Beer, Food, and Neighborhood Tour of Seattle (Long)
Sep 10th, 2006, 06:13 PM
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Beer, Food, and Neighborhood Tour of Seattle (Long)
Enjoyed a 4-night trip to Seattle from DC for Labor Day weekend. Why Seattle? Cheap airfare ($265), good beer (required), and potential area for future relocation (should the mood strike).
We stayed at Hotel Monaco downtown. Got a great rate of $144 + tax using Quickbook. We had originally booked on Quickbook at $175 + tax per night, but canceled our reservation and rebooked about a week before we left when we noticed the rate had gone down. We did rent a car, and parking rates at Monaco were outrageous - $27/day. We arrived on a Saturday and enjoyed free street parking through Monday, then were lucky enough to find spots after 6:00 Monday night and Tuesday. What could have been an expensive parking lesson turned into a grand total of $8.50 in parking fees for our entire stay.
Monaco is pet friendly, and if you don’t bring your own, they’ll supply you with a goldfish. Ours came with a card indicating that his name was Cardozon, but he was clearly a “chucknorris” and remained such during his visit in our room. I almost gave the poor thing a heart attack one morning when I stupidly put his bowl in front of our alarm clock. Whoops.
We flew to Seattle on a Saturday and after checking in hit Pike Place Market for a (mediocre) beer at Pike Place Brewing. My hubby hates crowds and most touristy things, so Pike Place Market was not high on his list of things he enjoyed about Seattle. I didn’t dislike the Market as much as he did – was too fascinated by the cheap (to me) floral arrangements and the flying fish (highlight was seeing them miss and a woman get smacked full on with the fish).
As much as we didn’t like the market, I would highly recommend heading there for a meal. We had our first meal at Matt’s in the Market – I made reservations by phone a month in advance and was glad I did. There were 5 tables in the entire restaurant and an additional 10 stools by the bar. No A/C, little ambience, and semi-grumpy service, but the food was outstanding (and cooked on what appeared to be a camping stove). We enjoyed a homemade sausage and heirloom tomato salad, mixed greens and blue cheese with toasted pumpkin seeds, wild salmon over risotto, halibut over orzo and spinach, bread pudding (yum) and drinks for a total of $100. Compared to “good” restaurants at home in DC, we thought this place was both a gem and a bargain.
After dinner we headed back home via 4th Avenue and came across Purple Café and Wine Bar. I remembered seeing a thread about this new hip restaurant here on the Forums, and we went inside and sat at the bar for some after-dinner drinks. HUGE selection of wines by the glass and very cool interior. This was a fantastic place for an evening cocktail.
We got up late on Sunday and therefore didn’t have a real breakfast. We intended to do some shopping downtown but were still a little too early for them to be open. We then decided to walk from Pike Place Market to Elysian Brewing in Capitol Hill…a very long walk (uphill) of more than a mile, but we arrived at lunchtime and the beer/food was exactly what we were craving. Above average pub food and beers made this one of our favorite alehouses on the trip (and we did a lot of comparing). After multiple beers we figured another long walk would suit us well, so we made the trek back to our hotel. Of course, we couldn’t pass up a visit into Six Arms pub (also in Capitol Hill). I appreciated the bartender not letting us order a pesto arteychoke beer (even though it sounded interesting enough to order)…he said it was terrible and he wouldn’t sell it, but he did satisfy our curiosity and offered us a taster of it. We were glad he wouldn’t let us order a pint of it.
After our long walk back to the hotel, we were ready for a nap before an evening out. Slept a bit then took a cab to the Seattle center to the Bumbershoot Music Festival. We enjoyed performances from Great Big Sea and Zero 7. The Great Big Sea tent was under the Space Needle, so that was great to see all lit up…even though it was easy for me to imagine it coming to life and squashing me a la “War of the Worlds.”
Monday began with a breakfast at Sazerack in our hotel…it was okay but expensive (hubby did eat the Eggs in Hell and said they were good – mine was just average). Today’s quest was a tour through Queen Anne and Fremont. We got derailed from our drive by Hales Ales which was open at 9:00 a.m. for Labor Day. Never ones to pass up a brewery, we headed in for a few tastes – excellent breakfast menu (too bad we had already eaten) and great cream ales. One thing we really learned to love at the alehouses in Seattle were the different size pours you could request – made it possible to drink less but taste more!
We didn’t stop in Queen Anne or Fremont and headed over to Ballard. Was such a gorgeous day and hubby requested lunch outside. We headed to Ray’s Boathouse and got a table right along the railing. Ray’s was great – gorgeous views and delicious food. We enjoyed Dungeness crab cakes (way better than our Chesapeake crabs) and red rockfish over polenta.
