This month we are focusing on places we have passed by, in many cases for years, often intending to try them out someday. Well, now is our time to do so.
A 24 Hour Option on Denny
Set near the intersection of Cedar, Denny, 5th and the Monorail, it is hard to have not walked or driven by The 5 Point Café, 415 Cedar Street, 206.448.9991, https://www.the5pointcafe.com, one of Seattle’s comparatively few 24 hour options. (Note: the 5 Point Café should not be confused with the Five Spot at the top of the Queen Anne hill climb, a well known breakfast and brunch hotspot.) 5 Point has been there forever (well, since 1929), but perhaps you have driven right by just as we have.
5 Point’s theme is clearly entertaining. Its menu proclaims “alcoholics serving alcoholics,” and with a neon sign saying “we cheat tourists-n-drunks since 1929.” There is a festive atmosphere with fairly loud music inside. They also have a heated outdoor dining area fronting onto Tilikum Place Park which we found very pleasant.
We had a group so we tried several things: the chicken fried steak, the salmon scramble, the fractured vegetarian omelet, the cheeseburger, and we split a side stack of blueberry pancakes. We liked everything. The chicken fried steak is one of their signature dishes with the breaded steak spread over hashbrowns and all topped with a tasty sausage gravy and two eggs (we took them scrambled); a great combination. We ran low on gravy toward the end and they brought more without a charge. The cheeseburger came with a very generous portion of fries; the burger itself was delicious with a very good sauce and plenty of pickles as well as lettuce, tomato and onion. The salmon scramble had fluffy but moist eggs with lightly smoked salmon and a dab of cream cheese combined for a savory but refined flavor, served with hashbrowns. The fractured vegetarian omelet, which includes bacon mushrooms, Swiss cheese, pepper, olives, onions, tomatoes, and spinach, very much satisfied the non-vegetarian in our crowd (they also offer three more vegetarian friendly omelets as well as offering veggie bacon and sausage substitutions). And the pancakes were fluffy with lots of blueberries toward the center of each. We would order any of these again.
5 Point has a full bar (of course) but we did not succumb to the temptation to order a pitcher of Mimosas. They have a tradition of large portions. One may notice the menu includes a fee to split portions, but this will make sense once the entrees arrive; the chicken fried steak could easily feed two, maybe three people. The prices are reasonable given how close it is to downtown. All of us who went for brunch plan to return. The 5 Point has a sister establishment, the Mecca Café on Queen Anne Avenue North with a similar long tradition and offering the same menu, but it closes at 2 a.m.
Thai Downtown
Overlooking the Harbor Steps between 1st and Post Alley is Noi Thai Cuisine, 1303 1st Avenue, 206.787.8444, https://www.noithaicuisine.com/, another spot we have walked by (or under) for years. We finally found our way to the path there, slightly north of the steps. Noi Thai has a fairly elaborate interior and also has outdoor seating overlooking the Harbor Steps.
We tried it out for lunch, and ordered the chicken yellow curry, the salmon fried rice and an appetizer combo. The appetizer tray was larger than we expected and included a very good variety of items including some we have never seen before. The most interesting of those appetizers was the Tom Yum Goong Bisque Mousse, served in egg shells with pieces of fried crispy shrimp on top. It also came with crab wontons and crispy taro rolls and fried shrimp cakes. The variety on the combo added a lot to the meal and it is worth trying. The yellow curry had a tasty sauce and ample fresh chicken—no surprises except it was quite mild, even considering the few stars we requested. The surprise with the salmon fried rice was the generous portion of salmon topping the rice, clearly sufficient to take half home for dinner. The flavor on the salmon and the fried rice was very good and we would have this dish again, probably served family style to share.
Noi Thai has a full bar but we did not take advantage of it. They have locations in Green Lake, Bend, Oregon, and Honolulu, so you do not have to face downtown parking to check them out. Noi Thai is part of the larger Bai Tong Restaurants in Seattle, and as of now it would be our preferred option in that restaurant family.
Breakfast in Ballard
Our last stop for the month is one we do not drive by that often because it is tucked in an obscure corner of Ballard, but we have been meaning to try it out for years. Salmon Bay Café, 5109 Shilshole Avenue NW, 206.782.5539, https://salmonbaycafe.com, is a diner situated right next to the marinas rather than on the main drags of downtown Ballard.
We went there intending to have breakfast, for which they are well known. But we got lured onto the lunch menu by the fairly rare option of a Monte Cristo sandwich. We should have stuck to the breakfast menu. The omelets and scrambles we saw delivered to other tables looked good and had very generous portions.
The Monte Cristo sandwich was a disappointment: simply ham and cheese between two thick slices of grilled egg bread. (A Monte Cristo should be dipped in egg batter and then either deep fried or pan fried.) The egg bread dominated the taste. They let us substitute coleslaw for the fries. They make their slaw in-house and it is very good.
We blame ordering the wrong thing for our disappointing meal. We will go back and try some of the more traditional breakfast items.
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.
