Baguette Box

Price: $
Thoughts: ☆☆☆
Baguette Box: Menu

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This place is half a block down from Ristorante Machiavelli at the edge of the Capitol Hill/Downtown border. The weather had been really weird (but then again this is Seattle), going from a violent windstorm, heavy rain, to sunny within the period of two hours. Luckily we got a relatively good spot on the same block. Be warned, the interior is chilly.

Seeing as this was our dinner we were convinced that one sandwich isn't going to be filling so my friend ordered two baguettes; the braised berkshire pork belly baguette which was literally forming a pool of liquid at the bottom of the bread boat, but it smelled really good:


"braised natural pork belly + pickled cucumber + hoisin sauce + cilantro"

The other sandwich was their crispy drunken chicken baguette which was what we both agreed to get from previewing the menu earlier:


"battered crispy chicken + sweet tangy sauce + caramelized onions + cilantro"

Adding to the drunken chicken baguette I decided to on a salad to add a little variety to my order of drunken chicken. Originally I planned to get their tuna niçoise salad but I went with the grilled ‘painted hills’ lemongrass steak salad instead:


"grilled organic lemongrass beef + organic greens + green onion oil + roasted peanuts + red wine vinaigrette"

I personally enjoyed the salad over my drunken chicken baguette. The green onion oil and red wine vinaigrette gave it a nice salty and sweet taste. I think I could've done without the red onions as it was a big strong in this salad.

Last but not least was my little side order of their truffle fries. I wasn't sure at first which would be the truffle part, the stuff being fried, or the oil that's used to fry. Just your russet potatoes deep fried in truffle oil. This simple combination works wonders, and tastes great with or without any condiments. I was thankful that it was only very lightly salted, as the truffle oil gives you all of the flavor that you would want.



Sadly, I feel that the truffle fries was the order that stood out the most and wowed me. The baguette wasn't as glorious as I had initially anticipated which surprised me coming from a restaurant that specializes in baguettes, but it wasn't bad either. I found it very delicious, but was overshadowed by the fries and the salad.

I would recommend eating here if you are looking for a quick fix, but nothing to fill you up unless you are willing to order multiple items. All which come with a larger price tag for a sandwich.

Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆¾
Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria: Menu(2009-2010)

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Palomino's has been the past place for me to satisfy all of my pizza cravings. However, it was time to try something new and Tutta Bella's was one of the names I threw at my friend Latara; she does love pizza so I thought comparing menus with her would be a good idea.

Located literally in among three excellent areas of Seattle for eating: Green Lake, Fremont, and Wallingford; You know this is going to be a good place to eat. They have a small parking lot on the south end of the restaurant, but it will almost always be full. There are plenty of residential streets for parking that aren't plagued with the ZONE permit requirements as well. I got cut off by another driver who stole my parking spot as I was pulling in, so after a few minutes of driving I found another one about a block away. The entrance we went through gave us the impression that it was a small restaurant, and very well packed at 6:30 P.M.

Walking in revealed that the restaurant was more than three times deeper than the partition we came in from. There were a few seats located by the window which we were fortunate to land without waiting for more than a few minutes.



There were a lot of reserved tables around us, just as many were occupied as well.



Deciding what to eat was easy. The Capricciosa (Capricious pizza) was our first choice: Pomodoro San Marzano, artichoke hearts, roasted mushrooms, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, red chile flakes, Grana Padano.



The olives and the basil on the pizza gave this a nice fresh taste but seemed to lack a bit of kick in the flavor.

The other pizza was their Pancetta e Pomodoro (Italian bacon and tomato pizza): Extra virgin olive oil, pancetta, fresh mozzarella, fire-roasted tomatoes, roasted onions.



The pizzas were served to us in no more than five minutes from when we ordered! It was pretty impressive, considering how packed and busy the restaurant had become by the time we were ordering. Our bet was the Capricciosa was going to be the winner between the two. But it was quite the opposite. The "fire-roasted" tomatoes actually provided the most flavor from the entire pizza. I had to remember to share half of it and not eat it all for myself. The simple combination of panchetta, tomatoes and onions seemed to work miracles.

Gelato was the dessert of choice, two tripoli's. Chocolate chip and chocolate chip with coconut (the nutella was forgotten but brought in a smaller separate bowl):





The chocolate chip and the chocolate chip with coconut alongside each other did not make for much variety, the nutella though was quite delicious. I usually am not a fan of this but the gelato version of this is far more lighter and easier on the mouth.

My tripoli included the strawberry, chocolate chip and the vanilla:



The strawberry flavor was my favorite without a doubt. Although, I am curious as to what their pear flavored one tasted like, but I was immensely satisfied with the choices I made.

