In past years, we had no time to tour Seattle after Emerald City Comic Con was over, because I had to rush back to work on Monday morning. This year, however, we had no time constraints, and so decided to make a vacation out of our trip to Seattle. It actually worked out really nicely – Layne had a science conference to attend just a few days after Emerald City, so we spent the intervening days exploring Seattle.
Pike Place Market is one of my new favorite places ever. Aside from seafood so fresh it’s still alive, the best andouille sausage I’ve seen this far north, and a mountain of FRESH GREENS in early March, it is also littered with interesting little food stalls. We killed half of Monday just wandering around, sampling the fare. Any place that you can start with some gourmet mac and cheese, move on to a few fresh Chinese steamed buns, and then top off the meal with fresh-out-of-the-sea raw oysters is A-OK in my books!
Pike Place is, quite simply put, foodie heaven. I am terribly, terribly sad that I’ll have to wait until next year to visit there again.
bookfreak Says:
Yes, we Seattle-ites love us our PPM. Did you try the fresh made mini doughnuts? They are soooooo good!
thisfox Says:
I’m impressed. No offence intended, but I’ve generally found American food to be awful (rather like the concept of “gourmet” mac and cheese, that seems unlikely, what makes it gourmet? pepper?) but fresh fish and greens, mushrooms and sausage with spices instead of meat and nothing else in it, that sounds great. Wonderful.
I love raw oysters, every year at Christmas we brave hugely hot summer days (40ยบ or more) and drive for two hours to the coast and two hours back to get the best fresh oysters ever. We shuck them ourselves on the beach before driving back, after buying them direct at a farm. You gotta know where to shop! A market which does the same sounds like a side of America I’d be willing to try. Oysters always taste like Christmas….
Damien Sim Says:
Man, then you’ll love Asia… the wet markets as well as the native markets ๐
Ada Says:
Next time you go to Seattle, get someone to tell you where to find the troll under the bridge. That statue rocks. It’s a big troll with a wrecked VW bug as if it swiped the car off the bridge.
XAQ Says:
The mac and cheese was from Beecher’s, a place that makes their own cheese. You can sit and watch them press giant troughs of curds behind the glass windows while you eat.
LoneHowler Says:
Did you visit the first starbucks across the street from the market?
And I agree the minidougnuts at the market are the best I ever had, makes the ones at the Calgary stampede seem bland. I usualy visit Seattle in September the market then is loaded with fresh flowers and dirt cheep a massive arrangement that would cost us 50-60$ here is 5-15$ there. Next visit I plan on taking a vase with me so I can have fresh flowers in my hotel room
PedroSteckecilo Says:
Mini-Donuts are a little over-rated but I have INTENSE jealousy over your descriptions of gourmet mac and cheese. The best I’ve ever had was made with a combination of Guinness Cheddar and Smoked Gruyere, it also had delicious Ham in it.