of the theater quickly subsided. It just blows my mind that you could have seen a Led Zeppelin concert at Green Lake Park!!
Or Caimans to be exact. In 1986, people reported seeing red eyes in Green Lake at night, which led to people not going into the lake that summer. Was this a hoax? How could caimans be in the lake? How would they have gotten there? This was no a hoax. On June 2, 1986, the Game Department found two 2.5 foot caimans on the shore of the lake. Both needed emergency care and were starving to death. It was believed they were in the lake for a couple of weeks and abandoned by a previous owner. Both were taken to Woodland Park Zoo, where one of the caimans ended up eating some smelt and mice, while the other was too weak to eat and died. It’s believed there was a third caiman that died in the lake due to the cold.
- Ted Bundy Saves a Life at Green Lake.
Yes, that Ted Bundy. Serial Killer Ted Bundy allegedly saved the life of a three year old when the boy snuck away from his parents and fell into the lake in 1970. Apparently, he was the first person to spot the child struggling in the lake and dived in to save him. I don’t know if there is any record of him picking up any of his murder victims at Green Lake Park, but a few of the scenes from this movie depicting Ted Bundy, played by Mark Harmon, sure does look a lot like Green Lake.
- The Secret Duck Island Skateboard Park
Duck Island is a little man-made island that was created in the 30’s that was intended to be a swan sanctuary, but due to an improper breeding habitat it never materialized. Although not formally an official nature reserve, it is considered off limits to people for safety reasons. But in July of 2017, Green Lake Park walkers started hearing strange sounds coming from the island.
When the Parks Department went out to investigate, they found a unauthorized concrete skate park. A local skateboard shop apparently built the park as part of a Nike contest to build or expand an existing skateboard park. The police were called and in November of 2017 a lawsuit was filed against 20 people who were documented on video as taking part in the building of the skateboard park as part of the video entry to the Nike contest. The lawsuit was due to the damages and clean up that was needed on Duck Island. In February of 2018, the City of Seattle settled the lawsuit against the local skateboard shop in the amount of $30,000.
Although this was illegal, you have to be impressed with the ingenuity to build this skate bowl stealthily and having to transport all the supplies over water.
Here are a couple of videos 1 and 2 showing the skateboard bowl on Duck Island
- WWE Hall of Famer Gorgeous George Wrestles at Green Lake
Besides Led Zeppelin there appears to have been pro wrestling at the Green Lake Aqua Theater with the ring surrounded by water. Check out this video from WWE’s library of Gorgeous George wrestling Leo Garibaldi(Masked Marvel) where the wrestlers actually fall into Green Lake!
- Ice Skating on a Frozen Solid Green Lake
There have been 4 times in the last 101 years that Green Lake has been completely frozen. One of those times was in 2017, but the ice wasn’t thick enough for anybody to safely walk on it. Not like 1930 when people drove their cars on to Green Lake or in 1916 when people were able to ice skate on it. As a long time resident who has lived close to Green Lake my entire time in Seattle, this just blows my mind and would be so cool if one day we were able to ice skate on Green Lake.
Freeze of 1916
Source: Pauldorpat.com
Source: Pauldorpat.com
- Gaines Point-Murder at Greenlake
On the northern part of the lake right smack dab in the middle between the Greenlake boathouse and the Greenlake Wading Pool is a section called, “Gaines Point”. In 1926, two men found a 22 year old woman’s body with a nearby bloody rock that appeared to be the murder weapon. The woman, Sylvia Gaines, had just recently moved from Massachusetts to be with her father and stepmother near Greenlake. You can read about the detailed events that lead up to the murder here, but it appears that Sylvia and her dad’s relationship was much more than father/daughter. Ewww. One theory is that Sylvia was going to “out” their relationship and in a drunken rage her father killed her.
