Hey Extras,
Just a little sneak peak at what the next review will be. It will be a Homemade Recipe Review. It will involve a Thanksgiving day staple and it will be the first time I’ve ever made it this way! Cross your fingers for me! LOL lets hope its not a Thanksgiving disaster!
Hello Extras!
So here is another review… Is it too soon? I know you all aren’t use to me blogging one review after another! What is the world coming too?! Well, enough of the nonsense… On to the review!
Today I will be reviewing Green Leaf Restaurant in Seattle’s International District. Located on 8th near Jackson, this little Vietnamese restaurant is a gem. I’ve been here once before a long time ago with my friend Woo but last Sunday, I ended up at the restaurant with my boyfriend Trevor and our friend Kevin (who was super excited to go there… I think it’s his form of crack… really… look at this picture… he’s really super excited!).
The restaurant is really small. It has two floors of dining but the width of the restaurant is like 15ft – 20ft across… enough just for three rows of tables consisting of a table for four and two for … well two. Sitting at that table, I have to say though, it was hard to eat with another person sitting beside you and you not wanting to be in the way of the waiter/waitresses dashing by next to you.
They have these beautiful sconces made too look like Asian lanterns with dangling Hello Kitty tassels on them (huh?). They also have a large Buddha statue near the cash register with cartoon cow heads above it and near the stairs to the top floor (again… huh?). The room was a lovely inviting green color with these bamboo wall runners. The tables looked like black granite with really comfy dark colored wooden chairs. Overall, I liked the ambiance except for the Hello Kitty and the cartoon cows.
The menu came out along with some tea (I love it when tea is on the house!) but we did have to ask for water. The waitresses all were in their uniform (a Vietnamese style black and red top with Green Leaf on it) but unfortunately our waiter wasn’t in uniform (although he did have very hip style). One of the reason’s why Kevin love this place is the menu. There was Cashfish on the menu tonight 
lol and other miss types through out the menu. Cute if there is a few… odd when there are many.
We ordered our dishes by number (since they were all numbered… of course) and our waiter knew them all… number 6 … “Escargot Stuffed & Pork… number 28 … Pho Combo… number 49 … Udon Noodles with Shrimp & Crab… number 63… Combo Rice Dish! OMG! I was very impressed. I love it when waiters do that. It shows that they really know what they are doing.
(Sorry for the quality of the photos… I turned off the flash not wanting to bother people so they are kind of dark. I hope you get the feel of it though… next time… screw the other people! I have a review to do!)
The Escargot Stuffed & Pork (Ginger Sauce) ($6.95) was so good. It was flavorful, moist and had little chunks of escargot studded through out the whole kebab. The patty was formed around a piece of lemongrass that adds a slight lemony flavor to it (brilliant and so inventive!). The taste of the escargot really comes through in this dish and the ginger sauce really enhance the flavor of the dish. The little gem in this dish is the fried onion on top. That thing was packed with flavor and the pickles that came with it (pickled carrots and jicama, no daikon) was sweet with just a touch of sourness. The jicama was like eating slices of Asian pear. It was light and crisp… I could eat a whole bowl of that thing! It also came with a salad that had no dressing but Kevin indicated that you were suppose to drizzle the ginger sauce over it.
On to the main entrees. Kevin had the Udon Noodles with Shrimp & Crab ($8.25). Again, me being the bad critic I am… I relied on my company to help me taste and review the dishes offered in these fine establishments. Ah friends… they are more useful than you think 
… LOL OK… Here is what he said. He liked the Udon. He’s a fan of thick noodles… (the gay in me just want to make a joke but the critic in me is restraining) There was a good amount of salt. The broth was well season. We think its a vegetable base broth. Shrimp and crab not over cooked. He liked the stringy bits of crab meat.
Trevor had the Combo Pho ($8.25). It had brisket, tendon, tripe, flank. It’s more expensive than the pho I am use to getting so I was hoping it would taste that way. Unfortunately, I was unable to taste it before he put things in it so I couldn’t get the original flavor of the dish. What I did taste was great. Even with all the things he added in, I could tell that the soup was light. Trevor described it as “so light, it’s almost chicken brothy instead of beef broth.” The pho also came with the usual sides of bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime slices and jalapenos.
My dish was the Rice Combo ($9.50). This was a crazy dish. It had grilled pork chops, chicken, shrimp, a fried egg, white rice, picked carrots and jicama and salad that consisted on lettuce, tomato and a slice of cucumber.
Look at the sucker! It also came with a spoon, fork and knife which added to my chop sticks that I already had. CRAZY! It looked really intimidating and I didn’t think I could finish it. Look at it. There was a huge mound of food topped with a fried egg. Both the chicken and the pork were grilled to perfection. They were tender, flavorful, sweet and smoky. The shrimp were flavorful too although they didn’t take out the vein in the back and that is something that really bothers me. I didn’t think the salad was necessary… the tomato, cucumber and lettuce added nothing to the dish although I could of used more of the pickles… so tasty!
