John Howie Steak

Back in Seattle, like what I've mentioned in my facebook. This time I would like to write a review on John Howie Steak. Been there twice with totally different experience. Overall, they have a nice place with good view (especially at night). The restaurant look small from the outside but actually pretty spacious. High sealing and some waitress wearing white lab coat looking. I can say the food is pretty good, despite talking my first and second experience which is so different. BTW, I won't explain too much but I will show it more like an album :P

#1 experience

We made an appointment and we actually could sit right after we arrived. Good foods, steak cooked better than my 2nd experience. Sides were good, liking the escargot, calamary tasted so-so, chowder and onion soup was just so-so. Btw, because of trying the spicy lobster bisque in Seafood Waterfront Grill, I kinda become a bisque-hunter and still SWG is the winner. I have to say that the one that I really like from John Howie is their Arugula Salad. BEST ever, really light and fresh. For our dessert, we had the sorbet and banana foster. Sorbet was okay, it's cute and the sorbet has funny container. It's like crispy caramelized sugar which stick on your teeth. Banana foster: SIMPLY SINFUL! We had a chance to see them prepared for us and I couldn't stand with the ingredients.

Bread

3 Types of Salts with Different Usage

Amuse Bouche

Escargot

Bacon Tempura

Seafood Chowder

French Onion Soup

Arugula Salad

Sides (Spinach and Baked Potato)

Lobster Potatoes

The Show - 40oz Porterhouse

Trio of Olympic Mountain Sorbet

The Sinful Banana Foster

#2 Experience

We've made reservation and we had to wait for almost an hour * disappointed*. Picture under this was what they served, probably to "entertain" us. I think it's a tomato soup, it's quite nice tho. Nothing special for the #2 experience.

Crabcake

Sides (Fries and Sauted Spinach)

What I wish from John Howie is their consistency, well not only for John Howie but I believe you guys have experienced when you first come to a place that impressed you, you're hoping to have the same or better experience but with their inconsistency, food might taste terrible, service might be really bad as well. I guess just use your luck :P

Almost forgotten to mention in the beginning, this place might be okay for special dinner with your special one :)

John Howie Steak - Located in the Bravern, Microsoft Building

11111 NE 8th St
Ste 125
Bellevue, WA 98004

(425) 440-0880

Café Kopi

Last time we had Permias meeting in Cafe Kopi. Never been before, a small nice clean place. They have free wi-fi, so if you'd like to study or just to hang around this might be a good place. Well, at that time they had coffee as complimentary and coconut macaroon. I don't want to say they always have because what if something change? Like no more coffee but other thing :P

Green Tea

Coconut Macaroon

They do have awesome complimentary :P The macaroon is chewy, you can taste the coconut but not too sweet. BTW, they also have rice dish which people said it's good. I think I should go back and try their dessert as well so I can report more :P

So if you are tired with Starbucks or other coffee shop, why don't you come and try Cafe Kopi :) Wi-Fi? check! Entree? check! Drinks? check! Couldn't resist with place with various of menu

Café Kopi

8056 Lake City Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 523-6197

Santorini Pizza & Pasta

Hello from City of Angels :) I'm currently on vacation, hunting another good foods. I kinda unsure whether I should post it or no, but will see later :P

Craving for Italian food? Try Santorini, it's a really nice place with a really westernize ambience. I think I was the only Asian at that time. LOL. Honestly, I didn't know that their specialized on Pizza so I just ordered whatever on "menu of the day".

Homemade Garlic Bread and Salad

They do have delicious garlic bread, taste really homy. Not too greasy like other typical garlic bread from other restaurants. Salad was fresh as well *two thumbs UP*

Pasta and Chicken

Al dente :) Pasta cooked perfectly, chicken creamy but not over powering. Downside? I wish they didn't add salt on the vegetables because it taste a little too salty. Overall, I love it!