To make things even more interesting is that Sylvia’s dad’s brother(her uncle) was the King County Commissioner, who tried to get the governor of Washington to pardon his brother after having been convicted of the murder. The governer refused to pardon him , so he was executed via hanging in 1928. Most sunbathers who hang out here probably have no idea that this point is called, “Gaines Point”, and that it was a murder scene
Gaines Point “X” marks the spot
- Giant Fish in Green Lake
This just happened recently. We always see fishermen at Green Lake and always wondered, “Do they ever catch anything”? We suspected there was maybe blue gill or bass in there, but whenever I looked in any fisherman’s bucket, there was never any fish in it. Well here’s living proof that there really are fish in Green Lake and huge fish at that.
In June of this year, not only did this guy catch a 30 pound carp, but a few hours later caught a 45 lb catfish! The previous state record for a catfish was 36.2 lbs. Funny thing is that although he has photographic proof of the catch and he did contact the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife he was advised to get the fish weighed on a certified scale to make it official, but didn’t want the meat to spoil so he said, “screw it”.
He just took the fish home and carved it up into fillets. The Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that catfish were stocked in 2005, 2011, 2014. Experts believe that due to the lake being stocked with trout every year, that it is possible for trout eating fish, such as carp and catfish, to grow to be giants. Although the fisherman did not get the fish officially weight, a Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist plans to meet with him to get a piece of it so they can at least determine how old it was.
I had a lot of fun researching these Green Lake Park secrets. Hopefully, you’ve learned something new.
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Little Ting’s Dumplings
Recommended by: Friends who live in Greenwood. We’d never heard of it and it’s outside of our normal radius, so we would have never found it without their suggestion.
Description on the Little Ting’s Dumplings website: Little Ting’s Dumplings is a cornerstone in the Seattle community and has been recognized for its outstanding Chinese cuisine, excellent service and friendly staff. Our Chinese restaurant is known for its modern interpretation of classic dishes and its insistence on only using high quality fresh ingredients.
Neighborhood/Type: Greenwood
Address: 14411 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133
Music playing: None
What we ate/drank: Onion Pancakes, Pork and Chive Pan Fried Dumplings, Pan Fried Pork Buns, Lamb Steamed Dumplings, Hot & Sour Cucumbers, Pork & Pickled Napa Dumplings, Handmade Noodles w/Spicy Sauce, Pork & Fennel Dumplings.
Comments: When most people mention Chinese dumplings you mainly hear about Din Tai Fung or Dough Zone. Some others mention J’Dumpling House(Ravenna)RIP, Ping’s Dumpling House, Xian Noodles, Jiaozi! Dumplings House (RIP), Chiangs Gourmet. We believe we’ve found the best dumpling place in a small strip mall with a total of 8 parking spaces way up north in Broadview. They not only get points for doing the classic traditional dumplings better than anyone else in our opinion, but they also have the not-so-common dumplings you don’t see too often like Chive and Scallop, Sea Cucumber and Pork, Uni(Sea Urchin), and Spanish mackerel.
As of the writing of this post, we’ve been to Little Ting’s Dumplings three consecutive weekends and to ensure we don’t make it four, we decided to buy a bag of 50 pork & chive dumplings to either steam or pan fry at home. Timing is very important if you decide to come here to eat. We try to come first thing Sunday when it opens at 11:00 right after our daughters swim classes nearby. We can easily get a seat. Invariably, when we leave the place is packed. Don’t ask where everybody parks. As mentioned there are only 8 parking spots and Little Ting’s Dumplings shares it with another restaurant. At any other time, we just order take out so we don’t have to wait. If you have a party of more than four, it’ll be difficult. Although they do have a separate side room with a big table, but I think you have to reserve it. If possible, I’d encourage you to try and eat in because there’s is level of presentation that you miss when you take out. In total they probably have about 8 tables with only a few meant for four people. If you have a party bigger than this, they’ll have to more individual tables together. The space looks like it used to be a sushi restaurant due to the counter on the right, but instead of a sushi chef behind the counter, there’s usually two people making the dumplings that have just been ordered. With the exception of the store front, there are no windows, which can make it dark.
According to this Seattle Times article, the owner’s husband’s family owned a dumpling shop in China.
