The Salted Pig

Finally went to check out The Salted Pig on Friday for lunch. I was hearing great things about this place and was very excited to check it out. The restaurant is set up with two distinct seating areas; one by the bar and one by the kitchen. We sat in the seats at the kitchen counter and were rewarded with some free samples of their deviled eggs. I only ate one and it was good just not something I focused on throughout the meal. I wish the seats at the bar were a little higher up so I could actually see what was going on. It was strange to sit there trying to see what was going on but being unable to do so. Another annoyance was that my server had not tasted many of the items on the menu. It is always alarming to hear a server say "People have told me that this is good" or "I've never tried that". If you really care about your restaurant you will taste and be able to talk about all of the regular menu items.

I ordered the pork belly sandwich with light mayo (As recommended), the brussel sprouts as a side, and the bacon sammy for dessert. I also upgraded to filthy fries which has cheese and roasted garlic on top. When the meal came out I was confused by the brussel sprouts. They were shredded like coleslaw with bacon pieces mixed in. This was a very unique way to eat brussel sprouts but surprisingly it was really good. Since they were shredded it was easy to get bacon in every forkful. Usually it is difficult to get the bacon on your fork with a large brussel sprout but when all items in the dish are similar in size it makes it much easier. My one issue was that it was very liquidy in the dish and became sort of a soup when you got towards the end. I am unsure as to why they did not remove some of the liquid but that was not pleasant.

The pork belly sandwich was good though it was lacking the savory taste that you normally get from bacon. I am not sure what was missing but I was expecting a richer taste that would fill me up since the sandwich was a little small. It was definitely a good idea to ask for light mayo because there was still a decent amount on the sandwich. If I had not asked for light mayo the whole sandwich would have been drowned in it and probably tasted terrible. Thanks yelp reviews! The sandwich also claimed to have mandarin pickles but they merely tasted like mandarin orange slices. I did not taste anything near to a brine that would allow you to call them pickled. Regardless, the sweetness of the orange was as great addition to the sandwich and broke up the monotony that was under flavored pork belly on bread. Overall, a decent sandwich but not one that I would order a second time. Next time I will get the really good or the pig burger.

My Pig Sammy came out last and was, by far, the best thing I ate at this restaurant. Who could argue with candied bacon inside ice cream between to maple cookies? I mean honestly I do not think that it would be possible at any restaurant to mess up that combination and The Salted Pig did not disappoint. Not only did the ice cream taste like bacon but there were pieces of candied bacon inside the ice cream. Almost every creamy bite of the ice cream came with the delicious somehow chewy and crunchy texture of the candied bacon. All of this was balanced by the maple cookies. What a great way to end the meal!

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at the Salted Pig. Some issues with the dishes and the set up of the kitchen counter but it was a fun meal with obvious thought behind the dishes. I would order the brussel sprouts again but I would ask them to drain out some of the liquid. I am not sure if I would order the pork belly again there are other options that I would rather try. I would recommend this place as a nice lunch hangout and hear that their happy hour deals are great. Next time I will go after work to try some of their many beers on tap. I mean this place calls itself a Gastropub so I need to test out its beer selection. By the way, the filthy fries were awesome. I mean roasted garlic and beer cheese on fries? How could that not be awesome!

Rating: 6/10

Confectional

List Item: Quadruple Chocolate Cheesecake

Confectional is a shop in Pike's Place where you can get individual sized cheesecakes of different varieties. When you walk in you can smell the cakes because they cook them on site. I bought a Quadruple Chocolate and was not disappointed. The cake was so smooth and creamy, chocolaty and cheesy and just melted on the tongue. If you wanted a different texture you could peel back the wrapping and eat the crispy crust. This cheesecake was a perfect individual dessert and you can buy them in a freezer pack to take home. I would definitely recommend that you swing by Confectional every time you are at Pike's Place market and are in the mood for a truly delicious confection. Next they need to expand so you can actually sit down and enjoy your cheesecake fresh out of the case.

Rating 8/10

Etta's Seafood

List Items: Mussels, Tuna Sashimi, Crab Cakes

The one and only sit down list restaurant we ate at on this trip was Etta's Seafood. Esthetically, the restaurant was nothing special just a well put together and nice place with a sizable bar area. We sat down and I ordered a bloody mary which had a pickle in it instead of celery. A little different but a good addition. I tried to order everything off the list but they did not have the mussels which was a little disappointing.

Food wise, I ordered the tuna sashimi and a shrimp roll. My mom ordered the crab cakes and Virginia ordered the burger. The burger apparently took 15 minutes to make so I expected it to be wonderful but in reality it tasted like an ordinary burger. It was actually overcooked so maybe 15 minutes was a bit overzealous. The crab cakes which were on my list were a little odd. The best word I could think of was stringy. Instead of lumps of crab it seemed like they shredded the crab over a cheese grater. The texture of the cake was jarring and outweighed the wonderful fact that the cake had almost no filler. I really don't think that I would order the crab cakes a second time.