We headed back downtown, parked the car, and walked to Pioneer Square. We really enjoyed walking through the Elliott Bay bookstore. Saw a book called “Breakfasts in Seattle” and it made me think about how there was a recent thread in which people said there weren’t many breakfast choices in Seattle…I would encourage you to read the book and be proved wrong!
We headed back to Pike Place Market and thought we might cancel our dinner reservations at Etta’s (after having a big lunch at Ray’s), but we decided to keep them and stuff ourselves further. We were really glad we didn’t cancel on Etta’s. The interior is a bit ho-hum and there’s no real view, but the food was excellent. We had mini crabcake appetizers to share, then a striped bass special and the halibut (which we both agreed was better than the bass).
Our dinner was early so we thought we would walk to the casino we’d read about…only about half way there we realized that was a weird thing to do on vacation in Seattle and instead headed back to Elysian Brewing for dessert of beer and nachos. (Did I mention I gained 20 lbs in 4 days?)
Tuesday was our last full day and probably my favorite day in Seattle. Hubby wanted more water views, so we headed to West Seattle. We had breakfast at Cupcake Royale (too cool – serves nothing but coffee and cupcakes) and then browsed through Easy Street Records before continuing on to Aliki Beach area. We loved the view of the downtown skyline from West Seattle and were so glad we had made the drive there.
Got back in the car and headed to Fremont. Had lunch at Brouwer’s Café and wished we had found this place earlier in our trip. They have over 50 taps and 250 bottles, and they were having their Hopfest which meant the taps they usually devote to Belgians were strictly very hoppy beers (hubby’s fave). I don’t like my beers too hoppy, so I amused myself by becoming acquainted with some very beautiful Belgian beers in the bottle. We ate lunch here and the beer definitely upstages the food. While the frites were excellent (get the aioli dipping sauce), the mains were just so-so. Still, this was the best beer selection we found in Seattle.
We enjoyed shopping in Fremont – great little boutiques and atmosphere. We decided if we ever move to Seattle, Fremont would suit us well.
Headed back to Pioneer Square and found the newest Elysian Brewing near the stadium. They’d only been open for 15 days, but I think their location (and size) will ensure success.
We had originally planned to have dinner at Chez Shea but couldn’t fathom a four course meal after all the pigging out we’d already done. Instead, we cancelled our reservations at Chez Shea (good manners) and made a reservation at Shiro’s for sushi. Shiro’s is in Belltown and was a nice walk from our hotel. The sushi was excellent and I would also highly recommend the gyoza (I had vegetable). No Ichiro sighting as I was hoping.
We left Shiro (quick meal) and headed back to the hotel, again stopping at Purple Café and Wine Bar. Enjoyed having 2 different flights of wine and thought their 2.5 oz pours were generous. Paired the wine with cheeses (Saint Nectaire, Ballerina, and Bermuda Triangle) and thought that the hunks of cheese were rather large for $3 each.
Wednesday was our day to travel home. Our flight wasn’t leaving until 1:30 which meant we had plenty of time for breakfast. We headed to Wallingford for Eggs Cetera Blue Star Café (and pub, of course). Holy cow. This place had an enormous selection of eggs and omelets – exactly what we needed to prepare ourselves for the flight home. I had a deadly and delicious omelet of cream cheese, green onion, and avocado. Held the bacon since I’m on a diet (kidding)…I could almost feel my arteries clogging, and it felt GOOD. Highly recommend this place for a great dive breakfast (or hangover cure).
Overall, we loved our trip to Seattle. We were surprised by a few things – we expected more action on the waterfront and we were really surprised by the drugged out people in downtown – but really enjoyed the trip. We were really impressed by the diversity of the neighborhoods and the “something for every budget” feel of the city. Loved it. Probably won’t move there, but really glad we made the journey. Thank you, Seattle!
We stayed at Hotel Monaco downtown. Got a great rate of $144 + tax using Quickbook. We had originally booked on Quickbook at $175 + tax per night, but canceled our reservation and rebooked about a week before we left when we noticed the rate had gone down. We did rent a car, and parking rates at Monaco were outrageous - $27/day. We arrived on a Saturday and enjoyed free street parking through Monday, then were lucky enough to find spots after 6:00 Monday night and Tuesday. What could have been an expensive parking lesson turned into a grand total of $8.50 in parking fees for our entire stay.
