Seattle: Bamboo Garden, The Highline, Plum Bistro.

This is the last in my three part series of Seattle posts, read parts one and two here and here!

We decided to eat at Bamboo Garden because I got crazy-person hungry whilst exploring the EMP Museum and it was the nearest restaurant. We hadn't planned on spending a tonne of time there but we got really into the Nirvana exhibit and stuck around for hours.

My favourite parts of the exhibition were the interactive listening posts dotted around showcasing bands that were also around the Seattle scene at the time. I mean how could anyone dislike a museum where you can just sit on the floor and listen to Fugazi and The Gits?! It was rad. It was also cool to see kids engaging with museum exhibits, I often see school groups going around museums and they just look bored, bored, bored. I remember those days and I know that I would have loved to visit somewhere like this.

Anyway, the food! I am not a fun person to hang out with when I'm hungry, I get a liiiiitle grumpy and it's best to feed me asap! Due to the mega hunger and forgetting how big American portions can be we totally over-ordered.

We got the Crispy Fried Spring Rolls...

...and the Fried Taro Cake Patties to start. We both enjoyed the spring rolls but were underwhelmed by the taro cakes. I thought they'd be like the the pan fried ones I'd tried previously in NYC but these were deep fried and I didn't enjoy them anywhere near as much. Next time I see taro cakes on the menu I'll ask because I love the pan fried kind.

I chose much better when it came to the main course and I picked the Sautéed Almond and Cashew Nut Chicken which came with a side of steamed rice and loads of delicious crisp veggies

Nick went for the Chicken and Mixed Vegetables which comes on a sizzling plate atop a bed of Japanese noodles.

This sizzling plate was super hot and almost as delicious as my plate of nutty chicken veggies. I love the mock meat heavy menus at Chinese and Vietnamese places and we were also lucky enough to check out Moonlight Cafe on our trip. I'd say that Moonlight was probably our favourite of the two places but we forgot to take any pictures because we went with a group and were too busy talking!

The next day we visited Twice Sold Tales in Capitol Hill, I love to browse in bookstores whilst travelling and this was the best one ever, okay, second best, Powell's is the best. Anyway this one's second best because it's full of kitties! Look!

It was brilliant!!

Before our trip I was super excited about checking out The Highline, I love vegan bars and we'd heard great things about the place. Sadly neither the food nor the service were great. Our food was left on the bar for 20 minutes before it was brought around to us, it was then popped down on the table with a sort-of apology and we were told we could exchange it if it was cold. Obviously it was stone cold and after I spent literally 10 whole minutes trying to find a member of staff to tell that we wanted a new order they seemed super shocked by our request.

Unfortunately the new piping hot versions of our orders weren't much better, soggy fries are never a-ok in my book and sadly we didn't get the chance to re-visit The Highline to give them a second chance. We did enjoy the punk rock atmosphere of this all vegan bar though and our choice of seats on the balcony area overlooking the street was a good 'un. I also spoke to some Seattleites and got the lowdown on what to order for you, apparently the sandwiches are where it's at especially the vegan tuna melt and when I'm next in Seattle I'll be trying it for sure.

*Update! You can check out the food currently being served at The Highline right here*

Later on in my trip Randi and I together with our lovely hostess Kirsten and Helen from Vegtastic scored a weekend night table at Plum Bistro.

My love of carbs drew me straight towards the Oyster Mushroom Fettuccini with kale, seitan, parsley & garlic. This was a truly delightful plate of food and you can just imagine how happy I was when it arrived with a chunk of bread on the side! I've since re-created this simple dish at home and whilst it wasn't quite as good I think I made a pretty decent go of it.

Next to carbs my other favourite food group is probably chocolate so when I spotted the warm brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce on the dessert menu I couldn't resist.

The version on the menu actually comes with vanilla ice cream but I'm an all or nothin' kinda girl and they were happy to switch it for chocolate for me. This was a lovely little sweet treat to end the meal and I would certainly visit Plum Bistro again as there are at least five other things on the menu I'd like to try.

In the next west coast travel instalment I'll be posting about Olympia and our all too brief stay at the beach so stay tuned!

Seattle: Veggie Grill, Pizza Pi, Razzi's, Chaco Canyon.

Oh Veggie Grill, how I miss you, I wish you were somewhere, anywhere, in England. Nick and I first visited Veggie Grill in Seattle and I ended up visiting four times over my month long US trip.

On our first night we headed there because it was just around the corner from our hotel and it was a perfect first meal, we ordered a few things to share. The Steamin' Kale with ginger miso dressing and toasted sesame seeds, the Mac-n-Cheese...

...and the Chill Out Wings

We really, really loved the wings, the cool ranch dressing was the perfect accompaniment to the crispy mock chicken fingers which I believe are made by Gardein - something else I wish we had in the UK. The kale was some of the nicest I've ever had, the dressing paired with it perfectly to make a simple healthy bowl of veg. We enjoyed the mac-n-cheese, the gluten free pasta made it perfectly al dente but we were surprised that it had quite a lot of chilli in it given that it wasn't mentioned in the description on the menu.

