Eating Well & Keeping Cool at The Bite of Seattle

The second day at  the Alley (at The Bite of Seattle), most of the food portions were in good sized basket-type containers.  It was a little awkward to get them all onto one plate.  In fact, was worried some might fall off, but luckily, they didn't.  Here is what was served today, starting at the top, going clockwise:

Anar - Mujadara: Protein Bowl with green lentils, brown rice, labneh, pepitas, pickled turnips. - This was one my favorite things today on my plate, but it was my dad's least favorite.  It was at this point I learned that my dad doesn't like sour cream (which it has a dollop of).  All these years I have known him, and I had no idea he dislikes sour cream.  He said maybe if it didn't have that, he would like it.  He said he didn't like the cabbage, either.  I told him I thought those were turnips, because cabbage was not a listed ingredient.  He said he did not like turnips, either.  So, I really liked this dish.  I thought it had several great textures, a unique flavor, and I thought the sour cream was a great touch, but I guess it did not have a chance with my dad.

Hurry Curry of Tokyo:  Japanese Beef Curry with mixed vegetables & Japanese style curry pickles. - This was my dad's favorite.  It had a nice, savory flavor.  I am not sure what Japanese style curry pickles are, but maybe they are the red things on top that remind me of a bell pepper?

Salty's On Alki Beach:  Seafood Ceviche: Scallops, prawns, sweet onion, and aromatics. - I was a little nervous about trying this dish, when I read it on the menu, but I did not need to worry at all.  It was delightful, and fun looking with a bright, crisp chip to add crunchiness and flavor.

Conscious Eatery: Walnut Salad: Pear, blue cheese crumbles, fried candied walnuts with champagne vinaigrette over spring mix. - I liked this dish, but the flavors did not really stand out, I am not even certain mine had the vinaigrette, but if it did, it was very light, which was fine, but I guess I was expecting a tad more flavor from it.

Maslow's by Farestart: Jerk Chicken Skewer with Pineapple Slaw.  - This was my dad's second favorite.  I thought it was pretty good, too.  I liked the sweetness of the pineapple in the slaw.  The chicken was tender, but a bit difficult to eat on the stick, so I pulled it off with my fingers.

No Thai Cuisine:  Crispy Spring Rolls - Miniature fried spring rolls stuffed with glass noodles & vegetables, served with plum sauce.  These were so incredibly good!  May have been my favorite or second favorite.  My dad's third favorite.  Crispy, sweet, and delicious!

The weather was quite warm today.  Perfectly sunny.  Even though we were pretty full after eating at The Alley, we wound up trying 3 different desserts later.  They had some really interesting desserts at a few different vendors this year.  I did not get very good photos of them, so I will just describe them to you. They were found in the Munchies at the Mural section of the Bite.

The first one I tried was called LBJella Ice Cream Cane (picture #6, click to see).  Soft serve ice cream is served in what looks like an umbrella handle or "J."  I was uncertain how stable this cone would be, but it was rather thick, but also puffy, so it held the ice cream inside well.  There is a bit of extra ice cream on each side, and you get your choice of toppings for each side.  I chose toffee for one side, and Fruity Pebbles for the other, and had two Strawberry Pocky sticks sticking out on either side.  It was pretty good.  The purpose I found out, was to create a cone that would not drip.  However, it was so hot, that the bottom part with the extra ice cream did a little onto my blouse.  It wasn't a disaster like my dad thought it might be.  I liked the taste of the cone, which seemed to be puffed corn, and the ice cream inside complimented it greatly.

The second dessert (or whatever it was) named Twenty Three Below, was bought at the same place (picture #3, click to see).  It looked really cool, both literally and figuratively.  The dessert was also made of puffed corn, with some slight flavoring (one tasted like a banana flavored puff).  The dessert lets off a freezing cold steam, which makes a very interesting presentation.  The trick is that it is dipped into Nitrogen.  So, it looks awesome as you are eating it.  There are rules on eating this novelty for your safety:

First, you stab each piece with a stick.
Second, you blow on the puff 3 times.
Third, you stick the puff into your mouth, chew, and then keep chewing on it (meaning: don't let it linger on your tongue).

Steam will come out of your mouth, or out of your nose while doing this.  Even though it was quite fun and interesting, it was mostly air, so it seemed overpriced.  Many people were eating them, though.  I guess it was just too cool to pass up!

Both my dad and I felt we needed something more after finishing our desserts, so we wound up getting two popsicles from Seattle Pops.  The booth won best dessert, yet everyone was flocking to the stands around them.  I ordered a Coconut Cream Popsicle, my dad had a Blueberry Cream one.  There were other flavors, some not creamy, but the coconut appealed to me most.  It was incredibly good.  It was creamy and smooth, and flavorful.  My dad liked his, too.  Simplicity was better in this case.  It was my favorite of the three desserts I tried.  I looked up their website, and I definitely want to try them out again.

The day was pretty hot today, and is expected to be even hotter tomorrow, so if you go down, be sure to dress light, and maybe bring some water to keep cool.  Have fun!