In my next novel about Seattle, I'm writing about the lunches, snacks, and treats we got while we were there. You guys, there's so much good food in this city! I need to learn to split a dish with hubby or order small plates since we are constantly eating when on vacation. Do you have a strategy for eating on vacation? If so, please share in the comments!
The Athenian at Pike Place Market
Honestly, we got into our hotel and I was starving yet I still took the time to video a hotel tour on Instagram Stories (I'm a little nuts, let's all just embrace it.) We asked the hotel front desk employees where we should eat and they said The Athenian. Later, I talked to my friend Diane and she said the same so The Athenian was obviously the right choice. Dustin started with a Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Black Frog Stout (which is local to them) which he enjoyed. I liked it too. We are both super into dark beer right now. He had the Bacon and Bleu Burger which was a solid burger though not unique. However the onion rings were AMAZING and I'd say that they are in my top 5 onion rings I've ever eaten. You MUST go here for the onion rings and ask for extra condiments, they have all kinds of hot sauce and other sauces that you can request. I had the 2 piece fish and chips. It was delicious! Their tartar sauce is really good! Neither the tartar sauce nor the cole slaw leaned sweet which was kind of refreshing. The fries were good. Overall, a nice filling meal to start our trip. The service was great and we got to enjoy a nice view while eating.
Bakery Nouveau
After we had lunch, I reached out to one of my Instagram friends Jess who is SeattleDessertGeek. I figured she would have great suggestions being that she's a food Instagrammer like me. She is such a sweetheart that she came and met us and actually SHOWED us around like a tour guide. And she came bearing a gift! She brought us this Praline Dream Cake from Bakery Nouveau. It has hazelnut in all different forms. It had a delicious mousse, milk chocolate and praline flakey fuelletine, gianduja, and chocolate biscuit. It was spectacular!
The Athenian at Pike Place Market
Honestly, we got into our hotel and I was starving yet I still took the time to video a hotel tour on Instagram Stories (I'm a little nuts, let's all just embrace it.) We asked the hotel front desk employees where we should eat and they said The Athenian. Later, I talked to my friend Diane and she said the same so The Athenian was obviously the right choice. Dustin started with a Snoqualmie Falls Brewing Black Frog Stout (which is local to them) which he enjoyed. I liked it too. We are both super into dark beer right now. He had the Bacon and Bleu Burger which was a solid burger though not unique. However the onion rings were AMAZING and I'd say that they are in my top 5 onion rings I've ever eaten. You MUST go here for the onion rings and ask for extra condiments, they have all kinds of hot sauce and other sauces that you can request. I had the 2 piece fish and chips. It was delicious! Their tartar sauce is really good! Neither the tartar sauce nor the cole slaw leaned sweet which was kind of refreshing. The fries were good. Overall, a nice filling meal to start our trip. The service was great and we got to enjoy a nice view while eating.
Bakery Nouveau
After we had lunch, I reached out to one of my Instagram friends Jess who is SeattleDessertGeek. I figured she would have great suggestions being that she's a food Instagrammer like me. She is such a sweetheart that she came and met us and actually SHOWED us around like a tour guide. And she came bearing a gift! She brought us this Praline Dream Cake from Bakery Nouveau. It has hazelnut in all different forms. It had a delicious mousse, milk chocolate and praline flakey fuelletine, gianduja, and chocolate biscuit. It was spectacular!
Cupcake Royale
Honesty time, I was going to try to go to Unicorn purely because of the name but there was a line of super young people outside and I didn't really want to wait in a line and deal with a crowd. However, I found Cupcake Royale across the street and YOU GUYS, the shop looked like it came out of my dreams! It was pink and sassy and so cute! The was a huge display of pink bakery boxes that spelled out JOY on the wall and that's my daughter's middle name. It looked like Pinterest inside the shop. They even had a display of ice cream and they had coffee and tea. I was too full to eat or drink anything when we walked in but I got the Kate Cupcake which is a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting and sprinkles to go. It was delicious even though I didn't get around to eating it until Monday after I got home! This photo was taken from our balcony at The Alexis Hotel. If I lived close by, this is a place I would go to all the time. In fact, if I lived close by, I'd probably try to do photoshoots here. It is THAT cute!
Honesty time, I was going to try to go to Unicorn purely because of the name but there was a line of super young people outside and I didn't really want to wait in a line and deal with a crowd. However, I found Cupcake Royale across the street and YOU GUYS, the shop looked like it came out of my dreams! It was pink and sassy and so cute! The was a huge display of pink bakery boxes that spelled out JOY on the wall and that's my daughter's middle name. It looked like Pinterest inside the shop. They even had a display of ice cream and they had coffee and tea. I was too full to eat or drink anything when we walked in but I got the Kate Cupcake which is a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting and sprinkles to go. It was delicious even though I didn't get around to eating it until Monday after I got home! This photo was taken from our balcony at The Alexis Hotel. If I lived close by, this is a place I would go to all the time. In fact, if I lived close by, I'd probably try to do photoshoots here. It is THAT cute!
Mora Iced Creamery
I heard a lot about Mora ice cream from several local people so when we got to Bainbridge Island and wanted a snack we knew where we were going! Mora is a really interesting place since you have to commit to paying for whatever size or item you're going to get BEFORE sampling. BUT it's really good ice cream so just go ahead and do it. What's a few dollars when they will literally let you try everything in the store? The staff was SO sweet! I couldn't decide what I wanted and they let me try whatever I wanted. Beyond that, the girls started suggesting other flavors for me and giving me samples of those. ALL of the flavors are delicious! I didn't have a single one I didn't like. I did like some more than others because that's my palette. I ended up getting the Mora (Blackberry) and Cheesecake with Brownies ice creams. I love adding tartness to sweet to break it up! This shop was so cute and if I lived close by I would go there ALL the time!
