The Guest Critic Returns

It's time for another "very special episode" of Talking With Our Mouths Full, guest starring our son Rhys. We recently returned from a visit with him in Hawaii, and he was so excited about the review he did last time, we told him he could do it again.

First up on Rhys' menu...

Breakfast (for dinner) at Denny's! As you can see from the photo, our little guy loves his morning foods any time of the day. Pictured is the kid's meal of three pancakes, scrambled eggs, one sausage, and extra bacon. According to Rhys:

"It is a really good restaurant, and I liked the bacon."

He gave it five stars. We asked him to be sure, and he confirmed that yes, it's five stars.

Next up was lunch at his elementary school cafeteria. Parents at his school are welcome to have lunch with their kids any time, and tickets for the meal being served that day are available in the main office. We both paid for a meal and Rhys was kind enough to save us two seats next to him at the lunch table. On the menu that day was:

Turkey ham sandwich, tater tots, peaches, chocolate milk, and that sad pile of stuff in the lower-left corner is a "salad".

Rhys says:

"I like eating here. It's close to my class and the food is pretty good. I liked it all and I give it five stars because I have to eat here everyday."

Well said, son. Well said.

The regular critics will be back next week. See you then!

Desert Fire - Tex Mex

Dining Category: Tex-Mex

Price: $$

Address:  7211 166th Avenue NE (Redmond)

Phone Number: 425-895-1500

Website: www.desertfiremex.com

Overview: Located in the Redmond Town Center shopping mall complex, this restaurant is off the beaten path for us both in terms of style and location. Trying hard to look like the first link of a future chain, the interior was generic quasi-Hispanic with the obligatory obnoxious music playing in the background.  From external appearances, Tex-Mex / Southwestern is the style, though there’s a big dollop of Applebee’s in there, too-- featured are ribs, sandwiches, and other choices you might not expect at a place like this.

Food:

Sweet corn tamales

B: We started with the sweet corn tamales. I’m a big fan of tamales and I’ve had lots of varieties served many different ways. The flavor of these weren’t bad, but the size and dimensions of the serving was off. More like big balls of masa (the corn meal used to make them), there was a little too much here. Smaller, more petite servings would have been more appropriate, especially given  that there was nothing in them except for corn kernels. The creamy sauce wasn’t bad, though a little much-- you can see how drenched it is.

Beans, rice and corn tortillas

B: As you can see from the picture, I had beans and rice. while I like the combination in general, the reason I ordered these was because nothing on the menu looked good to me at all, at least, given that most entrees seemed overpriced or had either cream sauce or sour cream as a main ingredient. This restaurant is definitely of the “American” Mexican persuasion, meaning that there’s way too much cheese on everything as a way of making the food more appealing to palates who may not be used to what more traditional flavors can be like. Besides that, I can’t go along with any restaurant that claims to be Southwestern and serves shrimp tacos with breaded shrimp. In any event, what I had was fine, but the menu was a sad mishmash of elements that left me wishing we had gone elsewhere.

Southwest chicken sandwich

G: Although my sandwich looked and smelled good when it arrived, as soon as I picked it up, I knew I was in trouble. just holding it in my hand caused grease to pour out the backside of the bun. Well, that maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. The menu did a good job of making it sound enticing, but none of the flavors came through and were drowned out by the overwhelming amount of mayo. Needless to say, it was a disappointment. 

Service: 

Mediocre. the server was pleasant enough, though with as few people in the place as there was (only three tables were occupied in our section) a few more “how’s it goings?” would have been nice. seriously, if the place is three-quarters empty, you can afford to spend a few more minutes with the diners you do have.

Closing Comments:

G: Don’t bother. It was overpriced and underwhelming.

B: I agree. The restaurant wasn’t authentic in the least, being more like a TGIFriday’s or some other generic box restaurant than a place that’s worth going out to Redmond for. Even if I was already IN Redmond, I wouldn’t stop here again under any circumstances unless I was attending a Soccer Moms & Margaritas convention. 

Rating:

1 out of 5 - We're never coming back

La Creperie Voila - Dessert

Name of Restaurant: La Creperie Voila

Dining Category: Dessert

Price: $

Address: 707 Pike Street Kiosk #1, Seattle (Downtown)

Phone Number: 206-447-3747

Website: www.lacreperievoila.com

Overview:

A small sidewalk shop at the base of the Washington State Trade and Convention Center, it’s easy to pass this place by unless you have some reason to be on foot. There are a few tables to sit at on the sidewalk and the only place to park nearby is a loading zone directly in front, but it’s worth the effort to get here.

Food:

B: I’m not sure what it is about crepes, but they seem to be making a resurgence here in Seattle lately. I can think of at least four places offhand, but this one is by far my favorite. Before we get into the sweet, I do need to mention that this place does offer savory crepes that would be appropriate for lunch or a light dinner, but every time I’m here I can’t help but order the sweet.

G: When I think crepes I usually think sweet, so that is always my preference we when we order one. The crepe in this picture is made up of strawberry compote, vanilla custard and whipped cream. You’ll also notice a bit of Nutella on the side, which of course I just had to add. There are many sweet choices in their menu and you can also add ice cream to any selection. One of the fun parts about this place is being able to watch them make the crepes while you wait, the skills of some of these folks are pretty impressive.