I'm sure going back because when I walked out from the restaurant I saw there were two grandma sharing lasagna and it looked really good *droll*. Tell me how do you like this place later, okay :)

Santorini Pizza & Pasta

11001 35th Avenue Northeast
Seattle, WA 98125-6809

(206) 440-8499

Joko's Kitchen

Have you guys been to Julia's Kitchen before? FYI, they just change the ownership since July 2010. So I think they now change into Joko's kitchen, still pretty new so they still use Julia's website and try to finish the business card. Food? Much much improved! The last time when I went there was 3 years ago. Didn't leave me with any good impression, inconsistent taste, greasy and took forever. So this time with the new management I tried my luck.

The place was actually nice, really homey and "Indonesian" feeling. When I went there, it was rainy and no one there. I had to wait for a while until the owner's son appeared with his batik. Sorry to say, he doesn't look really friendly and no smile. Well at least until mr. Joko came out and introduce himself I wasn't really enjoyed being there.

Ayam Betutu

I had the Ayam Betutu because he suggested me so. Taste pretty good, lil bit chewy on the surface but tender inside. I just wish I didn't hear the microwave voice (beep beep beep)

Corn Fritter

After I ordered the Ayam Betutu, I was thinking to try the corn fritter. Hoping for a better one, well it does. Not as greasy as before. The upsetting part was the service, it took me a while to get served with the unfriendly guy, it took me a while to find somebody so I could order the corn fritter and limited parking spot.

FYI, food doesn't come with rice, it's $2 extra. Lil bit dry but it sure can be improved. It cost me 24$ (everything +tips), lil bit pricey I guess. Tolerable since the sizing pretty big :p

Well, since it's under new ownership, go have a try! :D

Joko's Kitchen

910 NE 65th St
Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 522-5528

Thanh Son Tofu

Apologize for not updating viva-food for a while. I'm done with final and these actually what I had for lunch on my last final day. Thanh Son Tofu, pretty close with Seattle University. Still walking distance even though 10-15 minutes :P It was my first time being there. I thought it's a restaurant in fact it's a groceries "soya" store. I don't know how to describe the place, it looks pretty old and a lil bit unusual for me but they do serve good fresh tofu dish. I didn't had a chance to buy the drink like the picture below.

The drink

I didn't know what they call but when I saw the long green thingy and the coconut milk, cendol appears in my mind.

The Foods

Sorry for the bad angle pictures, I didn't know if they allowed me to take picture so I kinda being paparazzi (took picture quietly :p). I felt uneasy in the first time because I didn't know what to do, there were no boxes, only roll of plastic. You know when you went to supermarket in the vegetables or fruits section, they provided you with those kind of plastic. Well in Thanh Son Tofu, they used plastic with thicker and better quality :P I thought it was weird until the person told me that you bought the stuff by weight. Overall the tofu cost about $2ish/lbs. The tofu block, it cost you only $.75 each!

My Foods :P

Don't be scared, I didn't finish everything right away, only the last picture. :P I tried everything, it tasted good, will do come back again. The wide rice noodle looks like zhu chang fen (cingcongfan) for me, unless the odd shape. :P What's inside? Mushroom, meat and there's something that I don't know the name but it's crunchy :) My fave is the bubbly tofu (3rd pic, the middle one). Don't judge the restaurant by the look but try it :P You actually can find their product in Asian supermarket :D Btw, when you try, PLEASE PREPARE CASH or CHECK. They don't accept any type of card.

My personal experience:

I didn't bring any cash and I left my check, but thanks to the lady for trusting me so much. I had picked up everything and at last I just knew that they didn't accept cards, I checked my car but couldn't find any cash -_-" I came in and she told me to pay when I came back again. I was so flattered yet embarrassed. Well, I went to the closest gas station to withdraw money to pay, she just laughing. Thanks lady :)

Thanh Son Tofu

118 12th AVE
Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 320-1316

Henry's Bento

Another to go. Hehe, but this time it's way way way better and much much healthier (I guess). My stomach feel so uneasy after eating that greasy fish meal :( Anyway, I will be reviewing about Henry's Bento. Honestly I've never been to the store, I just passed by. As I remember Henry's Bento is really close with Fu Lin (another noodle house)

Chicken Steak(?)

