Seattle

So GF and I left Portland for a day trip up through the snow and into Seattle. We arrived just in time to be the last pair sat for lunch service (which stops at 2:30pm). One thing that I noticed about the "new" Matt's in the Market is that the menu is decidedly less seafood-centric than I remember it being. No matter, we had some great seafood dishes. One was the classic catfish sandwich on potato bread, and the other was a seafood stew that I hadn't noticed on the menu before.

Click to view: Matt's In The Market

The catfish was cooked very well and had a nice spicy mayo on it, but I just felt that the potato bread was too delicate for it. It was all falling apart in my hand. The seafood stew on the other hand was great, filled with fennel and some sort of yam and saffron and tons of great tasting seafood.

After catching up with an old roommate of mine and wandering around Seattle, we stopped for some noodles at the famed Samurai Noodles. I know everyone loves ramen porn, so I'll include it.

This porky bowl of noodles was perfect on a blustery winter early spring day, and it's quite a deal, too at $6.50 though we sprung for extra noodles which bumped it up to $8 even. Really great broth, nice konbu seaweed. It's on par with a lot of porky tonkotsu ramens I've had, including the Biwa ramen, though Biwa has a superior chasiu pork add-on. The difference is that rather than the onion-y taste of the Biwa ramen broth, the primary flavor of that murky broth is pork pork and more pork. I appreciated that they asked for the preferred doneness of my ramen noodle; I always prefer it on the firm side. Anyone who's a fan of the noodle nerdery should stop in for a visit.

Click to view: Samurai Noodle

We had a late dinner with other friends at How To Cook A Wolf, though I admit that I was still not hungry following the ramen. I'd say that HTCAW compares favorably with Ten01, though with HTCAW's small plates menu, perhaps the real comparison should be made with Park Kitchen (which I haven't been to in years). Four people shared five dishes, and we probably could have done with just four but I was noticing a lack of variety in the dishes so I threw in one more.

The best dish goes to the pork cheeks, whose rich braised flavor contrasted with the bright pops of sweetness and acidity from the golden raisins. The chanterelles in the dish had a surprising crunch, almost as if they were baked or fried, and was also delicious. And again, no toast served with the mussels.

Click to view: How To Cook A Wolf

potato salad

soft-boiled eggs

pork cheeks

mussels

potato gnocchi with short-rib

Man, that's some hawt looking hakata style ramen. I think I'll be up in Seattle for a conference in early May - can't wait to try it with extra noodles.

Made it to Quinn's Pub last weekend. Really liked the place. We sat upstairs at a big table and promptly ordered a round of drinks. I got the Guinness with Cynar. Others had assorted wines and beers, and my cousin got a Sage margarita, which was tasty, if a little on the sweet side for me.

For food, we ordered the Painted Hills meatballs with creamy polenta, the frites with fontina fonduta & demi-glace, and mussels with chorizo. My cousin was really disappointed that the Rarebit was no longer on the menu. The frites were much like a poutine, meaty and gloppy, and oh so good. Very rich, couldn't eat a lot of them so glad we were sharing. The meatballs were very dense, and the polenta super runny. As a dish, it wasn't executed very well, but the flavors of the meatballs came through with a bit of pepper spice. The mussels were the best I've had in some time with large slices of chorizo punctuating through the savory soup like broth (but no bread!! oughta be a law!).
We will probably try to stay for dinner next time, but had reservations at 35th St. Bistro. Couldn't get into How to Cook a Wolf due to the hugeness and obnoxiousness of our group.

I arrived in Seattle a few days ago in need of just some change of pace. Cabin fever is a mufuca. Anyway, I arrived creeping toward the late evening, but fortunately Boom Noodle in nearby Bellevue was still open. I'd describe this place as just being more upscale than Biwa, approaching Silk in terms of decor, but of course resembling none in terms of its quality. It's solid enough, with decent renditions of okonomiyaki, karaage and curry udon, but I probably wouldn't be in a hurry to go there (and really was only a last minute attempt to avoid the Cheesecake Factory).