Overall, my experience at Green leaf was really good. It can use a little more space but that can’t be helped can it, unless they bought out their neighbors and tear down the wall dividing the two space… (hint, hint Green Leaf!) It seems like going in twos or a big group works better than going in 3s or 4s. The price here is way reasonable and a perfect place to eat a great meal if you are on a budget. Most of the dishes are all under $15.
My rating: Ambiance was good. Price was reasonable. Tastes was delicious. Well the things that we got. Parking is tough. It is the International District. Recommendation… Yes!
What do you think guys
Check out their website!
Hey Extras!
A two for one deal! Only for a limited time! Buy one get on FREE! OK I am done now… on to the Review!
Shabu-Shabu… Hot pot… delicious by any name and super fun to eat!
My trip to Seven Star Pepper Szechuan Restaurant (Wow a mouth full huh? Shouldn’t restaurant names be simple? If they’re not, they should!) started when Jamie asked me if I wanted to hang out when our men are away. Both Trevor and Ryan were in Chicago that week and Jamie and I decided we should do something and that something was Shabu-Shabu! So Jamie and I along with two of our other friends Kevin and Kathryn decided to meet up at Seven Star Pepper. We gots a talking and they recommended I blog about our experience there… so I drew up my note book and started taking notes. (I think they said it as a joke and thought I wasn’t going to do it but I did… WHAT?! I took the challenge and I think they had fun with it too. That’s us in the picture above!)
Seven Star Pepper Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant situated on 12th and Jackson street (1207 South Jackson St.) on the edge of Chinatown and Little Saigon in what we Seattleites call, the International District. It is in a business complex with the restaurant on the second floor. The decor is Chinese inspired with glass tables and not too comfy chairs… Me thinks me chair was slightly broken. The best thing about our table was that it had a Lazy Susan built in the middle! Note: We didn’t use it because the hot pot was on it and we didn’t want to spin that sucka around.
On the menu was Szechuan Style Cold Noodles and Family Style Hot Pot with two different broth, spicy and not spicy. Don’t ask me what the flavor of the broth was, because for the life of me, I was not able to distinguish what the base flavor was. I think either chicken or vegetable stock.
The food came out rather quick after we ordered it. The wait staff was nice and kept asking us if things were OK and brought things for us when we asked for it promptly (extra napkins, a ladle for the soup).
When eating Asian Cuisine, the thing you expect to taste is … well, a variety of tastes. Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami all in one lovely bite. A taste experience for the taste buds. And if you are tasting cuisine from any of the pepper loving countries, you expect lots of spiciness! So it was with the lovely Szechuan Style Cold Noodles.
Szechuan Style Cold Noodles, have I repeated that name over and over enough yet? Kathryn recommended that we get that as an appetizer. I’ve never had it before and was pretty excited to try it. Cold noodles… I didn’t know what to expect! When it came out though, boy did it look tasty. The noodles were light and perfectly cook with a little give to their texture. They were sitting in this crazy sweet, salty and spicy sauce with scallions sprinkled on top. Now, I don’t think I’ve experience true Szechuan peppers before. I didn’t know if it will creep up on you or hit you right in the face. Now I know. It is an experience. At first, there is this subtle heat all around. Then, slowly, it creeps up at the back of your mouth and moved slowly towards your lips and then they begin to tingle… Delightful! And it made my nose run, but I didn’t think it was that hot… It was weird and fun. I swear to you, I couldn’t get enough of those noodles. It sat by me during the whole meal and I was so tempted to put my whole face in there and lick it all up but I had Hot Pot to attend too.
Ah Hot Pot. What a lovely dish. So interactive and perfect for the family to just enjoy a dinner with each other. Add a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Allow to boil and cook, take out and eat. Our family style hot pot came with a wide assortment of things you can drop into the broths: Seafood that include shrimp, fish (don’t ask me what kind of fish… It looked pink and um… recently defrosted), squid and fish balls. Meat that include thin strips of beef and lamb (or what we thought was lamb… me thinks it might of been veal instead). Two different kinds of noodles, udon and glass. Tofu, bamboo shoots, black fungus, potato (one sliced up) and napa cabbage. Oh and it also came with this weird looking peanut sauce that is umami heaven. It added so much depth to the dish. I can’t explain the flavor. It was kinda … um… peanuty (I know that isn’t a word)… and um… goodness… you’ll have to go and taste it. Really, its something that has to be experienced.
Back to the hot pot. The two broths were interesting. The not spicy one had such a subtle flavor to it. When I just stated the broth, I was expecting something, but really I got nothing but its not bad… its magic! Once you put things in there, those things had flavor. No, I know those ingredients already taste like … um … themselves… but, when place in the nonchalant not spicy broth, there was extra flavor! Especially with the napa cabbages. I don’t know how to explain it.
The hot soup was, in the words of Kevin, “looks crazy red and hot.” There were a ton of red pepper flakes in there but it wasn’t overwhelming hot. The soup here had more flavor and I think, the better of the two. (btw, the soup wasn’t hot enough for Kathryn, so she asked for chili sauce!)