Argh, pardon me. I forgot the name :( I know, blame on me. Huff. Anyway, for approx $10 (included everything or supposed to be less). You actually get big amount of everything, it comes with chinese brocoli, chicken steak, egg, chinese picle and the healthiest part is the purple rice. For their serving size, I have to eat this 3 times. The purple rice is really fill me up, chicken is not to salty as well. Oh almost forgotten, on the top right there's actually sour spicy cabbage. I can say this is a good combination, chewy rice, crispy and "dry" chicken, crunchy pickle and veggie and kinda "wet". You know when you eat something that is totally dry, it's sluggish on your throat (dislike). Btw, I sure will go to Henry's Bento by myself to try their other stuff. It seems like their beef noodle soup is everyone's favorite. Well, let you decide guys :D

*this restaurant is dedicated to my friend, Henry. JK

Henry's Bento (Henry's Taiwan)
520 S King St
Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 624-2611

Ginger Lime

Yuuhhuuu, it's been a while since my last post. So today I would like to write a review on my lunch.

Tempura Halibut

I have this from Ginger Lime just next to Seattle University. Well, for Seattle U student, I believe you guys have been here for thousand times (hyperball). The food in general is okay, the place is clean, they cook pretty fast. The only thing that I don't really like is the service, no smile. There's once that I'm so pissed that I have to write "smile a little bit please" on my bill. Hehehe

Talking about my Tempura Halibut, it's actually pretty good but this is a dish that you can't eat without rice. It's pretty salty and the sauce is pretty oily as well (as u can see from the picture). Thankfully the fish is fresh and we get salad, positive point :P Reasonable price I have to say, it's cost me $9.35 and FYI they charge you $.25 for the eco friendly to go box which is totally okay. Save OUR world :)

Ginger Lime

732 12th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 323-9030

Mora Ice Cream

Haha, I really like this Quote:

Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table.

- William Powell

Well, at least as a sweet tooth person there's always space in my stomach for the lovely dessert. So, since we don't have any dessert at Cafe Nola, we go to ice cream place, Mora. This is my 2nd time and still not liking it that much. For my taste bud, they have way too strong flavor and way too sweet. I just like Molly Moon better :D Well, the different is Molly Moon only sells ice cream but Mora has more options, something healthier like Frozen Yogurt or Sorbet, and other drinks and desserts. They have more flavor as well at Mora.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake with Vanilla and Sabayon flavor Ice Cream

One word : RICH! Oh my, all the foods here are just RICH to the max. Really thick, way over power for my taste bud. Since I haven't tried Molten Lava Cake at Joey's my friend told me that Joey's is better. Unfortunately Mola's, the chocolate doesn't flow out as it shown on the picture (commercial's victim) but it's still way too thick. Good thing it's warm :P Talking about the ice cream, STILL over power, the Vanilla is REALLY vanilla and sweat, I like the Sabayon better, a slight white wine taste with the over power chocolate and vanilla :p

Apple Pie with Gianduja

The apple pie is too mushy, dislike. The ice cream? It's more like Chocolate Gelato, the thing that I REALLY REALLY LOVE from the Gianduja is because they put whole Hazelnut! Nyum!!! Sweet and crunchy. Likey!

