The Fabliss - eat, drink, photograph

7 10, 2013

Pike Place Chowder | Seattle, WA

By fabliss | 2014-07-24T08:56:41+00:00 October 7th, 2013 | Food, Photography, Restaurants, Seattle, Travel | 1 Comment

a must visit seattle eatery is pike place chowder. it is reviewed by a million people and loved by even more. so naturally this was top on our list. i mean, how good can it be?

this small shop is tucked away in post alley. what is post alley? an insanely cute little alley near pike’s market place with small shops and restaurants. pike place chowder will be the shop with a huge line out in front. and by huge i mean wraps around the building. good thing we came here on a thursday morning to get our chow on because the line wasn’t too bad (less than 30 minute wait).

this place opens up every day at 11am and apparently they are seattle’s original dungeness crab roll sandwich! we obviously had to see what the rave and this big sign was all about. oh, and they have a wall of all the awards they have won (looks like they have won first place… a lot). we ordered:

combo #2: 8 oz. chowder of your choice with a half sandwich of the original dungeness crab roll and drink for $12.95. i chose the seafood bisque!
medium new england clam chowder

this is the huge menu that you need to study well in advance of order or else you will get lost. oh, and this place is serious about their chowder. they all have chowder shirts.

the dungeness crab roll was good. the roll that it was on was a little hard (i like my seafood rolls to be soft so that it can melt in my mouth). the crab itself was very fresh but i wish it had a little more of a kick. it was nice to have half a sandwich with my seafood bisque. i definitely think the combo is the way to go.

i almost didn’t order the seafood bisque since it sounds extremely heavy and i didn’t want to start my day off feeling heavy. good thing kyle made me sample it along with the southwestern chicken and corn chowder. i loved the seafood bisque way more than the southwestern chowder. not too heavy (it was actually a lot more watery than you would think by just looking at it). lots of flavor. i really liked it.

the new england chowder was good. kyle actually didnt let me have too much of it since he inhaled it. his thoughts: good chowder. hits the spot on a nice cold day. the best chowder he has ever had? no (he loves the chowder at lure and stands by his choice). but this one is pretty dang good and worth a try.

Pike Place Chowder
1530 Post Alley
(between Pike Pl & Pine St)
Seattle, WA 98101
Neighborhood: Downtown

7 10, 2013

Best Burgers: Los Angeles

By fabliss | 2014-07-24T08:56:52+00:00 October 7th, 2013 | Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

as many of you know…i have a thing for burgers. i love them. i crave them (it is what i want to eat when i come home from an international trip. or in the case of italy… i needed to go to have a big mac during my 14 day trip). so i thought i’d compile a list of my favorite burgers…in los angeles.

so, i dont discriminate between the good ‘ol simple fast food burgers or the (sometimes tiny) gourmet burgers. to me, a good burger is a good burger. please note that these rankings do not give any consideration to price, size, or general value of the burger. it is solely based on taste and awesomeness. if i had to choose, here are my favorite fast food burgers:

in-n-out – hamburger w/ grilled onions
mcdonalds – big mac
carl’s jr. – double western bacon cheeseburger

done.

as far as non-fast food / gourmet burgers go, here are my top 5:

umami burger – socal burger. my absolute favorite burger
father’s office – the one and only burger they have. many, many people think that this should be #1. i get it. but i disagree.
upper west – my most delicious veggie burger i have ever tasted. obviously i had to include a veggie burger for all those vegan/veggie burger lovers.
pie ‘n burger – the best simple burger… don’t underestimate it. you will lose.
sixth street tavern – a new one added to my list a month ago. i was simply blown away by the bistro burger. burger 1, linh 0.

click here to see my full list of favorite burgers! what are your favorites?

cheers!

30 09, 2013

Top Pot Doughnuts | Seattle, WA

By fabliss | 2014-07-24T08:57:06+00:00 September 30th, 2013 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Food, Restaurants, Seattle, Travel | 1 Comment

we are back from vacation (seattle and then vancouver) and it is food posting time! as some of you may know, in the past couple of years, we have based our travels on food (italy and thailand) and more recently football venues (candlestick park and now seattle centurylink field)! we were only away for 10 days (5 days in seattle and 5 days in vancouver)…but we ate. a lot.

one of our first stops: top pot doughnuts in belltown since a ton of people have been raving about it! quick tip – we loved staying at the renaissance in downtown (a little less than a mile away from centurylink field) since everything was a max 15 minute walk away. (a review of seattle to come later) anywho. top pot doughnuts.

