Ladies who brunch

Several weeks ago my older sister was in town, so my Mom, sister and I spent the day together. The sun was shining and the temperature was rising quicker than usual for Seattle. It is sad to say, but I cannot remember the last time we spent time together just the three of us, it was a rare treat. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at Portage Bay followed by a walk through Pike Place Market. 

Shared plates

With the weather consistently staying nice, we have resolved ourselves to eat every meal outside until October. Who is with me? As the weather is warmer I crave lighter dishes, fish and lots of salads.

Are you one of those people who loves to order lots of different plates and then share? I find this to be the easiest, most economical means to try a little bit of everything on the menu. Some foods are delicious, but either too rich, spicy or heavy to eat an entire plateful. Cameron and I have taken a liking to ordering several different appetizers and then sharing them for our dinner. I know I often speak of Elliott's, but I find their location, price point and freshness just a few reasons we keep coming back for more.

Marination Ma Kai

I am always surprised to hear how many people rarely venture over to West Seattle because they believe it to be too far away. From downtown Seattle you can board the King County Water Taxi and within ten minutes find yourself on the shores of Alki beach. If you time your visit around a mealtime; might I suggest visiting Marination Ma Kai for lunch.

Eating out at Lunchbox Laboratory

Every once and awhile I get a hankering for a cheeseburger and milkshake. Now I am not talking about a greasy, cheap burger or a mediocre milkshake, but the likes of Lunchbox Laboratory. They offer the most delicious shakes on the planet, (I would highly recommend the Nutella milkshake) and Bleu Marble burger with a side of sweet potato fries. Oh man, now I am making myself hungry. 

Date night: Bistro Turkuaz, Molly Moon's and Madrona neighborhood walk

In an ongoing effort to have more planned date nights, I showed up to Cameron's work one Friday evening without a plan. Needless to say, there are many perks to your husband working at a magazine, in particular having a good source on hand to locate a great new restaurant to try. As I waited for him, I quickly flipped through the magazine and came across a Turkish restaurant, Bistro Turkuaz. Since I could not recall any Turkish restaurants we have been to in Seattle, I thought it was a good a fit for something new.

Favorite romantic restaurant: Ray's Boathouse

How many places can you simultaneously watch seals, tug boats and eat delicious seafood? Almost eight years ago, Cameron and I had our wedding reception at Ray's boathouse and it is the perfect place to visit on our anniversary and remember all our fond memories made here.

Water view dining

Favorite restaurant downtown: Elliott's Oyster House

If you want consistently good food, great views and artful presentations than Elliott's is a sure bet. It has become our go to spot for special occasions, where we take out of town guests and the perfect spot to head when we want good seafood and decadent desserts.

Date night: Agua Verde dinner + kayak

I know dinner and a movie is a classic date combination, but I would much prefer to go kayaking and then to dinner. One of my favorite places to do both in Seattle is Agua Verde. One of the best parts of Agua Verde is the location, it is on the Montlake Cut at the mouth of Lake Union. Once you leave the dock, within minutes you are paddling past house boats and watching seaplanes land and take off. On a warm, sunny day I can think of no better place to be than on the water in Seattle. After you have worked up an appetite, lunch or dinner back at Agua Verde is a sheer delight. I am a big fan of their Bagre (spicy catfish) tacos, but everything I have eaten there is delicious.

Date night: Paseo and Golden Gardens

As of late, I have been making a conscious effort to make our date nights less spontaneous and more planned. Not that there is anything wrong with being spontaneous, but it is easy to end up at the same place time and time again or do the same things. My husband takes a very relaxed approach to our time together, so he is happy to sit back while I decide what we do. As it stays lighter and the nights are getting longer, I love spending more and more time outside. On this particular night, I thought it would be fun to go for Caribbean sandwiches at Paseo and then take a walk on the beach. The great thing with a little planning is it not only gives you something to look forward to, but is a great way to break out of your routine.

Paseo has amazing caribbean sandwiches.

Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery

I grow tired of the weak, tasteless, after thoughts most desserts are at main stream restaurants. Sometimes I want to meet a friend later in the evening for dessert and you can only take so much frozen yogurt or hot chocolate. Then enter into my life, Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery. Not only do they have hours which linger well past nine o'clock, but offer an assortment of treats from molten chocolate cakes, to milkshakes, sundaes, smores and ice cream sandwiches. Goodbye mediocre after dinner treats and hello decadence. I had been hearing a lot about this place for the past little while and on a whim we met up with some friends to give it a try. 