The next day I had to myself, which meant that I could finally visit Txori, a tapas bar that specializes in Basque food. All of the pintxos (small plates) were really nice, but for me the standout was the bocadillo tortilla española, taking the familiar potato and onion omelet and putting in a sandwich with a bit of aioli. Really delicious.

bocadillo

After spending the day putting together a Twitter aggregation website (I've decided to reuse a domain name I already own: http://www.babblesauce.com ), I headaed back out to the International District to try out Maekawa. I'd say that this place is a bit of an upgrade over Yuzu. Much larger menu but still very much traditional stuff I'd seen in yakitoriyas and izakayas in Little Tokyo and Torrance. The dish of broiled beef tongue was really really good, as was the squid stir fried with kim chee (geso kimchee). Really, the only weak hit was the rice ball, which was really flavorless even hit with a bit of soy sauce. Portland/Beaverton really do their onigiri well, so take advantage! While the food prices at Maekawa were really nice and affordable, the sakes were not: drink beer here instead.

geso kimchee

I'm not a fan of the traffic in Seattle at all, but one thing that it does do is give me time to hit the road and let my mind ruminate on my options until inspiration hits and tells me to find a parking spot. Such was today when I was quite wishy washy about where to go for lunch, and ended up going back to the International District to check out Green Leaf, a very highly regarded Vietnamese place here in Seattle.

I started with an appetizer of bo la lot, taking ground beef into a Vienna-sausage-like shape, wrapping it in a betel leaf and then grilling it. It was served with really mild fish sauce to dip.

I really wanted to like their bun mam, with its broth that's supposed to be a wall of funky fish paste and eggplant and all sorts, but it came out really bland. Honestly, this dish is better at Yen Ha, but then I've been a champion of Yen Ha for a while. The broth admittedly improved as it approached room temperature, but everything about this dish was weak: the protein, the broth, the noodles were atrocious.

One of the downsides of having a savvy food populace in Seattle being drawn to a place like Green Leaf is that I get the sense that this kitchen is actually pulling their punches. The room was a veritable United Nations, but I can't fault them for succeeding at finding their niche. I'll stick with Ha&VL and Yen Ha, thank you very much.

Walking out of Green Leaf, right next door was Szechuan Noodle, a place that was on my radar initially thanks to a tip from the sous chef at Txori, but reading the menu only galvanized it. This part of the ID also has other intriguing options, like a new crawfish boil place that just opened up. Severe downside here (as with all of Seattle proper): expensive parking to the tune of $2.50 an hour with a max of 2 hours.

One of the primary reasons for this trip to Seattle was for Chiso Kappo. It'd been a while since my last visit, and while I enjoy Kurata, Chiso Kappo is operating on a whole different level above not just Kurata but damn near every other sushiya I've ever been to.

If you're ever in Seattle and want to get blown away by sushi, you'll do well to head to Chiso Kappo.

I was torn between getting Korean fried chicken for lunch, but decided instead to head to the Uwajimaya in Bellevue for some food court ramen. The shoyu broth was much lighter than the uber porky Hakata style, and it had some really nice heat in the broth, too. The noodles were nothing special, but as a composed whole, the ramen really worked. There was tons of toasted sesame, which combined with the pork to give off a smell that gave me the impression that it was actually ground-up fried pork rinds.

Takohachi Ramen

Sockeye salmon is completely and totally different from any other species of salmon. Most salmon are carnivorous, and feed on smaller fish and salmon fry. Sockeye salmon are Krill eaters. While other other species of salmon are known for their fat content and moistness, Sockeye are ultra lean. The Krill are where they get their intense red flesh from. The other noticable distinction in salmon, since they are a ocean dwelling but fresh water spawning fish, is that depending on the river basin from which they were born(and will one day return to, so long as they aviod gill nets and sea lions), they will carry higher or lower fat contents based on the length of their journey to their breeding grounds. but I digress........