We don't finish one of this because we just too full and too sinful. Might come back for other things, not the ice cream. Hopefully the sorbet taste better or at least the frozen yogurt? Haha. The place is a typical small ice cream shop which is cute. Well for ice cream lover, why not you guys try this? :P

Cafe Nola

First of all, I would like to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING for everyone :) It's been such a bless for me to have the opportunity to try foods around Seattle; thanks for all the people that has asked me to go and comment about this blog as well. This Thanksgiving weekend beside a bless also has been a bloody sinful weekend. However once again Thank You :P Hope you guys have a great thanks giving activity too :)

It's been a while since my last hunting, so today I finally have a chance to try a new restaurant, Cafe Nola. Well, it's a short weekend getaway in Bainbridge Island. Haha, it might be sound so wrong that I have to cross the "island" only for brunch but I guess it's all worth it :) Food isn't expensive eventho you have extra cost from the ferry tickets. It cost us roughly 35$ for 4 adults and vehicle. Well I guess you don't have to bother driving your car to Bainbridge Island because everything there is in walking distance and they have small city center. It's only 0.3 miles (if i'm not mistaken from the pier to the cafe). Going to Bainbridge Island is also not bad at all because it only takes about 30 minutes to go there and you get a totally different feel compare to Seattle. (Real sweet getaway :D)

The cafe will be on your left corner and it's not hard to find the cafe (luckily). They have no big space but comfy and good ambiance. The people are friendly, and I overall liking this place. As you know I like place with good level of bright, so today the weather just perfect. Since they have plenty window so we also have a chance to enjoy the sunshine, well they do not have the perfect view but good friends adds everything up :)

Btw, they have different menu based on the time, since we go there around 11.30 we still get the Brunch Menu and these all what we order.

Potato Slatke

I just try to find this food description through their website but I guess I just have to remember what is this. As you can see, you have toast (that I don't have a chance to eat because they take my plate while I'm in the toilet. Don't blame them, I don't tell anybody that I haven't finished :P) Fresh fruits, they don't peel the skin, I don't know why. The Potato Slatke, starting from the bottom, the potato dish which is good, a little bit to thin; Canadian bacon, my potato slatke might be the most salty comparing to others but surprisingly it's still tolerable :D; cheese I don't know what's the name but it's chewy which is adding more texture on the dish; sunny side up? Geez, I feel like my cholesterol level rising up right after I eat the yolk. FYI, you get this dish for $14 :)

Caramel Pecan French Toast

Caramel? Toast? and Bacon? Haha, my friend actually comment about this through facebook, 8/10 for this! I'm not a big fans of caramel, but this actually good. When first they serve the food, I can smell the toasted pecan and caramel :D The caramel is not too strong and too sweet, just perfect blend with the bacon. Well, it's not a regular bacon, a little thicker but still crunchy and as you can see from the picture that you actually eat bacon not a chunk of fat that we always find in supermarket. Btw the french toast also fluffy not too moist not too dry and FYI, this Caramel Pecan French Toast actually shown in Food Network. :D (Price: $14? I'm sorry I forgot)

Traditional Egg Benedict

There are three types of Egg Benedict that they serves: traditional, florentine, and dungeness crab. What's the different? The source of the protein. Traditional is the one that you can see from the picture :p Canadian Bacon. Florentine is more for vegetarian, I guess because they don't have meat but tomato and something (haiyoh, I should remember things better :s). Dungeness Crab? Yes! protein from crab. 6.5/10 for this, I still like Portage Bay at U-district better. ($14 or $16. hehe)

Panzanella Scramble

I know, I know, the picture kinda dark. I'm sorry! This is just the disadvantage of too much sunshine :( and might just my photography skill. Hxhx. Oh well, talking about the food, not sure what's inside because once again I can't find it through their website (BOOOO!) Hehehe, what I remember they have potato, tomato, supposed to have urugula but we ask them to take out from the food. You can say that scramble egg is just a scramble egg but surprisingly the way they cook the egg is different. It's a little bit thinner, not too chunky so it's much lighter flavor and you can feel a lil bit "fried" taste.

