Get in my belly!: Seattle

I flew in to Seattle (HOLY MOLY it's COLD!!!) and made my way on the Link Light Rail to get to the city (depending on which terminal you fly in to, you use a shuttle or walk to get to the Link platform). It cost me $2.75 one way and should have taken about 45 mins but there was an issue with the track and we had to get off. No problem, google maps told me the next bus right outside of the Link stop would get me to my destination and I showed my Link pass and was able to connect with no problem.

My hostel, The Green Tortoise, was located right across the street from Pike Place Market!

This hostel turns out to be an incredible find as the room rate was inexpensive, they offer breakfast in the mornings, dinner on certain nights, assigned lockers, various hosted events/tours to join in on (some cost money and some are tip-accepted), private toilet and showers, and laundry!

So what to eat? I don't really have much time in this city at all so I had to choose wisely and I really really have to practice self control

Walrus and the Carpenter - The name alone sounds fun and menu looked great so I went for it

Again, an open kitchen but it's always fun to sit at the bar and watch cooks cook

Only classy ladies drink beer out of a can 😉

Hama Hama and Sea Cow oysters (don't remember which is which) with mignonette and shaved horseradish - both oysters were really sweet and delicate

Smoked Trout with Lentils, Walnuts and Pickled Onion - This dish had great texture, it looked beautiful, and most importantly it was seasoned really well. The trout was not smoked in house though

Beef Cheek terrine with Carrot Purée and Beef Broth - This is like a refined version of a prime rib dinner. If you like beef and enjoy the lip smacking gelatinous quality of tendon, then you'll love beef cheeks! There's a harmonious blend of both textures for you to enjoy. I assume that they braise the beef cheeks for a few hours, chop it or shred it and compress in into a terrine, cut them in to slices and sear it for a nice crispy crust on the outside. The carrot purée isn't quite a purée, more like a pulse of the robot coupe a few times, mixed with other goodies. This dish had fun texture and it tasted great.... Both items I had were seasoned really well and the oysters speak for themselves, nothing needed. Very happy with this dining experience!

Not knowing this city very well and it being much colder than San Francisco, I decided to go back closer to the hostel to discover what's there and enable a quick retreat to the room if I get tired or cold.... So apparently there's nothing to do around Pike Place after hours.... If I branched out a few blocks towards Capitol Hill I could've found something but I decided on The Pike Brewing Company and found out they brew their own beers and ciders. What a treat! 🍻 I tried their lighter brew, the Naughty Nellie, a golden English style ale.. It was delicious and my bartender was nice too! She told me about an oyster place I had to try during happy hour... Done!

I knew I wanted to get up early to see Pike Place Market in full swing so I called it a night

Day 2

The air smells different... Maybe my lungs are clearing out the smog... It just smells cleaner

This is my only full day in Seattle so I knew I wanted to eat seafood in any form, especially oysters!

But first the market... So many beautiful things to look at.. It's an open air market of fresh everything and a few specialty retailers... Maybe it's busier during the summer and also when they throw fish around but it was still nice to walk around with no crowds

Beecher's Cheese making facilities next door to their retail

Ellenos - Homemade Greek yogurt!! They use their own family bacteria strain and they offer many fun flavors, mine was Chai tea, they also have lemon curd, marionberry, caramel slice, passion fruit...etc.. And of course plain... A little bird told me they're looking at a location in Los Angeles.. What what?!!

Earlier I walked passed a chowder place featuring different chowders offering a possibility of ordering a sampler! So now that I'm hungry, I want chowder!!

Pike Place Chowder - L clockwise: New England clam chowder, daily special-corn, oyster, crab and chorizo chowder, Seared scallop chowder, Smoked salmon chowder, served with sourdough bread and all the oyster crackers I can eat!

The New England Classic was my favorite, followed closely by Smoked salmon and the daily special... The Seared scallop was good but the scallops added a sweetness to the chowder that I just didn't care for. The Classic was just so good cause it's familiar and it was just good, the Smoked salmon had an awesome color and tasted nice and smokey with nice chunks of salmon, the Special had a nice flavor from the chorizo (pork makes the world a better place) and briney from the oyster.. So good! And all for $11.95

They have other offerings like seafood salads, crab rolls, and other sandwiches as well

I couldn't finish all the chowder and I will need something to eat tomorrow on my train ride, and since my hostel offers refrigerator space to guests, I saved the remaining chowder and decided it was happy hour time 🍸🍹🍷

Elliot's Oyster House, just south of Pike Place Market and closer to the water, offers an incredible happy hour!