That being said, If I sit down and chef wants to serve me salmon, yet doesnt know if its a Coho or Chinook.......Im passing on that course. Hell probably the whole meal.

I dont know who has ever had the chance to actual eat a sandwhich from Salumi in Seattle, beings how they are open only noon-4, Tue-Fri. I have always been either too late or on a weekend and it has always eluded me. Til Yesterday. I was a bit worried that it wasnt going to live up to the hype, but after a 45min wait in line(dont fret, they bring samples out constantly!), and having my hopes of a Porchetta sandwich on Ciabatta w/pep&onion dashed by the guy infront of me getting the last of it, I settled on a Mole and Mozz.

Made with Mole spiked salami and fresh buffalo mozz., this sandwich was absofuckinglutely no let down whatsoever! So good in fact, I bought an entire Mole to bring home. The Picture doesnt do justice to the sheer size of this monster either! At roughly 10"x5"x3" and only $8.25, it was a ridiculous value. Maybe its the lore that I had built up for this place, but I really think this place would more than stand up to Bunk. Every single sandwich I saw was drool inducing.

The focus of my eating and drinking, and general asshatery while in Seattle this last weekend was to finally make my way to Quinn's and Zig Zag Lounge.

First Quinn's. The comparisons to Clyde Common are well justified. I Was struck immediately by the very similar layout, just half the size.

HoldTheBeans and I popped out of our cab, that was somewhat expertly piloted by what can only be described as a Somali Beatnik(smooth jazz blaring, snapping fingers and saying "yeaaaaahhh!" to the beat, and driving about 50mph on surface streets while weaving in and out of traffic), at about 10pm on a Friday night. Place was busy, but had a cool and collected vibe to it. Put our name on the list and when to the bar to have a drink while we waited for our friend(none other than one, Mr.Vigs here on the board)to meet us. Noticing that they had all the ingredients for a last word, I asked if one could be made. After needing to remind the bartender of its components(not usually a good sign), He said he would try. He did better than try, He nailed it. From then on I knew I did not have to worry about this bar/bartender. I was in good hands.

Once we got to our table, we were presented with menus. I nearly had a heart attack when the first thing I saw was a porkbelly sloppy joe. I was in! We proceeded to order that, the Marrow Bones, Poutine(frites with demi and cheese on the menu, but its friggin poutine!), meatballs and polenta and veal sausage.There was another dish that I just cant remember right now.... Lets just say this wasnt a light meal. While not huge in volume, no one walked away wanting anything more! Except booze, but thats where Zig Zag comes in. More on that in a bit......

I can say this about Quinn's: Easily one of the coolest places I have been to in Seattle, and I would not hesitate to return when I am next in town. All that food and 6 cocktails came to $110. More than worth it!

Now about Zig Zag: Smitten. This place would be my Local if I were a Seattlite! Awesome space....hidden away down an outdoor stairway off of Western(so hidden infact that Mr. Vigs had never been, despite going to the Gelato place one flight of steps up from it, on a regular basis for several years!!)Red and black interior, light with very soft light, giving it the much intended speakeasy vibe.

Cocktails ranged from classic to cutting edge(albeit with a decidedly non sweet bent). Being about half past midnight when we arrived, and since we had been drinking since about 4pm, we only had time and liver processing ability for 1 drink. I had a Tequila drink called the Diablo(and yes, it was devilish). Great, drink with nice orange note, offset with the deep smokeyness of an Anejo Tequila. My agenda for next trip is to spend ample time here and do some damage to their lengthy list of inventory.

[Hattip to Sauce for the rec's]

Went to Seattle for a Birthday celebration this past weekend, and had a lot of fun.

After touring some of the Wineries of Woodinville, my favorite space of which was JM Cellars, and my favorite Wine of which was Januik, we made a hasty reservation at Lark, after being denied at Dinette, the place my cousin wanted to go.