Running into a restaurant that can tackle timeliness, with quality, and all at a good price is quite impressive in it's own right. I will definitely eat here again. It was a difficult decision whether to just give this five stars or less than that. I only rated it a shy from perfect because I was underwhelmed by the Capricciosa. The difference between the two pizzas I believe justified this score. When my friend Latara comes to visit Seattle (hopefully this summer), this will be the first place on my list to take her to.

Ristorante Machiavelli

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆
Ristorante Machiavelli: Menu

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Located between downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill next to many other great venues such as the Baltic Room, Bauhaus, and the Baguette Box. We were fortunate to find parking literally right in front of the restaurant, as street parking in that area is very difficult to come by (or a Honda CR-V just is short enough to fit the awkward spots). We didn't have to wait more than a few minutes to get a table as we came around 6:15, a little before the rush of customers that soon filled the restaurant.

We sat by the window facing the main street and had one of the most delicious crusty olive bread with vinaigrette to start our meal. Kevin was fortunate enough to stumble upon the slices that had the most olives in them:



Ginny and I craved for some Italian sodas as well. Both of us got orange with cream, I had forgotten how much I loved drinking this back when I worked at the Crêpe Café. Simple, sweet and smooth:



I got the Caesar salad which came out almost immediately after ordering. The croutons were baked to crispy perfection, but I found the whole salad overpowered by the amount of dressing they used (but it didn't stop me from finishing it; tasted great):



Ginny ordered the Penne with Roasted Pepper Pesto. It filled her up before she could get through half of it (but she ordered dessert anyways):



My friend Kevin had already made up his mind the night before when I showed him the menu the Linguini alla Vongole. His usual, something with seafood in it. He humored us trying to twirl the pasta into the head of the spoon without any luck. I remember watching a scene in Tampopo where a class of upper class Japanese women were being taught how to properly eat noodle. Three strands of pasta and twirl! Anyways, he finished it before Ginny and I were halfway through ours:



I was torn between their Lasagna Bolognese and the Tortellini Formaggio. I ended up with the tortellini with meat sauce. These cheesy stuffed pastas filled me up nicely without feeling like I've eaten too much or too little. Moments like these are usually hard to come by as portions are usually too big or too small for me:



I wasn't sure on how to say the word "Bolognese" so I was butchering the pronunciation as "bollo-nese" as opposed to "bollo-naise". Learned something new!

We all decided to get dessert as well. Kevin and I shared a Tiramisu, which used homemade whipped cream and chocolate mousse. At first I was intimidated by the presentation as it was different than what most of the other tiramisu I've eaten before looked like. But it was quite heavenly tasting. I was pleased with how firm the lady fingers were as opposed to most other tiramisu I've had in the past (normally drenched completely in espresso which overpowers the rest of the cake). The dollop of mousse on the top followed by a good helping of their whipped cream complimented the cake without taking attention from any part of the cake:



Ginny ordered a simple cheesecake, which was a simple cheesecake. I love the taste of cheesecake and all, but for some reason it always makes me sick (not unlike my allergic reaction to ginger which only makes me tired and numb). I envy those who can eat this without stomach problems:



By the end of dessert we were all stuffed. They really know how to give out a good portion for your order. The atmosphere felt very cozy, almost like a house or a café. I was impressed by the speed of the delivery as well as the taste of the food. If I were to visit again (which I can definitely say is a solid place to eat), I'd give their Lasagna Bolognese a go.

Also there is a 5% discount on your entire purchase if you choose to pay with cash instead. Not bad for mitigating part of our high sale tax rate.

Wingdome

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆½
Wingdome: Menu & Wing Card

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Finally recovered after spending almost the entire Saturday incapacitated primarily due to complications with my stomach from Friday night's gorging at the Wingdome over in Greenwood. Primarily ordering 150 wings and finishing it off with their devastating 7-Alarm really cleans you out. It has been a while since eating something that spicy, I had forgotten my tolerance had diminished over the years.

Finding the place isn't too hard, but finding parking on the other hand can be a hit-or-miss depending on your luck. The restaurant sports two garage doors that are opened during the warmer days in late spring and summer. A bright neon sign makes it easy to spot while driving along Greenwood Ave. The time we had to wait to be seated for 12 people wasn't too bad; roughly 45 minutes. A nice group of friends eating wings together. This place always seems to be packed no matter what day of the week or time of the day you come in, which is a good and bad thing. A cozy place, but you will find yourself pretty close to your neighbors on all sides. It can be a bit noisy but that comes with the crowd. The waitress was really great about everything, from checking on us frequently, separating our rather large order, and separating the bill. At the end of the meal they also give you a spicy cinnamon jawbreaker as opposed to the usual Andes mints most other venues provide.

