Maneki Japanese Restaurant

Are you: visiting Seattle?  new to Seattle?  a Seattlelite who loves Japanese cuisine?  Eat at Maneki for a taste of Seattle history.  Located in the International District, a go-to hub for many Seattlelite Asian Americans and a must-see for Seattle tourists, Maneki offers good Japanese food at a reasonable price.  Japanese restaurants in DT area tend to be hip and modern, and serve fusion cuisine.  Maneki, in the ID, offers simple and well-known Japanese fare.  The restaurant can get really busy and thanks to an advice from a Japanese-Hawaiian-Seattlelite friend, named Chris, I made a reservation.

My family lives both in Central Coast and the Bay Area (both are regions in California, for those unfamiliar), so seafood is a favorite.  Thanks to the Puget Sound, Seattle gets its fair share of fresh seafood and I didn’t have to hunt high and low for a seafood joint to take my family to.  I wanted their first impression of Seattle to be on the tasty side.

Out of all the orders, my Mom and Kat (youngest sis), chose the best ones which were the mackerel sakana dinner and salmon sakana dinner.  Their dinner came with sashimi, and lucky me, my mother doesn’t like raw seafood and passed hers to me.  Yay!  My father and The Hubby, on the other hand, ordered the steak dinner.

It felt like a maki sushi night for me so I got the spicy tuna roll, durkee roll, and the big mouth roll which earned me raised eyebrows from our hostess.  And truly, the big mouth deserves its name.

Maneki serves generous portions and we all left with leftovers.  The hosts and servers are friendly, and the food is good and simple.  I do wish that the tatami rooms get a good cleaning.  The management ought to consider changing the mats.  Aside from that, Maneki is worth a try.

I want to end with three words: age dashi tofu.

Maneki Japanese Restaurant
304 6th Avenue South
Seattle WA 98104
(206) 622-2631

Tags: Japanese food, Japanese restaurant, Maneki Japanese Restaurant, Seattle International District, Seattle Japanese restaurant

BevMo! in Washington State

Hey fellow Californians, have you heard?  (Because I just did.)  BevMo! is coming to the Evergreen State! and will be opening two retail stores in Tacoma and Silverdale!  Woot!  Why not Seattle or any of the Eastside cities, I don’t know.  Why BevMo!?  Why?

For those not in the know about BevMo!, head over here or click the image above to learn how you can get your drinks for less.  Just to be clear, always drink responsibly.  Never drink and drive.  Again, always drink responsibly.

We know California knows how to party and it looks like Washington State is going to learn a thing or two.  Not that the California transplants haven’t livened up things a bit already.

Tags: alcoholic beverage, BevMo!, California knows how to party, Ronnie Hudson & The Street People, specialty beverage, West Coast Poplock

Homemade Poutine

Poutine is heavy, greasy, and very tasty.  Dieters beware!  This dish is loaded with carbs and fat: everything that is terrible for anyone watching their figure.  I’d think that one of my heroines, the lovely and late Jennifer Paterson, would pronounce the dish “yummo” and I would agree with her.

For a poutine fix, we no longer have to venture to Vancouver or seek out poutine places in Seattle.  Beecher’s fresh curds and Five Guys fries, along with homemade gravy, allow us to assemble poutine in a flash.  The Hubby, who is normally patient, becomes abnormally impatient when he hankers for poutine, so it helps when he can quickly put the meal together.

You too can easily and quickly make poutine.  Either pick up frozen fries from a grocery store (cook it first!) or take out fries from your favorite burger joint.  For the cheese, make sure it’s mild, unless you want the flavor to compete with the gravy.

Poutine

4-6 c fries
6 oz fresh curds or mild cheddar
1 c gravy

Arrange the fries on a plate.  Top the fries with small chunks of fresh curds or mild cheddar.  Spoon or drizzle gravy over the fries and cheese.  Heat in the microwave or oven until cheese is slightly melted.

Smile and serve with a nice chilled drink.

Tags: Beecher's cheese, Beecher's cheese curds, Five Guys fries, Poutine

Smashed Burgers

April is a smashing month for us and we kicked off our special month with smashed burgers.  If you’re imagining an entire burger having been squashed, you’re thinking it wrong.  The only part that is smashed in a smashed burger is the meat patty.

Believe it or not, it took two of us – The Hubby and I – to make the compressed patties.  I was in charge of seasoning and forming the ground meat into loose balls, and he was in charge of pan searing them.  Consider it a method to prevent contamination spread.  The person handling the meat has to be hygiene-conscious, which I am, ad nauseam.  Anyone handling food ought to be.

We are traditionalists when it comes to burgers, though we do appreciate adventurous combinations also.  For our first smashed burgers, we went the classic route.  For the recipe, I adjusted it for 4-quarter pounders (or four 0.113 “kilogramers” for the metric system users out there).

Smashed Burgers 

1 lb/ 0.45 kg beef (or any ground meat you want)
salt and pepper, for seasoning
4 hamburger buns
1 small onion, sliced thinly into rings
1 beefsteak tomato, sliced thinly
4 slices of cheddar
mayonnaise and ketchup, optional

Heat the griddle or pan on high heat. Season the meat and form into loose balls.  Working one at a time, place the ball on the center of the pan then flatten.  Sear the patty and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes, depending on its thickness.  Flip and repeat.  Set the patties aside.  Toast the buns then assemble your burger.

Smile and serve with pickles.

Tags: burgers, smash burgers, smashed burgers

L’oeuf coccotte

“March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”, but not in the Pacific Northwest… although I wish that were the case.  The weather here has a life of its own and likes to play mind games wtih meteorologists and residents.

What better way to end March and begin April than with l’oeuf coccotte, a classic French dish in which the egg is baked in a ramekin, and somewhat submerged in a creamy base.  The recipe for oeufs coccotte is quite simple and requires egg(s), cream, grated cheese, and seasonings.  However, Claire, my sister, provided a fancy recipe by using Béchamel/white sauce as a base instead of cream.  Photo of the yummy dish and the ingredients below are her compliments.

L’oeuf coccotte

1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
3/4 c milk, warm
egg(s)
ham, chopped
cheese (your choice)
herbs (oregano or your choice)
salt, paprika, and nutmeg

Melt the butter, then stir in the flour.  Cook until a paste forms then add the warm milk.  Continue stirring until the sauce thickens.  Season with salt, paprika, and nutmeg.  Pour sauce into a ramekin (or a round baking dish) then crack an egg over the sauce.  Add your choice of cooked meat.  Sprinkle with your choice of cheese and herbs.

Smile and serve with toasts.

Merci beaucoup, ma soeur!  Il semble délicieux.

Tags: Breakfast, brunch, egg casserole, egg recipe, eggs en coccotte, French food, l'oeuf coccotte, oeuf coccotte, shirred eggs