The Crab Pot, Seattle

If you're in Seattle and you like seafood, you should not miss this awesome place at Alaskan Way that offer delicious seafood and cool eating experience.

I have my most satisfactory seafood eating experience in Crab Pot Restaurant.  We were lucky that there's not much people when we visited at about 5-6pm and we were seated near the window, a pretty nice spot. 

We ordered their signature SeaFeast for two (well, you need to order for a minimum of two pax) and the waiter brought a big pot filled with the seafood, pour it out on a paper-covered table, crab, clams, prawns, mussels, corn and potatoes were all in front of us.  We were given a hammer and feasted away. 

We enjoyed the food very much, fresh and tasty, and of course the way how the food was presented and how you eat it, just felt like eating at home!  A unique dining experience for us.

They offered a pretty good kids menu too.  We ordered the cod & chips for the girls and felt that it was pretty worth it for a $5 kids meal, considering having it at the waterfront restaurant with the ambiance that it offers.

The sourdough bread that the waiter served us while we waited for our food was delicious too.  We ended the meal with a dessert for the girls...and that is non-other than their all time favorite ice-cream!  

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal there and if we were to be in Seattle again, surely we will be back to the Crab Pot.  ;)

Live Crab at Jetty Fishery

We went to Jetty Fishery for live crab while we were on our way back from Tillamook on last Saturday.

The Jetty Fishery is operated by the Laviolete family for over 32 years.  It has been named as one of the best place to buy seafood on the West Coast and we went there for their Dungeness crabs. 

There are also oysters and clams, but we didn't ordered them in view of our little girls can't have it.   

Steamer Oysters

We have the crab cooked and eat it there.  The crab was fresh and tasty.   

The cooked crab

My two little girls almost finished the entire crab, they liked it very much. 

It's a good experience for us to have the hot crab on a bench while take in a view of the Nehalem Bay.

   
While we were going home, my 5yrs old said she wanted to come back again for the crab.  ;) 

Portland Spirit River Cruise Dining

Portland Spirit is the Northwest's premier dinner ship, has two enclosed decks that seat 340 guests plus an outer deck.  It offers dinner, lunch, brunch cruise as well as 'sight & sips' cruise.  We chosen lunch cruise as it works best for our girls schedule.

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday when we aboard Portland Spirit for downtown lunch cruise, a perfect day for river cruise. :)

This two-hour cruise offers fine dining at own private table with northwest cuisine, live piano music and the Portland downtown skyline.  There were quite a number of people joining the cruise on that day, it was almost full. 

My two little girls were very excited when been told to aboard the ship and have their lunch there.  Our luck was not bad that we were being seated on a table next to the window and facing the live entertainment stage.  The crew service is good and the ambiance set the mood. 

Prior to departure, there was a brief intro from the captain and a safety demo from a crew.  With a welcoming song from crew members, here we go for the beautiful Portland downtown skyline... 

While waiting for the food served, we had a quick visit to the outer deck. 

 

I didn't expect much on the food as for the one of its kind dining experience like this, normally the food is not really the selling point.  However the first item served - a basket of hot bun, has proved me wrong.  The bun was soft and tasted together with butter, it was yummy. 

Then come the entrees.  We were allowed to order 4 entrees though children below 4yrs old are FOC (what a great deal!).  I was surprised that the food served were tasty, especially the Chicken Pomodoro, which my girls kept asking for more. 

 

Chicken Pomodoro - Stewed chicken with tomato, artichoke, fresh herbs etc.
Served with mashed potatoes and sauteed seasonal vegetables



 Hubby had the steak and he was satisfied with it.    



Came Adobada - Chipotle marinated, charbroiled shoulder tender steak topped with fine roasted salsa.
Serve with mashed potatoes and cotija cheese



The smoked salmon pasta tasted not bad, but the Open Faced Crab Melt was so so only.

  

Wild Smoked Coho Radiatore Pasta - Tossed with asparagus, shallots, shiitake mushrooms and a clam be hamel sauce. Topped with shredded Parmesan





Open Faced Crab Melt - Crab meat, artichokes, tomato, ricotta and three cheeses on a toasted focaccia.
Served with shaved apple and pear salad with micro greens and raspberry vinaigrette



After completing our meal, we went to the outer deck again for a breeze and enjoyed the scenic view.

 

The girls visited the captain's work area and were fortunate to be offered the Honorary Captain's certificate for outstanding seamanship. 

They were happy to be invited to select a treasure from a treasure box, of course......as the treasure box was full of candy!!

There was Queen Melissa's Tea Party going on at the cruise as well.  Apparently, this Queen Melissa's Tea Cruise is available till May on Saturdays. 

We all enjoyed the cruise dining very much and had an afternoon of fun.  It was indeed a one of its kind dining experience, especially for my little lovers.



My 5yrs old drew this when back home, she said that is us had fun on ship....LOL



 

Easter Brunch @ Izzy's Restaurant

My two little lovers were having a happy mealtime enjoying their Easter brunch at Izzy's restaurant on last Sunday. 

                  Wow....a big bite on the pizza

First, they were excited to receive a warm welcome from the Easter Bunny the minutes they stepped into the restaurant.

 

Second, they were surprised with the Easter treat from the Bunny.

Third, of course non-other than the thumbs-up brunch with a variety and flavor combinations of buffet items from the walk-up grills, pizza, hot food, salad as well as dessert bars.

Izzy's Grill Bar

The Pizza Bar

The Hot Food Bar

The Salad Bar

Partial of the Dessert Bar

Izzy's is one of our favorite dining place whenever we dine out.  Not only that it offers a variety of flavorful food, but also at a reasonable price.  I have been visiting Izzy's frequently on my last temp stay in OR 4 years ago and it is one of the restaurant that i missed when i'm back to my home country.  I love its pizza.  It's unbelievable that almost each pizza (ranged from vegetarian, cheese, peperoni, BBQ chicken, Hawaiian Supreme, the Artisan pizza etc) that i've tasted so far from the pizza bar were mouth-watering.  Non has disappointed me so far and whenever thought of eating pizza, i would always miss the one from Izzy's. 

When i came back to OR again this year for a temp stay, of course Izzy's is one of the dining place that i won't miss.  I was delighted to find that Izzy's has added Izzy's grill to its original menu which was not there 4 years ago.  Well, i have to say that this is a must have if dining in Izzy's.  The ribs and pulled pork tasted excellence.  But sometime, i found that the ribs was not prepared as good at some of the Izzy's chain restaurant, perhaps it depends on how the chef prepared it?  :O 

Yummy Yummy Ribs from Izzy's Grill

While i don't take steak, but my hubby sure won't miss it whenever we dine there.  Want to know what is his comment?  Oops.....he just speechless with his mouth busy and full working on the steak... ;P  Of course, Izzy's grill is not limited to these menu, if you visited on Sunday for Sunday brunch, you will find that there are more scrumptious menu like whipped-cream-topped Belgium waffles and omelets etc.  

Well, the girls ended their Easter brunch with a sweet treat from the dessert bar satisfactory. 

It was an unforgettable dining experience for my little lovers with Easter Bunny hoping in, Easter treat as well as the beautiful Easter deco.

'Now, it's the goose and duckling mealtime!' said the girls.  And we proceeded to the Hillsboro library, spent the entire afternoon in the breathtaking landscape where the girls busy had fun feeding the duckling and the goose with the bread crust from my home-made whole wheat bread. 

  

 A joyous and peaceful Easter day indeed!