Monthly Archives: January 2012

Sweet Iron Waffles – the calm within the storm

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When I was younger, I remember walking by myself around downtown Seattle on a really windy day. Being short and delicate, the breeze pushed me around fairly easily; my friends joked I was a kite without a string. I felt some serious nostalgia about those days last week as I tried to stay upright while waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green to walk to Sweet Iron Waffles.

After I passed that first test – and managed to shut the door – it was relatively peaceful inside. The staff were prepping the waffle machines and eating lunch, and as I ordered another guy joined us to eat a waffle and read the newspaper. You could still hear the wind howling outside, but it was slightly drowned out by Modest Mouse. Continue reading →

Deathcake Royale – a coffee conversion

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I don’t like coffee. At all. I was one of those kids who ran past the ‘grind your own beans’ booths at the grocery store because the smell made me nauseous. I still can’t drink coffee, and I at least only find the smell mildly unpleasant now. Even so, I love taking opportunities to expand my coffee and food horizons.

In general, though, I’m a cocoa kind of girl – or, while I was waiting yesterday at Cupcake Royale, a steamed milk with vanilla kind of girl. The chain was hosting a coffee/spirits/Deathcake tasting at all of their locations, and I ventured out into the cold to try the Deathcake out in the name of culinary science. For the uninitiated (read: those not from the Seattle area), the Deathcake Royale is an homage to all that is good and sugary: Theo chocolate cake, Stumptown coffee ganache, and fleur de sel, topped with a wee confetti heart. At $3, it’s a tiny, not super cheap little bite of richness, but everyone swore up and down it was worth it. But I was still nervous.

I was nervous because when I hear ‘coffee ganache,’ I think of two possible variations: ganache using coffee to enhance the chocolate, and ganache with the coffee flavor front and center. Given that it was Stumptown coffee being used, I assumed that that ingredient would be the star of the show, and I had been selectively avoiding this Valentine’s Day tradition for years. I was woefully mistaken. The ganache is lovely and delicate, holding in the rich chocolate center. The fleur de sel can be a bit overpowering, but that helps it to linger as you savor your Deathcake. I totally snuck another morsel, and then went to buy more for later.

Also in attendance was Stumptown, which I still sadly avoided (though I adore their Mast Brothers cocoa), and Pacific Distillery’s absinthe, which was heady of anise in a way that made my nose tingle. But I was really too distracted by the Deathcake for alcohol. Another day, maybe.

If you’re not a fan of chocolate with coffee, but adore chocolate, I definitely feel you should try to get your hands on one, and at least give it a shot. But do so soon, for I just bought a three pack, and they stop selling them for the year on February 14th.

Cupcake Royale
1111 East Pike Street
Seattle, Wa 98122

Pie Tatin – a love affair with Frankensteins

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Not the book – frankenstein desserts.

I am a very, very lazy baker in that I don’t often start on huge projects. Sure, I can bake a ton of cookies at once, but I much prefer baking six and freezing 60 so I can avoid the oven when I’m craving cookies. (Then again, in our household cookie dough doesn’t survive for long.) I talk big, mostly of days where I got really bored and made 1,000+ cookies in one sitting, but that was when I worked a job where I had three days off a week. Grad school does not lend itself to the opportunity to go all-out in a home kitchen.

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New Year Libations

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On Thursday Chris and I donned our best snow gear and walked to New Year Libations, trekking poles in hand. I wasn’t able to stay long, as it was – gasp – a school night, but I still had a great time snapping pictures and meeting some amazing people. Thank you Schemer, Seattleite, Google Places, Wild Ginger, Bastille Seattle, Bathtub Gin, BOKA, Little Water Cantina, Poquitos, Tavern Law, The Pink Door, Tini Bigs, and everyone else who helped make it a fun evening!

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Computer History Museum – Mountain View, CA

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When we were in Mountain View, we dropped by the Computer History Museum for a quick browse. (A really quick browse – we got there about an hour before closing.) If you’re interested in seeing old-school calculators and spy tech from the 70s, it’s an amazing slice of history. I admit the modern stuff was a bit silly, especially the Furby behind glass, but I suspect the next generation will be in awe.