we ordered a raspberry glazed cake doughnut, a double trouble doughnut (chocolate cake w/ chocolate glaze) and a cup of black coffee.

doughnuts were moist! i really enjoyed my pink doughnut…only thing is that we wished the doughnuts were warm. we wanted it to melt in our mouths. coffee was good. nothing too amazing but still a good complement to the doughnut.

kyle tried to dip it in his coffee. nope bad idea. too soggy.

atmosphere: this is an extremely cute joint…that reminds you of the library in beauty and the beast. (yup)
service: very friendly. we loved our cashier. small line when we got there around 9 am on a saturday but it cleared pretty quickly.
overall: good doughnuts. some may find the cake donuts on the dense side. i didnt really mind this. good breakfast joint. we read that this was the best doughnut in the nation… we didnt think so but it is still pretty good. dont expect anything earth shattering.

Top Pot Doughnuts
2124 5th Ave
(between Lenora St & Blanchard St)
Seattle, WA 98121
Neighborhood: Belltown

29 09, 2013

Doughnut Dolly | Oakland, CA

By fabliss | 2014-07-24T08:57:49+00:00 September 29th, 2013 | California, Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food, Restaurants, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 0 Comments

oh, doughnut dolly in oakland, why were you not around when i was in college? at $3 a piece, you have a variety of flavors to choose from. the filling flavors change on the regs but the naughty cream is a constant. we went here on a saturday morning… the line wasn’t too long.

my favorite is the naughty cream filling (which is similar to the cream filling you would find in a cream puff). pris and stella enjoyed the raspberry lemon jam and the dark chocolate fillings.

my doughnut was perfect with a black cup of coffee. don’t expect the most exceptional coffee…but a still a good pair with the doughnut. note that the raspberry lemon is on the sweeter side…so you definitely will need the coffee to offset.

so, i am a fan of this doughnut. the doughnut is soft and fluffy and the cream filling is a plus!

atmosphere: very cute doughnut shop that will steal your heart. on top of that, the alley that it’s located in is stupid cute. i wanted to spend all day here. go oakland!
parking: only street parking.
service: one woman shop. very nice and quick service.
food: doughnuts are great. i would come back here. i didn’t know this at the time of ordering but you can actually request mixed flavors. i’m sure the naughty cream / coffee is amazing!

Doughnut Dolly
482 B 49th St
Oakland, CA 94609

8 09, 2013

Blu Jam Cafe | Sherman Oaks, CA

By vivilinh | 2014-07-24T08:13:15+00:00 September 8th, 2013 | Food, Photography, Restaurants | 1 Comment

after running around balboa park in the morning (kyle and i did 4.5 miles, while b did his 8 miles. he’s hardcore), we went to blu jam cafe in sherman oaks for our big breakfast after sweat city. thank goodness one opened up near b since we have been putting off trying the one in hollywood because it is packed…all the time. two things they are known for: crunchy french toast and the french pressed coffee. amazing.

the french pressed coffee. yeah, so it’s $5…but so very very worth it. if you are a coffee lover, you must get this.

don’t get turned off by how many people are here in the morning… the text-you-when-your-table-is-ready really helps. it never feels that long and plus you can just take a walk up and down ventura blvd.

crunchy french toast is their signature dish…and rightfully so. the bomb dot com. brioche french toast with a crunchy corn flake crust served with fresh fruit and vanilla bean sauce. i freaking love this sauce. you would think that it’s too sweet…nope. just perfect.

despite hating eggs, we got the migas. spicy eggs scrambled with jalapenos, chipotle, beef chorizo sausage, red bell peppers, tortilla chips and cheese. served with salsa, chips and tortillas. this tastes great. doesn’t taste too eggy to me (kyle wasn’t a fan but he still ate it for the protein).

pulled pork special. very tasty. cant even tell you whats in it…but it was good.

service: very friendly. greatest part is that you can leave your cellphone number when you sign in so that they can text you when your table is ready! i love that la restaurants are catching on what nyc has been doing for years! go la! we come at prime time (10am on saturday) but service is always great despite the hecticness.
parking: there is a small parking lot on the side of the restaurant but you will probably have to find street parking (most of which are metered…free on sundays).
ambience: nothing special but very clean. ample seating inside, outside in the front and then a side patio area which is really cute.
overall: we love this new breakfast spot. i dont need to say much about blu jam cafe since its hollywood location is one of the hottest spots in la. so the hype is real. we love it and we love that it’s in the valley. we will be back.

cheers!

Blu Jam Cafe
15045 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Neighborhood: Sherman Oaks

Categories: Breakfast & Brunch

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