Seattle 2011, part 1

Kirk and I decided to get out of town for a few days (good timing too, what with all the rioting in Vancouver) so we drove down to Seattle last Monday. Now, when Kirk and I go on vacation, we generally enjoy walking around and eating a lot. This was no exception!

We took our time driving down (depending on the traffic and border waits it takes about 3 hours to drive from Vancouver to Seattle), stopping in Everett where we marveled at the giant battleship in the harbour. We checked into our hotel (Inn at Queen Anne - awesome) and had a little nap, then headed out for dinner. The Queen Anne district in Seattle is full of great food, so we stepped across the street to The Signature Restaurant, a nice Vietnamese place on 1st. We hadn't been there before, and were suitably impressed. It's not terribly authentic, but definitely yummy.

 I started with a beer I'd never tried before - Maui Brewing Co's CoCoNut Porter. Heavenly! Nice and dark and caramelly, with just a hint of coconut. And the can is attractive too, a big plus in my books.

As it was happy hour, we had the Salt & Pepper Fried Tofu. My terrible photo does not do it justice at all - It was lightly breaded, crispy and delicious. I've had salt & pepper tofu at a tonne of places, and this was definitely top 5.

I was thrilled to see that they had vegetarian phở on the menu. Not beef broth with no meat chunks, but actual animal-free soupy goodness. It was amazing, with a depth of flavour that I haven't yet been able to achieve at home and a tonne of crisp veggies. Love love love!

We spent the rest of the evening watching tv in the hotel room. With no tv at home, that was kind of a treat for us.

More Seattle posts to come. Not all about food, but mostly :)