When they got to Seattle, Guo says, “We couldn’t find [an] authentic Chinese restaurant. For us, it’s American style. Some dishes, we’d never heard of … orange chicken, Mongolian beef. “In China, we never had that kind of dish,” Guo observes. “So it’s very funny for me: ‘Oh my god, it’s Chinese food!’ Sort of! Maybe!” She laughs.
“I like to eat; I love to cook,” Guo says. “I’m thinking, why don’t I open a restaurant?”
The location has been open for three years now, but as mentioned we just recently found out about it. Amazingly, they’ve never used advertising and have grown their business through work of mouth just like how we found it.
To us, the dumplings and pan fried buns are the stars. We’ve tried the soups, pancakes and handmade noodles and it’s just okay. We do like the Hot & Sour Cucumbers, though. Unless we’re with friends, who want something else, we load up on just dumplings and buns. I love the presentation and taste of the pan fried dumplings. They put a layer of flour on the bottom so when it’s fried it creates a crunchy floor that connects all the dumplings. When you break apart the individual dumplings the crunchy layer creates some mini “crackers” that our daughter loves to eat. I love the taste of the pan fried dumplings, but it does cost a dollar more than the steamed dumplings that my wife prefers, so we normally get an order of each. Either way that it’s cooked, the dumpling wrappers are strong enough not to fall apart when biting the dumpling, but also thin enough so that the dough doesn’t dominate the taste of the filling. The pan fried buns are also really good(and also have the crunchy floor). The inside of the bun is so juicy. You best eat it over the plate or you’ll be throwing your shirt in the wash. As mentioned above, they have a huge selection of different types of dumplings and we’ve yet to go through all of them. My wife’s favorite is the steamed pork & chive. My favorite is the pan fried lamb.
One note, they do not serve alcohol. You can ask the
Hot & Sour Cucumber
If you are interested in taking frozen dumplings home with you, just ask what they have available. They come in bags of 50 and the bag of pork and chive dumplings we got were $26, so a little over fifty cents a dumpling. This is the perfect solution for an emergency meal.
Ratings:
Atmosphere: 3.75
Service: 4.75
Food/Drinks: 5
Bang for the Buck: 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!
Eavesdropping Convos: None. A funny anecdote, though. The last time we did take out my wife and I wanted to hoard all the Little Tings dumplings for ourselves, so when we got home we also prepared frozen dumplings we got from the Asian Food Center in hopes of giving these to our 18 month old daughter while we ate the Little Tings dumplings. We figured they look exactly the same from the outside and she’s too young to notice the difference. We put both the Little Tings dumplings and the pre-packaged frozen dumplings from Asian Food Center onto a single big plate. My wife and I took the Little Tings dumpling and we gave our daughter the other dumplings. She noticed the difference right away and refused to eat. We then gave her the Little Tings dumplings and she started stuffing her face.
Servers Friends recommendations to visit in the future: When we were raving about the dumplings at Little Tings, a friend of ours recommended we try a new place in the University District that recently opened called Little Kitchen.
Related:
Cafe Allegro – Seattle’s Oldest “Secret” Cafe
Description on Cafe Allegro’s website : Established in Seattle’s University District in 1975, Cafe Allegro is home to Seattle’s oldest espresso bar and one of the country’s finest Seattle-style coffee roasters. Our beans are imported from family farms around the world and roasted in small batches onsite at our cafe. Whether you’re a one cup a day drinker or a true Seattlite, we guarantee you’ll enjoy every sip.
