Saigon Deli

I have somehow managed to neglect a rather important food on this blog, the cheap and delicious Vietnamese sandwich the Banh Mi. They are easy to find, fantastically inexpensive (often around $2), and quite frequently come in a vegetarian tofu version.

I recently went to the Saigon Deli in the Little Saigon area of the 12th and Jackson to try their take on this staple, and had an overall pleasant experience. The deli is a work of art, full of tiny packages of brightly colored foods tightly wrapped in cellophane or steaming on a hot tray. I ordered a tofu sandwich, my meat lovin dining companion got a BBQ pork sandwich, and together we got a Styrofoam tray of tofu spring rolls and one of the many mysteriously wrapped packages that lined the shelves. I chose a tight foil wrapped log in blind hopes that it was full of some sort of sweet coconut rice.
I judge a Bahn Mi based upon a few things:

1. Is the bread fresh? The Bahn Mi is made on a full miniloaf of French bread, and when it is stale the sandwich becomes a hard to eat, boring beast that mercilessly nicks the insides of the mouth.
2. Is the tofu fresh? The usual (less desirable) type of tofu used in these sandwiches tends to be dry and deep fried. I prefer it to be freshly cooked and soft instead of chewy and fried.
   
3. Is there too much mayonnaise on the sandwich? A common sauce solution is mayonnaise and Sriracha , and I don't like it when there is too much mayonnaise.
4. What temperature is the sandwich? They most definitely shine when they are warm, and are least interesting cold from a refrigerator.
   
5. The rest of the fillings... these tend to include julienned carrots, fresh cilantro, spears of cucumber, sometimes thin rice noodles, pickled radish, thinly sliced onions, and fresh jalapeno. The lamer versions tend to come with a leaf or two of cilantro and a few wimpy strips of carrot and cucumber, whereas the stellar versions are packed with veggies, pickled and fresh, and a bush of fragrant cilantro.

The tofu sandwich at Saigon Deli broke the mold a bit in that the tofu used had been simmering in a rich red tomato sauce as part of their hot deli items. The tomato sauce took the place of the mayo/sriracha combination. The bread was semi fresh (but was freshly toasted, which added bonus points), and the innards were plentiful. It felt hearty and was definitely tasty, and I enjoyed it very much even though it was a bit of a departure from the standard.

The silver log ended up being a disappointment, as it was packed full of some sort of homogenized light beige meat product. Oh well.

Not sweet coconut rice

The tofu Banh Mi was $2.00, and the pork was $2.50.

Saigon Deli

(206) 322-3700

1237 S Jackson St
Seattle, WA 98144

Villa Victoria

UPDATE: Villa Victoria has closed its doors. Here is a re-post of Premuim-T´s comment that alerted me to the fact:

Naomi of Villa Victoria has closed her storefront, but she still does fantastic catering. Last fall I attended a wine-tasting dinner that she catered and it was fantastic. She has a blog: http://seattlemexicanfoodblog.typepad.com/

(Thanks T for sharing the unfortunate news!)
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Villa Victoria is a cute little tamale shop in Columbia City. It is tiny- just barely enough room to walk in and peruse the case and order, and possibly, if the shop is void of other customers, to sit along the window at a narrow bar. But in general the place is suited for taking your food away.

Delectable glass case

They have plenty of vegetarian options, starting with jalepeno cheese tamales. They are tasty, but heavy on the masa and light on the filling. And as I write this, I just realized that I don't know whether they use meat juice/lard in their masa. Hmm. Going to have to find out.

Another standard item in the case are little cheese and onion enchiladas. They are made from corn tortillas and smothered in an authentic pepper sauce.
One also has the option of ordering outside of the case, which includes giant delicious looking burritos. We saw many being made as we ate, and they were huge and succulent. They have a tofu adobe burrito that I am looking forward to trying one of these days.

The sides at Villa Victoria are excellent. Each of their homemade salsas are delicious, as is their guacamole (both of which can be purchased in larger containers to take home). They also make some super good greens.
For dessert, they have some Mexican wedding cookies, which look good, and Chocolate Truffle Cookies. I bought a chocolate truffle cookie, and was a bit dissapointed to find it to be dry and cake-y and neither rich nor particularly chocolatly. With a name like "truffle cookie," and a deep coco brown color like it had, I would expect a serious chocolate encounter. Oh well. I know some people would prefer it this way.

Villa Victoria

(206) 329-1717

3829 S Edmunds St
Seattle, WA 98118
http://www.villa-victoria.net/

Ali Baba

Ali Baba is on Broadway just north of Pho Cyclo, and I’ve walked past it many times admiring the tempting plastic window display of crinkle cut fries and gyros.

Finally went into to eat, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the vegetarian section of the menu dominated the reader board, and that there was a list of about a dozen delicious looking vegetarian fillings for a warm pita sandwich. I was jonseing for falaful in particular, but the other choices included fried cauliflower, spinach, fava beans, and many more.
I got the full meal, which came with a choice of salad, fries or rice, and I got the salad. My dining companion ordered the fries and upon tasting them realized I had made a mistake. They were sprinkled with some sort of delicious and unusual subtle seasoning and I could have eaten a whole plate.
The falaful was freshly fried and delicious, and the sandwich came with the usual ice burg, parsley sprinkles, sliced raw onion and a remarkably un-salty (in a good way) garlic yogurt sauce all wrapped in a fresh, soft, warm pita.