This place is legit. When you walk in, you can see a person make fresh pasta in the gallery kitchen. Not only do they make their pasta and bread from scratch, it is all sour dough! They also do a lot of house crafted spirits along with having a literal wall full of bottles of alcohol. One of the things that drew us in is the giant wheels of drink specials that they spin every half hour. How fun is it to have a different drink every 30 mins at a special price? Your girl loves a deal especially on drinks! It's like Happy Hour ALL the time.
When I first walked in, they drink special was a Dirty Shirley so that's what I ordered. It was delicious! It was a Shirley Temple spiked with vodka. Dustin tried a martini since he'd never had one and they have $5 martinis all day. It's so fun because the waitress brings it over in the shaker then they shake and pour table side! After another spin of the wheel, Dustin ordered a local beer that was on special and that glass it came in was HUGE! If I lived in Seattle, this would be my go-to place for drinks!
To start, we ordered the Whole Milk Fresh Mozzarella Spread with their house made bread. It was AMAZING! The bread was delicious and of course fresh cheese is always a treat! It was really good with the pesto that their garnished the plate with. Dustin got the Mac and Cheese and asked to add meatballs to it. I'm not sure if they added meatballs or sausage but it was delicious! That scratch made pasta is out of this world and they use Beechers cheese which is very local to them and is VERY popular among locals! I got the Fresh Mussel, Salmon, and Cod pasta. I subbed in their larger pasta shape for the perlina (which is small rice like pasta) and I added the mushrooms. I would not suggest adding the mushrooms since you don't get that much for the $3 you pay but other than that, the dish was AMAZING! You get tons of seafood so while it's a more expensive plate, you get your money's worth.
My major disappointment with this place is that we told the waitress that it was our anniversary meal since this was one of the only meals we ate on our own and it was the last meal of the vacation. Their was another couple celebrating an anniversary and they got a sparkler and maybe a dessert. And all I wanted was the sparkler because it was pretty and I was doing tons of social media video/photos in their establishment. We got NOTHING. We dropped 80 bucks on lunch and couldn't get a $1 sparkler... It's a small finicky detail but 12 years of marriage is a lot of work and if given the option we could have PAID for the sparkler if the option was given to us.
I'll be back with my last Seattle post in a few days which will include dinner and drinks. Huge thank you to everyone who is sticking through all these posts with me!
Twitter
I heard a lot about Mora ice cream from several local people so when we got to Bainbridge Island and wanted a snack we knew where we were going! Mora is a really interesting place since you have to commit to paying for whatever size or item you're going to get BEFORE sampling. BUT it's really good ice cream so just go ahead and do it. What's a few dollars when they will literally let you try everything in the store? The staff was SO sweet! I couldn't decide what I wanted and they let me try whatever I wanted. Beyond that, the girls started suggesting other flavors for me and giving me samples of those. ALL of the flavors are delicious! I didn't have a single one I didn't like. I did like some more than others because that's my palette. I ended up getting the Mora (Blackberry) and Cheesecake with Brownies ice creams. I love adding tartness to sweet to break it up! This shop was so cute and if I lived close by I would go there ALL the time!
When I first walked in, they drink special was a Dirty Shirley so that's what I ordered. It was delicious! It was a Shirley Temple spiked with vodka. Dustin tried a martini since he'd never had one and they have $5 martinis all day. It's so fun because the waitress brings it over in the shaker then they shake and pour table side! After another spin of the wheel, Dustin ordered a local beer that was on special and that glass it came in was HUGE! If I lived in Seattle, this would be my go-to place for drinks!
To start, we ordered the Whole Milk Fresh Mozzarella Spread with their house made bread. It was AMAZING! The bread was delicious and of course fresh cheese is always a treat! It was really good with the pesto that their garnished the plate with. Dustin got the Mac and Cheese and asked to add meatballs to it. I'm not sure if they added meatballs or sausage but it was delicious! That scratch made pasta is out of this world and they use Beechers cheese which is very local to them and is VERY popular among locals! I got the Fresh Mussel, Salmon, and Cod pasta. I subbed in their larger pasta shape for the perlina (which is small rice like pasta) and I added the mushrooms. I would not suggest adding the mushrooms since you don't get that much for the $3 you pay but other than that, the dish was AMAZING! You get tons of seafood so while it's a more expensive plate, you get your money's worth.
My major disappointment with this place is that we told the waitress that it was our anniversary meal since this was one of the only meals we ate on our own and it was the last meal of the vacation. Their was another couple celebrating an anniversary and they got a sparkler and maybe a dessert. And all I wanted was the sparkler because it was pretty and I was doing tons of social media video/photos in their establishment. We got NOTHING. We dropped 80 bucks on lunch and couldn't get a $1 sparkler... It's a small finicky detail but 12 years of marriage is a lot of work and if given the option we could have PAID for the sparkler if the option was given to us.
I'll be back with my last Seattle post in a few days which will include dinner and drinks. Huge thank you to everyone who is sticking through all these posts with me!
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Seriously tho, the onion rings at the Athenian were AMAZING. Go out of your way to get these, they are so worth it.
ReplyDeleteLOL...guess I'm going to have to get some onion rings. Love your post Ashley!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a fun trip!!!! My goal one of these days/ years is to take a long weekend away with the hubs. We'd probably have to stick close to home (so no Seattle for us), but there are lots of awesome places in MI we could check out.
ReplyDeleteAshley, your posts always make me hungry ;) I'm all about the cupcake!
ReplyDeleteThis foooooooood....good night, I'm starving now!! Looks like a blast!!
ReplyDelete