Neighborhood: University District
Address: 4214 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105
Music playing:
What we ate/drank: Cortado, Macchiato, Lemonade
Comments: Café Allegro has a strange dichotomy in that it’s Seattle’s oldest coffee shop in the Coffee Capital of the World, but it’s also “hidden” in an alley which makes it difficult for those “not-in-the-know” to find it. With Café Allegro being the oldest coffee shop in Seattle, you’d think it would be a really popular place among visitors, but from our perspective it’s only popular among UW students. When asking locals about their favorite coffee shops, we rarely here Café Allegro mentioned. I think it’s due to a few reasons. Number one, it’s hidden in an alley right off The Ave(University Ave) between NE 42nd and NE 43rd Ave, so it’s hard to find. Number two, it’s in the University District, which is popular among U-Dub students, but not the rest of the Seattle general population. Number three, people who know about Café Allegro and have gotten a cup to go, don’t know it has tons of space, so they dismiss it as too crowded/too small. I, myself, didn’t know how big it was when I first came here. I thought Café Allegro was comprised of just the area in which you order, which fits maybe 25 people and always packed. Some infrequent visitors, may know that there’s an adjacent seating area through a narrow walk way near the barista counter that has some individual tables, booth seating and additional counter seating. But unless you are a frequent visitor, you may not know there is also an upstairs room with seating for at least an additional 30 people and a patio that has 3 benches and a few individual seating. The upstairs portion is relatively new(from 2015?) and not accessible from the café. You have to go outside and then enter a separate door for the upstairs portion. So there are “hidden” rooms/patio within this “hidden” café. This floor also houses their roaster. In totality, if I had to guess, Cafe Allegro could seat at least 80 people conservatively.
Café Allegro was established in 1975 and is located within a building built in 1909. Previous iterations of the space were a bank and funeral home/mortuary. I love that there really is no signage except for a beaten down hanging sign in which you can barely make out “Café Allegro est. 1975”. When you first enter Café Allegro you get a sense it’s part of the community because of their huge ever changing wall of Seattle event posters. Exposed brick walls and worn wood counters give you a sense of its history. They also have a wall of framed foreign currencies that always seems to catch the eye of new visitors I bring here. The aforementioned additional rooms are very nondescript, but the tables with burlap coffee sacks under glass as table tops is a nice touch.
As mentioned in our Best Seattle Bars To Impress Out of Towners, Our Seattle Coffee Shop Thoughts and Seven Coffee Roasters posts, Seattle visitors love these little hidden gems. Places they would never find without the help of a local. The latest visitors we took here were a family from Sweden. They were visiting mutual friends in Kent, WA and wanted to meet up. We suggested meeting at the University Farmers Market on a Saturday and after strolling the market, they mentioned they would love a cup of coffee. I suggested Café Allegro. Even my friend from Kent, WA who graduated from UW had never been to Café Allegro. As we walked down the alley, I started getting strange looks, but as soon as they entered, they said, “How cool!” and got out their phones and started taking pictures. Of course, the main café seating area was packed, but I mentioned the upstairs and lo and behold, we went up there and had the whole floor to ourselves. We had a group of 7 adults and one 2 year old who did not want to sit still, so this was a perfect area for us. The Swedish visitors said, “We feel like this is a very local place. We would have never have found it. That’s the advantage of having a local show you around”. They had also read about Molly Moon Ice Cream on the airplane magazine and wanted to go, but we told them we’d take them to another less known, less crowded place in walking distance from Cafe Allegro. We took them to Sweet Alchemy Ice Creamery less than a block away and they loved it. We told them to go to Molly Moon also, because it’s good, but asked them for their opinion after they tried both and take into consideration the wait time and hype and tell us which is better. Of course, Sweet Alchemy.
Café Allegro actually has it’s own Wikipedia page which tells more about its history and its founder who was instrumental in a fledgling company, called Starbucks.
The food options are mainly pastries, which were from Marsee Bakery. They also have teas and cold drinks. The signage also says they have beer and wine, but didn’t see any displayed and why would you have beer and wine at the oldest coffee shop in Seattle anyways? You come for coffee. From their website you can buy individual bags of beans and bean subscriptions.
Warning: The beans sold by Café Allegro are not the same beans you see in Whole Foods, which are their in house brand, Allegro Coffee. It can be quite confusing.
Ratings(1-5)Favorite Thing: The “secret” aspect of Seattle’s oldest coffee shop.
Atmosphere: 5 + 1(extra for ample seating and ambiance)
Service: 4.75
Food Options: 4.00
Overall: 4.75
Eavedropping Convo: None, except for the comments from our Swedish guests we took here. In place of Eavesdropping Convo, I’ll place this video about Cafe Allegro.