Frontier cafe mac n’ cheese

I promised I would review the mac and cheese from frontier cafe, and so I am sitting here, eating it now. Frankly, it’s disappointing.
It’s a fair sight better than the normal mac you can find at many, many, cafes in downtown, as there’s no icky velveeta sauce or mushy pasta. But the entire thing is rather bland, and made me wish I’d picked up some salt and pepper for it. The cheese sauce is a nice consistancy but it is in desperate need of a sharper cheese in there. I forewent bacon (possibly my downfall?) and so they put breadcrumbs on top, which have that strange ‘italian’ flavor you find in the sort of breadcrumbs that come in a poptop can.
It’s not bad. But it’s much lower than what my expectations were, which was to be at least a decent, affordable substitute for Beechers. And Beecher’s it ain’t.

more Cheap-ass lunch news

NYC deli has lowered their saladbar/hot entree price to 4.99 a pound.
So what, you say. I can go to any number of random food-per-pound places in a 5 block area that are a similar price. What you’re missing, though, is the fantastic curry chicken salad with HUGE ASS CHUNKS of chicken! If you’re like me and occasionally need to supplement your home-brought lunch with some protein, you could do far worse than a lunch-portion of chicken for a buck fifty.

Cafe ZumZum, the best deal in downtown

This probably doesnt warrant a full post as ZumZum has plenty of its own buzz for as long as its been around. Many of my co-workers eat there, sometimes every day.
For those who haven’t been to this place, the special “whatever curry of the day’ at ZumZum is hands down the best lunch deal in downtown. 3.99 for a drink, and enough curry ‘naan’ (okay, a tortilla) and rice to last you for two lunches unless you’re ravenously hungry. The Special is a curry featuring whatever they decide on that day, and sometimes its any vegetarian curry you choose. (Todays is black eyed pea). The special is always vegetarian and delicious.
ZumZum is in the food court on 3rd and columbia.

Stella Cafe, first look

This is a really lovely little espresso bar and cafe at the corner of 1st and University. It’s what I believe Starbucks secretly wants to be in its icy, over-roasted little heart of hearts. A real Italian style bar with a limited offering of espresso drinks done extremely well, good pastries, and wonderful food.

Great space with comfortable seats, although if you’re Italian or merely a foodie pretending to be Italian, you’ll stand at the bar whilst drinking your espresso. I ordered an iced latte on this unseasonably hot Seattle day, and since I’m not Italian, took a seat.

I ordered a Roma-style panini with prosciutto, cheese and arugula to go, and a baby cannoli to stay. The cannoli was decent – it didnt hold a candle to the ones I’ve had in the north end in boston, or in italy, but nothing to sniff at since I’m not really aware of any other cafes serving cannoli in this area.

My panini is lovely – smoky and salty from the ham with a touch of bitterness and crunch from the bread, can’t complain. I ended up spending about 11 dollars all told for the sandwich, cannoli and coffee, which is more than I should but still decently priced.

More than anything the staff is what makes this place – very friendly people who engage you in conversation as they’re making your order. It’s obvious that many customers are regulars. Its the sort of place that makes me wish I had a longer lunch break so that I could stay awhile and chill with a cappuccino.

I’ll definately come again – I made it there a bit late today so they had run out of many of the different panini they offer, and some of the vegitarian offerings looked great, as did the lemon tarts and other pastries. However, its best to come here when you have some time to spend – getting your food to go means you’re missing the best part of the place.

THIS WEEK ONLY: Cheap soup for a good cause

All this week, Organic To Go locations will be selling thier small soups for only 99 cents (normally 3.99) with the entire purchase price going to local food banks. Here in Seattle,  all purchases will benefit www.foodlifeline.org

Take the opportunity to grab a cheap lunch this week, and feel good knowing you are feeding somebody else out there too.

Organic to Go locations in downtown can be found here.

Also participating is Simon’s Express cafe in the lobby of 4th and Madison (which is owned by OTG).

Frontier Cafe (3rd and Cherry)- first look

Stretching my legs on this grey and blustery Seattle day, I decided to stop in at a place on the corner that I had walked by many times before. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice and upscale Frontier looks inside.

Frontier is apparently a southern-style barbecue place – the kind of thing I don’t usually get for lunch (pulled pork + keyboard = bad news). I’m excited by this place for a few reasons, aside from the BBQ business.

One, pastries and desserts. They have them. They look tasty. More importantly, they have APPLE BARS, something I’ve been craving for a long ass time and have so far been unable to find. I bought one.

Second, they have a very tempting looking mac and cheese (bacon extra). The closest Ive come so far to finding a decent mac and cheese in downtown is the soupy Velveeta kind offered at the various soup places, or paying far too much money for far too little ‘best ever’ mac at beechers. (not to mention using most of my lunchtime getting there.) I didn’t get it today because I’m going to Vegas this weekend and need to fit into my bathing suit while I’m there, but next time I have a craving you bet I’ll check this place out.

Today, I got the special – cup of tortilla soup for 3.95, which comes with a corn muffin and honey butter. The guy at the counter put a lemon in the soup cup “to add a little hit of acid” – which is very nice of him, but now I have soup all over the lemon I was going to squeeze into the soup. Not a lot of action at lunch, which is surprising, but is possibly because of the location and how unassuming the outside is (which is probably why I haven’t been until now).

