Visit to the Islands - Part I

I just got back from a lovely 2 week vacation home to the island of Oahu! I apologize for the lack of posts while I was there, but to make it up I will be posting several blogs on my visit back.  It was bliss to just lounge, surf, and of course eat my little heart out.

The very first night I was lucky enough to be taken to one of my all time favorite restaurants, Roy's, out at Ko Olina.  I've only ever been to the Roy's located in Hawaii Kai which is fantastic, but the same great standard of service and food was here as well.  This night was special as I got proposed to! Yes, it was a very eventful vacation. So, now engaged I will happily begin to describe my eating adventures.  I didn't get the name of the dishes and the pictures didn't quite turn out as good as I would like, but then again everything that evening all went by in a blur of happiness.

The door awaits...

Upon arrival we were seated promptly as we had reservations and our waiter proceeded to lay our napkins across our laps and hand a menu to each of us while explaining the specials for the evening.  As we were deciding on our dinner, we were given a complimentary appetizer of edamame beans flavored ever so slightly with a spicy sauce.  It is one of the best edameme's I've ever had I must say. We took some time looking at the menu, but finally decided on two dishes.  I tried their classic four dish that included mahi mahi, seared ahi, opakapaka, and their signature miso butterfish.  It was delicious! I can not even describe how great each of the flavors of each fish tasted.  They all were unique and distinct and it's a shame, but I don't remember how they were prepared and it is not listed on their online menu.  All I can say is that if you make it out to Roy's, it is a must try dish! The other dish we ordered was a trio of large grilled prawns, pulehu ribs, and salmon. Delicious again! The ribs were cooked to perfection and were falling off the bone and the shrimp was flavorful and succulent.  We were full and completely satisfied with our dinner.  

Classic Four

Prawns, pulehu ribs, salmon

It was a perfect evening to a first day back in the islands! This was the first of many meals in Hawaii.  I ate and ate and ate.... what a life! More to come!

Roy's

92-1220 Aliinui Rd
Kapolei, HI 96707

(808) 676-7697

Weekend Portland visit!

Last weekend some girlfriends and I drove down to Portland,Oregon for an overnight staycation.  We headed out bright and early Saturday morning from Seattle and drove 3 hours into Portland where we then proceeded to do a whirlwind of activities that mostly involved eating and walking.  It was a long day, but a good time exploring Portland!

Saturday market

Famous Voodoo donuts!

Popular Mother's Bistro 

(over an hour wait for brunch)

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken

 

Eggs Benedict

Salmon Frittata

Triple Berry Cobbler

Redonkadonk 

(Egg, ham, spam, bacon, American cheese between two 
texas-toast grilled cheese sandwich "buns")

Roses!

Pretty!

Gorgeous!

Coffee break!

Time to get some more food!

Ribs!

Lots of people

Koi fusion tacos

(Spicy pork and bulgogi, YUM)

Marionberry shortcake and turnover

Best place ever!

Farm fresh (Mushroom, spinach, roasted pepper, tomato and marinated chevre)

  3 B's (Pepper bacon, Brie, fresh basil and house-made peach jam)

Berry Bliss (Delicious fresh berries served with whipped cream and berry coulis)

Overall a very satisfying trip! If you can imagine 6 girls all together at once, you'll understand that it was a lot of loudness and talking.  We walked a lot to try and digest the huge amount of food we ate throughout the day, but everything we ate in Portland was pretty darn good.  We did our research and yelped the foodcarts and restaurants in the area which was handy.  My favorite place by far was the Waffle Window which was our last stop before heading back to Seattle.  What can go wrong with $4 waffles made with great and fresh ingredients?? Oregon being so close to Seattle makes it a good staycation visit for the weekend, so what are you waiting for, go!

Mother's Bistro and Bar

212 SW Stark St.
Portland, OR 97204

Brunch Box

SW 5th Ave & Stark
Portland, OR 97204

Moonstruck

526 Northwest 23rd Avenue, 

Portland, OR 97210

The Waffle Window

SE 36th Ave and Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97214

 

Afternoon in West Seattle!

Last Friday I had the day off from work as did my girlfriend and we decided to spend the afternoon out in West Seattle for some lunch and walking along Alki Beach.  We had both heard about a good Thai restaurant in West Seattle called Buddha Ruksa and wanted to try it out.  It was a little confusing getting there, but we found it finally after one wrong turn on the corner of Genesse street.  It was a cute restaurant both from the outside and inside.

Yum!

Walking in during the latter part of the lunch hour, there were quite a few other customers there as well, but the service was great and we were able to get a table for two by the window.  Our orders were taken soon after we arrived.  The lunch came with a complimentary soup which we didn't know the name of but tasted like the typical hot and sour soup, however with lots of vegetables like bamboo shoots in it which we enjoyed.

Menu and complimentary soup

For our main lunch, we decided to order the green curry with chicken,eggplant, bell pepper and sweet basil as well as the phad kee maw which had stir- fried fresh wide rice noodles plus beef, egg, onion, broccoli, bell pepper, tomato and sweet basil with special chili sauce.  The spiciness level ranged from 1-4 with 4 being the spiciest so we went with 3 because we are daring and like spicy.  The dishes also came with a bowl of rice. I must say that the food here is delicious! We enjoyed the noodles and the curry and could not stop eating.  The heat, flavor, and intensity of the spices were great.  I appreciated that there was a lot of vegetables in both the noodle dish and the curry and eaten with the rice, there was the right amount of balance to everything.  The only thing that could have been better was that the meats in both dishes, both chicken and beef were a bit tough and tasted like they were not fresh, but frozen and defrosted.  Other than that the dishes were fantastic! The ambiance of the restaurant was also very nice with a dark wood theme to the place and plenty of large windows.  Prices were reasonable as well.  I would definitely recommend coming here if you happen to be in the West Seattle area and need something to whet your appetite.