The Crispy Chickin' Plate has to be my absolute favourite out of all of the things I tried at Veggie Grill.

This homestyle comfort foodie plate was perfect; beautifully creamy mashed potatoes, crispy fried chickin' and that delicious kale with rosemary infused porcini mushroom gravy to tie it all together. I wish I was eating this right now!

I really hope that Veggie Grill expand across the pond one day because the UK could use an awesome vegan chain, I'm pretty sure I said the exact same thing about Native Foods after eating there last year too - I'm not fussy, I'll take either, I just want there to be readily available, reliably delicious, healthy vegan food everywhere!

One place we were super excited about trying in Seattle was Pizza Pi, an all vegan pizzeria located in the U District. This place is run by some awesome punks and we were super excited to be able to order anything from the huge and varied menu.

For some strange reason Nick isn't a believer in the stuffed crust (I know!!) so we had to make an unusual request for a half stuffed crust pizza. They told us that they'd never tried it before but that they were willing to give it a go and it came out super well. I loooooved my stuffed crust half! Pizza Pi use Teese on their pizzas and we also threw on a huge selection of the mock meats. Whilst it wasn't the best pizza I've ever eaten it was pretty damned delicious and the novelty factor of the vegan stuffed crust makes it a definite winner in my book.

Pizza Pi are somewhat famous for there dessert calzones, or baked pie pockets, and because we couldn't agree on a filling we had to order two. Now for some reason I had expected these to be cupcake sized but nuh-uh they were massive! Like, bigger than a Cornish pasty massive!

I went for the Cherry flavour...

...and Nick chose the Chocolate Peanut Butter.

These were a ridiculously epic thing to eat after a huge pizza and they were awesome! I didn't try Nick's but mine was delicious, piping hot and stuffed full of cherry pie filling. Yum!

Seattle has a plethora of vegan pizza options which you can read about on this helpful page at Seattle Vegan Score, as well as Pizza Pi I managed to try Razzi's a traditional Italian restaurant with an amazing vegan menu which includes veganised options of almost everything on their regular menu.

I started with the garlic breadsticks which came with an amazingly delicious marinara sauce for dipping. I had intended to share these with Kirsten and Randi my lovely dining companions but erm, I'm a terrible person and I just ate them all myself. Sorry, not sorry!

Despite a slight pineapple allergy (don't worry it can't kill me!) I couldn't help but order the Stay-cay, Razzi's Canadian Bacon & Pineapple Pizza. Canadian bacon is actually ham to us non-Americans and that's always been my favourite pizza combo.

This was a truly excellent pizza, it was different to the floppy über thin crust Italian pizza's I'm used to eating, the crust was slightly denser I guess but in a really good way. It's one of the meals that I'm still thinking about on an almost daily basis and I will definitely be going back next time I'm in Seattle.

As well as a vegan menu Razzi's has a gluten free menu and a gluten free vegan menu so this really is a place you and anyone you're travelling with can enjoy.

At the other end of the scale from Pizza Pi and Razzi's is the mouthwatering menu at Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe. This vegetarian cafe hadn't popped up in my Seattle research but Randi discovered it and I'm so glad she did. We went there for our last meal of the trip and I ordered the vegan quiche with a strawberry spinach salad.

This was a perfectly light, tasty and filling pre-flight meal. I wanted to eat something light so that I wouldn't feel icky on the plane, my last meal in Chicago was a hot dog and fries and in Austin it was a pizza with an apple fritter on the side, at any other time I loooove these meals but before a long haul flight? Nuh Uh, they make me feel crappy and I've vowed to stop doing it to myself! I felt the best I've ever felt getting off of the flight home from Seattle but it was a bit of an unfair test due to my cheeky points-based upgrade to Club World for the first time ever... we'll have to re-test the light meal theory next time!

The Zen Calm juice I ordered alongside my meal was the best juice I've ever had, the combination of apple, orange, spinach and mint was super fresh and delicious. 

I've genuinely been considering buying a juicer just so that I can make this but I think I'm going to try making a smoothie with the same flavours first!


If you enjoyed this post you can check out the first instalment in my Seattle series right here!

Seattle: Wayward Cafe, Mighty O, Georgetown Liquor Co.

It only seems sensible to start off my Seattle / PDX / Vancouver posts in the place the trip started and with a few of my very favourite Seattle places: Wayward Cafe, Mighty O and Georgetown Liquor Company.

Nick and I started our first day in the city with breakfast at Wayward Vegan Cafe, this all vegan diner style place has one of the most ridiculous menus I've ever seen. There are pages and pages of all day breakfast and lunch options as well as dinner and gluten free pages. I thought that choosing what to order would be difficult but The Lumberjack really jumped out at me.

Not only do you get this epic plate of perfectly seasoned tofu scramble, hash browns, sweet and salty tempeh bacon, a sausage patty and a piece of Wayward's homemade vegan (s)ham for your 10 bucks but you also get this side plate of silver-dollar pancakes which, upon comparison, were nowhere near the size of a real silver dollar!