B: We’ve actually managed to make it here several times in spite of the fact that it’s actually pretty inconvenient. Luckily for us, there's never been a parking enforcement officer in the neighborhood when we commandeer the loading zone. The strawberry pictured is my favorite, but the Suzette is quite delicious as well. I have had the savory salmon, and found it not to my taste at all. The lox used didn’t go with the other flavors of the crepe, and was a disappointment. Stick with sweet, I say.

Service:

B: The people here are always attentive and friendly, and they do pay attention when you make a special request. I don’t like my crepes drowning in whipped cream, so I’m quite glad to report that if you ask for it, they generally make it happen.

Closing Comments:

G: As was mentioned before we have already eaten at La Creperie Voila several times so we undoubtedly be going there again. Although the savory choices are not done nearly as well as their sweet, it’s still a good enough reason to make a trip down there.

B: To be perfectly honest, if it was a little easier to stop off there, I'd probably have at least one a week. The location is really my only complaint. But everything else is deliciously top notch on the sweet side. Savory can be hit or miss.

Rating:

4 out of 5 - We would recommend it to a friend

An Apology... And Cake!

So you readers may have noticed that Talking With Our Mouths Full hasnt been updated for a while, and for that we apologize...




Truth be told, we had a great summer with our guest critic (see the Zak's review in the archive for more details) and it was so much fun that we spiraled off our review schedule and had a little trouble getting back on.

Now that summer's over and things have been getting back to normal, we're back on track and resuming our goal of a new review every week.


Once again, our apologies for the lack of updates for our readers, and... it's good to be back.

(P.S.- there's a new review up now... keep scrolling down!)

The Crumpet Shop - Breakfast

The Crumpet Shop

Dining Category: Breakfast

Price: $

Address: 1503 1st Ave (Pike’s Market)

Phone Number: 206-682-1598

Website: n/a

Overview: It’s easy to walk by this small shop near the entrance to the Pike Place Market. It’s overshadowed by the world famous landmark and all its sights and sounds, yet offers it’s own noteworthy experience once you venture inside: savory and sweet crumpets, seasonal sandwiches and certain other breakfast foods.

Food:

B: Truth be told, we’ve been here at least a dozen times or more, and I always like to start my morning off with a savory. Pictured is the egg and ham crumpet, just one of many different hearty options. There is nothing fancy about this, but there doesn’t need to be -- the crumpets are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, and this thing is just as delicious as it looks.

G: Not only have we been to this fabulous shop more than a few times, we’ve also brought multiple family members there to partake of these scrumptious little goodies. I agree that all the pictures you will see of these crumpets look extremely simple, almost to the point of being boring, but they are amazing. The egg and ham is awesome with a little pepper and tabasco sauce. Although we don’t have a picture, my other savory favorite is the egg with diced green peppers and blue cheese. Yum!

B: Just like Gina said, this review may seem a little boring and bland, but the true beauty of this place is that the stars of the show, the crumpets themselves, are just so amazing. Kind of like an english muffin and sort of like a biscuit, these things tread a delicious middle ground and are a fabulous breakfast treat even with just a little jam.

G: I would like to add in here that they also sell the crumpets in bags of six that you can bring home, which we have also been known to do on occasion. And although we can probably eat every single one of them in one sitting, we do try to show some self control and stretch them out over a week or so’s worth of time. They’re as good on the first day as they are on the last. Put in a toaster oven for just a few minutes and smothered in jam, they’re just as good as eating them in the shop.

B: There’s not much else to say about these crusty beauties except that you can get this particularly sinful treat, a crumpet with Nutella smothered on top. I’m not much of a chocolate fan in general, but even I can’t resist the deliciously creamy, nutty spread. Have it once and I guarantee you’ll have it again.

G: Since my husband is so amazing in every other way, I won’t draw attention to his lack of love for chocolate. Sad though it is, it’s a shortcoming I’m willing to overlook. That being said, I won’t blather on about my love of Nutella as I was guilty of doing that in our review of Perche No, suffice it to say I love me some Nutella and it is just as good on crumpets.

Service:

B: One of the best things about this place is that even though it can be very busy at times, the staff is usually very upbeat, attentive, and always willing to crack jokes with the people in line. We have never had a bad service experience here, and we’re always amazed at the consistently congenial counter people.

G: An added perk for those of you with little ones or those of you just curious about the world around you-- you can peek through a large picture window near the front of the store where you can actually watch them making the crumpets.

Closing Comments:

B: If you can’t tell by now, The Crumpet Shop is one of our favorite places in all of Seattle. The prices are cheap, the service is great, and the food is scrumptious enough to go three times a week. They don’t come much better than this.

G: I second that! This place is amazing. My only complaint would be parking. Since it is right on 1st Avenue and close to the hubbub of the Market, parking is not the easiest to find. That being said, it should absolutely not be a deterrent to trying this place out. If you have to circle around a few times, just keep reminding yourselves that it will be absolutely worth it.
Enjoy!

Rating:

5 out of 5 - We're coming back tomorrow