The Hemby_Licious Guide to Seattle

So, happily in response to a request from a friend from back home (Alabama) for "what to do / where to eat in Seattle", I decided to share the long winded email response here. Just in case the question comes up again because I'm too lazy to pull these web pages and type all this over.....

This will serve as the first experimental blog....the first entry in my documented "Observations from the Top Left Corner".  Read, ignore, comment, dispute...whatever.

If you are planning a trip to the great Northwest (aka Top Left Corner), consider spending a good bit of time and hitting not only Seattle, but Portland and Vancouver as well.  All amazing cities with fantastic dining and outdoor attractions.  In this post, I'm going to focus on my new (as of 11.5 years) hometown of Seattle.

SEATTLE MUST SEES/DO:

1. Pike Place Market, Downtown Seattle. Nothing even close folks, this is an authentic, fantastic farmers/crafts market, all local, and most telling; as many locals shop here as tourists. It's a great place to wander, people watch, and most importantly to snack.  The first ever Starbuck's is here with musician's out front (including the legendary Spoonman of Soundgarden fame) , there are lots of other coffee shops/bakeries, food stalls, street musicians, etc. This is really close to and between the Seattle Waterfront and the Downtown retail district which has Nordstrom, Fox Sports, Hard Rock, Westlake Center, Pacific Place, etc.

2. Get out on the water!  Seattle is a water-town.  Lakes, Sound, Rivers, (and Rain) no shortage of the blue stuff here.  There are several cruise tour companies, such as Argosy Cruises, etc. My favorite budget option on a nice day is just to walk on to one of the State Ferries and sit up on the roof deck watching the city and mountains go by. It's only about $5-$10 to walk on and go over to Bainbridge Island which is a nice little waterfront town, but you can just as easily stay on the boat and take the immediate return trip. Good bargain for an hour or two on the water. If you're with kids, Ride the Ducks!

3. Go see a mountain. Other than water, the most obvious characteristic of Seattle is the overwhelming beauty of the mountain views.  Cascades Range to the East (sunrise), Olympic Range to the West (sunset) , and Mount Rainier (aka Tahoma) towers above all to the Southeast.  Both Mt Rainier and Mt St Helen's (yes the same one that blew it's top) are fantastic day trips, but are quite a drive. If you have a few days here and can reserve the time plan to spend a day at one of these peaks.

4. Snoqualmie Falls. Nice peaceful place about 45 minutes from Seattle, huge waterfall you can hike down to the bottom or just enjoy the view from the top.  There is an amazing brunch at the Salish Lodge adjacent to the park (but I'm digressing into the next topic).

5. Lots of other markets, neighborhoods, etc.

Pioneer Square, Seattle's "Old Town".  Lots of great restaurants, pubs, bars, architecture, and home to many of the local art galleries in Seattle.  Home to a monthly "art walk" where folks open up their galleries and studios to the public.  Can get a little sketchy late at night, but during the day and dinner time it's just fine and really interesting.

Ballard Farmers Market, Ballard started as a Scandinavian Fishing town.  Now it's a great neighborhood that still feels like a small town, with a retail core, fun restaurants and bars, and a fantastic Sunday Market.   In Ballard there's also a set of locks that connects Elliot Bay (Ocean) with the local Lakes via the "Ship Canal".  One cool thing about the locks?  There's a salmon ladder to not disturb the yearly migrations!!

Green Lake: Semi-Urban Park with running trails, coffee shops, fish n chips, etc.  It's about 3 miles around, you can run, jog, walk, walg, ride, blade, or just hang out on the grass watching the scenery.

Fremont: Self-proclaimed "Center of the Universe", Seattle's version of the Paris "left bank".  Home to great restaurants, shops, bars, etc. Also has a Market like Ballard's on the weekends.  If you're here for the summer solstice (June 20?), there's even naked bicyclers as part of the yearly Solstice Parade.

Bellevue/Kirkland: Upscale shopping (Bellevue) and lakefront suburb (Kirkland) on the East Side of Lake Washington. This is about 15 minutes from downtown Seattle, an easy drive across the lake via floating bridges.

FOOD:

Now on to the important stuff.  Namely, time to explain how I've gained 30+ pounds since I moved here in 1998.  This is a mix of fine dining, greasy spoons, and everything in between.  Good food done right is independent of menu price and dress code, so I'm just going to put some random places out here based on what our favorite places are at the moment....

1. Steelhead Diner. It's probably our favorite spot in town, and we've become friends of the chef/owner here. It's an upscale diner (affordable, nice menu) located in the Pike Place Market. Phenomenal food based on NW seafood and some Cajun dishes (chef from New Orleans). Just about all his produce and ingredients are purchased from locally, and from the same sources that provide the bounty of goodness to the market.  The best seat in the house is at the "Kitchen Bar", which is just what it sounds like.  You get to sit next to the main service station and chat with Chef and his staff throughout the night.  Also a great way to take a look at the full menu in living color on a plate before ordering.  If it's full or you don't want to be on top of the action, sit at the tasting bar.  No wait for a dinner table and you can still keep an eye on everything happening around you.

