Seattle continued: Sisters and Skewers

Top of the mornin’ evening to ya!  Day two of our Seattle adventures started with more java loading from The ‘Bucks. 

Tall for me, grande for my beau.  How cute is it that Kyle’s drink of choice now is a soy misto?

After a liquid kick in the pants, we decided to get ed-ju-ma-cated on the history of Seattle.  Creeping through the depths of downtown worked up quite an appetite. 

Lunch time!

Initially we had our sights set on an African place called Pan Africa Restaurant on 1st Ave.  We browsed the menu when we passed by the day before and it had several vegan options that all sounded so tasty.  Plus, I’m always intrigued by different cuisines that I’ve never tried before.  Unfortunately the place was (is) closed on Mondays, so that was a bust.

Instead, we made our way back to Post Alley (it’s just around the corner) and settled on Sisters European Snacks.  The Pike’s Place area definitely isn’t lacking in good food!

Look at those shelves!  Dried noodles, beans, grains, and spices – oh my! 

It was really difficult to choose between a sandwich and salad.  I hate when I want multiple items on a menu.  Grrrr…so frustrating!  Despite the fact that they had several items on the menu that caught my eye, in the end, it was Sisters’ deliciously famous focaccia bread that sealed the deal.  I just couldn’t turn down the fluffy carb-a-licious goodness. 

In the end, Kyle and I both got (different) sammies which came with side salads tossed in a simple oil and vinegar.  The salads were a perfect accompanying crunch.  Not too complicated, just a nice crisp to contrast the grilled sandwich.

Before Kyle started in on his sandwich though, he prepped his tum with a bowl of soup.  Yes, it was a million and one degrees outside, and yet he still wanted the soup of the day – a tomato based vegetable soup with cheese ravioli.  The heart wants what the heart wants stomach wants what the stomach wants, I guess.  It looked pretty good, but the focaccia was all I was focused on.

I ordered a combination of the Nasruddin (hummus, baked eggplant, olive paste, roma tomato) and the Gesundheit (sun-dried tomato, cream cheese, roma tomato, sprouts, avocado).  Can you guess which ingredients I got?

Hummus, tomatoes, avocado, and sprouts.  Duh :)  It was everything I had hoped for and more. 

And look at that focaccia!  Oh baby!  It was hot off the press – sprinkled with fresh yummy herbs.  Like a party for my taste buds – heyo.   

I didn’t leave a crumb behind. 

We explored more of Seattle the rest of the day, leisurely strolling from one ‘hood to the next.  The bottom of my feet were black by 4 pm.  It was pretty gross. 

Random side note: while visiting Starbucks store #4 of the day, I discovered a new favorite iced bevie.  1/2 green tea + 1/2 passion tea = pure yum

Back at the hotel gym I squeezed in 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical before showering and heading off to dinner. 

Wild Ginger was all over the foodie websites when I was doing my pre-trip dining research.  Not only were there pages and pages of good reviews (the Zagat doesn’t lie people), but they have an entirely vegetarian menu too. 

#1 Restaurant in the Pacific Northwest for 11 consecutive years is no small feat.  Ladies and gents, we have a winner! 

I ordered a pot of matcha tea to start because my stomach was being a little iffy and it did just the trick!  Matcha is my new IBS drug of choice I think.  The only down side is I drank the entire pot and was peeing every 30 minutes for the entire night. 

And then the feasting began.

We started with VIETNAMESE BUDDHA VEGETABLE ROLLS which came with a pineapple dipping sauce on the side.  I know it looks like butter, but it was definitely not.  The rolls were stuffed with veggies and glass noodles and tasted perfectly fresh and crunchy.  And the pineapple sauce was so delicious when added to the rolls.  I basically submerged each bite in the sauce for a minute or so before eating it. 

When dining at Asian restaurants are you a chopstick or fork person?  I’m all about the chopsticks…I wish it occurred to me use them more at home.  I have really nice ones, so I have no excuse; plus they are fun to eat with. 

Or in Kyle’s case, perform surgery with…

You already know most of my food quirks, but I bet you didn’t know this about Kyle.  He doesn’t eat cucumber.  Or pickles.  Or anything in the zucchini family.  And there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  He’s quite dexterous with his chopsticks as a result.  He’d probably dominate at Operation. 

Another random tidbit (I’m full of them today, huh?) that you may or may not have known is that my grandpa was Japanese (past tense because he is deceased).  To be honest though, my chopstick skillz are not the result of any of his teaching, but rather learning by my own trial-and-error method as a young thang.  Anyone else remember using chopsticks for Asian cuisine from childhood?  Ok, back on topic.

After our rolls were gone, our entrees arrived. 

Kyle got the special, which was some sort of white fish over a green mango salad.  We also each got rice with our meals…I’m sure you can guess which was mine and which was his.

Unlike my better more decisive half, it took me a decade to choose what to order because everything on the menu sounded awesome.  In the end though, I decided to break away from the curry direction I was leaning towards and go down a road less travelled (but equally beloved). 

And that would be satay.  If you aren’t familiar with satay, it’s a Thai dish in which food (usually meat, but in this case non-meat) is skewered and grilled with a marinade of spices.  This one was served with an orange-teriyaki dipping sauce, which I could have slurped down all by itself.  For the skewers, I had the option of choosing as many skewers as I wanted of ZUCCHINI, EGGPLANT, SPICED TOFU, SHIITAKE MUSHROOM, and/or PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM. 

I went with two tofu skewers, one zucchini, and one shiitake mushroom.  On the side was a pickled cucumber salad and a turmeric sticky rice cake. 

If someone held a gun to my head and asked me what my favorite part of my dinner was, I still don’t think I could come up with an answer.  It was all TOO FRICKIN’ GOOD. 

The turmeric rice cakes were so chewy and moist, it was like a savory ball of carby goodness.  I wanted 8 more of them…and with the satay sauce…oh geez.  I’m getting hot and bothered just thinking about it now.

But then I remember the tofu skewers and I forget all about the rice cakes.  The tofu was crispy on the outside with bubbles of blackened spicy char while the inside was warm and simply melted in my mouth.  It was 100% the perfect satay.

This was the first of my 4 plates.  Yes, I finished the brown rice.  Yes, I finished all the skewers.  And yes, I finished every side dish.  I was very full.  No complaints…just sayin’ 😉

Kyle still made room for dessert though.  No surprise there.  But then, flourless chocolate cake can make you do silly things.