Monaco is pet friendly, and if you don’t bring your own, they’ll supply you with a goldfish. Ours came with a card indicating that his name was Cardozon, but he was clearly a “chucknorris” and remained such during his visit in our room. I almost gave the poor thing a heart attack one morning when I stupidly put his bowl in front of our alarm clock. Whoops.
We flew to Seattle on a Saturday and after checking in hit Pike Place Market for a (mediocre) beer at Pike Place Brewing. My hubby hates crowds and most touristy things, so Pike Place Market was not high on his list of things he enjoyed about Seattle. I didn’t dislike the Market as much as he did – was too fascinated by the cheap (to me) floral arrangements and the flying fish (highlight was seeing them miss and a woman get smacked full on with the fish).
As much as we didn’t like the market, I would highly recommend heading there for a meal. We had our first meal at Matt’s in the Market – I made reservations by phone a month in advance and was glad I did. There were 5 tables in the entire restaurant and an additional 10 stools by the bar. No A/C, little ambience, and semi-grumpy service, but the food was outstanding (and cooked on what appeared to be a camping stove). We enjoyed a homemade sausage and heirloom tomato salad, mixed greens and blue cheese with toasted pumpkin seeds, wild salmon over risotto, halibut over orzo and spinach, bread pudding (yum) and drinks for a total of $100. Compared to “good” restaurants at home in DC, we thought this place was both a gem and a bargain.
After dinner we headed back home via 4th Avenue and came across Purple Café and Wine Bar. I remembered seeing a thread about this new hip restaurant here on the Forums, and we went inside and sat at the bar for some after-dinner drinks. HUGE selection of wines by the glass and very cool interior. This was a fantastic place for an evening cocktail.
We got up late on Sunday and therefore didn’t have a real breakfast. We intended to do some shopping downtown but were still a little too early for them to be open. We then decided to walk from Pike Place Market to Elysian Brewing in Capitol Hill…a very long walk (uphill) of more than a mile, but we arrived at lunchtime and the beer/food was exactly what we were craving. Above average pub food and beers made this one of our favorite alehouses on the trip (and we did a lot of comparing). After multiple beers we figured another long walk would suit us well, so we made the trek back to our hotel. Of course, we couldn’t pass up a visit into Six Arms pub (also in Capitol Hill). I appreciated the bartender not letting us order a pesto arteychoke beer (even though it sounded interesting enough to order)…he said it was terrible and he wouldn’t sell it, but he did satisfy our curiosity and offered us a taster of it. We were glad he wouldn’t let us order a pint of it.
After our long walk back to the hotel, we were ready for a nap before an evening out. Slept a bit then took a cab to the Seattle center to the Bumbershoot Music Festival. We enjoyed performances from Great Big Sea and Zero 7. The Great Big Sea tent was under the Space Needle, so that was great to see all lit up…even though it was easy for me to imagine it coming to life and squashing me a la “War of the Worlds.”
Monday began with a breakfast at Sazerack in our hotel…it was okay but expensive (hubby did eat the Eggs in Hell and said they were good – mine was just average). Today’s quest was a tour through Queen Anne and Fremont. We got derailed from our drive by Hales Ales which was open at 9:00 a.m. for Labor Day. Never ones to pass up a brewery, we headed in for a few tastes – excellent breakfast menu (too bad we had already eaten) and great cream ales. One thing we really learned to love at the alehouses in Seattle were the different size pours you could request – made it possible to drink less but taste more!
We didn’t stop in Queen Anne or Fremont and headed over to Ballard. Was such a gorgeous day and hubby requested lunch outside. We headed to Ray’s Boathouse and got a table right along the railing. Ray’s was great – gorgeous views and delicious food. We enjoyed Dungeness crab cakes (way better than our Chesapeake crabs) and red rockfish over polenta.
We headed back downtown, parked the car, and walked to Pioneer Square. We really enjoyed walking through the Elliott Bay bookstore. Saw a book called “Breakfasts in Seattle” and it made me think about how there was a recent thread in which people said there weren’t many breakfast choices in Seattle…I would encourage you to read the book and be proved wrong!
We headed back to Pike Place Market and thought we might cancel our dinner reservations at Etta’s (after having a big lunch at Ray’s), but we decided to keep them and stuff ourselves further. We were really glad we didn’t cancel on Etta’s. The interior is a bit ho-hum and there’s no real view, but the food was excellent. We had mini crabcake appetizers to share, then a striped bass special and the halibut (which we both agreed was better than the bass).
Our dinner was early so we thought we would walk to the casino we’d read about…only about half way there we realized that was a weird thing to do on vacation in Seattle and instead headed back to Elysian Brewing for dessert of beer and nachos. (Did I mention I gained 20 lbs in 4 days?)