This is genuinely the best American breakfast I've ever eaten, ever, in my entire life. And I've eaten a lot of breakfasts! This next offering was a close second though, on our second visit I picked The Griddle Combo which comes with tofu scram, a sausage patty, tempeh bacon and your choice of a pancake, slice of french toast or a waffle. I went with french toast and it was deeeelicious. I haven't eaten much french toast in my life but this was awesome, up there with the best I've ever had for sure.

I squeezed a third visit to Wayward into my trip when Randi and I were back there just before we flew home. This time I went for a non-breakfasty option and picked the Tempeh Reuben from their lunch menu.

This reuben comes with fries and a delicious crunchy pickle. Yum! Honestly I've eaten better reuben's, the one from Chicago Diner regularly pops into my thoughts, but this was still a solid choice. I was also lucky enough to get to try some of Randi's biscuits and gravy and they were wonderful. I would certainly order them again, perhaps alongside The Lumberjack!

One of my other Seattle favourites was Mighty-O Donuts. This all vegan donut co' is based in North Seattle and they specialise in cake donuts, my very favourite kinda donut. Over the three visits I made to Mighty O I managed to sample quite a decent selection.

I think I managed to eat around 17 donuts in about a week and my three favourites were the Chocolate Raspberry, Sprinkles and Coco Loco. I could (and did!) eat these every day and I would certainly keep on doing that if I lived in Seattle. As well as being able to pick these up at the Mighty O store on North 55th you can find a smaller selection at the Whole Foods locations dotted all over the city.

Last but by no means least I loved my visit to Georgetown Liquor Co, everything from the dive bar atmosphere and fantastic company to the friendly staff and delicious food was perfect.

I was lucky enough to meet Anika from Seattle Vegan Score at Vida Vegan Con and she got a group of friends (including Dawn from Vegan Moxie) together for brunch and gave us a ride down south to Georgetown so that Randi and I could try the much talked about Picard sandwich.

Obviously it was brunch so there had to be booze. I actually don't drink that often (compared to most Brit's!) but I find it hard to resist a good cocktail and this Cranberry Crush really jumped out at me. A mix of vodka, cranberry and orange with a splash of gingerale this drink reminded me of a classier more delicious version of the Sex On the Beach cocktails I used to drink as a teenager, what a perfect start to a weekend morning.

The brunch menu looked so amazing that Randi & I decided to share two things, the famous Picard Sandwich...

...and Hogthrob's Breakfast Sandwich.

Both plates were delicious but I can tell why so many people (okay, mainly Stephanie!) rave about The Picard. This sandwich is made up of a toasted ciabatta bun stuffed full of lentil sage Field Roast slices, roasted red onions and creamy roasted garlic spread and it comes with an au jus dipping sauce that really elevates this sandwich to the next level.

The breakfast sandwich whilst overshadowed by the ridiculously epic Picard was also excellent and it would be a stand out dish at any dining establishment. This sandwich is veganised with a tofu egg and vegan mozzarella alongside the 'ham' or 'sausage', we went with ham. It was served on a perfectly toasted English muffin and we loved the roasted potato and fruit sides.

Next time I'm in Seattle I'll be heading straight from the airport to Georgetown so that I can eat The Picard again. I really enjoyed spending time in Seattle and I managed to eat my way around a fair few of their vegan-friendly dining establishments, look out for posts about Plum Bistro, Razzi's, Pizza Pi, Bamboo Garden, The Highline and Sidecar Grocery coming soon.

Take me to the ball game.

I'm not the biggest sports fan but if anything's going to get me into a stadium to watch a game I don't understand it's the promise of food!

Last weekend whilst Nick and I were in Seattle we headed out to watch the Mariners play baseball with PPK buddies Ben and Gus. This stadium has a truly astounding amount of vegan food for a sporting establishment hence the collection of non-sports fans Nick managed to convince to come along!

Our first stop was always going to be the Field Roast stand. Located in a small and über vegan friendly food court between stands 132 and 133 this cart serves up all-vegan chilli cheese dogs, franks and burgers.  

I went for this beauty. A frankfurter with onions and cheese sauce. This "monstrosity", as one of my companions referred to it, was crazy delicious and well worth the walk around the stadium from our section for. I topped it with sauerkraut because, well, why wouldn't you? This made it even harder to eat but that's probably why it comes with not one but two boxes and a fork!

If you aren't in the mood for this ball game classic the food court also includes Bao Choi, a steamed bun stand from the people behind Vedge restaurant in Philadelphia, and The Natural, a healthier kinda place that still serves dogs and burgers but also has hummus, soups and smoothies.

The next must-try food at SAFECO field has to be the garlic fries. These are available from most of the regular burger / fry / soft drink stations situated around the concourse and are vegan as is.

These were some of the best fries ever. Perfectly crispy and super garlicky, what more could you want?  Well... maybe some Veganaise!!

If you get the chance, sports fan or not, I'd say catching a Mariners game is a must if you're in Seattle. They've certainly hit a home run with their vegan options!