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I found yet another inexpensive lunch place on the Hill. On the way home from walking Henrietta (my dog) today, I picked up lunch for Mary and I at Samurai Noodle. I’m not very familiar with ramen restaurants, so I wasn’t sure what to order, but the carryout special sounded like a good intro to ramen. One Tonkotsu (pork broth with ramen) and one Shouyu (chicken broth with ramen). Not knowing what to expect, we dumped the noodles into the broth and dug in.
Both were delicious in their own way. The pork broth was creamier and rich, while the chicken brother was lighter but very flavorful. They both had scallions, mushrooms and chunks of pork and chicken. Perfect (and very filling) lunch for a cold Seattle day. Usually I default to Pho, but now I’m going to have big decisions to make next time I need my soup fix. We will definitely go back for dine-in and try some of the more creative menu items with the advice of an experienced ramen eater.
Follow Samurai Noodle on Twitter. 4 out of 5 stars!
-Kate
We rarely make it to Madison Park – even though it isn’t far from Capitol Hill, for some reason we rarely think about heading that direction. Possibly in our mind, it’s a “family-oriented” neighborhood…more toy stores and maternity clothing stores than bars and restaurants. However, we now have a new reason to go out in Madison Park.
A group of us made the trek to go see the Christmas Boats last weekend. In my many years in Seattle, I have never participated in the 60-year tradition. It was definitely a treat. The park filled up quickly as the lighted boats paraded in. We sang along to several Christmas carols and snapped several pictures of the beautiful scene on the lake. Filled with holiday spirit, we headed to The Independent Pizzeria for dinner. To be honest I had never heard of it. We walked in to a very tiny tiny room and simple kitchen with a large wood stove. While there were only a total of about five tables, we were lucky to immediately get seated on the end of a large picnic style table. I understand there is usually a long wait.
Everything on the menu looked delicious. It was hard to settle, but we decided on The Farmer (tomato, grana, fiore di latte, soft egg, smoked prosciutto di Friuli) and State Fair (tomato, mozzarella, pecorino, Fra’mani Italian sausage, green pepper). We ordered the mixed salad as a starter. Everything was reasonably priced, including the beer and wine, and we picked out a delish Syrah to go with our pizza.
The large salad was plenty for the three of us; the herb vinaigrette dressing is light and has great flavor. Then for the pizzas. We ate the State Fair first. Not one complaint. Loved the sausage. But…The Farmer was even better. Delicious prosciutto and the soft egg was perfection. We were all pleasantly surprised about our new-found pizza place in Madison Park.
While there were a LOT of kids (which we aren’t used to here in Capitol Hill), the atmosphere was simple and fun. Service was friendly and even though they were quite busy, I had no complaints about the wait for food. Would have loved to stay for another drink as more of our friends arrived, but unfortunately, the table we were at was needed for a reservation coming in. (Good to note that reservations are accepted!)
I consider myself a pizza snob…and this is definitely at the top of my pizza list in Seattle. We will definitely be back. Very soon. 5 out of 5 stars!
-Kate
Oddfellows
I remember when Oddfellows opened in 2008 there was a huge snow storm in Seattle. I was working at home since going to work wasn’t an option, and I remember looking out the window and seeing a middle-age guy cross-country skiing down the street. A few hours later I was cursing at the helicopters flying overhead and couldn’t stop wondering if there was a murderer on the loose. Well there wasn’t a murder, but a bus full of students almost went over the railing onto I-5. Around noon that day I met up with Hilary and Pepper for a liquid lunch. We made our way to the Wildrose and decided it was time to hit Oddfellows. Since we live in Capitol Hill, it is almost impossible to get up the hill when there is snow on the ground. Oddfellows (along with many other restaurants in Seattle!) actually ran out of food and alcohol during their first week.
Linda Derschang, who is also responsible for Linda’s Tavern, Kings Hardware and Smith’s, is well known in Seattle for her restaurants and bars so we knew this was going to regular spot for us – and it has.
I couldn’t even tell you what my favorite meal is but I will try. The spinach & arugula lasagna is amazing, and so is the pan-seared salmon with chicory, avocado, tomato & cucumber. AND so is the classic mac & cheese – I usually have this with a side of Brussels sprouts. To be honest anything from the menu is going to be excellent.
The drinks are pretty topnotch as well. My new favorite is the Loud Speaker with gin, cognac and lemon. Under any other circumstance I would not have gin but I had a sip of John’s and had to get a glass for myself.
