It’s the holiday season! The most wonderful time of the year! We’re broke college students and we’re trying to find presents AND we’re still trying to eat. We’re on a budget but we still want to be able to enjoy the holidays. So this is what you should do! Host a potluck, have a gingerbread house making event, white elephant gift exchange, secret santa gift exchange, or throw a holiday themed party like an Ugly Sweater Party or as my friend suggested an Awesome Sweater party! Or combine all of them to have the most jingling party of the holidays! The holidays is the perfect time for festive gatherings!
Themed parties and potlucks are a good way to enjoy good food with good company. You and your friends can bond while having a baking or cooking night. Alana and I have been planning to have a cooking date for a while now but we haven’t had a chance to get to it. With finals and fall quarter out of the way and the weather being so cold that we just want to stay warm and cozy inside, this will be the perfect time to learn how to cook up a good meal.
Alana and I are amateur cooks on a mission this season. So stay tuned to see what delicious or disastrous meals we cook up!
Happy Eating!
Melissa
PS If you do end up having some kind of a potluck or holiday themed party…
E-mail us your pictures and details to: emeraldbites@gmail.com
ADDRESS: (University District)
4525 University Way NE
Seattle, WA
(206) 547-5151
Website: www.bbqchickenusa.com
Hours:
Mon – Thurs: 10:00am – 11:00pm
Fri – Sat: 10:00am – 2:00am
Sun: 10:00am – 8:00pm
Technically this isn’t a hole-in-the- wall restaurant, but in Seattle…it is. Best of the Best Quality Chicken, otherwise known as BBQ Chicken is actually a global franchise and is located in 37 countries from the U.S to Saudi Arabia. However, we only have one in Washington, its small and it is one of those places you just pass by and always mean to eat there but never do. So, I decided , “”why not…let’s blog about it!”
BBQ Chicken is most known for their fried and seasoned chicken. Their chicken has lots of flavor and is very moist. The one located in the University District (45th & University Way) also offers Korean comfort food. It’s pretty affordable, however depending on how many pieces you get, it can get a little pricey. I usually order a small, which is $7.00, and I add rice which is $1.50 (I know…rice should be free). The pictures above shows one of their most popular seasoned chicken’s which is their honey garlic wings and a basket of their classic olive chicken with fries ($7.50).
The restaurant has a very oriental vibe. It feel very “hip” and modern with their big flat screen tv’s that’s always on ESPN and their loud hip hop/pop music playing in the background. The only down side to BBQ Chicken is that the food takes a long time to cook. So if you’re in a rush, I suggest you call ahead a time to place an order.
But all in all, I LOVE their chicken and I would highly recommend this restaurant to all the chicken lovers out there!
Eat it up,
Alana
Address (Eastlake):
3242 Eastlake Ave. E.
Seattle, WA 98102
Phone: 206-322-4453
Website: http://www.eastlakeromios.com
Hours: Monday-Sunday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Ciao! Here I am blogging yet again about another pizza place! This time it was a pizza joint that I drive by often when coming from the U-District toward the Eastlake area. It’s by the first Red Robin’s restaurant, right across the street in the corner. The outside looks like a typical Italian place but it’s quite cute if you ask me. I went there for my friend’s birthday dinner so I finally had a reason to eat there! It’s a lot bigger inside than it looks in the outside, there’s dim lighting, and it has an Italian feel to it. This was a great spot for my friend’s birthday because I met her when I was studying in Italy!
Their specialty pizzas all sounded delicious, but the one that caught my attention was the Gorgonzola Gourmet Pizza. When I made that order my friend and her friend who worked there said it was both their favorite pizza, so my choice was Romio’s pro approved. I ordered the 10” for $12.85. It was molto delizioso! This pizza is composed of olive oil, spinach, fresh garlic, Gorgonzola cheese, walnuts, and roasted red peppers. My taste buds got excited every time a bite came in with a walnut. The crust was so good! It had a unique taste and a doughy soft but perfect crisp outside texture. MMM MMM MMM, made me want to try their bread sticks and cheese bread but instead, for an appetizer, the birthday girl and I shared Caprese. This definitely reminded me of Italy. It was fresh mozzarella, roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and olive oil. Simple and traditional.
If you live in the U-District and/or are around the Eastlake area, stop by Romio’s for some delicious traditional Italian pizza!
Happy Eating!
Melissa
(clickable photos from Melissa’s Canon 780 IS)
Address (Belltown):
2230 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 374-8717
Website: http://www.umisakehouse.com/
Hours: Monday-Sunday 4 p.m.-2 a.m.
Happy Hour:
4-6 p.m. every day
4-8 p.m. every day in front porch and cocktail bar
Late night happy hour 11 p.m.- 1 a.m. Sun-Thurs
Umi is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants! I love love love their sushi! They have a great variety which always makes it difficult to decide what to order. I haven’t been to Umi since the early summer time before I left for Italy and I finally had an opportunity to go. There are tons of sushi places out there but this place, gives you a taste of what REAL sushi should taste like. The food is a little pricey but you get what you pay for so it’s definitely worth it. My friend and I went during happy hour and trust me, it was definitely a happy hour. They always begin with serving you water and a plate of edamame. I ordered the Seattle Crunch Roll (1st sushi pic) and the Bad Boy Roll (2nd sushi pic). My friend ordered Grilled Garlic Short Ribs and the Spicy Tuna Roll (3rd sushi pic).
The Bad Boy Roll was extremely delicious! Literally, during and after every bite I went “MMM!” My taste buds were very pleased. In the end our total was about $15 without tip. This was during Happy Hour but if you want to try other rolls that are not on the Happy Hour menu then I highly recommend the Crunchy Lizard and the Ultimate Dragon. The menus are easily accessible off the website which is posted above.
