Lunches at Home and Brunches on the Road
We have tried a few places that are new to us even if not newly opened. Here is some of what we recently sampled at home and on the road.
A New (ish) Spot at Fisherman’s Terminal
We have been intending to try Pidgin Cooperative, 3909 18th Ave West, 206.954.8568, https://www.pidgincooperative.com/, since soon after it opened in September, but its limited schedule (Thursday through Sunday, lunch and dinner) has not lined up with ours. Pidgin Cooperative, located just East of Fisherman’s Terminal in Northeast Magnolia, is a worker owned restaurant (six owners) with a Hawaiian/Filipino flavor.
We went there for lunch, and we began the meal by sharing the charred cabbage which comes with spicy miso and furikake giving it something of a bite, a pleasant and interesting start to the meal. For the main dish, we were very tempted by the smash burger (the most popular item, judging by what we saw at other tables) and the Loco Moco, but decided to sample the black garlic noodles and curry prawn ramen. We enjoyed both. The black garlic noodles were appropriately chewy and very, very garlicky. The prawn curry tasted fresh, had good flavor, but was very mild, or at least milder than we expected in a curry. We would order both again, although we would probably try more items on the menu first.
Pidgin Cooperative (no, we do not call it Pidgin Coop) also lists itself as a bottle shop. They feature a reasonable selection of beers as well as kombucha on tap and wines by the glass or the bottle. We accompanied our meals with a local pilsner and the kombucha currently on tap, a mango jalapeno blend—it was refreshing.
One of the owners informed us the hours may expand as we approach summer, possibly adding Wednesdays and/or breakfast hours. We plan to return, especially if and when they open up for breakfast to try the traditional Hawaiian Loco Moco (a burger patty over rice, topped with a fried egg with gravy). Pidgin adds another good option in the Fisherman’s Terminal area when you want to get just a little out of downtown for lunch.
Tapas in Bellevue
There is a tapas bar, Castilla Restaurant and Tapas Bar, 504 Bellevue Square, 425.625.2931, https://www.castillarestaurant.com/, on the Northeast corner of Bellevue Square, although you can only access it from the street, not from the mall. Castilla has been open for a few years, but we have not been dining near Bellevue Square that often. (Obviously we may need to change that.) Castilla’s menu features Spanish influenced food with a wide selection of Tapas plates, a selection of paellas, including a vegetarian paella option, and a selection of main courses (“large plates”). The large plates come with soup or salad during lunch hours (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) but not during dinner.
We tried the lamb shank and the Zarzuela “seafood stew” large plates, and the grilled octopus leg, the beef medallions with tempranillo wine sauce, and the avgolemono soup.
Among the small plates, the beef medallions stole the show; they were both flavorful and tender. The octopus also was good and still tender (many places tend to overcook it making it tough). The avgolemono soup, a lemon chicken rice soup, was delicate with just a hint of lemon. All three of these items were worth ordering again.
The lamb shank was a very large portion, served with Brussels sprouts and potatoes topped with tempranillo sauce. The lamb was very tender, appropriately falling off the bone but a little dryer than would be expected, although the sauce helped compensate for that. The portion was definitely large enough to split (or to take home for a second meal—in fact the lamb seemed even more flavorful as leftovers the next day).
Castilla has a full bar and a reasonable selection of wines by the glass or bottle. They have a happy hour from 3 to 5, apparently catering to the shopping crowd from the mall, not the business folk. Castilla will remain an option for us when looking for a spot for lunch or early happy hour in the Bellevue Square area.
Jazz Brunches in the Big Easy
We returned to New Orleans for early Mardi Gras parades this year and took advantage of the trip to check out more of the local flourishing restaurant scene. There are far too many options for anyone to be able to cover all of them, so we focused this year on jazz brunches in the French Quarter, and we will focus on two very contrasting options.
If you want a buffet approach to a brunch, The Court of Two Sisters, 613 Royal Street, 504.522.7061, https://www.courtoftwosisters.com/, offers a surprisingly affordable brunch in the heart of the French Quarter from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Two Sisters occupies an historic building, dating back to 1726, with multiple dining areas and a large courtyard dining area complete with fountain. During the jazz brunch there is a trio performing in the largest dining room.
The buffet has a large selection of Creole and Cajun offerings, a salad bar, an omelet and eggs benedict station and a carving station with ham in the earlier hours followed by roast beef for the later portion of the brunch. This large selection provides an opportunity to sample local dining specialty items, such as turtle soup or veal grillades, without having to order a full portion, or to simply pile up a large quantity of whatever you might like as is so often the case at a buffet. Many of the offerings were good, but, some things are better made to order—there is really no comparison between made in bulk bananas foster versus a tableside flambe.
Two Sisters has a full bar with service at the table for beverages. For everything else one must get in line. Because of the multiple dining rooms and large capacity, the main line is usually long with about a ten-minute wait to get to the carving station and hot dishes. The crowd is mostly tourists and locals in a celebratory mood, creating what might be called a vibrant background noise level. The musicians played appropriately for that crowd with up-tempo selections. If you want a large buffet with a vibrant crowd for your brunch, try Two Sisters. Reservations a few days in advance are usually necessary for the brunch.
In a rather stark contrast to the atmosphere at Two Sisters, Broussard’s Restaurant and Courtyard, 819 Conti Street, https://broussards.com, delivered a more formal, white tablecloth type brunch. Many of the patrons were in jackets and nice dresses and it appears to be a favorite locals spot for birthdays. This historic building also had multiple dining rooms and a courtyard for dining, but with a seating capacity considerably less than Two Sisters.
We had the duck and alligator sausage gumbo, the croque madame, and (when we returned for happy hour) the Filet Mignon au poivre and the bronzed red fish. The gumbo was perfect for someone who wanted gumbo but does not eat pork. The Croque Madame (ham and gruyere cheese, grilled with a béchamel sauce, topped with a fried egg) was grilled to a crispy finish under the egg with very good flavor and apparently made with locally sourced ham. Much as we liked these two items, the two entrees we enjoyed for happy hour were even better. The filet was a perfect medium rare as ordered, and the pepper sauce complemented the steak’s flavor beautifully. The steak was served with garlic mashed potatoes. The bronzed redfish is a slightly crispy preparation including paprika and cayenne pepper, giving it a bit of a bite. We would happily order both items again.
The service during the brunch was friendly but spotty. The manager did give us a tour after our brunch, including historic meeting rooms upstairs, and when we returned for happy hour, we enjoyed very prompt service in the bar. The bar features a “cocktails through the decades” list from which we chose the bee’s knees which they attribute to the 1920s. We still have plenty of options to check out, both for food and drinks, when we return.
The jazz trio at Broussard’s was good, and somewhat low key as would befit the setting. After finishing a set, they wandered from table to table taking requests. Of course, the trio was set up to take tips by Venmo with an easy scan tableside.
Broussard’s was the more upscale, quieter and more dignified option for a jazz brunch, at least for the two we are covering this year. Muriel’s Jackson Square, https://muriels.com/, the “most haunted restaurant,” also has a jazz brunch on weekends, but we reviewed that establishment last year, so we did not try their jazz brunch this year.
Dining Out is brought to you by Christopher Howard with the help of friends and family. Comments and suggestions are welcome at chh@f2t.com or 206.669.5956.