Melt Waffle – experiments with sugar and yogurt

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Google Seattle recently checked out Melt Waffle & Frozen Yogurt, north of Seattle in Mountlake Terrace, and I had the chance to check it out with Charles Koh and the Google Places crew. And it was a blast!

Melt is not too far off exit 181 from I-5, but the parking lot has difficult entry points. Once you succeed in parking and actually walk in, it’s white and open. With 90s pop/dance music playing and edited quotes from former presidents about waffles on the walls, the mainly white décor reminded me of a lot of the bubble tea and crepe shops in the area. There are small tables for gathering with friends, and comfy chairs in the corner.

Melt Waffle

But you’re not going to go here for crepes or bubble tea. No, Melt serves ‘pearl sugar waffles (also known as ‘Liège waffles’) and frozen yogurt: individually, in sundaes, and ‘build your own.’

Tasty, tasty waffle

First, a quick primer on pearl sugar, or Liège, waffles. They’re a cousin of American waffles, so if you’re expecting huge, fluffy, batter-based waffles, you’re going to be disappointed. Originally from Liège, Belgium, pearl sugar waffles are small waffles made from a yeasted dough liberally mixed with pearl sugar. After a few minutes in a waffle iron, these lovely treats are dense, chewy, and caramelized, kind of like eating a very special, flattened brioche. Sweet Iron in the U-District and downtown Seattle makes the same kind of waffle, so that’s much closer to Melt’s works than going to I-HOP.

In fact, Sweet Iron and Melt have very similar waffles. As these waffles are best fresh out of the iron, I can’t compare them side by side very well, but they’re both fantastic waffles, and the shops use very different topping options. (Sweet Iron goes for more seasonal offerings, like compotes, and Melt is big on the candies and fruits.)

Back to the menu. At Melt, one waffle is $3, two waffles with two toppings is $3.99, and it’s $4.95 for the Melt waffle, a single waffle with frozen yogurt and two toppings. Listed menu waffle options are priced accordingly. Eugene Yang, the owner, and his staff are super friendly, so definitely ask questions if you’re not sure what to order.

Strawberry-caramel Melt waffle

The base menu of waffles ranges from Strawberries N’ Cream (two waffles with strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup) to the Chocolate Meltdown (Reese’s Pieces, M&Ms, chocolate chips, hot fudge and whipped cream). The Chocolate Meltdown is incredibly rich, but the Hawaii 5-0, with mangoes and coconut, is far more refreshing.

If you don’t think you can handle the dense richness of pearl sugar waffles, or you just want some yogurt with your waffle, go for the Melt waffle. The yogurt, which cools the waffle as you eat, works really well in cutting into the waffle’s gustatory gluttony.

Melt has two types of toppings – free condiments (caramel, chocolate syrup, etc) and toppings, chilled and dry. You can get every condiment if you so choose, though given that that would mean getting honey, maple syrup, and marshmallow syrup on one waffle, that could send you to a dentist after finishing. Dry toppings range from granola to gummy bears, and chilled is a variety of seasonal fruit and mango.

They currently have five flavors of yogurt, including a vanilla/chocolate swirl, but it’s written on a dry erase board so they can update the list with seasonal flavors. They had Whopper and Strawberry Lemonade while we were there, which were accurate but sweet. The vanilla yogurt was a non-tart variety and on the sweet side, with a lot of yogurt for the price. I wouldn’t go here to replace my Menchie’s addiction, but I liked it with the waffles.

I ordered three waffles while there: a plain waffle, a vanilla/chocolate yogurt, strawberry and caramel Melt waffle, and a Melt waffle with vanilla yogurt and every fruit topping and mochi. The plain waffle was exactly what I was hoping for, hot, crisp, and fluffy. The first Melt waffle was a little disappointing, but I think that was more because strawberries are out of season, as the behemoth fruit waffle was amazing. I especially loved the warm, pillowy treasures of mochi hidden underneath all the fruit.