Toro Bravo

A restaurant in a quiet neighborhood, virtually next to nothing fills up almost entirely by 5:30pm.  Having just opened its doors a mere thirty minutes prior the pans start to stack up as quickly as dishes constantly keep flowing from the kitchen. I have read about the ridiculously long waits here, (1-2 hours) how they do not accept reservations and it was the best meal some people have ever eaten. While we were in Portland, I was both curious and excited to give it a try. When we pulled up to Toro Bravo at 4:30pm we sat in our car all stalker like until it opened at 5pm. Without a person in sight I began to wonder what was all the hype. Word to the wise: eat at five and if you like paella and empanadas this is the place to go.

Here comes the sun

When you first cross the border into British Columbia there is a welcome sign which describes itself as "the best place on earth" I know Canada is pretty great, but this kind of self touting is a tad off putting. It was probably an addition for the Olympics, as was the new visitor center which used to be a trailer, but is now an obnoxious building with a waterfall flowing off it. Despite ridiculously high expectations of having reached the best place on earth, British Columbia welcomed us with torrential rain and memories of a trip we cut short when the skies would not let up.

Our first stop was Granville Island, not only is it a great place for people watching, lunch and local color, but just about the only place where you can find free parking in the city. After enjoying the crowds, live music and a light lunch we hopped abroad Aquabus for a scenic boat tour. The skies were dark and the buildings reflected the ever changing shades of blue and grey.

I enjoyed snapping photos through the rain covered Aquabus windows.

After a boat ride, we came across a group of women from The Red Hat Society. Cameron had never heard of them, but I have run across them before. There was a gaggle of them and I found them too adorable to not snap a photo of.

Upon leaving Granville Island, we headed out to West Vancouver to visit Point Atkinson. The dark skies broke way to sunshine and the rest of the day was picture perfect weather.

A cruise ship heading up to Alaska.

One thing we love about Vancouver is how quickly you can reach the mountains. It is a mere 20 minutes to a ski run or a hike.

For dinner we ate at Havana on The Drive and had one of the best meals we have had in a long time. Everything was so flavorful that I am recommitted to cooking with more intense flavors. There vibe is eclectic and everyone has scratched either their name or a brief message on the walls.

We ended the evening at La Casa Gelato. This place is sheer madness, aside from offering 218 different gelato flavors, they were packed to the gills at ten o'clock at night.

Vancouver is much like Portland to us, there is a young hip vibe to the city and a great place to escape for a long weekend.

Anniversary dinner

In honor of our anniversary we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Ray's Boathouse. We held our wedding reception here six years ago, so it is always nice to go back and reminisce. We are fortunate to live close by, but we typically reserve it for special occasions. One of the best things besides the food, is the high quality service they provide. Not only are they happy to take your photo, but they are thoughtful enough to provide fleece blankets so even if there is a chill in the air you can venture out to eat on the waterside deck.

I had high hopes of making a homemade cake again this year, but settled for a petite store bought one instead. If you are looking for the perfect amount of cake for two check out your local Whole Foods, they have several adorable mini cakes. However, if it counts those are strawberries from our garden and rumor has it they are the best tasting strawberries a certain someone has ever had.

Slappy Cakes

I know money cannot buy true happiness, but moments of happiness it certainly can. The moment we walked into Slappy Cakes I was grinning from ear to ear. I was eager to make pancakes on my very own table side grill and the bright decor along with the friendly staff made the experience all the sweeter.

First you choose what type of batter and then you choose what kind of toppings you want. In addition, they have a full breakfast menu and they can even make your pancakes for you if you are in a hurry. It was hard to determine which toppings to choose, but since I was feeling adventurous I chose dried pineapple and Cameron selected bacon. In the end, I have to say the combination of pancake, syrup and bacon was a nice blend of sweet and savory, whereas mine was just extra sweet.

I think you will hard pressed to find a more inventive, social and unique dining experience for under ten bucks and that is why I plan on making this one of our must dos when are in Portland.