One thing that struck me as odd was that our party of 10 got a reservation at 6:30 and we had only called at 4. And it was UW Graduation weekend; interesting, because that would seem impossible at some of the more popular Portland joints, but who knows? Maybe they had a cancellation, and it's also a much bigger city with more choices.

Lark had been described to me as a "better Park Kitchen", and I did see lots of similarities in the feel of the menu items, mostly arranged by Vegetable/Grains, Charcuterie, Fish & Meat, with a Cheese selection as well. Since we had a large group, and some of us don't eat meat, we got pretty much all of the Vegetable dishes, along with a few seafood and meat dishes for the carnivores to try. I am not going to list all of them as it's a pretty lengthy list, but I will list my standouts and my problem dishes.

Burrata with fava beans, mint & olive oil croutons. I loved this dish but was disgusted with how measly it was for $13. There were 8 fava beans on the plate. We joked that they should have at least put a bean for each person on there! There was a poached egg sized piece of Burrata as well, and it was creamy and salty and worked perfectly with the earthy beans and crunchy croutons. I am going to try recreating this dish.

Wild Striped Bass with black lentils, leeks, bacon and beurre rouge. Just worked. Nice bright flavors and everything tasted fresh.

There was a special on that night: Soft Shell Crab with ramps and porcinis. It was NOT working for me. The mushrooms were flavorless, and the crab tasted past its prime, not to mention it was a pathetically small portion.
Also bad were the sauteed half wild mushrooms with garlic, olive oil, and sea salt. Just bad tasting mushrooms and absolutely no flavor to anything, no garlic or salt even. Tasted like mush. Angry as we ordered 2 of these at $12, and they were just so awful.

The Bluebird Grain Farms Farro with garlic spears and maitake mushrooms should have been great, but they were stewed with cream (mascarpone?) and it was rather one-note. I love farro so i was excited about this dish but i was expecting something different I guess as I typically just cook my farro and toss it with other ingredients in a drier combination rather than creamy; this was like savory hot cereal. Not a fan.

In sum, I really wanted to like Lark, and I have faith that they know what they're doing, but it just seemed like a lot of the dishes were straining to work, and in their desire to showcase local, in season produce, they put some odd combinations together. I'll definitely try it again if I have the opportunity, but there are so many other restaurants in Seattle that seem like such a good value, that I might not be back real soon!

You know, I'm actually ready to retract my descriptor of Lark as a better Park Kitchen, because I just had a really fantabulous dinner at PK that was better than the one I had Lark. Perhaps it's more apt to describe them the other way around...

There's a Chiso Kappo event happening Wednesday the 24th, but I'm double-booked as it is, so I won't be able to make it up there.

I'm planning a trip to Seattle sometime soon, though, and the place that's pretty high on my list is Spur. Loves me some gastropubs.

I've been in Seattle only for about six hours now, and already a great find is in the town across the lake east of Seattle. Situated in downtown Bellevue, the restaurant Chantanee (and its adjoining bar, named Naga) should be a stop on the Seattle cocktail trail. The bar rack showcases such liquor as Casa Noble reposado, Bols Genever, Ron de Barrilito Tres Estrellas, and so on. The cocktail menu itself has lots of classic cocktails as well as in-house inventions. One such house cocktail is listed as '4D6', indicating that the player user customer roll four six-sided dice to determine what the components of their cocktails will be.

The dice features a base spirit, a vermouth/wine element, and two forms of bitters. The formula isn't really set in stone -- it seems the dice are there to provide the bartender with an idea as to what to pour for each drink. My roll ended up being "gin - dubonnet - herbal - fruit" resulting in a martini-esque concoction laced with peach bitters. Not my favorite drink in the world, but I do love the concept.

The food here at Chantanee was good, too. Like a lot of menus this large, it's easy to fall into traps, but there are gems to be mined as well. For instance, the menu features miang kham, the Thai appetizer featuring a make-your-own-leaf-taco set. Unlike the spinach leaves we're used to using in Portland, Chantanee uses the traditional betel leaves, which has a firmer texture, but to be honest the differences are lost on me since I'm slathering with fixings anyway.

