Even though I have traveled alone before, I have always had friends whom I was staying with to hang out with. This trip to Seattle was my very first time traveling alone alone, and it was fantastic. I woke up whenever I wanted, did whatever I wanted, and went wherever I wanted. It was nice to go at my own pace. The lone traveler, sitting at the bar drinking and randomly chatting with other people at the bar. I need to do it more often, need to be more out of my comfort zone.
Food Rundown
The Crumpet Shop
Another gloomy sprinkly day in Seattle. After the Christmas holiday, people were back on the streets on the Monday after Christmas holiday weekend. After much hesitation, only because it was quite comfy in the bed, I decided to go get myself some crumpets.
Did you know that I like crumpets? Well, I like most English things. I saw this little shop the day before and thought it would be a good start for the day. Didn’t want to eat a large late breakfast since I knew I was going to have a large early dinner.
I got 1 crumpet with marmalade and butter, all orders of crumpets came with butter. The only crumpets I have ever eaten were from Trader Joe’s, and obviously, this was way better than Trader Joe’s. Crumpets from Trader Joe’s were sad looking flat chewy discs while the crumpet I had at The Crumpet Shop was taller and lighter. The marmalade was sweet with a little bit of bitter taste from the peel. It was sort of messy to eat as the marmalade was sliding off the crumpet and sticking to my moustache.
Mee Sum Pastry
I found this little Chinese bakery online while doing my Seattle research. I was surprised at the price per bun and people who wrote reviews said it was good and cheap. Now, if you are familiar with Chinese bakeries and pork buns, you know you can get a pretty damn good pork bun for 60 cents. So when I saw $2.49 for a pork bun, they called it hum bow, I had to see what it was all about.
After getting my crumpet, I walked over to the bakery and got a pork bun. I guess I understand why these were so expensive, being where they were located, but also the bun itself was the size of a baby’s head, seriously. I took a bite and found the bun to be soft and warm but only half of the bun had filling. Still not worth the price.
The Walrus and the Carpenter
I had asked many people to name restaurants for me that they think makes dining in Seattle special. Molly Wizenberg of Orangette and owner of Delancey was one of the people I asked and suggested I go to The Walrus and the Carpenter. When someone like Molly suggests a place, you better listen.
This restaurant has only been opened for about 6 months, but support and rave from the locals made it seem like it had been there for years. The Walrus and the Carpenter is an oyster bar but also serves other foods like meat, salad, cheese, and desserts.
From 4-6 pm was happy hour, half off all oysters. Right at 4 pm, there was a constant stream of people coming into the restaurants. I quickly grabbed a seat at the bar. Here’s what I ordered: I got 1 of each oyster Kumamoto, Kusshi, Barron Point, Penn Cove Select, Mirada, Otter Cove, and Treasure Cove, fried oysters served with cilantro aioli, chicken liver mousse with candied squash, fried Brussels sprouts, and the pear pudding cake with whipped cream and espresso butter sauce.
Yeah. I ordered a lot of food for 1 person, but I don’t know when I’ll be back. Also, I drank 2 pints of a really good beer, Firestone Walker double barrel ale, an amber ale. Ah. Everything. Was. WOW. Delicious.
Pintxo
It was 8:30 pm, and I didn’t want to spend my last night in Seattle back in the hotel room so early, so 1 last stop. There was a family in the back room having dinner and me at the bar, we were the only customers. I had my mind set on getting a bottle of the Full Session Black lager, but the manager talked me out of it and got the Pipeline Porter with Kona coffee from Kona Brewery. I love coffee beer, and the manager told me that I would have to drink 70 beers to get a cup of coffee. I drank two.
I also ordered the spicy meatballs. Oh man, was it spicy. The meatballs, a mixture of pork and beef, were pretty simple and not spicy. The hotness came from the spicy tomato sauce, and it was good. I was sweating after eating the 5 meatballs. Woooo It was nice to sit at the bar and chat with the crew.