Umi is a great place for sushi, I haven’t tried other menu items from there…yet. Other sushi places I’ve been to can’t compare to the Umi taste but have come close. The only drawback is the price, but that’s okay because like I said before it’s definitely worth it! Another thing I really like about Umi is its atmosphere. I love the theme and vibe of the place which can be seen from the pictures that I posted. On the website it says that they aimed at reflecting “the layout and design of an actual house.”
Sushi lovers, prepare your taste buds!
Happy Eating!
Melissa
(Clickable photos from the Blackberry Storm)
Address: (University District)
1411 NE 42nd St
Seattle, WA
(206) 632-1331
Website:
n/a
Hours:
Mon – Sun: 10am- 10:30 pm
Orange King is definitely royalty when it comes to hole-in-the wall burger restaurants. Located on 42nd and University Way, this hidden burger/Korean joint is one of my favs! The prices are great but the food is even better! I usually order the teriyaki burger which is only $3.50 (Ok, it’s not as cheap as McDonalds, but trust me, once you had an Orange king burger, the price is worth it!). If you want a full meal, consisting of fries and a soft drink, it’s only $5.95! Their thinly sliced perfectly salted fries are honestly one of the best I ever had. From the salmon burger to their double bacon cheese burger, you can’t go wrong with ordering something from this restaurant. They even serve a variety of Korean dishes which are also inexpensive but delicious!
The restaurant has a very comfortable vibe. The owners are very welcoming and you get your food quickly.The food tastes great, the portions are generous and the prices are at a very budget friendly. You can even call ahead of time and have your order ready by the time you get there. One special feature that is unique about Orange King is their small sink that they recently installed. Since they don’t have public restrooms and it gets a bit messy eating those burgers, the sink really helps!
So if you love burgers, this restaurant is definitely a MUST!!
Eat it up,
Alana
(clickable photos from Melissa’s iPhone and Canon)
Address (Downtown):
316 Virginia St
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 838-7388
Website: www.tomdouglas.com
Hours:
Sun – Wed 11am – 10pm
Thurs – Sat 11am – 11pm
Happy Hour: 3-5pm daily
Here I am at another pizza spot in Seattle! My friend invited me to go for happy hour and she said it was the best pizza she’s had in Seattle. I was pretty excited! We ordered three mini pizzas and as you can tell from the pictures that they really do mean “mini” but it was just enough to fill us both up. We ordered her favorite, the cherry bomb peppers, sweet fennel sausage one and then we ordered a roasted chanterelle, truffle cheese mini pizza and the house salumi, walla walla onions, sole de sardegna which was recommended by our waitress. Each cost $5 so our total was little over $15! These pizzas definitely had an Italian blend to them and were delicious! I wish the slices were larger! I would recommend anyone who loves pizza to check this place out! It’s great for medium sized parties with seating at large tables or just for two. It has an intimate setting with dim lights but you can still see the savoring ingredients that make each bite mouthwatering!
Happy Eating,
Melissa
(clickable photos from Melissa’s iPhone)
Address (Belltown area):
2411 2nd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 441-5322
Website: http://www.lavitaebella.us/
Hours:
Mon-Thur. 11:30a.m.-10:00p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30a.m.-10:00p.m.
Ciao ragazzi! My friend and I were walking around Belltown and we bumped into this cute Italian restaurant. This was perfect because I was in Italy from August-September of this summer and was craving and missing Italian food. We were seated by the window and first served with bread and olive oil. We were both really hungry so we ordered one of the lunch specials which was the Spaghetti di Mare and the Prosciutto e Funghi pizza. We thought the mussels and clams in the spaghetti would have an overwhleming seafood taste but we were wrong, it was delicious! The pizza was very good as well, it definitely reminded me of the pizza that’s served in Italy which is more light and less greasy than some American chain pizza companies. Personally I loved the cheese and the fresh parmesean cheese that I put on top. The price wasn’t bad either (Yelp gave it $$). Our meal was around $25 with tip. Didn’t quite make the $20 budget but my friend who came with me said he would recommend this place to a friend too.
Buon Appetite!
Happy Eating,
Melissa
(clickable photos from Alana’s Canon Camera)
Address (Downtown):
1525 3rd Ave
Seattle, WA 98101 US
(206) 398-1888
Website: www.newvietnamese.com
Hours:
Mon– Sun 10am – 6pm
My sister and I were doing some retail therapy in downtown when we passed by this little restaurant on 3rd & Pike. My sister has been there before and highly recommended the place. Honestly, from the looks of the restaurant, I was skeptical about the food and my sister insisted to eat there. Like the say, don’t judge a book by its cover. For starters, we ordered Gỏi Cuốn which are spring rolls and only cost $4.60. The fresh shrimp rolls were accompanied with a delicious peanut sauce, so if you’re allergic to peanuts (like Melissa), DO NOT eat here! I ordered Cơm Sườn Bi Trứng, a dish with steamed rice, pork chop, shredded pork and a fried egg for $8.20. for $7.20, my sister ordered Bún Thịt Nướng Chả Giò, a bowl consisting of dry noodles served with fresh vegetables, fried onions, peanut sauce with pickled carrots topped with grilled pork and egg rolls.
This restaurant was very yummy, affordable and has great service. All together, I spent $12.80 for an appetizer and a main dish which was perfect in size. If you ever want to eat good Vietnamese food and you want your food fast I definitely recommend this restaurant! Although the setting was very simple, the lighting was bright and looked kind of cheap, it didn’t take away from the deliciousness of the food!
If you want to see what else they have on their menu, be sure to visit their site.
Eat it up,
Alana