In addition to a sour curry and a noodle dish, one of the notable dishes ordered was a beef dish that tasted great with rice, with noodles, or even in the betel leaf. The beef was stir-fried with basil, and I cranked this up a bit by tossing some Thai chiles and chili oil into it.

Day Two in Seattle resulted in a subpar trip out to Issaquah to try a Thai restaurant that's supposed to have good khao soi. On the menu, also, was one of my favorite Thai dishes, boat noodles. Unfortunately, both were pretty suboptimal. The khao soi (supposed to be their best dish) was subpar, comparable to the efforts put forth in Portland by Saucebox (oof). And don't get me started on the eponymous boat noodle dish. I was hoping to decode some Anglicization of the Thai menu, hoping to find a secret outpost serving one of my favorite Thai dishes of all time, but it was not to be. They even mixed up the noodles between the two; the wider egg noodles for my friend's khao soi ended up in my dish while my thin rice noodle ended up in his. I must have used up all the good karma from Chantanee because Noodle Boat Thai was pretty piss poor, and not worth the drive to effing Issaquah.

It was close enough, though, to a Bellevue mall called the Crossroads which allowed me to pick up a copy of a board game I'd been wanting, Dominion: Intrigue. While there, a friend gave me a tip on some Taiwanese popcorn chicken in the mall food court but alas their kitchen was down. Had some milk tea instead. I did manage to score some pics from the farmers market but my camera was informing me that its battery was dying.

After dropping off my wares at my friends house, I then made my way out to Lynnwood. By the way, the traffic here in Seattle is comparable to Los Angeles. I'll say it again, the similarities between the two cities are much closer than either would admit.

But Lynnwood is an exciting part of Seattle foodwise. Lots of Vietnamese and Korean here. I stopped into the Pal-Do Market to grab some Korean fried chicken at Chicky Pub.

It's not as spicy as I was really hoping, and the sauce was far too goopy. I still prefer Kyochon in Los Angeles better, as there's a stronger garlic flavor and tons more heat. Perhaps I should just get the hot wings at Chicky Pub next time.

The main drag through Lynnwood is state route 99. WA-99 (eventually turning into Aurora Ave) has tons of places that I would love to read about. It's kinda like a much much larger version of Portland's 82nd Ave. As expected, things tend to cluster around where the markets are, and so you'll do fine exploring Lynnwood near the Pal-Do or near the 99 Ranch.

While down this stretch of road, I found a Radio Shack who had a universal battery charger for my lovely new camera. All was well again.

I met up with my cousin for drinks and some food at Spur, a gastropub in Belltown. The space is really lovely, the drinks are very good, and everything has a very stately polish to it. If Quinn's is like Clyde, then Spur is like Ten01.

We had the famed pork belly sliders, served with apricot and a nice mustard.

The pork belly was cooked in kinda like carnitas with a great char on the exterior but the fattiness gave it a pleasing mouth-feel throughout. The apricot had a touch of tartness to cut through the richness of the pork belly.

As my cousin had never had sweetbreads before, I sprung for an order of that. It was served with a fava bean puree and topped with pickled onions. Really delicious. My favorite item we ordered, though, was not either of these, but rather the sockeye salmon crostini. The salmon was slightly smoked and was expertly paired with mascarpone. This dish was a true delight.

The cocktails at Spur were quite good, but really if I want drinks in Seattle, I'm heading to Zig Zag, whose patio is where we ended up finishing off the night. I still had to drive across the lake, so I took it easy, relatively speaking, with a cordial of Bols Genever and a tequila Last Word (Murray was in the house, so I knew I was in capable hands).

After visiting with some old friends of mine just north of Seattle, a buddy of mine and I made our way to Vessel in downtown. This is another stop on the Seattle cocktail tour, and wouldn't you know it, but they had a guest bartender last night, none other than Mr. Shenaut from Teardrop Lounge and Beaker and Flask. It's a pretty small sized bar, similar to the size of Secret Society here in Portland, but with a much more modern, stainless-steel-driven aesthetic. The tall bar shelf features lots of interesting ryes, some unique bottles of scotch as well as small bottles of some Buffalo Trace whiskey that I can only imagine is some form of prototype whiskey.

