I’m starting to know Seattle pretty well. In my twenties, I would come with friends for a weekend away. When I hit my thirties, my husband and I would visit so he could get his Nordstrom fix. The purpose of this particular trip was to celebrate my friend’s pregnancy. Beep Beep and I did our usual round at Pike Place Market and then walked over to Tilikum Place Cafe in Belltown for brunch.
I was impressed with our server and our table. We sat right by the window. Look upwards and you can see the Space Needle. Our server made excellent recommendations for portion sizes, food and booze.
I ordered a glass of rosé ($9). As Beep Beep’s pregnancy makes her hungrier than usual, we picked three dishes. We ordered a stack of crumpets with plum preserves and ginger butter ($10), poached egg avocado toast ($14) and Dutch babies – baked blueberry pancakes with powdered sugar (14).
I’ll start with the savoury – the avocado toast. The bread was thick, crusty and rustic. An appropriately hearty vessel for the buttery smoothness of the avocado. Personally, I would have liked more than one egg. There wasn’t enough yolk to eat with the carbs. The toasted Middle Eastern spices over the eggs also nicely accented the salad. I loved everything about this salad – the mix of fresh greens, the assortment of herbs, the light dressing and the generous slices of grapefruit. So refreshing, I could eat this salad all day long.
The crumpets arrived steaming hot. I watched as the ginger butter trickled down the sides of the fluffy crumpet tower. The sugar icing added a touch of sweetness to the tartness of the plums.
Beep Beep liked the baked blueberry pancake. The texture was smooth and eggy, like a hot custard. The exterior was crispy and the interior reminded me a bit like quiche.
We walked around some more and found my friend Buzzy’s favourite spot for coffee, Top Pot Doughnuts. We were too full to try the doughnuts but I did get a coffee. I can’t believe how cheap everything was – a dollar for coffee or a doughnut. With its free Wifi, friendly staff, cool set-up and inexpensive food, I would frequent this place if I were a local.
On our way back to our accommodations, we picked up some mugs at Starbucks to bring home for our husbands. I found another thing Seattle has over Vancouver and Calgary… wine is served at select stores…. Where was this when I was a barista?
Hitting the Sauce 