Portage Bay

Portage Bay Cafe has three locations in the Seattle area. Upon recommendations from friends during my Seattle trip, we made it here for a Brunch. We went to the South Lake Union location and, despite going at 1, the place was still jam packed and super busy - always a good sign for the food (though not for our achingly hungry bellies).

We opted for the special pear mimosas of the day - cheers to that. I also always appreciate brunch joints offering mimosas that aren't orange based, and really enjoyed these. 

AK and DV got the Migas, which is essentially a big breakfast quesadilla. Delicious and I can see why they zoned in on ordering this by name. 

They also got one of the special items of the day, which was some sort of steak scramble with cauliflower. I didn't get to taste much of it, but judging from the speed at which it disappeared from the plate, I assume it was amazing... 

FT got this dish which I believe was their pork brunch special, the name of which escapes me. It's essentially a pork and veggies stir fry with poached egg and toast. Simple but tasty, and quite filling.

I held down the fort with the sole sweet item at our table, the french toast. I believe this was the oatmeal cobbler french toast. It looks delicious, doesn't it? Well, one of the great things about Portage Bay is that for sweet items, you get a trip to the toppings bar...

...which essentially, is a table filled with berries, sliced fruits, and creams to top off your plate with! Drunk off of mimosas by now (it was very busy and my toast came last) and instructed by my equally tipsy table to "load it up as much as you can! Get yer money's worth!", I returned with...

This amazing masterpiece. And it was delicious - the challah bread was delicious, and it was not overly coyingly sweet. I also enjoy a lot of freshness and acidity on my french toast, and being able to load up at the toppings bar definitely helped.

Portage Bay was one hit after another - great drinks, great dishes, and the toppings bar is a fun addition adding a certain amount of DIY to brunch. Perhaps we had good dishes, perhaps the mimosas were super effective? If in town again, I will definitely make the effort to take a brunch pit stop here.

Portage Bay Cafe

Portage Bay Cafe Yelp (South Lake Union location)

Seattle, WA

Black Bottle

Black Bottle in Seattle, WA bills itself as a "Gastrotavern" on their site which - well, is surprisingly all encompassing a term. It was also one of the places we were told we "must eat" in Seattle by residents there and the resident Yelper NN, so we made a trip over.

The place itself looked like a cross between a modern bar and an adorable small restaurant - big open windows, well stocked bar, little tables everywhere with the cutest custom oil lights. We managed to get a reservation in the Belltown location, which I recommend - place was packed!

Brie leek french country pesto flatbread was delicious - pungent cheese and salty, and just the right amount of pesto to feel deliciously guilty without being greasy.

THE STAR OF THE NIGHT: malbec demi-glazed oxtail. The flavor profile is similar to Asian style soy and sugar flavors, but retains the depth of the malbec reduction. This oxtail was tender, flavorful, and amazing. Our table of four ordered two orders of this because, as our Seattle hosts AK and DV said (and I may be paraphrasing, but not by much) - "This is good. We're not sharing."

Bacon lemon scallops were delicious, but the star of this plate was the frizzled kale the scallops were bedded on - terrific tangy, garlicky kale. Best kale I've tasted.

House smoked wild boar ribs - smaller portion than you would expect for ribs. Not bad.

Pork belly and kimchi was well received by my friends, though I thought the sauce was a little too sweet. Pork was very tender.

We started off dessert with a chocolate cake...

...filled with vanilla gelato inside that we ruined and demolished. Heavy and moist chocolate cake that isn't remarkably special but tasty.

We also got the peach/blueberry kettle tart with fresh cream. It comes in a cute little cast iron skillet with a bottle of cream to pour over to your heart's content.

I liked this more than the cake. TONS of fruit inside, and a nice tart (geddit? tart fruit? tart? yes I'll show myself out) end to the meal.

Black Bottle is possibly one of the most delicious tapas I've ever had and a must-go for anyone who sets foot in Seattle. The portions for most dishes are big for tapas, thus (somewhat) justifying the prices, so bring enough friends or enough stomach room to try as much as possible. They have a good drinks selection as well - so you can linger there until you're hungry enough for round two of munchies!

Black Bottle

Black Bottle Yelp

Seattle, WA

Café Campagne

On a visit to Seattle over 4th of July, we visited Pike's Place before realizing - nothing is actually open on 4th of July! Well, not completely nothing... we took a peek at the menu of one of the only establishments with an open door and then popped into Cafe Campagne.