If you are looking for a chill place that has amazing food, drinks and is very open to children, Oddfellows is your spot.
Oddfellows gets five out of five stars!
You may find Oddfellows on Facebook and Twitter
-Mary
After going ‘ice’ skating at the Capitol Hill Ice Rink we were in need of a drink and since Cure was sponsoring the event we decided that should be our next stop. With our wristbands in tow we asked for our beer and whiskey shot. The night should have ended there but we stayed and enjoyed the company of friends. Cure opened in May of this year and from the Yelp reviews people do like it. Perhaps if I didn’t stop by for a beer and a shot of whiskey my review would be better. Or perhaps if the bartender didn’t refer to Busch beer as a lager my review would be better. The service was slow and even though five girls were sitting at the bar we were ignored most of our visit. I’m not sure if I will stop by again to try the cured meats and cheese but if I do, I will write about it.
Cure gets two and half out of five stars.
A quick review of ‘ice’ skating, don’t do it.
– Mary
Mary and I have been HUGE fans of Rachel’s Ginger Beer ever since we discovered it at the Capitol Hill Farmer’s Market. It’s amazing on its own, but even better in a Moscow Mule. We’ve served these at parties at our house several times, dranks several on our balcony throughout the summer (note – the copper cup is a must for consuming Moscow Mules!) and they were a huge hit with my family on our summer vacation in my home state, Montana.
I couldn’t have been more excited when I heard Rachel was opening her own bar. Called Montana. In Capitol Hill. Just blocks from our apartment. While picking up my ginger beer supply at the market a couple weeks ago, Rachel mentioned that they were having an opening party on December 11th. As soon as I got home, it was on the calendar.
Last night we headed down to check it out. It was everything I had hoped it to be. Montana felt like a cozy cabin in Montana, filled with signs and memorabilia from all over Montana…even a saddle that I’m sure I’ll be trying out next time as my bar stool. We noticed as we sat down at our newly painted booth, there was a note that said “PLEASE carve on the booths and graffiti the bathroom.” I can see this turning into a great dive bar…and I have a feeling I will be a regular!
The service was amazing. The bartenders were friendly and Rachel made her rounds to say hi to everyone throughout the night. The music was great – a mix of various types, not too loud to drown out conversation, but just right to keep up the lively mood. Most importantly, the Moscow Mules were all that we expected. You can’t beat a Moscow Mule made with RGB. Seriously. I’m sure she will soon be incorporating her infused ginger beers into cocktail concoctions as well…and the cranberry ginger beer is out of this world!
I see this bar becoming a Cap Hill favorite. Five out of five stars!
Visit Rachel’s Ginger Beer and Montana on Facebook and follow on Twitter @rgbsoda.
-Kate
I have been a customer of Table 219 (formally el Greco) for about eight years. After hearing that Gary, the former owner Table 219, had opened another restaurant in Columbia City I knew that I had to make the trip. I’m only sorry that it took me a few years to make the trip. Geraldine’s Counter is a lively place filled with music and locals. I had heard that the menu was very similar to Table 219 so I was very excited to try my favorite.
Kate had been to Geraldine’s a couple times already and was insistent on getting the coffee cake to start our brunch. She remembered it being her favorite part of the meal. However, when we received the coffee cake it was a bit dry and difficult to get a fork through the top layer. It was not at all what Kate had remembered; while the flavor was good (strawberry banana was the flavor of the day), it definitely didn’t measure up and most was left on the plate.
Kate ordered the Sweet White Corn, Havarti and Herb Scramble and I ordered the Avocado & Pepperjack Omelet. The pepperjack omelet has always been my favorite at Table 219 so I was hoping for the same flavor and style. Unfortunately, it’s wasn’t the same. The flavor was a bit off and the cheese wasn’t fully melted in the middle. Maybe Chef from Table 219, “Cheffery” Wilson, can make a trip down to Columbia City to make sure Geraldine’s Counter is living up to our (or my) expectations.
However, Kate fully enjoyed her scramble and hashbrowns. The English muffin with raspberry freezer jam made a perfect sweet to end the meal.
We are giving Geraldine’s Counter 3 stars out of 5. I will give Geraldine’s Counter another try for sure. The service was great – and I can’t live without my Avocado & Pepperjack Omelet.
Check out Geraldine’s on Facebook here.