I love going in to a restaurant and finding more than a tiny handful of choices suitable for a vegetarian, and this place excelled in that department.

Ali Baba

(206) 860-6826

408 Broadway E
Seattle, WA 98102

The Brooklyn

After a recent evening at Benaroya Hall, some ladies and I headed to the Brooklyn for a snack and drink.

The Brooklyn is a Seafood, Steak and Oyster house, and I thus had very low expectations for vegetarian options. And, as could be expected, the menu was biased far from vegetarian cuisine. I think there may have been just one or two options: goat cheese ravioli, and the "Country Salad," though the menu may change a bit with the seasons. I ordered the salad and a dark beer.

Our meal started with a nice loaf of bread with the standard oil and vinegar, which I appreciated as a belly filler.

One of the ladies ordered an oyster sampler and a wine sampler, which looked like all kinds of fun. The other ordered a delicious looking beet salad that I was tempted by if it didn't contain prosciutto as a critical ingredient.

My salad originally came with blue cheese, but they were happy to oblige a substitution for Parmesan. And it was really really tasty.

I wasn't exactly excited by the salad based on the menu description... it included fresh sliced strawberries and candied walnuts and a raspberry vinaigrette, and I was afraid I was in for a nasty overly sweet experience. But, oh! It was good! First off, it wasn't tiny. It was reasonably sized and comprised mostly of mixed bitter greens. The dressing had the Essenes of raspberry, but was vinegary and salty. The fresh strawberries tasted great with the vinegar, and the cheese and slightly caramelized nuts were wonderful.

But, all that said, this place is still about the opposite of a vegetarian haven. It was good to know that I was able to find *something* to eat, but still it wasn't quite enough for a full meal. If you like goat cheese, your options expand by a dish.

Brooklyn Seafood, Steak and Oyster House
(206) 224-7000

1212 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
www.thebrooklyn.com

Ristorante Machiavelli

I ate at Machiavelli the other evening, and ended up sitting in the bar due to the large queue. I'd heard that the food was decent and the prices reasonable, so the long line wasn't a huge surprise for the tiny Capital Hill restaurant.

But you can eat in the bar, so it worked out really nicely. Started with a coctail I might not have ordered had I been at a table, but it was really delicious and I was happy to have it. I ordered a ginger mango margarita. It was made from real mango juice and fresh squeezed lime and enough grated ginger to make it spicy. Yum. Dining companion ordered a martini. Along side our drinks came a large chunk of soft chewy olive bread and a bowl of some kind of savory dipping dressing.


There were plenty of vegetarian items on the menu, and I chose the spinach ravioli with tomato cream sauce. It usually come with mushrooms, but they were happy to substitute in peas instead.

The food came remarkably quickly... I had barely started to sip my drink... but unfortunatly it had been delivered a bit prematurely, as my pasta wasn't quite fully cooked.

Aside from that, it was all decent. The green pasta was stuffed with spinach and ricotta, and the sauce had the delicious mellow/sharpness of a tomato cream sauce. It was a bit heavier than what I'm used to eating (duh, cream sauce), but I didn't feel totally fat overloaded afterwards. The waitress gave me a big scoop of Parmasean and a hefty twist of black pepper, which I appreciated.

The price was good. The entrees were about $10 or under, which feels like a really good deal in this land of over priced pasta. I'd put this place in my mental roladex of inexpensive but good enough capital hill choices, but probably not on a list of places to visit for spectacular food.

Machiavelli
(206) 621-7941

1215 Pine St
Seattle, WA 98101

Specialty's Bakery

Specialty's Bakery is a chain bakery/cafe located in U-Village. The good smells come wafting out the door and it is hard not to stop. I've recently come to like this place as an alternate to my other U-Village standby, the enticing devil Zao.

I've never had their sandwiches, but they have a nice selection of vegetarian options, all of which seem to come piled high on homemade bread.

What I've ordered is the Southwest Salad, and I was reasonably impressed considering the source. It was large, and covered in bean salad, corn salsa, cheddar, avocado and a bunch of other veggies. It came with a creamy southwest style dressing on the side, and a chunk of fresh bread.

Picture from the Specialty's Website. The real salad is pretty close to this, but served on a big plate and not quite so tidy.

They also make a good looking vegan salad that I haven't had, but appreciated on the menu.
I really appreciate when a chain manages to prepare reasonably priced, minimally processed, regular healthy type food, and this place manages that quite nicely.

Specialty's Cafe and Bakery
2690 NE University Vlg
Seattle, WA 98105
www.specialtys.com

El Sombrero, take 2

I was wrong in my old post about El Sombrero- they do in fact have something nice for the vegetarians, I just hadn't discovered it yet. My new favorite dish is their Spinach Enchiladas. They aren't exactly what I generally picture when I think about enchiladas because they don't have any red sauce, but they are really good anyway, maybe better even than the usual.
They consist of corn tortillas packed with steamed spinach, then covered in a creamy but not overwhelmingly heavy sauce. The dish comes with rice and beans (you can choose whole beans), and a couple slices of avocado, and feels like an exceptionally balanced and hearty healthy comfort food meal.
Most recently, I ordered the food "to go" and was really pleasantly surprised to find that they didn't use Styrofoam. The bento box like separation of meal elements in the take out container felt really fun and luxurious too.

This was a totally good experience, and I've now got their spinach enchiladas filed way in my mind as one of my favorite easy-to-get Columbia City restaurant dishes.

El Sombrero

(206) 725-1418

4868 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118