2. El Gaucho. Best steakhouse in America, IMHO. And priced like it. If you want to splurge a bit and remember the meal forever, you should go here. This place never fails to impress, from the tuxedo clad waiters to the bananas foster prepared tableside, to the 1940's Shanghai classy feel of the place (think beginning of Indiana Jones but without all the shooting, and with more romantic lighting).  I can truly say that while I haven't been here as often as I'd like (like every week), I've NEVER had so much as a bad bite.  As an option, you could cheat and just hit the fantastic happy hour for the ambiance without the big bill.

3. Wild Ginger. There is one in both downtown Seattle and Bellevue. Pan-Asian food, which is the Seattle trademark. It's a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Polynesian, Thai, etc. and Northwest ingredients. This is a must if you enjoy Asian food at all.  If you don't, you may just change your mind after having the Duck.
3a. As a cheaper option with really good Thai food, try Thai Ginger; Several locations but most convenient would probably be in Pacific Place.  For a relaxed atmosphere with sports on TV and the same food on the regular menu, sit in the bar and hope Jessie is behind it.

4. Red Mill Burgers. Awesome spot (x2) for custom burgers, chicken sandwiches, real shakes/malts, that's right MALTS! made with care and to order. The bacon is stellar, and you won't believe the stack prepped and ready to go.  If you like onion rings, you'll love these. Oh, and no cell phones allowed.  It's just rude, dude!

5. Kauai Family Restaurant. A local favorite for the Hawai'ian ex-pats, and those of us that want a mental escape to our favorite place during the long dreary winters. True Ohana/comfort food such as Kailua Pork, Saimin, Musubi, Loco Moco, etc., served on "Hawai'ian time". If you know what that means, you know to get comfortable and plan to stay a while.  Also, to speak to it's authenticity it opens for BREAKFAST at 9:30am.

6. Quinn's Gastropub. Pub Food, but High end pub food in Capital Hill (this is the fun, freaky neighborhood. It's safe, but very diverse).  Wild Boar sloppy joe = Insanely good.
6a. Restaurant Zoe. Same owners as Quinn's. It's more of a Higher end restaurant in the Belltown neighborhood.  They also have a wild boar dish on the menu, but serve it as a bolognese sauce over pasta.

7. Tom Douglas' restaurants. I would recommend any of them. Most acclaimed is Dhalia Lounge.  He's kind of a local legend and these are really nice restaurants, all in the Belltown area. You can see menus for the places (I think 5 now) on his central website linked above.

8. Pizza: Serious Pie (Tom Douglas) is good, another really fun place is Via Tribunali (grown from 1 to 4 in like 3 yrs), whose ovens have been transported from Italy brick by brick and rebuilt here. My personal favorite neighborhood slice is in Ballard; Veraci Pizza. They also have portable ovens and sell slices at the Ballard and Fremont markets.

9. Chinatown. Should really venture down into this neighborhood for a good taste of Seattle. There are several dives that we frequent, but not knowing how comfortable you would be I would suggest Jade Garden. There is usually a line for Dim Sum (this is the brunch time menu 10-1 where they wheel the carts of food through the restaurant and you just pick what you want off them). The wife's family frequents Sun Ya. A bit less mainstream/touristy, but cheap and filling and they are one of few places down there with parking.

10. Red Hook Brewery / Wineries. In the town of Woodinville, there are several wineries that do tastings and sometimes concerts. Also over there is the fantastic Red Hook Brewery (moved from original spot in Fremont years ago) that has a large equally fantastic pub, does brewery tours, and even shows outdoor movies on the huge deck in the summertime.

11. For spectacular views back to the city and outdoor dining, try Alki Beach or enjoy the patio over the marina at Maggie Bluff's on Magnolia.

12. Other Seattle institutions for fast food, etc. are: Teriyaki (too many to mention), Pho Soup (Than Bros our fav), Fish n' Chips (Spuds, Ivar's, etc.), and Dick's drive-in (cheap burgers).

All this of course is secondary to the best spot in town; my wife's cooking in my own home.  But she deserves to be taken out now and then....

COFFEE:

Now, we have a bit of a reputation up here and I guess based on the hundreds and maybe thousands of dollars I've spent on the stuff over the years this reputation is well founded.  Of course there are Starbuck's everywhere, but to see how it SHOULD be, you really need to venture into some of the smaller local places like Uptown Espresso (which we frequented for 7 years in the first floor of our apt building in Belltown), Caffe Vita, Caffe Ladro, Caffe D'Arte, Espresso Vivace, etc. They are literally on every corner.


OTHER STUFF:

Not knowing your specific interests, there are several Ski Resorts within a couple hours' drive, Golf even in the winter, Kayaking, Rowing, Biking, etc. are all very popular. Major League Baseball (Mariners) and Soccer (Sounders) will be starting soon, with the NFL (Seahawks) back in the fall.  All three are a blast with fantastic outdoor stadiums.

Gosh, this is making me hungry. I think I am going to post this, it was a bit of work!  Now I'm out, the wife just got a new deep fryer and she's making home made potato chips.