 Green Curry

(Green curry cooked with coconut milk, eggplant, bell pepper and
sweet basil. Your choice of chicken, pork, beef or tofu.)

Phad Kee Mao
(Stir- fried fresh wide rice noodles plus egg, onion, broccoli, bell
pepper, tomato, beef and sweet basil with special chili sauce)

After lunch we drove down to Alki Beach and walked off the huge meal we ate.  No sooner had we started walking, maybe about 5 or 8 minutes, we saw a big blue truck..... it was the Molly Moon truck!!! I had heard that the local ice cream shop had an ice cream truck but I never saw it until this past Friday! What an exciting sight! We went over, perused the menu, sampled a few, and then of course I needed to get one.  How can you be at the beach on a sunny day and not want an ice cream cone from Molly Moon?? Everything is made local and fresh and their flavors are pretty unique.  I decided to go with the balsamic strawberry, yum!

I spy a blue truck!

I love ice cream!

It was the perfect afternoon, peaceful and satisfying. Ahhh those summer days!

View of Seattle from Alki

Buddha Ruksa
3520 Southwest Genesee Street
Seattle, WA 98126-2633
(206) 937-7676

Wallace Falls!

Another hiking adventure in the Pacific Northwest! This time it is out to Wallace Falls.  We had passed by it initially on our drive to Bridal Veil Falls and kept it in mind and I'm glad we did because it was a gorgeous hike.  We started off early again on a foggy morning and got to the trail head around 9:30 am.  On the sign-in board at the trai lhead, we were the 3rd people to sign in for the day, cool! This meant that we only saw one pair of hikers on the way up and basically had the entire trail to ourselves the whole ascent to the falls.  The weather was a bit chilly, but as we started hiking we quickly got rid of our jackets.

Here we go!

There are 3 different sections to this hike; lower falls, middle falls, and of course the top of the falls.  Each section was beautiful in its own way.  The water was clear and pristine looking and with the fog in the air, it made for a very mist-like fairy world feel.  As we were hiking, we felt like we were in a Lord of the Rings scene as the greenness of the trees, quietness, and beauty of our surroundings encompassed us.  It smelt like fresh rain and the sound of the rushing water and falls was soothing as it accompanied us along the way.  The hike got steeper and the elevation quickly increased as we moved from middle falls to the top and though we huffed a little, it was definitely worth it when we reached the end.  Who would have though that waterfalls could be in the back of all these trees??  It was a beautiful sight!

Lower and middle falls

Crazy free hanging branch in between trees!

Top of the falls!

Danger, but gorgeous!

Finished! 

The hike took us only a total of a little over 2 hours.  It is best to go early as it is a popular route in the summer.  As we descended, we met more people heading up and we were glad that we had had an early start so that we could enjoy the views and hike without the clamor and noise of others. It is definitely worth the trip to Wallace Falls. It is only a little less than an hours drive from Seattle making it a perfect and easy destination for an out of the world experience! 

Wildlife experience for the day.... slug

Wallace Falls 

14503 Wallace Lake Road
Gold Bar, WA 98251-9384

Weekend activites!

This past weekend was packed full of things to do! It was beautiful weather once again and we took full advantage of it.  Starting Saturday we had a church family picnic with food, water balloons, sunscreen, and ice cream!

Spicy dogs on bed of walla walla onions!

Hamburger deluxe!

Sunday morning I ran a road race! My first since running the marathon this past December. It's been awhile, but it felt good to be out there on the road with a thousand other sweaty runners.  It was the 16th Annual Swedish Summer Run and I loved that it was a race for a good cause.  It was touching to see so many supporters running and raising money for ovarian cancer research.  I'm glad to have been able to be a part of this great cause.  My sister came to be my cheerleader as well so that was fun!

Before the race began!

Yay, finished!

Sunday evening the girls and I had a birthday dinner for one of us at nice Italian restaurant called Serafina on Eastlake.  The ambiance of the restaurant is very Italian cafeish with both outdoor and indoor seating.  There was live jazz music and a nice warm buzz to the place.  Service was fairly quick and when we asked to move to another table because of the shifting sunlight, they accommodated us willingly.  Food here is a bit on the higher end, but was definitely different and interesting to try.  The seven of us all had different dishes which made for little tastings from each person's plate.

Cozze Affumicati

Taylor Shellfish mussels simmered with smoked tomato, harissa, 

sweet vermouth, leeks, fresh herbs, and garlic

 Plin

Hand made agnolotti filled with braised pork shoulder, 

savoy cabbage, and Reggiano; finished with chive butter

Melanzane alla Serafina

Thinly sliced eggplant rolled with ricotta cheese, fresh basil, and parmesan; 

baked in a tomato sauce, served over cappellini aglio e olio

Polpettine di Vitello

Our famous veal meatballs simmered in green olive tomato sauce; 

tossed with penne rigate and finished with ricotta salata

Bucatini all'Amatriciana

House cured guanciale sautéed with onion, garlic and chili, tossed with 

Billy's organic tomatoes, oregano and 

artisanal bucatini pasta; finished with Pecorino Romano

Short but full weekend.  I was exhausted by the end of yesterday, and I think partly because I'm not as young as I used to be and racing now takes a lot more out of me.  However, I did get my full dose of vitamin D this weekend and am ready for the work week.  It's only five more days till next weekend! Happy Monday!!

Serafina
2043 Eastlake Ave E
Seattle Wa 98102
206.323.0807