Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Restaurant Recommendations
Rich and I have had many more opportunities to eat out in the last month than we normally do. I have three whole hearted recommendations for you for three very different types of restaurants.
In Seattle, we ate at the Steelhead Diner with some friends. The restaurant specializes in local, fresh food and drink. The dinner was exquisite. I had an amazing steak, Rich and our friend both had fish and chips, the likes of which one does not normally see, our friend's wife had a crusted salmon. Even though we had eaten more than enough, we did get dessert. I had a rhubarb coffee cake, which was warm and delicious and Rich had a gigantic sundae type dessert. Our friends were more sensible and shared a dessert. Be prepared to spend a decent amount of money here. Rich's meal was covered because he was on a business trip and dinner wasn't included in the conference, but the total bill was significant, even so. You are paying for high quality food, though, not simply for a chi-chi experience.
Restaurant number two is in Richland. Woo's Teriyaki seems like a little dive in a strip mall. It is a family run business, the family is from Korea, so this place has both the normal offerings you'd expect at a teriyaki place, including the obligatory Chinese dishes, and Korean food. Their hot food is really, really hot, and I eat spicy food on a regular basis. The food is incredible, the portions are good - not huge, but generous - reasonably priced and the service is great. I would recommend it to anyone. I had a lunch there while Rich was at a conference lunch (mine was much better than his), ordered the kung pao chicken, which was heavy on the pao. I didn't get it at the hottest level, but was glad I ordered the steamed vegetables to go with it and had to order a Coke to help it all go down. Next time I will get it medium instead of medium-hot. It was wonderful, though! They make all the food fresh, the meal starts with a light soup, comes with rice and is very filling and delicious. I brought my leftovers back to the hotel and Rich, who isn't a huge fan of Asian food, also enjoyed them. The hot food isn't just hot, it is flavorful, this isn't just some chile-head gimmick type place.
The third restaurant is Buddy La Fleur's in Wenatchee. It has both seated dining and a drive through. We were looking for something fast to eat on the road on the way home from a trip there and had been heading for a Wendy's when we saw this restaurant and decided to give a local place a chance over the chain. We are so glad we did. Rich and I both had a bacon cheeseburger, he had the seasoned fries and I had the onion rings. All of this was delicious and freshly made. Rich had a blackberry shake and I had a hot fudge shake. The hot fudge wasn't the best, so I would have been better off with a different option, and I ordered a large, which was way too big. Other than that, we were quite happy with the meal. It cost about the same amount as the chain fast food places, but was infinitely better and we could give our money to a local company as well.
In Seattle, we ate at the Steelhead Diner with some friends. The restaurant specializes in local, fresh food and drink. The dinner was exquisite. I had an amazing steak, Rich and our friend both had fish and chips, the likes of which one does not normally see, our friend's wife had a crusted salmon. Even though we had eaten more than enough, we did get dessert. I had a rhubarb coffee cake, which was warm and delicious and Rich had a gigantic sundae type dessert. Our friends were more sensible and shared a dessert. Be prepared to spend a decent amount of money here. Rich's meal was covered because he was on a business trip and dinner wasn't included in the conference, but the total bill was significant, even so. You are paying for high quality food, though, not simply for a chi-chi experience.
Restaurant number two is in Richland. Woo's Teriyaki seems like a little dive in a strip mall. It is a family run business, the family is from Korea, so this place has both the normal offerings you'd expect at a teriyaki place, including the obligatory Chinese dishes, and Korean food. Their hot food is really, really hot, and I eat spicy food on a regular basis. The food is incredible, the portions are good - not huge, but generous - reasonably priced and the service is great. I would recommend it to anyone. I had a lunch there while Rich was at a conference lunch (mine was much better than his), ordered the kung pao chicken, which was heavy on the pao. I didn't get it at the hottest level, but was glad I ordered the steamed vegetables to go with it and had to order a Coke to help it all go down. Next time I will get it medium instead of medium-hot. It was wonderful, though! They make all the food fresh, the meal starts with a light soup, comes with rice and is very filling and delicious. I brought my leftovers back to the hotel and Rich, who isn't a huge fan of Asian food, also enjoyed them. The hot food isn't just hot, it is flavorful, this isn't just some chile-head gimmick type place.
The third restaurant is Buddy La Fleur's in Wenatchee. It has both seated dining and a drive through. We were looking for something fast to eat on the road on the way home from a trip there and had been heading for a Wendy's when we saw this restaurant and decided to give a local place a chance over the chain. We are so glad we did. Rich and I both had a bacon cheeseburger, he had the seasoned fries and I had the onion rings. All of this was delicious and freshly made. Rich had a blackberry shake and I had a hot fudge shake. The hot fudge wasn't the best, so I would have been better off with a different option, and I ordered a large, which was way too big. Other than that, we were quite happy with the meal. It cost about the same amount as the chain fast food places, but was infinitely better and we could give our money to a local company as well.
Labels: Reviews, Tales from the Kitchen