Tuesday was our last full day and probably my favorite day in Seattle. Hubby wanted more water views, so we headed to West Seattle. We had breakfast at Cupcake Royale (too cool – serves nothing but coffee and cupcakes) and then browsed through Easy Street Records before continuing on to Aliki Beach area. We loved the view of the downtown skyline from West Seattle and were so glad we had made the drive there.
Got back in the car and headed to Fremont. Had lunch at Brouwer’s Café and wished we had found this place earlier in our trip. They have over 50 taps and 250 bottles, and they were having their Hopfest which meant the taps they usually devote to Belgians were strictly very hoppy beers (hubby’s fave). I don’t like my beers too hoppy, so I amused myself by becoming acquainted with some very beautiful Belgian beers in the bottle. We ate lunch here and the beer definitely upstages the food. While the frites were excellent (get the aioli dipping sauce), the mains were just so-so. Still, this was the best beer selection we found in Seattle.
We enjoyed shopping in Fremont – great little boutiques and atmosphere. We decided if we ever move to Seattle, Fremont would suit us well.
Headed back to Pioneer Square and found the newest Elysian Brewing near the stadium. They’d only been open for 15 days, but I think their location (and size) will ensure success.
We had originally planned to have dinner at Chez Shea but couldn’t fathom a four course meal after all the pigging out we’d already done. Instead, we cancelled our reservations at Chez Shea (good manners) and made a reservation at Shiro’s for sushi. Shiro’s is in Belltown and was a nice walk from our hotel. The sushi was excellent and I would also highly recommend the gyoza (I had vegetable). No Ichiro sighting as I was hoping.
We left Shiro (quick meal) and headed back to the hotel, again stopping at Purple Café and Wine Bar. Enjoyed having 2 different flights of wine and thought their 2.5 oz pours were generous. Paired the wine with cheeses (Saint Nectaire, Ballerina, and Bermuda Triangle) and thought that the hunks of cheese were rather large for $3 each.
Wednesday was our day to travel home. Our flight wasn’t leaving until 1:30 which meant we had plenty of time for breakfast. We headed to Wallingford for Eggs Cetera Blue Star Café (and pub, of course). Holy cow. This place had an enormous selection of eggs and omelets – exactly what we needed to prepare ourselves for the flight home. I had a deadly and delicious omelet of cream cheese, green onion, and avocado. Held the bacon since I’m on a diet (kidding)…I could almost feel my arteries clogging, and it felt GOOD. Highly recommend this place for a great dive breakfast (or hangover cure).
Overall, we loved our trip to Seattle. We were surprised by a few things – we expected more action on the waterfront and we were really surprised by the drugged out people in downtown – but really enjoyed the trip. We were really impressed by the diversity of the neighborhoods and the “something for every budget” feel of the city. Loved it. Probably won’t move there, but really glad we made the journey. Thank you, Seattle!
Sep 10th, 2006, 06:31 PM
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beanweb24~ wow, quite a good report..
I am glad I don't know you to travel with.. I would require a medivac chopper just to get me to the SeaTac cargo area after all the great food and drink stops..
well done! J.
I am glad I don't know you to travel with.. I would require a medivac chopper just to get me to the SeaTac cargo area after all the great food and drink stops..
well done! J.
Sep 11th, 2006, 05:13 AM
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Thanks for the great report--one of the best I've read. It is clear you did your research before hitting town.
The deal on a great breakfast in Seattle is that you have to go to the neighborhoods (something you, but not everybody, is willing to do). Those who want to roll out of their hotel bed downtown and fall into a great breakfast place will have slim pickings.
The deal on a great breakfast in Seattle is that you have to go to the neighborhoods (something you, but not everybody, is willing to do). Those who want to roll out of their hotel bed downtown and fall into a great breakfast place will have slim pickings.
Sep 11th, 2006, 08:21 AM
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Thanks for a fun report! The waterfront is indeed not a very happening place-I don't know anyone who ever goes there (and I work only a block from it) for anything but to catch a ferry. Hopefully we will get that awful elevated highway torn down, which will make a more user friendly waterfront built.
Sep 12th, 2006, 11:47 AM
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Gee Christy, I go to the waterfront at least once a month for lunch at Bell Street Diner. Check out the Cioppino and Caeser salad combo at lunch--delicious and a very good deal.
I also enjoy lunch at Elliott's now and then. The snapper (not blackened) with polenta is delicious.
I also enjoy lunch at Elliott's now and then. The snapper (not blackened) with polenta is delicious.