Over all, the meal was good. There were a ton of things to eat and we ate… almost of all it. They came by and added more soup because they noticed it was running low. The thing that fell short for me was the bamboo shoots and the fish balls. Both didn’t take any of the flavors of the soups so they were just one note, even in the spicy one. I didn’t get the potato but that didn’t get a good review from anyone. It was “odd” they said.
Oh, there was a restaurant next door that also sells hot pot and they were offering a free lobster for 2 or more people but we didn’t go to that one…. … regrets? Not so much. The meal was good. The price was good and of course, the company was great.
My rating: Ambiance could use some work. Decorations could use some work. Price reasonable (it was about $18 per person including tip). Parking is plentiful (they have a garage underneath). Would I come back… Yes.
Hello Extras!
These posts are coming in slow aren’t they? Well, again, it’s all about me being inspired to write and I haven’t been too inspired to write lately. I figured… why not today. Today’s review will be duet with Barrio and Seven Star Pepper Szechuan Restaurant. In this post, we will cover Barrio.
Woo, Michael and I decided to go to Barrio for dinner after yoga one Tuesday. I’ve been to Barrio before but never for dinner, usually its just for late night happy hour. So when we went there, I was expecting great food.
Barrio is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. It is situated on 12th in the middle of block between Pike and Madison. The place is usually dimly lit with candles. The style of the place is really nice, dark wood, a multi box paneling with candles in them and really comfy chairs. The ambiance is really different from you usual Mexican Restaurant. Very chic.
When we got there around 9:30 pm, the place was half empty so we got our seats right away. Our waiter came, showed us our menus, gave us water and took off to help others. We were so hungry, it took us no time to figure out what we wanted to eat. We were getting the Made to Order Guacamole with Chips to start with, Mike and Woo were getting the Chicken Torta and I was getting the Braised Short Ribs. Ready. Where’s the waiter? We had to wait about 15 mins for him to come back and finally take our order. As he was taking our order, Mike asked about the Torta which the waiter promptly explained that “it is Spanish for a Sandwich. It’s from Mexico”… to which Mike was not having any of it! LOL it was a very classic Michael moment.
The Made to Order Guacamole and Chips came out super fast. The Guacamole came in a bowl with the tomatoes and cilantro placed on top and in the middle. It was quite beautiful to look at. All of us being a big fan of Guacamole dug right into it. At first, the guys were enjoying the Guac. I on the other hand sense something was a miss. The Guacamole was really sour… too much lime juice. I love sour things, but the limy sourness masked the other flavors of the Guac. Where was the garlic, onion, tomato, cilantro flavors! A great Guacamole will showcase all these flavors in every bite. All I can taste here was lime juice. Oh and don’t get me started on the chips! They were a little stale to me. The first batch at least. Stale chips and limy Guac… not a great start to the meal.
Next came out plate of food which took an additional 20 mins to come out. The Chicken Torta looked great. It came with Yucca fries. I didn’t get to taste either of them because I was taking notes from both of their reactions to the dish. Here are some of the highlights. I’ll let them explain the rest if they remembered and prefer to comment below . (Hey! I’m doing my job… its just nice to have friends who can help critic with me. It’s more fun that way I think.)
Yucca fries taste like “corn dog batter”. Sandwich just “all right” and kinda “spicy eggy” ~Woo
Taste like a “spicy chicken sandwich at burger king”. ”Nothing special” ~Mike
My Braised Short Ribs came out and it was beautiful. I was so ready to dig in. The short ribs were one big chunk braised until it was falling off the bone with just a gentle tug with a fork. It was so tender. It was sitting on a bed of winter squash, with caramelized onions and a nice brown sauce. I took one bite of the meat and was shocked to find it under seasoned. Maybe if I put some of the sauce on it, it will help. No dice. The sauce was also under seasoned! The veggies underneath were cooked until they had a mush like consistency but yet some how with but the grace of god, keeping their structure. The only thing with much flavor to it was the caramelized onions. Just one little bright light in the dish. Oh, I forgot, it came with two tortias that offered no help to the dish whatsoever except for a little starch. What looked to be a promising dish turned out into a dud. I was crushed.
How could this be? The happy hour food was so good! The tacos, the Mexican Pizza… they were so mouthwatering good! This is what happens when you venture off the beaten path. Some times, things don’t turn out as great as you thought it could be. If I go back, I am definitely sticking to what I know is good there. And I will be back… for Happy Hour.
Oh and a little note. I was trying to take pictures with my phone because I keep forgetting my camera and couldn’t get any light to take the picture. The hostess graciously offered me a little key chain flash light to help me take the pics. That’s why they look like they look. Thanks hostess! Without your quick thinking, there would of been no pictures.
My recommendations: Taste was OK, definitely come for the happy hour. Cheap tasty food. Parking on the Hill can be a pain. Price is moderate.
Chicken Torta with Yucca Fries
Braised Short Ribs