I might go back to this place for the sake of "gateway" from Seattle, price is roughly $10-$14 which I think really reasonable, big portion, nice place, friendly people :) I recommend to try the Potato Slatke for potato lover and the Caramel Pecan French Toast. Well overall it's a grade B place that you always can go. and Now it's your turn to try ^^

I ♥ Sushi

We actually went to I ♥ Sushi for 4th of July this year. Location wise, it's pretty strategic because they located in Lake Union so we could see the firework pretty clear. It was really crowded at that time. I didn't expect much as long as we got the food. It was pretty slow but I guess it's just because of the situation, all of the restaurant in Lake Union was full due to 4th of July. So we were lucky!

Btw, sorry for having blurry pictures :( I've supposed to done better. Hx. To tell you the truth I have to wear my glasses now to write this post because I'm not sure whether there's something wrong with my eyes or the picture but I guess it's just the picture (my bad).

Chawan Mushi with Snow Crab

It was cold at that time so the chawan mushi actually warmed me up. I like the snow crab on top as well :D

Garlic Calamari

It's good, not too greasy (or greasy?). Well, at least they have all the salad on the bottom which blend perfectly with the calamari :)

Agedashi Tofu

Yummy! I like this one better than Maneki tho :D

Spicy Tofu

Top to Bottom - Spider, Copy Red Caterpillar, Marlin (?)

Green Tea Tempura Ice Cream

To tell you the truth, I don't really remember how does it all taste. I don't feel like it's 2 $ restaurant but it actually worth the penny. They don't have the nicest place ever, or don't even think about comparing I love sushi with Joey's. (When you're looking for something romantic). It might be romantic but when I came it was sooo crowded so I can't complain too much about that. My friend ordered a couple drinks and it actually nice too :D I'm sure coming back again for the food because they just have the quality, freshness :D Parking spot? They are there for you.

Little story after we had dinner. It was so crowded (4th of July) and we couldn't find a parking spot, and when we finally found parking spot which need 5-10 minutes walking or more. We had to wait for about 1 hour + to go out because there was "nice person" parked just at the back of us. Thankfully that I had my UNO Card in the car so we spent the rest waiting time with playing. Not too bad :P

Ohana

It was raining and we were looking for food somewhere in Belltown area. In fact we actually were thinking of going to Umisake where we just figured that we had to wait for an hour. The dragon in our stomach might just hungry to death because we just decide to find another place. So we finally went to Ohana. It's really close with Umisake, i think it's just next to it. The food was pretty good, it's a Japanese-Hawaiian type of restaurant. The only thing that I don't really like actually the place and the service. Well, actually they have pretty unique design, they have a "bungalow" typo inside so it feels like hawaii? The service was pretty slow or we were just too hungry.

Loco Moco

On the bigger bowl it actually a grilled hamburger patty & fried egg over rice with the brown gravy. It actually taste good and I like the mashed potato as well :D

Fish and Chips

Surprisingly good, the fish was fresh and wasn't too oily. I think the crucial ingredients in any deep fried food is the oil. Beside concerning the health, cooking with your oil more than two times actually decreased the quality. Taste will be different and sometimes it will be yucky!

Talking about oil, I just want to remind about using olive oil. There are three types of virgin oil, extra virgin, fine virgin and ordinary virgin olive oil and I think their main difference is the treatment. Never use extra virgin olive oil to deep fried, or heat it because it will change their chemical structure and it will become toxic. Use extra virgin olive oil best for salad dressing, for other typo, just remember not to heat up because until certain temperature it will change just like the extra virgin olive oil. Well, correct me if I'm wrong :)

Sumo Bento - choice of Tempura and Beef Teriyaki

The beef teriyaki was different from the common teriyaki, it's just thicker and bigger. Liking the sauce and the tenderness :) The tempura, it's like only 2 ebi (shrimp) tempura and all other are vegetables tempura :p

We didn't order the sushi because it was pretty overprice comparing to other restaurant and we didn't know about the freshness. So we just bothered having the sushi, however my friend told me that the sushi head chief is actually Indonesian. GO INDO :P Don't know you yet about going back here, because I have list of other places that I have to try. Huah, I wish I can eat whatever I want and never gain weight :S

