Ellen "New to Seattle" C.'s Profile

I finally got to go to the library bistro when a friend came to visit for brunch. I was a little wary because the overall Yelp score was high, but there were some really scathing reviews.

I'll toss my hat into the mix-

Atmosphere-wise: I thought it was a pretty cool brunch place. I loved the booths, the crayons so I could draw on the table, the books, and the really cute tableware for jam/butter/ketchup. The atmosphere was really good.

The service was pretty awesome too - my water and coffee were never empty, and the food was prompt.

And, of course, the most important part was the food. I thought it was tasty- substituting fruit for the potatoes was definitely worth it, a good variety and high quality. The toast was good (and I'm fussy about my toast). I was sad they didn't have rye bread, but whole wheat is good too. My eggs were awesome- not too overdone, with all of the things in them were chopped finely (which I appreciate).

Like others have said it was a little expensive (~40ish for breakfast for two, with coffee, no drinks), but not unreasonable once in awhile.

I have no idea how I haven't written this review yet. I moved back to Capitol Hill in August, and within a couple weeks multiple bartenders recognized me (they either have good memories, or I drink too much- your choice).

I love going here because it's always pretty calm and low-key. It's not too loud to talk, and even if it gets crowded inside, the tables outside are cute. I like going right after work to sit at the bar and have conversations about all of their homemade bitters and syrups. I'm a big fan of the rhubarb bitters.

Plus the drinks are awesome. I always go intending to have "just one drink" and then am still there a couple hours later because the bartender had so many great suggestions of things I might like.

So, is pretty obvious from my other reviews, I'm clearly not vegan.  These are not vegan stars, they're just straight up stars for it being a place with tasty food.

We showed up without a reservation around 6.30, to no wait. We tried the mac n yease, which I was skeptical about, but shouldn't have been. For dinner I had the raw tacos (mostly out of curiosity). I wouldn't say they tasted like tacos, but they were good and had a lot of parsley, which I love.

My other (also carnivorous) friends had the really big burger and the olive pesto tofu. The pesto on the tofu was awesome. The burger was good- the only issue was that she asked for no mustard and they still put it on.

Anyway, I'll be back- there were a lot of dishes I hadn't seen anywhere else, which goes a long way in my book. Plus if you take your vegan friends, they can eat everything!

This was literally the best meal of my life (surpassing my previous best at Daniel in NYC). And yes, I literally flew to Chicago to eat here on the recommendation from my parents.

I think the highlight for me was how interesting the food was. I was very anxious for each course to continue to come out so I could see what it would be. I was also a huge fan of the bite-sized nature of many of the courses- most degustations leave me feeling completely stuffed and struggling to try things. Alinea left me feeling pleasantly full, even though I got to try everything.

As far as specific dishes go- I loved the black truffle explosion. I also thought the course with several different types of seafood on drift wood was well done, and I definitely couldn't get over harvesting my own table centerpiece garden during dinner. I'll leave it at that.

I suppose the lowest point for me was one of the traditional lamb dishes- I just wasn't in love with it. It wasn't bad, I'm just not a huge lamb person.

Seriously, if you're in Chicago, go here. If you aren't in Chicago, consider going to go Chicago so you can go here. And yes, it's expensive. But you knew that already.

Okay, so I love cupcakes. I might just review things with cupcakes and rate them all five stars. Oops. But really, how can you go wrong with cupcakes?

Flavors I've had:
- Peanut butter and jelly
- Red Velvet
- Mint Chocolate Chip
- Something involving coconut and fruit

Okay, so I've had way too many cupcakes from here, and they were all pretty delicious. I think my favorite of all of them has been the Mint Chocolate Chip. It tastes EXACTLY like Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, which is pretty fantastic in cupcake form.

Be warned, they are pretty sugary and sweet. I definitely gave myself a sugar headache once (okay, so I ate a bag of butterscotch chips and two cupcakes... I wouldn't ever recommend doing that again).

I never even considered mixing cupcake batters together. At this point, I have no idea why this never inspired me. Luckily, that inspiration did strike the Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co.!

I just happened to walk by yesterday afternoon after going to Bed, bath, and Beyond. Given my thing for cupcakes lately, I had to at least walk in and look. I picked out a Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcake, which was awesome. The frosting was great, the cupcake was great, it wasn't too sweet, and it was generally awesome.

I can't wait to go back to try their Red-Velvet-Frappuccino style thing, and some of their other cupcake flavors!

Had take out from here finally, after not going for 5 months after Hung T. recommended it to me when I moved in.

The portions of take out were very generous. I was really full afterwards.  I really enjoyed my chicken... whatever it was. Roti? and everyone else had different meats that they liked too. It was well prepared and had good texture.

I was disappointed that they were out of pumpkin punch. It seemed like they were out of quite a few things, hence only four stars- have a back up plan when ordering!

Went here with two friends for lunch. Shockingly crowded for lunch on a week day so we decided to do carry-out. Keep that in mind when going.

The sparkling lemonade was pretty awesome- more lemony-y and less sugary which was nice. The burgers and fries were good, and the onion rings were definitely great.  I'd probably advocate getting a bacon burger- I didn't have one, but I tried my friend's bacon and it had great flavor.

I love tasting menus. I love small plates. Sometimes, you don't have the time to actually sit through a four hour, nine course meal (sometimes you do, and it's awesome).

Poppy takes the tasting menu experience and forces it into a much shorter meal by delivering 7 or 10 items simultaneously.

I am now regretting not writing this review sooner, because I can't describe each of the little courses in depth. My favorite was definitely the corn soup, but the fish and beef were also excellent.  For the vegetarians amongst you, there are many delicious vegetarian options as well.

Yay! I cannot complain at all about the experience.  I'd been meaning to get a haircut for the last ... four months, or so, and today I finally decided to stop procrastinating.

I am used to paying FAR more than $25 for my haircuts, and having them take far longer.  When I entered, I was greeted and immediately ushered to my chair (I'd recommend calling ahead to avoid waiting).  I walked out of shear madness less than half an hour later with exactly what I wanted.

I will definitely be back, and this might even inspire me to get haircuts as often as I'm supposed to.