Mon-Fri in the lounge (prices subject to change)

Chef’s Choice | Freshly shucked oysters on the half–shell
3:00pm– $1.00
4:00pm– $1.50
5:00pm– $2.00

Food

Blackened Rockfish Taco 3
Tomatillo mayo, salsa

Crispy Calamari 3
Garlic aioli

Oyster Stew 4
Pepper bacon, brioche crouton

Tequila Lime Mussels 3
Jalapenos, cream

Salmon Slider 4
Tartar sauce, basil pesto

Beer

Elliott’s Amber 4

Coors Light 3

Wine

House White 4
California, 2008

House Red 4
California, 2008

Featured Oyster Wine $Price Varies
An excellent wine that complements our fresh oysters.

Bar

The Martini 6
Classic cocktail with house vodka or gin

Pier Margarita 6
Tequila, triple sec, fresh lime juice

Scratch Mary 5
Pepper Infused vodka, bloody mary mix

Oyster Shooter 5
Peppered vodka, bloody mary, oyster

Crazy awesome menu right?!

I didn't order this but I sat next to the pass and snapped the photo

1 doz Hama Hama oysters

The Shucker extraordinaire, Anthony and Shaun, would choose what they want to shuck for a certain period of time (there were like 20 different varieties of oysters to choose from as well) and it changes often, in the span of 1 hour, I tried 3 different varieties and tapped out at 2 dozen... The couple next to me put away 6 dozen and other food too!!!! They talked about being from New Jersey and not having anything like this, I agreed and we talked about how fresh everything tasted and bad drivers east coast vs west coast.... Shaun and Anthony liked that we enjoyed the oysters so much they started shucking a couple of their favorites so we can try other varieties! If you get a chance to try Stellar Bay oysters, do it! The texture is delicate and creamy yet firm and the flavor is briney and sweet like a sea urchin!! Also known as heaven in my mouth

So the friend that told me about Sightglass coffee in San Francisco set me up with his friend in Seattle, we are to have dinner at Bar Sajor

Since we had never met each other, I felt like I was on a blind date, I was excited and nervous at the same time haha! I found out she felt the same way!

Sarah turned out to be a great source of information on the city and the industry, she was also really fun to talk to and an incredibly nice person!

I didn't want to ruin the moment by pulling out my phone all the time so unfortunately I have no pictures of this dinner but I will describe what we ordered to the best of my abilities

🍴Winter salad (kale, apples, nuts and Beecher's cheddar) - this salad was so delicious and seasoned so well. There was great texture from the nuts and apples then the creaminess of the cheese made the salad very satisfying

🍴Mussels with escabeche vegetables - the mussels were steamed and taken out of the shell for us, tossed with pickled vegetables and served with a side of shaved toasted bread. The mussels were also nicely seasoned and cooked perfectly, the toast however was not seasoned and shaved too thin to serve as actual toast so I crumbled mine and used them like croutons with the mussels. Still delicious and now I have texture

🍴Roasted root vegetables - a mixture of root vegetables cut into various shapes, fire roasted and tossed in something delicious. I would have liked the vegetables to have more texture but they were still tasty

🍴Black cod - trumpet mushrooms, cabbage and pomegranate sauce. I love cod and I love mushrooms... The napa cabbage tasted like it was poached in butter, i.e. melted in my mouth, the cod was cooked perfectly and the pomegranate sauce added a beautiful tartness to the dish. So yummy!

Bar Sajor Kitchen

So after a great dinner and amazing conversation we called it a night cause Sarah had to get home and I wanted to join a tour with my hostel

I told you earlier that my hostel offers events and tours that they conduct and tonight's tour was a Night Photography Tour! Fun right? A great way for me to see the city at night, meet new people and capture cool sights to commemorate my trip (Instagram 😁)

Our guide Sascha, has worked for the hostel for many years and his father worked for a camera company all his life so he knew the city and he knew his way around a camera... Good thing all I have is my iPhone! I was still able to learn a few things about the city and about light exposure and shutter speed so I can try out on my camera at home