-Mary
Day 22 – To Queue or not to Queue
Up early to catch the first bus to the airport and then off to London. Upon arriving, we made our way into the city to find our hotel. We decided to go “luxury” on our last night and stayed Twenty Nevern Square in Earl’s Court. While nice and quaint, the room basically only fit the bed and a small bathroom. Oh well, we thought, we would be out and about cramming as much of London into 24 hours as possible.
We started with lunch at a traditional London pub. The food was subpar, but after so much amazing Italian food, any restaurant would have had stiff competition. Wimbledon was taking place in London that day and we decided to make our way up to the park, hoping we could get into a match or two. However, after trekking from the tube, we came upon a “queue” that went for miles. If you didn’t have a ticket, you could wait in the queue with the hope that enough people left that evening that you would get a stand-by ticket. After speaking to a few of the event organizers, we realized that there was no way we would get to the front of the line that day. People had arrive days prior to camp out in the queue and still weren’t into the stadium. We learned a couple things about Londoners as we walked around the perimeter of Court 1, where the semi-finals were taking place. First of all, Londoners love to queue. They somehow make queuing an activity in itself, singing songs and having a good time. Even knowing that they wouldn’t get in that evening, many were still willing to hang out in line. Also, Londoners always seemed to want to chit-chat and were extremely helpful and friendly. Seattleites, we can’t blame our closed off attitudes on the gloomy grey skies and rain here; London has the same weather and they are pretty damn open and cheery.
The day was getting away from us, so we headed back to the tube with the intent of seeing the best few tourist attractions of London before dark. Buckingham Palace – check. Westminster Abbey – check. Big Ben – check. The London Eye – check. Then it was on to experience the London nightlife. Kate read about the newest ‘in’ neighborhood in London (on a Household Bank tourist map) and we decided to check it out. Several tube stations later we arrived in Shoreditch. It was definitely the place to be…for 21-year olds. For those of you in Seattle, it was a London version of Pioneer Square. Drunk kids everywhere, queues (again, they love it!) to get into every bar and club. We decided to make the most of it and ended up at a 3D bar. When you put on the glasses provided, everything on the walls and ceiling jumped out. Pretty amazing, but after one cocktail we had enough of the crowd.
Apparently we didn’t have enough pizza in Italy and as we wandered down the street we ducked into a tiny pizza place, ordered a pizza to go and found a nice curb to have a late dinner and people watch. Kate was determined to have a Pimms Cup in London so we wandered around the neighborhood looking for a quiet pub to have a nightcap at before we headed back to the hotel. (Are we getting old? Quiet pub?!) After a lot of searching we settled for a taphouse, hoping they knew how to make a Pimms. We were in luck – a perfect way to finish off our day in London.
Day 23 – Fly, Fly Away
A traditional London breakfast was delivered to our door in the morning, complete with a cup of English breakfast tea. Both of us were down in the dumps, knowing our trip was truly coming to a close. We packed up our bags and headed for the airport. Our flight out was a bit more comfortable than the flight into Europe, but still far from what I expected of my international flights. The highlight was a surprisingly decent Italian manicotti feast…leading us to reminisce about our amazing adventure as we headed back to reality. Upon our return, we dropped of our bags and headed to our favorite local bar, Tommy Gun, for one last toast. Viva Italia!
-Kate
Check out our London album here!
Day 20 – To Swim or to Walk
One last stop at our ‘landlord’s’ coffee shop in Corniglia for croissants and espresso and then on to Venice. The train ride was pretty uneventful, aside from meeting two 60+ year old sisters traveling Europe with their mother and an 80+ year old couple from London. Both groups were very talkative and friendly so we were entertained along the way. We literally had to sprint with all of our bags to make our transfers on time, but by early evening we arrived in Venice. Luckily our sublet (which was a last minute find on airbnb) was right across the canal from the train station.
We met up with Maria, a native Venetian who was opening up the sublet because the owner was not available. Maria turned out to be the only good part about our accommodations. The sublet itself was an old building that was most likely very quickly and cheaply remodeled. We weren’t sure if the rotted wood beams on the ceiling were going to hold up. Even worse, while the majority of our airbnb accommodations provided the necessities, we were left with no tp or soap. However, it seemed clean enough to stay for a couple nights and the location was amazing so we made the best of it.
Back to Maria. Very scantily clad in a tiny dress and extremely high heels, she showed us around the sublet and gave us several suggestions of places to go eat in Venice. After freshening up, we set out to see the city. Venice was beautiful, but dirty and full of tourists. It seemed like all the stores were full of touristy trinkets and Carnevale masks. Regardless, walking through the alleyways and over the canals was amazing. There are not many places where I can be without a map, but Venice was one of those. With the maze of streets and alleys, I don’t think a map would have even helped.