So now to my meal. The tuna sashimi, a list item, was really great. The crispy pita type bread was a great holder for the tuna and the wasabi. The soy marinade for the tuna made it a little salty and which was balanced out by the spiciness of the wasabi and the sweetness of the butter on the bread. A truly great appetizer which I was thankful for after the disappointing crab cakes. By far the best part of the meal was the shrimp roll. It appears that it is only on the brunch menu but this was a dish I would eat again. Just like the crab cakes, the shrimp roll was filled almost entirely with sweet shrimp. I truly appreciate a restaurant that knows not to add filler (Breadcrumbs) to its seafood dishes. The bread was toasted and crispy which always goes well with a savory and creamy shrimp filling. A great shrimp roll at a somewhat unremarkable restaurant.

Overall Etta's is not my favorite seafood restaurant in Seattle. In reality, it tries to hard to be upscale without the food chops to back it up. The biggest problem I had with the meal was the burger. How pretentious is it to say that you burger takes 15 minutes to make and then bring out an overcooked and mediocre dish. One that Virginia did not finish and I did not have them wrap up (A rare sight indeed). They didn't even give you ketchup to use on the waffle french fries. At its price point ~$35 per person, I would not go back. In a city with fantastic seafood, you can get it better for much much cheaper.

Rating: 5/10

Portage Bay

After a 10 mile run we felt that a great brunch place was necessary so we headed to Portage Bay. First of all they had the coolest food shirt ever. Quote on the back "Eat like you give a damn". To bad they are not selling them anymore. At noon on a Saturday it was a 45 minute wait for 7 people but we only waited about 25. The restaurant was very open, basically one big room. The bathrooms were funny with pictures of toilets from history but I digress. As you will see from the first picture, they had a huge toppings bar that came with any pancake or french toast order.

Now for the food. The menu looked exciting with fun items like cheesecake french toast and the rancher's breakfast. In addition they had items for gluten free and vegan diets. I ordered the rancher's breakfast which was 3 eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and two pieces of challah french toast (and the toppings bar). I also ordered some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice which was refreshing. The rancher's breakfast was really good. The eggs were cooked well and the bacon was crispy but I could have gotten those items anywhere. The real star of the show was the french toast and the toppings bar. I covered my sweet and fluffy french toast with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a few pears. The also had what looked to be homemade whipped cream which melted slowly on the toast and added a richness to the whole ensemble.

I admit that I was hungry but it was quite easy to finish that whole meal in less than 10 minutes. I was also introduced to organic ketchup and now ask the question, why does anyone eat the bright red and pathetic non-organic version? All in all Portage Bay was a fun, family friendly restaurant with some delicious and hearty food. I would go back again and try one of their hash options or a benedict. If you are looking for a brunch place in Seattle go to Portage Bay.

Rating: 8/10

Top Pot Doughnuts

This will be a quick review since we just picked up a dozen doughnuts and left. The restaurant looked nice and next time I will sit and stay. When we got home I tested a piece of each doughnut and I do admit they were pretty tasty. The list item was the pink feather boa doughnut which was frosted pink with a coconut topping. This doughnut was good but not the best one in the box. The best doughnut in my opinion was the simple glazed. It was light a fluffy with a sweet glaze. I do not eat many doughnuts but I could have eaten a few of these. My biggest recommendation which is true for all baked goods in my opinion is that you should get these fresh in the morning. Even great doughnuts age poorly in a few hours so next time I go it will be nice and early to get them hot and fresh.

Rating: 6/10

La Bete

Evan and I stopped in here for drinks and some small plate dishes. At first blush this high end restaurant was very cool. It was set up with the most open kitchen that I had seen before. You could sit up at the counter and watch the chefs cook your meal almost completely in front of you. The bar, where we sat, was a little behind the kitchen area so you could look down across the whole line and see everything that was going on. All in all this restaurant had a nice ambiance with a modern look and a very friendly staff. We sat down and ordered some drinks and I got a very well made martini.

Let's talk about the food. Since it was late, we only ordered a two items. First we got the salt and pepper chicken wings. The wings were tasty and well fried, nice and crispy and just enough grease. The unfortunate piece was that the wings did not have much meat on them so the flavor was really in the bones. At a restaurant like this it was a little odd to suck the bones of chicken wings. The other dish we ordered were the pork rinds. Evan said that these were recommended so I had high hopes. The reality was that the pickled onions were the best part of the dish. I admit that this was the first time I ever tried pork rinds but they tasted like nothing. I really didn't understand what I was eating, I had never eaten something that was a complete blank slate. I am unsure if I will ever eat pork rinds again but I was disappointed with this experience.

Overall, La Bete was a really nice place with some decent food. While eating and talking we saw many different dishes that I would be interested to try and Evan said he had eaten meals before that were wonderful. I plan to go back to this restaurant and try a full meal next time we are in town. Then I will be able to give it a full review.

Rating: 5/10