Posts Tagged ‘hash brown’
- In: Eating | Pike Place Market | Seattle | USA | Washington
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I check the weather forecast every day. In Sydney it was the maximum temperature. In Seattle it’s the precipitation. There have been winter days where I turn on all the lights at home, in defiance of the stubborn clouds. Flickering candles and mugs of steaming tea are comforting but there is optimism and contentment derived from sunshine that I miss dearly. So on days when the ashen clouds dissipate, Seattleites rejoice and squint.
It’s been months since I’ve dined at Seatown and congee (粥) had lured my return.
The undercover patio is perfect for a summer sunset over Puget Sound, viewed with freshly shucked oysters and a chilled bottle of wine.
Nautical themed, a steering wheel greeted patrons at the entrance. A panoramic painting of the Seattle cityscape featured on a peach wall.
The bar is the centrepiece of the dining room.
A skewered wedge of lime balanced on the rim of a hibiscus coloured blood orange fizz.
I eagerly awaited my bowl of congee. A popular breakfast food in Southeast Asia, the rice porridge is also the equivalent to chicken noodle soup. The Seatown version is topped with a poached egg and a scattering of green onions, and with sides of braised pork, bean paste and Chinese doughnut (油炸鬼).
Opaque and gelatinous, the congee was thick and gooey. The yolk was just set and I stirred through the pork and a dollop of sauce.
Although a little oily, the three batons of golden Chinese doughnuts were pleasingly crunchy.
Shirley ordered the orange maple French toast with apple butter. We shared sides of hash brown and smoked chicken sausages.
Stout and plump, the meaty sausages had a hint of smokiness and were well seasoned.
A mural of a peculiar plant that flowered knives and tongs.
Seatown was full by lunch time. We gladly vacated our table to enjoy the weather.
- In: Travelling | Whistler
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We travelled from Vancouver to Whistler on a beautiful day. We revelled in blue sky, marshmallow clouds and brilliant sunshine as we ascended. It was a blissful moment when I spotted the first snow-capped mountain.
We were famished so we dropped our baggage at the hotel and walked quickly to La Bocca for a late lunch.
Painted poppy throughout, La Bocca shared a kitchen with the Amsterdam pub next door. We removed our layers and settled into a cosy corner. The brunch menu had breakfast items, share plates, soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas and stir-fries.
Mr L ordered the Benedict trio. Anticlockwise from top: spicy Benedict with hot coppa and crispy onion ring, traditional Benedict with ham and BC Benedict with smoked sockeye salmon. All three were served on an English muffin topped with a soft poached egg and citrus Hollandaise sauce.
Mr S also selected a breakfast dish. The skillet of Montreal smoked meat hash had smoked meat, hash brown, sautéed onions and capsicum, signature sauce, and topped with poached eggs.
I craved a hearty meal in the cold weather and compromised on the chilli prawn wok. A generous amount of tiger prawns were sautéed in garlic butter and tossed with crisp vegetables and steamed noodles in a Thai sweet chilli sauce. I switched from chopsticks to a fork as the noodles were slippery! It was a little sweet and lacked ‘wok breath’ (鑊氣) but the ingredients were fresh and plentiful.
Warmed by a full stomach, we exited to explore Whistler Village.
- In: Australia | Brisbane | Eating | Queensland
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On our last day in Brisbane we bartered a ride to the airport for breakfast at The Little Larder. A popular café in the riverside neighbourhood of New Farm, it was quiet mid morning on a weekday. There was temporary reprieve from the heat and humidity of a subtropical spring.
A creative chalkboard in colourful calligraphy enticed passers-by.
Inside were birch tables, bold red walls and metal racks of newspapers and magazines. We were seated outside on a bench in the shade.
Stools were engraved with ‘Larder’.
A cute porcelain pot of sea salt flakes.
‘The lot’, a traditional British fry-up, will sustain you through the day! A large plate was piled with poached eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, caramelised onion, roasted tomato and toast.
The eggs Benedict was layered with grilled ham, ladled with a glossy Hollandaise sauce and topped with a crostini.
A healthy choice was poached eggs drizzled with dill mayonnaise on a square of crispy polenta served with roasted tomato, avocado slices, spinach and a wedge of lemon.
I have fond memories The Little Larder’s French toast with grilled banana and maple syrup so I ordered it again. Dusted with icing sugar, I saturated the eggy bread in the Canadian specialty. I savoured the sweet bananas, appreciating that it was still a treat after a cyclone damaged crops earlier this year.
We left content after a hearty breakfast, cups of coffee and glasses of cold pressed juices.
- In: Belltown | Eating | Seattle | USA | Washington
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I knew The 5 Point Café by reputation. Dive bar, open twenty-four hours, supper for the inebriated, sustenance for shift workers.
I’ve walked by many times to get to Tilikum Place Café and there are always patrons inside and out. Curious about how they’ve been ‘cheating tourists and drunks since 1929′, we picked a bench for breakfast.
The patio is fenced off from Tilikum Place and has a view of the Chief Seattle statue and the Space Needle. A leafy plaza, the lush trees are a natural canopy for the outdoor seating.
Cluttered with kitsch collectables, the interior is a little claustrophobic for me.
Presented with a long menu, we changed our mind several times before ordering. I spotted a breakfast skillet being delivered to another table and regretted not choosing one.
Sauces, jams and seasoning – a variety of condiments were available at each table.
When we got our meals, I thought they looked exactly the same. Upon closer inspection, the difference between a breakfast classic and breakfast special were bacon and catfish.
The strips of bacon were salty and crispy, and the fillets of Cajun catfish were lightly crumbed, a pleasantly peculiar breakfast item for me.
And there was the hash brown. A golden rectangular tile of what appeared to be grated potatoes was sadly too oily and bland.
Reputation aside, The 5 Point Café serves hearty comfort food with a Southern influence.
