Archive for July 2008

Seattle’s dog friendly restaurants

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Sunday lunch was a wakening call that our lives have changed with the addition of Mr. Mango. It was Mango’s second day with us. We didn’t feel comfortable leaving him alone. When Sunday lunchtime was upon us, instead of “what are we craving for”, we were brainstorming pet friendly restaurants.

I suggested Baguette Box in Fremont as I remembered seeing dog photos wanted sign and several oversize dog paintings on the wall. Baguette Box must love dogs there right? Not exactly. It was entirely my own assumption. Still I felt rather deceived when I was told by the staff dogs are not welcomed there.

I mentioned this incident to my coworker Jonathan. Also a Shiba Inu owner, Jonathan told me Norm’s Eatery & Ale House in Fremont is dog friendly, so are many restaurants’ outdoor seating.

Encouraged by his suggestion, I searched online and found both Pet Friendly Travel and Google pet friendly restaurant search have very comprehensive lists of dog friendly restaurants.

Not having to give up dining in restaurants for Mango is no doubt a huge relief for us food lovers.

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Mango the Shiba Inu

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Our breeder Leslie of San Jo Shibas didn’t like the name Mango very much, nor did she approve the name Firefox (that’s my pick). She believes only dignify, respectful names are worthy of her dogs. That’s how much pride and passion Leslie put into raising Shiba Inu. We respect her very much as she’s a well of knowledge on everything about this breed.

It just felt right to get the puppy from Leslie when we first met her back in March. She promised us a puppy in 3 months. In the process she educated us everything from the breed’s characteristics and setbacks to how to raise a healthy Shiba pup.

This Saturday was the day to pick up Mango. We’ve been visiting the litter prior to the pickup. So we were not total strangers to them. Leslie provided a list of puppy things to get. We had everything ready for Mango and even scheduled a private trainer upon his arrival. Even though everything was well prepared ahead, the trip home was still rough for the little guy. He threw up in the crate when we were half way there.

Private coaching started as soon as Mango got home. Our trainer Diane and us met in the backyard while Mango hid in rosemary bushes or oddly squeezed behind the lion statue. Poor Mango was exhausted and scared of the unfamiliar surrounding.

Eventually he came out of his hiding place and just quietly crashed next to us. He’s been very attach to us but still unsure of the surrounding.

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Bite of Seattle

Saturday, July 19, 2008

It’s a shame I’ve not been to Bite of Seattle all these years I reside in Seattle. This past Friday, I was told a lunch plan that involved drinking, eating, and iMax movie afterward. It was the ultimate Friday lunch plan that I had to tag alone.

First stop was the Whisky Bar. I had water as I was still recovering from yesterday’s quarterly meeting. We left after a pool game and couple shots of whisky.

On the way, Matt was telling us about alligator on a stick. We found New Orleans Cookery booth was selling alligator on a stick. For $7, we were handed a stick of chicken nugget-looking fried-to-perfection alligator. The portion was good for the money we paid. And boy, it was tasty!!!

I’ve never had alligator before. I was pleasantly surprised how much it tasted like Taiwanese style chicken nuggets (鹹酥雞）. It’s juicy, spicy, and simply delicious. I couldn’t shut up about how good it was.

Too bad New Orleans Cookery is not in my neighborhood. Or I’d be showing up to have that tasty alligator anytime I want. I had a bite of Crab Cake Narisa got also from the Cookery. It was pretty tasty too.

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Crab Day

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Preping the crab pot

My coworker Ian hosts Crab Day every year. It’s an entire day of catching crabs and eating them. Four others and us gathered at the Shilshoe South Pier for the crabbing portion. Later, 23 people will show up at the nearby Golden Garden Park to feast on our morning catch.

For bait, we brought cans of cat food leftover from previous shrimping trip and razor clam leftover from our last clam digging trip. The smell of cat food brought back memories of that miserable journey in pursue of spot shrimps. The flashback made me really appreciate the sunny day we had to be out about on the pier.

rock crab

Mike caught the first 2 crabs. Both crabs cling tightly to a piece of seaweed. They were too small to keep. Took Mike a while to loosen their tight grip in order to throw them back to the sea.

rock crab2

Ian pulled up another pot. In there was a much bigger bright red rock crab. We were able to keep that one. Unlike the Dungeness crabs, we are allowed to keep both male and female rock crabs if they are larger than the legal size.

Later on we caught several more rock crabs but none of them were big enough to keep. Other people on the pier had some luck catching Dungeness crabs. We however were strictly rock crabs.

We left around 1:45pm to go to our weekly puppy visit. I wonder if the others had better luck catching more crabs. 23 people sharing 1 crab is hardly a feast. :P

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Worst kind of dinner

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Last night ktula suggested Garlic Jim’s Famous Gourmet Pizza for dinner. Where I had the most terrible food in a very long time.

To be fair, I’m not a pizza fan. If I have to, I like my pizza thin crust. ktula mistakenly ordered the thick crust pizza. In addition to that, we ordered a 10-piece garlic wings. The wings looked like they were swimming in oil before sending to our table. Despite my cluttered up blood vessels, the taste was acceptable.

Moments later, the pizza was served. We ordered a garlic chicken pizza. However I couldn’t see traces or identify objects resemblance of chicken on the pizza. The crust was soggy from god knows what. A thick layer of what appeared to be cheese smothered on top. The only reason I guessed it was based on the substance’s unnatural yellow color. The smell of gourmet cooking was completely absent. This steamy pile of sadness made me wish I were having McDonald’s chicken nuggets or KFC’s fried chickens. They are bad for me but at least taste good.

No reason to describe the pizza’s taste as it was as bad as it looked. I chose to stick with grease dripping wings.

Most of my friends know I’m a bit of a picky eater. Now that I’m over the age to be able to binge like a garbage can, my philosophy at eating has become to eat only things I like and nothing else. People gave me craps about not eating this and that. But when I gave in like last night’s dinner. I broke my rules of thumb and now feeling gross and bloated even more than 12 hours later. I work hard to keep myself healthy. I regretted last night I didn’t stand firmly on my grounds.

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