After a long walk and one of the best gelatos on the trip – nutella flavored! – we began searching for a restaurant that Maria recommended, Nono Ristorto. She told us just to get in the general area and then ask people where the restaurant was located. We asked several people along the way and got closer and closer, each person pointing a direction to walk. Finally we made it and the restaurant was packed – always a good sign. Waiters were rushing around yelling at each other and serving up tasty looking pizzas and pastas. While the service left a bit to be desired, the atmosphere and food was great. We ended up with carbonara (our usual), a pizza and a salad, which we still hadn’t learned after three weeks of eating our way through Italy, was way too much food.
Venice was humid and muggy and it became unbearable to sit any longer in the restaurant, even with a carafe of cold white wine. On the way out, we stopped to watch the old man flipping pizza dough in the open kitchen with one hand…while smoking a cigarette with the other. Only in Europe! It was getting late, so headed back to our apartment, hopping on the convenient vaporetto for a quick ride home. We probably shouldn’t have rushed back. The humidity was even worse in the apartment and the air conditioning wouldn’t turn on. We opened the windows only to find that the mosquitoes were aplenty in Venice. Even though it was too hot for covers, we hid under the sheets and tried not to get eaten alive, without success.
Day 21 – $25 Bellinis
We decided just to wing it and get lost in Venice the next day and started out at a local’s coffee joint for our usual breakfast. We were still finding that you couldn’t get a bad espresso anywhere in Italy…or a bad pastry! Over the famous Rialto Bridge, which was unfortunately draped with huge advertisements, ruining any possibility of good pictures, and on to the Venice fish market. This was one of many highlights of the Venice portion of our trip. We had never seen so many different water creatures – it was the Pike Place Market on steroids. After about fifty pictures of fish, we were hungry and set off to find lunch.
After getting lost for quite some time we stumbled upon a cute sidewalk café with outdoor seating and good people watching near St. Mark’s Square. Cavatappi turned out to be a winner. After being in the fish market, I had to have fresh seafood and lo and behold, pasta with clam sauce was the special. Seafood in Venice was delish, as was Mary’s macaroni dish and our side of fried sheep cheese drizzled with honey, apparently a specialty in Venice.
We headed back to tour St Mark’s Square, but were quickly distracted by the lure of Harry’s, where the original bellini was invented by Giuseppe Cipriani. You could see the history in the bar, even though full of tourists with all of their souvenirs. We pulled up to the bar and ordered two bellinis from the exquisitely dressed bartender. I’ve never seen such a simple drink made with such care. We promised each other that we would only have one 18 euro (roughly $25) bellini each, but heck, we were on vacation. Why not a few?
After Harry’s, we decided to spend a little more of our hard earned money and bought our now-engagement rings that we had been eyeing earlier on the trip. Feeling high on bellinis and sparkly jewels, we headed back through St. Mark’s and decided to head back to the sublet to kick our feet up before heading out for our gondola ride that evening. Little did we know that we had hopped on the vaporetto going the opposite way around the canal, making for an hour plus ride back.
As dusk hit, we fancied ourselves up, grabbed our bottle of wine from Leo’s winery in Vinci, and set out to haggle for a gondola ride, a must-do in Venice. Minutes later, we were heading down the Grand Canal with our very knowledgeable gondolier. We headed through the smaller canals of the city, while our gondolier told us the interesting history behind Venice and the buildings and bridges we were passing, even one “garage” on the canal that was used in the filming of the Italian Job!
After our romantic boat ride, we headed to get pizza at another one of Maria’s recommendations. It was a great local’s joint close to our accommodations, which we were grateful for. It was a long day and both of us were ready to call it a night. Sadly, we both knew that our European adventure was nearly over. London would be the last stop and then back to reality.
-Kate
Click here to see the complete Venice photo album.
Day 18 – An Elephant Could Float In This Water
After finishing our breakfast at the hotel we were off to Cinque Terra! Once we found our train we knew that we were in for an interesting ride; this train had seen better days. You could smell the salt water as we got closer to the five lands. Both Kate and I couldn’t stop staring at the water. Our first destination after checking in would be the water. After getting off the train in Corniglia, which is in the middle of the five lands we made our way to the bus to take us up the hill to the center of town. I’m not sure if it was the hot weather or that when you get older you tend to lose your manners but we had another incident of elders yelling at others over seats.
