the spring reign from ninkasi was everything the dude at bottleworks said it would be. delicious. a pleasantly hoppy spring ale from the brewery that can do no wrong. 

i've eaten some quite intersting things lately. 

an e-mail annoumcing the new monthly cupacke at cupcake royale prompted a visit there to sample their maple irish whiskey cupacke. it was pretty tasty, but general consensus is that the chocolate salted caramel cupcake is better. 

ate thai food at djanjay the other day. it was pretty tasty, but i prefer the meats...

also took a freind visiting to mighty-o donuts. she was pretty impressed by the fact that they were vegan, and the the chocolate peanut butter.....yum!

also, ate at palace kitchen the other day. i statrted off with a cocktail, a "winter tonic", which wa all right, nothing too special. we ate olive poppers and beet salad for starters. for the main dish, i had the mussels, which were prepared in a coconut milk sauce with orange. it was pretty interesting, but honestly, i prefer the mussels at cafe presse. my glass of sangiovese was pretty tasty. 

soba is the new thai fried rice

and by that i mean, the best way to clear out your fridge. 

i had a hankerin, that kind that can only be cured by japanese buckwheat noodles. so a friend and i got some soba a cookin', and then we heated olive oil with a little sesame oil, and browned some tofu. after that we threw in  zuchini, mushrooms, and garlic. after tossing the noodles in with the veggies, we garnished with cilantro, green onions, soy sauce and sesame oil, and pepper!

so satisfying, and so easy. 

my friend and i stopped in for a bite and a drink at smith bar on capitol hill. when you step in, you'll feel like you are in the old boy's club. in a good way. there were animal heads and other game on the wall. it is very dimly lit. 

my ipa was tasty, though i can't remember what it was. my bacon gruyere sandwich would probably have been unremarkable, were it not for the onion jam. whoa. 

dinner at le pichet. 

what more can i say? a lot, turns out....

i pretty much always order the domaine de couronne cote du rhone, it's tasty and reasonable. 

for starters, we had pate (with honey and walnuts!), warm endive salad with chicken gizzards, and oysters. 

for main courses we did the chicken for 2 and the trout. i've experienced the chicken in its various seasonal manifestations, and the winter version did not disappoint. it came on a potatoe pancake with sauce, and was as succulent and delicious as ever. the trout was definitely good, but i feel that the side could have been a little more interesting. 

for dessert, i decided on the house ice cream (lemon yoghurt) and the house sorbet (tangerine). i've always been impressed with their ice creams in the past, and the lemon yoghurt was no exception (i don't even like lemon desserts that much!) the sorbet was a bit lacking, particularly in the texture. 

all in all, another delightful dining experience at one of my favorite restaurants in seattle. 

it's been a while since i posted. 

this past sunday, i went to "breakast" at molly moon's, a local gourmet ice cream shop. breakfast entails ice cream with oatmeal. i selected the the maple bacon ice cream. 

there was an array of topics including nuts, spices, and rasberry on the counter, which one could adorn one's breakfast. 

the maple bacon ice cream is a wonder, that classic blend of the sweet and salty as always tasty. but, did the oatmeal add to my ice cream experience? and vice versa? i'm inclined to say no. 

all in all though, a thoroughly enjoyable sunday afternoon study break activity. 

salted caramel cupcakes at cupcake royale are my new crack. except it's better than crack, because it comes on a moist chocolate cake. also, crack is not something i actually partake in, so i should probably find something else to compare it to. or you could just go try one yourself. 

vietnamese sandwiches made their way into my life today, and i get the feeling that they are here to stay. i went to a little shop on the ave, and i left with a crispy baguette filled with barbequed pork, cilantro, carrot, cucumber, and a little jalapeno. yummers. colonialism never tasted so good. now i know what to do when i crave a little baguette box, and i am too far away...