Since it was a lovely Seattle summer day, we were seated on the slightly cramped but pleasant balcony. We took a peek at their extensive wine menu and found a half bottle of Cotes du Rhone Violettes that was significantly cheaper than everything else - 16 vs the normal 30+? Count us in! And though not spectacular and a little on the acidic side, it was not bad.

We ordered the squid, which to our surprise because of our poor reading skills that evening, was a wet calamari! It was acidic, salty, aromatic, and very delicious.

The bread that came was not that great though. I can appreciate a nice crust, but the loaf that came was hard as stale as a rock and could cut through teeth, gums, and then some. When asking for an edible loaf our waitress gave us a spiel of how "our bread is crusty, you must not be used to it!" and "I went and found an uncharacteristically soft loaf for you guys" - but hey, we got an actual nice crusty bread. And that is how we got two loaves of bread.

I believe this was the duck confit - tasty!

Fries were a bit burnt, but good portions.

Coq au vin was a bit bland.

Their French onion soup was lovely; huge portion as well.

The roasted half chicken was considerably smaller than you would expect. A bit bland as well.

We shared a creme brulee for dessert - very good! The cookie was a great bonus.

Cafe Campagne has a great Seattle location right in Pike's Place Market, and has some tasty French dishes (though some chicken things might be a little bland) - do you research on the dishes and enjoy the terrific locale.

Cafe Campagne
Cafe Campagne Yelp
Seattle, WA

Old Fisherman's Grotto

All fishermen's wharves seem to offer some sort of seafood or other, but Monterey Bay fisherman's wharf fully embraces clam chowder. As you walk down the wharf, restaurants hand out samples of their steaming clam chowder - perfect for a chilly walk down and for whetting growing appetites.

On a visit with the family, we decided to take a meal in Old Fisherman's Grotto - partly because they billed themselves as having the best chowder, partly because the place looked cute and cozy, but mostly because they handed out a nice sample cut AND a free appetizer coupon at the door.

We ordered the calamari using the free coupon. No picture to be found because it was standard. Luckily, the clam chowder breadbowl was good: salty, rich, and deserving of their title. (My mother thought it was a tad salty, but as an abuser of the salt shaker, I quite enjoyed it.)

We got a prawn salad that had a spring mix, pickled asparagus spears, and blue cheese. Despite not being a salads person, I really enjoyed this.

We got a seafood pasta, which was extremely disappointingly salty and watery.

We also got two half crabs - one simply steamed, and the other with garlic butter. Standard and fairly fresh crab, although the garlic butter was very weakly flavored.

Old Fisherman's Grotto has hits and misses, though definitely try the chowder. (In case you go with family... it also has a well stocked bar... if that helps your family trips.) It's not a place you would head to just for the food, but for a leisurely and comfortable meal while visiting Monterey Bay, it's a friendly place to stop by and relax for a meal.

Old Fisherman's Grotto
Old Fisherman's Grotto Yelp
Monterey, CA

Kyusu Burmese Cuisine

Apparently, San Jose had its own restaurant week - as I was alerted the day before, as NN needed someone to round out a food outing to Kyusu Burmese Cuisine. I was game, as I had never had Burmese food before!

For restaurant week, there was a set three-course meal for two people. Everyone started off with a tea leaf salad.

The salad comes with your choice of cabbage or lettuce, and is mixed in front of you with your preference for amount of spicy pepper flakes. The taste is terrific: tangy from the tea leaves, nice spice, and lots of textures. 

For the second course, you can choose two entrees from a list of three. My meal date SY and I chose the chicken curry. It tastes very similar to a mild Indian curry.

It comes with your choice of either rice or (I think it's called) roti - we chose the roti based on our waitress' recommendation, and it was nice. 

Both SY and our dining partners NN and AC picked "Kauk Swe Thoke" as our second course - a cold noodle dish that has a rich sauce and slightly spicy. 

NN and AC chose the "Shan Style Fish and Herbs" as their second dish: a claypot with fish and veggies. The fish was tender and there was a lot of flavor.