Melt waffle in progress

If you’re still hankering for fluffy, fluffy waffles, don’t despair – they have a secret menu where you can also order Belgian waffles! Eugene said he is currently testing customer interest, but I saw some tantalizing Belgian waffles pop out of the waffle iron while I was there.

Finished Mega-Melt waffle

I think it’s a neat idea overall, though I admit I’m not up in Mountlake Terrace enough to really take advantage of the place. They’re talking about expansion for 2012, though, so I’ll be watching for a Melt near me.

Melt Waffle & Frozen Yogurt
4311 212th St SW Ste 110
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

Coastal Kitchen – a diner with a following

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When I was in middle or high school, my family used to drive over to Coastal Kitchen for brunch as an occasional Sunday treat. My memories heavily focus on three things: that it was always busy, the huge pancakes, and the fake ‘how to learn a language’ tapes they played in the bathroom.
Coastal Kitchen
So when Charles Koh announced a trek over with Google Places, I was excited to see how much had changed and if the breakfasts were still giant. We were there early on a Saturday, so service was fast and friendly even for our large group. When you walk in you’re greeted by their kitchen and bar to your right and seating to the left. If I was visiting by myself, I’d definitely grab a spot at the bar, where the obvious regulars were sitting and chatting with the kitchen staff. This place has a following.The ambiance is diner style, with influences from the Carribbean on the walls and bolts of colorful fabric on the ceiling. You can find Carnaval masks sharing space on the walls with sombreros and small monkey toys. There’s a nice outside seating area, though it was too cold during this venture to take advantage of the space. The diner style heavily influences the food presentation, though, from the tea service with its cute metal teapot and lemon to the no-frills, giant portions with breakfast.
ZeppolesOne of my friends ordered the Pumpkin zeppoles with his meal, so I tried one. The plate came with three dark brown zeppoles, lightly dusted with powdered sugar, each placed on top of a schmear of spiced pumpkin cream. As pretty as it looked, it was disappointing – the exterior was almost burnt, with the insides being heavy instead of creamy. The pumpkin cream was heavy on the cloves and spice mix, with very little pumpkin shining through.
Gingerbread waffleThe portions, though, were as huge as I remembered. I ordered the gingerbread waffles ($6) with a small fruit plate ($4) instead of the eggs and bacon. The waffle was nicely heavy on the ginger, though a bit dense - I found myself wishing it had more airyness (maybe a Belgian variation would rock?). The orange honey compound butter was a nice complement to the waffle, and helped mellow out the flavors. The fruit was fine, though I admit I was weirded out that they were serving strawberries, as their website talks about serving only sustainable seafood, so I thought that belief might extend to their whole menu.
Fresh fruitI did try the spicy hash browns, which were definitely spicy. I wished they made a lighter spiced option for us less inclined towards a heavy hand on the black pepper, but the potatoes had a nice balance of crispy and fluffy. Chris got the ham scramble, which came with hash browns, eggs, and an english muffin. He felt the scramble was underspiced and the hash browns overspiced, and mixing the two together worked out well.As for the bathrooms, the translation tapes are a mp3 series that they call “Potty Humor,” which involves really random English phrases and a translation (e.g., “It was an Apple versus Microsoft thing.”). You can download mp3s from their website if you’re so inclined, and learn more fake things about places from Venice to Chile.

So, Coastal Kitchen matched my memories fairly well. Silly mp3s in the bathroom, huge portions, and a busy, yet friendly, atmosphere. I think this is a great place to bring friends with huge appetites before you hit the town, and I will continue my hunt for the best waffles in Seattle.

429 15th Avenue E
Seattle, WA 98112

Minamoto Kitchoan

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When I walked into Minamoto Kitchoan, I made the tourist mistake of having my camera in hand. Do not do this. I was so dazzled by everything that I just started snapping away. Chris had to poke me and remind me how loud my DSLR was being before I came out of my reverie.

After apologizing, I bought ~$30 worth of wagashi. You should have seen the look on my face when the saleslady asked if it was a gift and I replied, “It’s all for meee.” If you’re a wagashi enthusiast, coming here will make your day.

Minamoto Kitchoan
648 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA