SEATTLE: Beecher's Handmade Cheese Cheese and Cheese!

Had the luxury of visiting some of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, Whistler, Seattle and Vegas, a few to list were *ta da*, In and Out Burgers, Beecher's Deli, Tojo's... and all that good stuff!

Let's start with Beecher's.  It's a little deli in Seattle at the Pike Place Market that claims to serve the "World's Best Mac & Cheese".  I, of course have not tried nearly enough Mac & Cheese to agree but what they're serving must be pretty darn close to the best. It's not exactly "Mac", more like penne, still got the same lovin' for it though. Crusted with baked cheese and chili powder on top and Beecher's special sauce mixed with their cheese is absolutely heavenly. It's already-made, so they just scoop it out of the trays and serve it in a bowl. It would probably be more fresh, if only I visited a little earlier in the day, it was good enough for me, the aroma of the cheese was strong; biting through the stringy yet saucy dish must be one of the best feelings in the world. I have yet to try even better Mac & Cheese, please let me know if you know of any!

 

You can even take it home and make it yourself! Of course, being the lazy person that I am, I rather just be served :p

Besides their Mac & Cheese, another favorite of mine, is their grilled cheese sandwiches. It's a simple dish and I do realize the only reason why it's so good here is because a. they make it as you order it, in a panini grill; and b. they're using their own cheese for this sandwich and their cheese are hella good.

If you're in Seattle with a few friends, I recommend you drop by for an afternoon snack and share these two phenomenal dishes.

Beecher's Handmade Cheese, 1600  Pike Place, Seattle, Washington, 98101. 206-956-1964
http://www.beechershandmadecheese.com

Opened 9am - 6pm daily
Average cost for lunch: $4.75-$8.25USD

HONG KONG: A vegetarian restaurant for meat lovers!

Gah! What? A vegetarian restaurant for meat lovers? It must be, I need my meats for a fulfilling dinner. I've been to numerous vegetarian restaurants and no matter what how they've made their dishes or how full I become, I've never been fully satisfied. One of the girls that brought me there is the same way, we both need our meaty dinners.

Life's purpose is "be the change you want to see in the world." It sure changed MY view of a vegetarian meal. This restaurant served such gastronomic delights that I went twice in the same week! Price ranges from $40hkd for a starter to $110 for a main, such a good deal for such fine ingredients. Everything served is organic including Organic beers and wines! The menu indicates whether it's a vegan dish or gluten-free; quite handy for the health freaks (not me).

They always have a Soup of the day($45hkd), the soups are always hearty and very filling. Warning: share with a friend. It's such a nice soup to have on a cold winter day (although that only happens about a month out of a year in Hong Kong). Always loaded up with veggies in their soup and bursting with flavours. Organic DOES really make a difference. It is served with an organic sunflower seed bread.

The Life Salad ($80hkd) is mixed baby greens, julienne carrot, julienne beet, sprouts, nuts,
organic hummus & Life’s classic dressing. Served with Life’s organic flaxseed cracker. The salad was served in a large bowl and again, PLEASE SHARE. It's (again) organic thus the vegetables were naturally sweet, with or without the dressing. The dressing enhances the freshness of the veggies.


Now the mains. We could NOT possibly eat anymore at this point but since we already ordered, we didn't have much of a choice but to try everything. We shared 2 mains amongst the 3 of us. The Sesame scented tofu, seasonal vegetable & organic quinoa stir fry ($95hkd) was very flavourful, it tasted very Oriental... it's just LIKE Chinese stir-fry minus the oil. Finding such an unhealthy dish prepared so healthily is just like a fat boy finding hot fudge cake with ice cream on top... such a nice feeling. The tofu was barbequed with actually grill marks.. one of the hardest things to master according to my chef-friend. The only thing was that they added a bit too much salt, oh well, at least their ingredients are natural and healthy!


and the Whole wheat pizza with roasted garlic, mushrooms, smoked mozzarella & rocket ($95hkd), the pizza crust was a bit on the hard side, a bit like biting into a biscuit. I know, some people might enjoy that but I personall don't. I like it crispy, chips-crispy, not hard. The combination was excellent, I LOO-O-VE my 'shrooms. I was actually glad that it was not served in a very generous portion as we were already stuffed, however if I only ordered that, I probably wouldn't be that happy about it.

And... desserts.. we didn't order any! They had organic cookies and carrot cake or something like that.. it didn't sound too appetizing so we passed. Life needs only one more addition: a better dessert menu!

Life Organic Health Cafe Soho Central open daily from 8am - midnight, Reservations: (852) 2810 9777