Finally, dessert is "Sanyinmakin" with ice cream. They described it as Burmese style baked cake, but to me it had the consistency and texture more of custard or mochi. A bit sweet by itself already, but goes well with cold vanilla ice cream.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the meal, especially the tea leaf salad. Aside from the salad and dessert, the main dishes seem like a mix of Chinese and Indian food - which makes sense, judging from the geographic locale of Burma. I'd like to give their normal menu a try and see what else Burmese cuisine has to offer.

For those of you averse to cilantro though, beware: cilantro is a big part of many of the dishes! (Go thank SY for the heads up, as she had to forlornly pick out the cilantro piece by piece first.)

Kyusu Burmese Cuisine
Kyusu Burmese Cuisine Yelp
San Jose, CA

Oryza

I was invited to "brunch" - I suspect that was a shifty ploy by KT and SP to get me to get somewhere before noon on a Saturday - but it was a great choice despite being decidedly just a lunch. Oryza is located on the edge of the Valley Fair Westfield mall in San Jose and seem to be going the semi-upscale Asian Fusion lounge route that's popular.

We started off with endless mimosas for some at our table, and a watermelon tea for me. The watermelon tea was more like a thin watermelon juice, and quite refreshing.

I thought the pad thai was mediocre and could do with a bit more flavor, and no different from a pad thai found in any random Thai joint.

The "kimchi bacon" is basically kimchi fried rice with bacon and your choice of another meat- I chose beef. Quite good!

The seared ahi salad had pieces of gorgeously seared salmon in a nice tangy vinaigrette. Using  edamame base was a nice touch, though some green leaves could have added a little more texture.

"Sweet Chicken" was good and has nice spicy kick to balance the sweetness, but too salty.

The seafood noodles were slightly disappointing and unexcitinig in flavor. No comment on the seafood itself though as I didn't taste.

And lastly, the garlic noodles were amazing. Very flavorful!

Overall, Oryza seems like a hit and miss place with the food - a Fusion Roulette of extremely delicious or mediocre. The atmosphere is quite nice and the servers were great, serving our table with humor and jest even as some of our mimosa-ed up tablemates made some... distinctly mimosa-influenced messes. I actually really enjoyed myself and the food here, and think it's a great hangout. It should have a more lounge-like atmosphere at night or happy hour, so I might stop by sometime then to try it out then update this post.

Oryza

Oryza Yelp

San Jose, CA

Loving Hut Milpitas

What do you think when you hear vegan restaurant? If you're a meats afficionado like me who has spent some time around Berkeley, it's possible you'll think "kale hell topped with self righteousness and flaxseed." - because that's what came to my mind when it was suggested to me by my coworker BQ that we eat vegan for lunch. Vegan?! Me?! Please, learn to tell better jokes...

But to my surprise, Loving Hut in Milpitas turned out to be a gem. Loving Hut is actually a chain but each Loving Hut location has its own specialized (but apparently mostly Asian inspired) menu. The Milpitas location has both Asian and western foods, and the Chinese dishes were our focus. They have vegetable only dishes and also several vegan versions of traditionally meat-centered dishes using "soy protein."

Szechuan eggplant, a dish seen in normal Chinese restaurants too. Eggplant is nicely cooked, though it could be spicier.

Mongolian Delight - I guess a vegetarian version of Mongolian Beef, very tasty and the soy product used has great texture.

Szechuan Strips is their soy protein in a slightly spicy sauce. I thought it was too mild to be considered Szechuan flavor (spicy to tears or bust!) but it was quite flavorful.

"Clay Pot Sensation" is a faux-fish dish. The picture doesn't look too impressive but the seaweed wrapped soy actually tastes like a delicious, Asian style clay pot fish dish.

"Divine Light" is soy protein with peppers, sprinkled with brewer's yeast. Unlike the other dishes, this did not have a sauce - still tasty, but the soy protein is a bit dry.

This is quite likely one of my favorite lunch places - fast, delicious, guilt free (hey, I might have had heavy cream in my coffee and a donut this morning, but at least I'm being healthy for lunch, right?) and so delicious even the most dedicated carnivore would forget they're in a vegan restaurant...

... except for maybe when they see a cheesy front wall plastered with pictures as kind of a (possibly unintentionally funny) shrine to veggie celebs. One of my faves and I'll continue to update as I make my way down the menu.

Loving Hut (Milpitas)

Loving Hut Yelp

Milpitas, CA