a phinney ridge favorite.

it's really suprising that it has taken me this long to blog about mae's on phinney ridge. this place is really the pinnacle of family run seattle breakfast joints, and i can't get enough of it. my first visit was a little over a year ago with my roomies, and i've been coming back steadily since then. with ever-changing breakfast options, ample seating, entertaining decor, and amazingly friendly service--mae's never manages to disappoint.
going into mae's on a weekend will guarantee a serious wait for a table, and you might even have to wait for one on a weekday as well. they operate on a really adorable honor system and have guests sign in with their name and number in party when they first come in. on my last visit, with my bestie g of course, we were actually sat at the same large table as another pair of women (appearing to also be besties). how european, mae's!
you really can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but the biscuits and gravy are absolutely phenominal! you have the choice of classic sausage gravy or vegetarian mushroom gravy, and they even offer an awesome half order (which comes with hashbrowns and 1 egg) that is the perfect amount of food. let's be honest, a full order of b & g is seriously mountaneous. the half order makes you feel not quite as guilty that you just chowed down on some gravy for breakfast. g is a huge fan of mae's oatmeal, which comes with an offering of brown sugar, walnuts, milk, and raisins to season to perfection.
if you're feeling frisky, mae's is also famous for offering "shake and eggs." you heard it here, mae's is the place where you can have a towering shake or smoothie to wash down your eggs, grits, and biscuits. mae calls it the breakfast of champions. now, i'm not one to turn down a challenge...but i've yet to try the combo. methinks it may just be the greatest hangover cure of all time. i'll keep you posted.

picture is of me and g getting ready to head into mae's for breakfast on the morning after my 22nd birthday!

fishless in bellingham!

this lovely saturday i decided to take a 24hour trip to bellingham to visit the fabulous k and sample some cuisine and lower priced drinks. now, i have become quite the creature of habit when it comes to visiting bellingham and tend to do pretty much the same thing every time i go up there. this time we did try a new spot for dinner though.
we took a walk in the beautiful sunshine (!) down to the chuckanut brewery and kitchen with our good friend gl. the place was adorable, there was live banjo music, and new beers for me to sample on tap. while the beer was good, the food wasn't nearly as delectable as i would have hoped. i had a goat cheese tart which was pretty good, but my cup of veggie soup tasted like luke warm pace picante sauce. mild pace picante sauce. not a good look. gl ordered some yam fries to share, which were not to the standard of my favorite yam fries in seattle at smith. while the aoli was really good and smokey, an aoli doesn't save a burnt soggy fry, good sir.
the night continued with tours through entirely too many bars to name or judge. one i did enjoy and would like to visit again on my next trip is uisce (pronounced ISH-KAH). it's a traditional irish (gaelic) pub with a killer atmosphere and a ridiculously comfy couch by the fire.
in the morning we nursed our hangovers with an old bellingham standby, the bagelry. this place has the best sourdough bagels EVER and is pretty much always packed. i always stick with the veggie sandwich with regular cream cheese on sourdough, which comes with tomato, onion, and a mountain of sprouts. there are millions of both schmear and bagel flavors, so the combinations are endless.
to round the day out, this ice cream conniseaur HAD to stop in at mallard ice cream. this place seriously rivals molly moon's and has WAY more flavors to choose from. i had a tough time deciding but had to eventually go with the earl grey, which was absolutely perfect! another favorite is the rose, which tastes like sweet rosewater and is super refreshing. mallard is so good, it is worth driving all the way to bellingham just to have some.

i scream. you scream.

today is the day that i share internet elaboration on my favorite seattle spot of all MOLLY MOONS!!! with two locations [capitol hill and wallingford] this ice cream boutique is absolutely irresistible, intriguingly delicious, and eco-friendly to boot. i love it so much, i even own a molly moon's t-shirt! if you want one for your very own, you can't purchase online just yet...but mine and many more are on sale at either location.
now, my molly moon's knowledge might be borderline embarrassing to most, but i take great pride in having at least sampled nearly every flavor in the repertoire. molly moon is an actual person, and shares her actual given name with the shop. this woman is an ice cream genius. on any given day in the shop you will find such flavors as salted caramel, [girl]scout mint, balsamic strawberry, or theo chocolate [straight from the fremont chocolate shop, which will be blogged as soon as it's visited by yours truly!] toppings include fresh fruit compote, cajeta, lemon curd, and a completely perfect hot fudge. the flavors and toppings rotate, and a new flavor is always popping up to challenge your taste-buds' threshold.
whenever i have visitors to the seattle area, i always take them to molly's and we are never disappointed. beware of going on a warm friday or saturday night, as there can be a line wrapping around the block and on a heavily visited day the shop may run out of (gasp) waffle cones! and trust me, you want to have the option...as they are AMAZING.
and just one more tip to the inexperienced ice cream patron--don't fret if you can't decide between two flavors and know your tummy won't allow a double scoop. you always have the option of asking for a "split scoop" and getting a half scoop of each of two delicious flavors. try salted caramel with maple walnut or theo chocolate, mix one of the featured vegan sorbet flavor with a bit of the scrumptious vanilla bean, or go OFF and try a sample of them all. you won't be sorry and you'll always come back for more!