After much waiting for our food, the main order of wings had arrived. Here's part of the 150 of the wings (100 pictured):




After eating as much of the wings we could, five of us ordered The 7-Alarm; possibly one of the spiciest wings you could find in Seattle. You will feel it whether you want to or not:



The chicken wings were small but tender. You'll find yourself burning through a lot of their napkins when handling the food. The 7-Alarm is definitely spicy as it is pricey ($1.99/wing) so I don't recommend eating it if you want to enjoy the rest of your night without frequent bathroom breaks. My friend ordered their popcorn chicken; some parts of which were very crunchy (inconsistencies when deep frying a lot of things) and was sitting in a pile of grease, but still enjoyable. Their garlic bread looked and smelled great, nothing different from what you would expect, the same goes for their waffle fries.

Normally I am not one to start events on a whim but seeing a /crave from Alex's Facebook comment from my previous trip there a few weeks before, along with Ana-Maria's enthusiasm motivated me enough. With a group of friends we partook of slowly killing our bodies with delicious spicy wings. Of the group of 12, only five of us were brave enough to consume that 7-Alarm.

Elliott Bay Brewery

Price: $$
Thoughts: ☆☆☆☆½
Elliott Bay Brewery: Menu

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Despite the fact that I parked the car in front of the place, I felt that this place was overshadowed by Talarico's Pizzeria, which sported a bright neon sign displaying their name as opposed to the Elliott Bay Brewery logo being illuminated with floodlights.

The furnishings reminded me of eating at other places like Schulty's Sausage on the ave. Seating didn't require waiting, as we were allowed a seat anywhere there was an open spot. We had already glanced at the menu a few nights before to get any idea of what to expect.

We started off with a half order of the Elliott Bay Nachos, which was a literal mountain of toppings dripping with awesome. And by awesome I mean jack and cheddar cheeses, homemade chili,
tomatoes, onions, olives and jalapeno peppers, sour cream, homemade pico de
gallo and guacamole on the side:



Eventually we finished the nachos which had already been quite satisfying (the nachos from the 88 Keys lost to the Elliott Bay). Kevin had gotten the Brewer's Burger, and it was quite big (starting to see a pattern here). It consisted of "the works", sautéed mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, and cheddar cheese:



While waiting for my order; the Black Angus Philly Cheese Steak, I was under the assumption it was going to be a regularly sized cheese steak like most other places I've eaten them at so I had already been looking through for what to get for dessert:



Their take on the cheese steak had shaved Black Angus steak grilled with braised onions and melted with American cheese. The bocca roll worked well as it was nice and soft and easy to sink my teeth into despite it's size. I managed to finish half of it before getting a box. There was no room for dessert. This was definitely one of the more satisfying meals I've had the past week. Although I'm not a big fan for leftovers (reheated food doesn't feel the same), I was already looking forward to breakfast, yes. This was breakfast the following day.

I would have made this a place to go out and eat on a regular basis if it wasn't so far away. Have to go through two freeways and over a bridge just to get there. Was it worth it? Yes, it offered one of the best in the quality/quantity/value ratio.

When I eat here again (didn't want to say 'if' because I really plan eating here again), I would want to give their french dip a try. I've always enjoyed the combination of au jus and roast beef.

Malena's Taco Shop

Price: $
Thoughts: ☆☆½
(Website and Menu unavailable)

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This choice was originally for Monday but I was not feeling well so we pushed it to Tuesday instead. We were in a hurry primarily due to the fact that we had free tickets to the last showing of the IMAX 3-D of Avatar at the Pacific Science Center. A quick skim down the list and I chose a taco shop that was along the way to our destination. This one was on Market Street down in Ballard, probably one of the places I would feel most comfortable walking around. Lots of great places to eat, things to see, and you're close to Golden Gardens as well!

Kevin and I grabbed four tacos each; two shrimp and two carne asada. The taste of the soft taco shell and the fried shrimp reminded me of my trip down to Ensenada. However, that was where the similarity ended. I found the amount of tomato and raw onion was a bit overpowering to the point where you could almost not taste the meat underneath it all, like a vegetarian taco or something.



The place was pretty empty save for the employees there. I can imagine it being more packed with high school kids during the summer. The tacos quelled my hunger for a little while, but did not leave me feeling completely satisfied along with the taste of raw onions lingering in my breath until washing it down with Sour Patch Kids and a Coke at the IMAX.

I probably wouldn't come back here for a meal but maybe a snack during the warmer weather if I'm in the area.