Ohana

2207 1st Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121

(206) 956-9329

Grinders

These pictures actually has been in my facebook photo album for quite a while. Since I haven't been to any new restaurants so I decided to make a review of it one by one :D

So we went to Grinders, it's sandwich place as you can see through the pictures (duh?). I have no comparison overall because I haven't been to Paseo sandwich (Aaaa, shame on me :'S). They were closed when I went there :( Many of my friend told me that Paseo is really good and Paseo actually listed as a place that you have to try in Seattle

Dipper

Just like the name, you dip the bread and the meat into the sauce. So messy!

Meatball

I have to tell that they have huge serving size. I ended up with leftover because this was just way too big. The meatball was homemade and tasty, the French bread really crunchy.

Chicken Pesto (?)

I'm actually not sure what is this, I keep trying to figure this out and Chicken Pesto becomes my best guess. :P GOOD! HUGE!

Bread Pudding with Whiskey and Cream Sauce

Lovely and to die for! It's warm and you can taste the whiskey, has great fluffy texture. This might be a great dessert during snow :P

Talking about the place, it easy access, spacious and good bright level (I don't like dark place :P) The table and chair might not be the most comfort one but it's okay. I would go back for the Bread Pudding because it's just sooooo good :D

Grinders

19811 Aurora Ave

Shoreline, WA 98133

(206) 542-0627

Maneki

I love taking pictures of foods! :D Well, at least I have a good experience just now with Maneki. :p I met up with my friends there because she looks at the picture that I posted in the facebook and decided to go there. Yay!

This was my first time going to Maneki after staying here for about 3 years? (shame on me :P) Well, I've always being told that Maneki has a really good sukiyaki. So last night was just perfect timing, because it was freezing last night (a whole day I supposed to say). It was pretty crowded, so I was glad that my friend made a reservation ahead or I (we) would be starving to dead :P The restaurant looked small from the outside but it actually pretty spacious (stretch out the back).

Agedashi Tofu

I am a big fans of agedashi tofu so everytime I go to Japanese restaurant this tofu dish is a must for me :). Well, I've never tried the one that I'm dying for but this one is just okay.

Steamed Salmon in Foil Pouch

Fish? Steam? I think it should be healthy but the "healthy" word seems vanish because of the mayonnaise on top. Oh well, it's good anyway and surprisingly it wasn't salty :D Eat your salmon with the onion on the bottom and enjoy your great appetizer :)

Sukiyaki

TADDAAA! This was the spotlight of the night :P Pretty big huh? We actually ordered the Dinner sukiyaki instead of having the a la carte. It's $11 for the dinner but it came with rice, miso soup and tempura. What a good deal! If it was too much, you could have the a la carte Sukiyaki only for $8. I couldn't say that this was the best but it was good :)

Tempura

Nothing special for me and now, out of sudden I'm craving for Ika at Saburo. -__-"

Croquette

Nothing special, I like the salad and the dressing tho :) Well, I always love Japanese dressing because it seems much more lighter but actually flavoring.

Karage

They served you big chunk chicken karage!

Ika Garlic Bata-Yaki

It was pretty blend for me and I couldn't taste the garlic

Maneki Ice Supreme-Tempura Green Tea Ice Cream Wrapped with Poppyseed Cake

Haha, what a long name! But it actually really good :) I really like the idea of having poppyseed in the batter which kinda add more texture into it. The ice cream taste pretty bold which I like and the color as well.

I might come back again to Maneki to try their sushi this time. Checking if they have fresh sashimi and of course I will write the review about it :)

Almost forgotten, things that I don't really like: the menu, they have a lot of choices but the placement kinda confusing; friendly service but our servant actually forgot to refill our green tea at last. -___-"

Maneki

304 6th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 622-2631