We met up with Cristiana who we were subletting a place from during our stay. She walked us to our place which was a room with a bed, bathroom and amazing balcony with a view. After cleaning up we decided to find a place to eat and then hit the water. Our first meal in Corniglia was less than spectacular because we again needed food during siesta.
We walked down several flights of stairs to Ligurian Sea to take a dip. Little did we know that the water was so salty that we didn’t need to actually swim; we could just ‘stand’ in the water. After rinsing ourselves off with fresh water we took the train to Riomaggiore. Our goal was to place our lock that we purchased at a Florence farmers market in a special place on the Via dell’Amore. Boy did we find the perfect spot! My previous rock climbing experience came into play during this placement as shown in the pictures. We continued on the path to Manarola and ended up taking the train back to Corniglia since the hiking path was blocked by a mudslide. When we arrived in Corniglia earlier that day we had already decided on our dinner spot for that night. Enoteca “Il PIRUN” was a small place with spiral staircase that led you to the dinner tables. I was a bit taken aback by the huge TV screen at first but then I remembered the Italians love their soccer as much as we love our football. Rick Steves had told us that the Cinque Terra is known for their pesto so it was a no brainer that one of us was going to have a dish with pesto. Needless to say, Rick Steves was right the pesto dish was AMAZING and so was the wine that is made on sight. Before calling it a night we picked up some gelato and headed to the center of town.
It was almost 11PM and the town center was filled with kids playing soccer, parents and grandparents chatting away. We were exhausted but it was clear that the night was just getting started for these folks.
Day 19 – It’s Getting Hot in Herre…
We got up early to start our hike to Vernazza but starting our hike around 9AM wasn’t early enough, it was already 80 degrees. About 30 minutes into our hike both Kate and I were soaking wet. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to hike from Corniglia to Vernazza. Once arriving inVernazza we headed to the Doria Castle for some wine and snacks. But yet again after walking up the endless stairs we found out the restaurant was closed and wine and snacks were not possible. Everything was closed until 1PM and it was only 10:30AM. Kate hunted down some chips, water and beer to hold us over until the restaurants opened.
I think we were standing outside of Ristorante Pizzeria Vulnetia just after 1PM. We downed three glasses of water before we ordered our large lunch (salad, pizza and pasta) and a mini carafe of wine. After finishing our lunch we were on our way Monterosso. Our hike to Monterosso started with climbing an endless amount of stairs. Once we got out of the Vernazza we were both exhausted…or we just ate way too much for lunch. With sweat rolling down our backs we climbed and climbed and climbed until we reached top of mountain. In the middle of our climb we came across an older lady in her house dress, slippers and handbag. I turned to Kate and said if this grandma can climb, we better get moving and she better not pass us. This turned out to be my goal of the day. At some points Kate said I was running up the stairs. She was yelling at me to slow down but grandma was on our heels and she shall not pass! As we came around the last bend we could see Monterosso and the smiles on our face went from ear to ear.
Monterosso is the largest of the five towns and had a beach that you didn’t have to hike down to. We found a restroom to change into our bathing suits and we headed to the beach for some more fun in the water. While in the water we started to notice that the local coast guard was talking to each lifeguard along the coast, shark maybe? It didn’t really phase us (or any of the other vacationers) – after our swim we rinsed off and started our tour of the old and new town.
Since Rick Steves hasn’t failed us this whole trip we decided to have dinner at La Cantina del Pescatore. In true Mary and Kate fashion we were the first to be seated. Cinque Terra is also known for the anchovies and since this was our last dinner Kate decided that it was time. The anchovies were not like anything that she had in the past. She finished each one as I watched in amazement. I ordered the seafood ravioli that was delicious – even the octopus was tasty. During our dinner we met two couples that were polar opposites of each other. One couple was from Alabama and the other was from Holland. The Alabama couple didn’t really talk to each other (but had plenty to talk about with use) and the Holland couple couldn’t stop talking to each other and us. It made for an interesting dinner.
We took the train back to Corniglia and just missed the bus back to the town, so up the stairs (382) we went. After a full day of hiking and swimming, the stairs were a struggle, but we were soon back in our cozy apartment.
The next day off to Venice!
-Mary
Click here to see more pics of our amazing few days in Cinque Terre.
After hearing about the rain storms washing out the villages in the Cinque Terra we decided it was time to finish our travel blog. We were only in Cinque Terra for a few days but it left a huge impact in our hearts.
Kan I have some More? 