One of the most interesting features of Vessel, though, is the carbonator, allowing them to add effervescence to many spirits. It came into play into one cocktail that was made on the fly, combining mezcal, Killepitsch, chocolate bitters, and a pimento dram, all given the fizzy treatment by the carbonator. The result was like a light, yet complex Belgian beer.

The next rainy morning, I found myself seriously craving a bowl of pho. I headed down to the International District for a bowl of soup at Pho Bac, which conveniently opens at 8am. The pho dac biet had some of the nicest lean brisket I've ever had in a bowl of pho, and likewise the broth exhibited a big, strong, beefy character. Truly, the meaty aspect is a popular draw here at Pho Bac, as many suggest getting a side of nước béo, essentially clarified beef fat with sprigs of green onion floating in it, you know, just to amp up the beefiness even more. On this particular morning, I declined to get my recommended daily allowance of tallow, opting instead to just sip on iced coffee before driving back to Portland.

I'll let Tidings of Sylvan and Joy fill you in on all the Repeal Day related festivities they visited. I spent most of my time chilling on the Eastside at a friend's house. I did manage to cross off two more spots on my list, a Sichuan place called Bamboo Garden and a Taiwanese place called Facing East, both in downtown Bellevue.

Bamboo Garden does a brisk amount of lunch business owing to the numerous highrise office buildings nearby, and their lunch menu runs the gamut from mundane kung pao type stuff to a more exotic menu for adventurous eaters. I opted for two smoked meat dishes, a smoked pork appetizer that was like a cross between bacon and jerky, as well as a tea-smoked duck, served in the usual style of a half-bird chopped up in the various pieces.

The smoke flavor in both was pretty unique, an approach I hadn't really seen before, and certainly not one typically associated with Sichuanese food. Because of the size of the menu, Bamboo Garden is ripe for further exploration. All the meaty leftovers got stretch out into leftovers for dinner.

Facing East was much smaller and had a much more limited menu but seemed to have more focus. I stuck with Taiwnanese classics, starting with the "Taiwanese pork burger" gua bao 刮包, a bun of braised pork, crushed peanut, and pickled greens. Fans of Tanuki and Ping will recognize this instantly, though here at Facing East it was a bit larger, about the size of one's hand. For my main I got another classic Taiwanese dish, sanbeiji 三杯鸡 "three cup chicken", best described as a chicken clay pot dish with a soy and basil sauce. Such a dish can get pretty one-note and is best served as part of a group meal where something brothy can help cleanse the palate. Alas, I was but a lone diner and so I just boxed it up.

Greetings from the road. I've been here at a buddy's house in Seattle for a little over a week now, and while I haven't exactly been making going out a priority, there have been enough stops to fill out at least a short trip report.

One discovery is the overall strength of the Taiwanese food here. The critical mass of immigrants as well as the technology industry bringing workers over means that there is a high demand for traditional dishes done really well. While some places, like Facing East mentioned in the previous post, is well known, a place like Yea's Wok is really isn't, even among Seattleites. It's far from the city core, and the "good menu" is all in Chinese. So bring a Taiwanese friend if you manage to make it here.

Capitol Hill is still quite the spot, and staying near the corner of 12th and Pike you'll find Tavern Law. I'd always described its sister restaurant (Spur) as Seattle's answer to Ten01, but Tavern Law has no good Portland analogue. The closest would be if you opened a craft cocktail bar in the Ace Hotel lobby. Not Clyde Common, just the Ace lobby. The food actually feels more natural in that setting than it did at spur, with standouts like cod fritters and roasted brussel sprouts. You can also make reservations for Needle and Thread the menu-less speakeasy upstairs from Tavern Law.

