Josh "Barndawg" B.'s Profile

The line is long and the flavor list is short, but the ice cream and waffle cones are both to die for.  Definitely worth multiple visits!

Nothing has changed at Senor Moose.  But I've been back a few times and it delights me every time.  Everything on the menu is delicious, the staff is always nice, and it's not your typical Americanized Mexican fare.

Yay for the Moose!

When working on Westlake, there are actually a wealth of options (not all of them good).  Paddy Coyne's is a favorite spot, but not the sort of place I can eat alone.  Joe's BBQ is alright, but doesn't make up in flavor what it lacks in authenticity.  But now that I've discovered Blue Moon Burgers, lunch is pretty much a no-brainer.  This place is no-nonsense, tasty, and cheap.  I'm already planning a return trip so I can try their buffalo wings.

Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer?  Check.  Onion rings?  Check. Ability to add bacon to pretty much anything on the menu on-demand?  Check.  Lunch for less than $8?  Yes please!

Their huge dessert menu, friendly staff, late hours, and convenient location combine to make this a pretty awesome place! I've never had the food, just dessert and coffee, but have not been disappointed.

The ice cream here was very good, but it's pretty far away and I'm not sure it was so amazing as to justify the trip.

Maybe one of their famous ice cream pies would convince me . . .

Cinerama has fixed their seats.  I no longer have anything negative to say about this theatre; it is bar none the best place to see a movie in Seattle.  I especially recommend their 70mm classics.

I asked a friend what he thought of Mediterranean Kitchen.  He told me, "It's terrific, but the portions are huge and contain huge amounts of garlic."  My reply was simple: "What do you mean, 'BUT'?!"

2 hours (and untold calories) later I was sitting motionless, praying not to explode.  The shish kebobs were enormous, tender, and flavorful.  The hummus was delicious.  The rice was delicious.  The salad was delicious.  My $30 was gone and I wasn't sure I would ever eat again.

When I got home 3 hours later, my girlfriend said "Did you just eat a whole head of garlic?"  And thus all of the original predictions proved true.

I always prefer to shop local stores instead of chains.  Turgeon Raine makes that principle easy to uphold since they run an awesome shop.

I can't say much about the value since I haven't seen any other store with jewelry quite like what we saw here; they certainly have jewelery which is a step up from every other shop in Seattle in every way (including price).  This is not the place to look for sub-$1000 jewelery; I don't think I saw a single thing in the shop in that price range.

What I can say in their favor is this: They have beautiful and unique looking jewelery of every type you can imagine.  I can also say that the staff was incredibly nice and helpful to us without the slightest bit of pressure to buy things.

All of those things added up to us spending more than we intended (and probably more than we should have) on a very unique-looking pair of wedding bands.

My experience at Quinn's was not what I had hoped it would.  Don't get me wrong: The food was excellent.  I ordered the Roast Chicken and though the portion was a bit small, the chicken was perfectly cooked and in a delicious sauce.  But other factors detracted from my enjoyment:

-We waited for almost an hour and half for a table, crammed into a tiny space by the bar.  By the time we got our food, we were so hungry we ate it in a blink without really getting to savour it.  I normally wouldn't blame them, but when I called they said the wait would be about 15 minutes, and when we got there they said 45 minutes.  So 70 minutes doesn't seem that reasonable.

-We barely saw our waiter.  The place was packed (I assume it's always like that?) but that's no excuse for his lack of attention or advice.

I wasn't really sure what to expect at Paprika; all I knew was that it was not supposed to disappoint :-) After eating there once, I can already tell that it's some place I could eat at again and again. As we were eating, my girlfriend compared it to our favorite restaurant near our apartment (which we eat at very regularly) and we agreed that if we lived in the East Village, this would be a regular spot for us.

The salads are delicious but huge; the waitress smartly advised us to share one. Indeed the waitress was full of good recommendations. It's rare to be at a restaurant so busy and get such friendly and quick service as we got at Paprika.

The pasta was the real standout here. Each bite tasted better and better. The large portions, served in deep bowls piping-hot felt very homey; this is more of a hearty, home-style Italian than "fancy" Italian.  Paprika stands out in my mind as a place that makes the sort of Italian food that I cook for myself at home, only much better than I can do it :-)

When the bill came I was struck with reverse sticker-shock: $40 for dinner for two? It was then I realized that Paprika must actually be from some sort of alternate universe where fresh pasta grows on trees near fountains that flow with veal ragu. It's a universe I wish I could eat in every night.

I would  have paid an extra 50% for my dinner without question.  But then I don't think I would have found this place quite as special.  The value at Paprika is the real deal: You can stuff yourself silly for $20 . . . and then hit up the Dessert truck at Astor Place for only $5 more!