live performance with lots of crying. @umich Engineer, previous @MPowered, current @Amazon Ops

Mar 1, 2016

Places in Seattle I Hope you Go

I can’t move away from Seattle without trying to get all of you to go to these underrated places (save for #4 and #8)

This is a bowl of Pho. I had many of these, alone, on the weekends because I had cravings.

Safari Restaurant: This is the bombassest african cuisine in Columbia City. If you go down Rainier Ave for a few more miles you can get to this Kenyan restaurant. When you walk in, it smells so deeply of fish and meat that you wish that you’d left your sweater and hairdo in the car. But when you walk in, the same chef (she’s a nice lady who may call you “sister”) greets you every time with a really really warm smile. But forget the hospitality…the food here is so yummy. I’d never had Kenyan food before coming to this restaurant, but the fried Tilapia, dirty rice, yummy collard greens, pickled cabbages are must trys. They also take credit card though for the longest time I thought they were cash only and always went to an ATM to get cash so I could eat here.
Seattle Deli: This is a Vietnamese sandwich deli (not a sit-down) that gets you a $3.00 (cash only) Bahn Mi sandwich within a few minutes. I’d always pass this on the days I drove to work, and after my friend Quinnie said she really liked the sandwiches there, one day I stopped in.

3. Seattle’s Best Pho & Deli: This is a Vietnamese restaurant on Rainier, in Beacon Hill, that has this cheap vinyl banner instead of a sign. I didn’t go for the longest time because it called itself the best and so clearly it was lying. But then I went and its pho was SO YUMMY. I’ve been to a lot of Pho places in Seattle. This broth was not made from MSG, yet still hearthy and xian. In addition, the meat in the soup was the tenderest I’ve had in any Pho dish ever (most meat you come across is chewy and over cooked). I like it a lot. The decorations are warm, like a loved one put a lot of effort into making you feel comfortable in their home. Go! They take credit card. (p.s. don’t get any of the rice dishes they aren’t special)

4. Seattle Bouldering Project: This bouldering gym rocks. It can be VERY crowded on Tues, Thurs, and cloudy weekends. Tues and Thursdays are when they unveil new routes (more frequent than any other bouldering gym I’ve come across), so people come in flocks. The routes are just…awesome. Challenging. Come here for a day pass of $14 or get a monthly membership! They also have yoga and a nice gym in the basement. This was 1 mile away from my house so I’m really gonna miss having such a close bouldering gym.

5. Harbor City: Good dim sum in the International District. My mom really liked this place because their menu had pictures, so she could actually see what she was ordering. You can come to get dimsum or you can come to get regular entrees. It’s just a good restaurant and super cheap.

6. Issaquah Brew House: This brewery/restaurant is actually disguised. It’s a Rogue Ales brewhouse, so as soon as I walked in I was like…wha….You see, the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (Brown ale) is my absolute favorite beer. I had it once at a Yard House (big restaurant with lots of beers) when the bartender recommended that I not get the Moosedrool brown ale, and get this instead. I can’t find it easily in the midwest, and it’s not always in grocery stores in the Northwest…but it’s at this brew house!

7. Baja Bistro: The first restaurant I ate at in Beacon Hill because I walked a few blocks down the street from my house and found this triangle-shaped building. I see the same guy working there every time I go. They have a margarita menu but tbh their margaritas aren’t good. BUT, their homemade chips/salsa (free) certainly are. And their mole enchilada. And I haven’t had a bad taco.

One especially sweet moment here was when we called ahead in a group of 7 and said we were probably going to come by. Ten minutes later, we walked over. They had put together two tables for us, poured out 7 glasses of water, and served up two dishes of chips and salsa. And there hadn’t even been a guarantee that we were really coming (you know those calls you make a to a restaurant as a backup when you actually want a different restaurant?) This restaurant has heart.

8. Tamarind Tree: I won’t bother writing too deep a description since this restaurant has great reviews. This is a Vietnamese restaurant that looks a little swanky when you walk in (it’s in a beat down food plaza, though), but actually has super modest prices. They have GREAT rice dishes. I’ve gotten the Broken Rice dish a few times and have heard great things about their huge huge crepe.