On the same block is Barrio, offering modern, high-end Mexican food as well as a fun tequila and mezcal selection. The decor is incredibly hip without being frenetic, like a calm yet urbane oasis. While the bar menu highlights tequila, truly all spirits are treated with care, and so any boozehound should feel comfortable ponying up to the bar. Good thing, too, because you'll need a digestif after a meal here: the salsas and ceviches are a fun way to start, but you're spoiled for choice in deciding where to go from there. They even serve chilaquiles for those craving breakfast.

Staying in Cap Hill but moving now toward the more residential edge is where you'll find Liberty. It's hard exactly how to describe this spot. On the one hand, you'll find students with laptops throughout the day and night perched on the couches or at the bar tables. But you'll also find an incredible booze selection (including the biggest collection of absinthe in Seattle), ranging from all manner of whiskeys to a fun tap list. Whereas Tavern Law and Barrio both exhibit a high sense of sophistication, Liberty simply oozes with comfort. It's quickly become one of my favorites.

My short stay in Seattle has turned into an extended one, but because of my current mobility issues, I haven't been going out as much, doing a lot of cooking (and drinking) at home. I did pay a couple of visits to some Bellevue stops, though. Artisanal is a really nice French bistro, with a pretty extensive wine and cheese bar, too. It's a different animal than the celebrated Le Pichet offering a bright, wide-open cheery room as opposed to the cozy confines of Belltown.

The Bellevue location of Barrio is just as stunning as the Cap Hill location and with slightly easier parking. It's the same top flight bar program and the modernized Mexican menu has plenty of exciting options on both the appetizers as well as the entrees.

I've made the trip up and down to Portland a few times over the past few weeks, and made it to Cockatoo's in Federal Way. It's in an area just south of the main mall area, along a stretch of Pacific Hwy I like to call Sojubang Row for all the hidden Korean pubs there. Cockatoo's is a cool hybrid in that it offers full booze (including 3-Liter bottles of Hite for $15) but specializes in one of my favorite dishes: dak nal gae Korean fried chicken. The best descriptor would be to imagine a spicy, garlicky Buffalo wing, but with a crisp exterior as opposed to a flabby one. Like lots of dak nal gae joints, there's really no banchan to speak of, offering only a shredded lettuce salad dressed with Thousand Island, as well as cubes of radishes. Instead, they have a full menu complete with other Korean pub faire. Since I arrived during happy hour (Cockatoo's opens at 5pm), all the dishes were $5 though I recommend placing multiple orders of the chicken. Also recommended are the deep fried fish cakes, which are julienned into the shape of shoestring fries, breaded and fried.

My time here in Seattle is slowly coming to a close, and so I'll try and get in a few more updates.

Liberty has become one of my favorite bars, and it's nice to hear that they're taking over the space next door and expanding beyond just couches, booths and barstools to include table service too. I really like how places like Liberty, Sun Liquor and Rob Roy comfortably straddle the line between neighborhood bar and craft cocktail destination bar.

Bars on the eastside are de facto locals-only since few Seattleites make the jump across the lake, but places like Naga and Barrio in Bellevue still have plenty of buzz.

Scanning the room from the barstool at Barrio

It hasn't been just booze. I found a nice butcher shop near my buddy's house, though it's nothing as good as the meat counter at Sheridan's or Chop. The "know your butcher" philosophy hasn't really taken hold here as it has in Portland.

The restaurant scene, too, has been a lot of fun. Because the cocktail bars aren't necessarily places to eat, I also tend to grab dinner before hand, typically at an obscure ethnic joint way out somewhere to have, say, a Korean-style oxtail soup, or an Indian bar snack that's reminiscent of Chinese crispy chicken or a Sichuan-style fish with pickles. Late night grub at places like Five Points Cafe and the recently opened Night Kitchen is a great way to close out an evening, too.

Korean-style oxtail soup

There's still a handful of spots I need to hit up (like Delancey) before I leave. Here's to hoping they're ADA-compliant.