In the Bowl - East Olive Way, Seattle

I thought I had already written about this place, but after todays lunch, I wanted to write again. Turns out, I never wrote of this place. That is a shame because this is my favorite restaurant.

In the Bowl is a vegetarian noodle bistro. It’s located on Capitol hill, about a 10 minute walk from my office.

The menu consists of seven different sections. Starters, Salads, Soup, Noodes, Fried Rice, Curry and Stir Fry. There are many options here.

My favorite dish is the Spicy Noodle. You get to choose the type of noodle, Wide rice, chow mien or Udon noodle. I almost always go with the chow mien.

Next you choose your protein. Fresh or fried Tofu, Soy chicken, soy beef, or for an extra buck, soy Prawns. I always choose the fried tofu.

Finally, they ask you how many stars for spice. I always go with 3 stars and it’s just right. I get a ramekin of Chili sauce just to make sure. I usually end up dipping the tofu chunks in the chili sauce.

Everything about this place is excellent. It appears to be a family owned restaurant. The staff seems very involved and knowledgeable. I am always greeted with a smile and my food is always ready to go when I get there. I call ahead of course...

Today while eating it, I was so happy. The flavor is full, each bite is just a joy. Fresh veggies are mixed in at just the right amount. Big slices of carrots, caramelized onions, broccoli and egg plant are usually in this dish. The tofu is cooked perfectly, nice and firm, not mushy inside like a lot of places.

The spice is just right. When I am done my mouth has a slight burn to it. The dessert that accompanies the dish is just what I need. I don't usually eat dessert, but this just hits the spot. It has a light soy cream on top of some sort of fruit pudding. It’s not real sweet, I have no idea what it is and the menu states that the dish comes with the "dessert of the week". It’s been the exact same dessert every time I have ordered for over a year.

I highly recommend In the Bowl. Even if you are a carnivorous human, you will be pleased. Every time I am there, the tables are full and most people seem to be having a soup dish. In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, places come and go, I surely hope this place never goes.

Sams #3 - 15th and Curtis, Denver

While in Denver, I went to many restaurants, as usual.

I had lots of decent food at fancy places. Nothing stood out as spectacular though. One thing I did like was the professional waitstaff. Its so nice to have a professional front of the house. Its rare in these parts, in fact, its probably non existent. One reason I believe is because of the competition in the Denver 16th street mall district. There are so many restaurants in this area, they all are looking for the edge. I saw wait staff taking tests about what is on the menu, that is pretty cool.

My favorite breakfast place in Denver is an old greasy spoon, Sams #3. It has been in business for 81 years. It doesn't fit in very well with all the new upscale restaurants that have opened up all around it, and that adds to its appeal.

I ate there every morning I was in town, and I had the same thing every day, the #3 breakfast special. 3 egg american cheese omelet, home fries and toast for $3.70. It was fast and good. I was always trying to get somewhere, so I really didn't want a fancy breakfast, I needed an in and out, and this is the spot. The wait staff was great, except for the last day, the waitress was kinda spacey and I had to ask twice for tabasco. Other than that, this place was perfect. I can't wait to go back and I wish we had a place like that here.

J J's Fish House - Poulsbo, WA

I found myself in Poulsbo Monday afternoon, with some time to spare and an appetite.

We drove around a bit, to see if any new places have opened up since my last trip to Fishtown.

The bar on main street has again changed hands. I don't remember the new name, but there was a big sign that stated they now serve breakfast.. the place was closed at 4 pm..

We settled on JJ's. I haven't been to JJ's since it moved from Main Street, to its new location on the waterfront, next to Thats a some Italian, which I like, but wasn't in the mood for pasta.

The new location is very upscale. The entire front of the building opens up in the summer to an open air patio in front. The decor was very nice, some paintings of old sail boats were placed on the walls.

Our waitress seated us and she was very excited about it. She was bubbly and happy. She came back very quickly to offer us drinks. We chose water and she returned promptly. We ordered, I ordered the Crab Cake burger. Its basically a fresh dungeness crab cake on a hamburger bun. $8.95 makes it pretty much the cheapest thing on the menu. I thought the prices were a little high, but again, they have gone upscale. They have a great wine selection and have quite a good menu.

The food came out pretty quickly and we dove in. The crab cake burger came with lettuce, onion and tomato on the side. The tomatoes were buried under the hot fries, which I didn't like so much. It also was served with a side of some sort of mango sauce. I tried it on a few bites, but it wasn't my thing. Kinda reminded me of jam. I would have been better served with tartar sauce.

B had the house salad. It came with a house vinaigrette dressing which she liked. However, they used a small plate, and proceeded to pile up way too much for such a small plate. Her salad kept falling off the plate onto the table. She explained to me that restaurants generally keep the food in the center of the plate, and leave a border on the outside. Its a better look that a busy small plate that can't hold all the food. Other than that, she liked her salad just fine.

My crabcake was good, fresh made, which is a plus, and it was a good sized cake. I bit into a few pieces of cartilage, to further my opinion that they were made fresh...

The server came and took my plate. B was almost done with her salad.. And then we never saw our server again... We watched as she worked every table around us, carefully never making eye contact with us again. I was in a hurry now, I was waiting for a tire to be fixed up the street and it was well past the pickup time. We watched and watched as she completely ignored us...

I finally went up to the cashier. The other waitress came over quickly and looked for my bill. I explained that I never got a bill. She looked it up on her computer and found our tab and I paid it. I hesitantly went over and left a 10% tip. The entire time this happened, our server never saw us.

It was a very strange experience. She was so overboard at the beginning, we joked that the coffee here must be really good and strong.. Then, suddenly, we were non existent. I have never experienced that before. Usually its good service, or bad service, not good then bad in the same visit!

I would consider coming back again, but will probably go to Thatsa some Italian next time we are in the neighborhood.

Mikes Seafood - Ocean Shores, WA

Its been a while since I have written a restaurant review. Not because I haven't been eating out, but because I have already review it, or was so uninspired, there was nothing worth saying..

While on a family trip at Ocean shores, I had a chance to sneak away, while the kids were in a movie.

I went to Mikes Seafood, part market, part restaurant, to purchase some live crab for dinner. Unfortunately, they were not carrying crab that week, due to the rising costs of the crab.

I decided to have lunch. I ordered the fish and chips, three piece cod basket. They also offered halibut and chips, salmon and chips, oysters, steamer and razor clam baskets as well. They also had fresh steamers, which looked fabulous.

The fish and chips came up fairly quickly in this old, weathered coastal cafe. I was immediately impressed by the dish. It looked great, the batter was a golden color. The fries were cooked perfectly.

One bite of the fish and I knew I had really screwed up... Why wasn't this my first stop everytime I come to the ocean. It will be for now on. They were heavenly. Fresh cod, perfectly cooked, and the quality of the fish was beyond excellent. The batter was light and crunch, and was a perfect compliment. The fries were decent, and the tartar sauce was good as well. Although I still prefer Ivars Tartar.

The service was ok. I was seated quickly, but the two tables that came in after me were served first. I ran out of Tartar and asked for more. I had to wait about 5 minutes for more tartar and I nearly finished my lunch before it showed up.

The server was helpful when I told him I really wanted some live crab. He told me of a place in Aberdeen that had live crab, and even gave me directions. I didn't go though. He also told me I'd be paying about $8.50 a pound.. yikes!

I don't recall how much my lunch was, but it was reasonable and fantastic!