Decent soup, very thick with lots of veggies and tortilla, which I appreciate. I probably didn’t need the lemon. I did need  to add hot sauce, but I’ve found many seattle-ites can’t stand their heat so I understand not kicking the soup up.

Prices here are in the right range, between 4-7 dollars for most items. They sell various coffee drinks too, for you addicts, and many different breakfast sandwich items.

All in all, barbeque aside, I will be going here again. And I’m looking forward to my apple bar.

NYC deli, 3rd and marion – initial visit

I love me some Jewish deli, and sadly, the pickins are slim here in Seattle. So when I saw that a new place was opening up the street called NYC deli, my little Jewish heart went pitter-pat. Could this be, finally, the one place I can get a decent pastrami? Will they have knishes? omg, omg.

Well, sadly it was not to be. I don’t want to rag on the service and the wait as it was opening day and there were obviously some kinks being worked out. I’m actually fairly excited about having a place I can pick up boars head meats, decent cheese, and a lot of fancy stuff that you normally only find at whole foods, like mairiz fig bread. Prices for sandwiches are about with what else is in the area, and deli prices normal for boars head.  Looks like they serve espresso – 2dollar lattes after 3pm – and some nice looking pastries. But, all in all, there is nothing more deli about the place than the deli counter at Whole Foods. And it’s certainly not the New York City Jewish delicatessen that I had in my head.

And they forgot my dill pickle.
*sigh*

Cafe Pho – Various Bahn Mi ($4.50)

We are blessed in this town to have a large amount of very decent Vietnamese food, both delis and Pho houses. Everyone has their favorite (for pho, than bros in greenlake wins hands down for me for thier cheap eats and homemade cream puffs).
In my immediate downtown area, though, there really is only one good vietnamese place I’ve found that doesn’t involve catching a bus to the International District – Cafe Pho on 3rd and Marion in the food court. Despite the name, they serve lots of other kinds of vietnamese food as well as pho. I can’t vouch for thier pho as that would involve sitting down for lunch and beef noodle soup doesn’t travel well. However, they do an excellent bahn mi, even if it is a little pricier than what you’d find in the I.D.
Mayo is home-made as it should be, the pickled carrots and daikon in chunky sticks as opposed to julienned finely as you might find elsewhere. Personally, I like this, as it keeps the sandwich from getting soggy. Good baguette with a nice crust on it. And, of course, that sneaky slice of jalapeno that jumps out and punches you in the mouth on the last bite, just when you thought you were safe. Oh, but it hurts so good.
Three kinds of filling are available – tofu, chicken and pork. No pate or other random meat, which I like but others might not consider authentic. All of the fillings come covered in a salty (soy-based?) sauce, which is really tasty on the tofu version but overly salty on chicken and pork. The tofu is my favorite, but I’m fat-phobic as far as my meat goes, and both the chicken and pork versions have some fat on the meat.

I’m sure there are better and certainly cheaper bahn mi in Seattle, but if you are a worker in downtown and you can’t get to the I.D, Cafe Pho is a safe bet.
The rest of the food looks good here too. One day I will get past the sandwiches.

Cafe Piroshky, part two

Okay, I have to say another thing about cafe piroshky – perhaps I was quick to judge. Okay, maybe not, Piroshky Piroshky still has better savory stuff. But, oh my god, Piroshky Cafe on third has some serious russian pastries and sweets. I got something called a Ketah (sp?) cookie, which is like a flaky buttery crust rolled and filled with honey and walnuts. Serious good eats. They will are taking special orders to make hamentashen for next week, too, which is some awesome stuff.

Cheers

Sound soups – Lentil/Tomato/portobello mix – $5.00 12oz

So, I totally forgot to liveblog yesterdays lunch, so I’ll just say a few words about Sound Soups. I’m sure that sometime soon (heck, maybe today if I feel the urge) I’ll do a proper review.
Sometimes you want something exotic, sometimes you want a pound of food that will last you all week, sometimes you’d rather seek out something gourmet and exciting. And, more often than not in this drizzly seattle weather, sometimes you just want soup.
Sound Soups, on Madison between 2nd and 3rd, is pretty much perfect lunch for people who work downtown and want a cheap, decent meal. There is a line but it moves fast, the people are nice, they post nutrition info and ingredients, and they let you taste everything before you decide.
The best part of this place is there are a LOT of soups, all of which are good, and they let you mix and match which is perfect for my indecisive self. Price is by kind- broth, cream or “specialty” which are the chilis and stews, and if you mix and match, say, a cream and a broth soup, they average out the two prices.
Each soup order comes with a roll, cornbread, fruit or a cookie, and tax is included in the menu price.

It is by no means the cheapest cup of soup in the area (that title is held by Bakeman’s as far as I am aware), but it is damn good soup and the extras make it worth the price.

I heartily recommend what I ate yesterday, which is a mix of lentil veggie, tomato gorgonzola and a little drizzle of portobello bisque on top. I love that I order it and the people don’t bat an eyelash.
Its the perfect mix of earthy lentil and tangy tomato with just a kick of cheezy goodness, and a creamy umami kicker from the portobello bisque. A little spike of hot sauce (they have several) and it’s perfection.

Hmm, now I want soup. Maybe I’ll liveblog a split pea or chili mac later.