We ordered too much and then somehow ate it all. That sums up our first visit to Monsoon on Capitol Hill, a restaurant that describes itself as serving Vietnamese Food with Pacific Northwest innovation. I am not very familiar with Vietnamese dishes, but Dan found this restaurant online and knew we'd like it.
The menu was loaded with options, so we chose a variety of dishes to try for fun. My salad (above) was a refreshing and crunchy mix of shredded green papaya and herbs with caramelized shallots and shrimp. It was bright, tasty and healthy.
We had this fun weekday night because Dan decided to drive into Seattle with me to have an early dinner before I went to my sorority alum book club. While I was discussing books, he was buying some at Elliott Bay Book Company. Win-win.
Okay, back to Monsoon. Everything was presented so beautifully, I took a picture as each dish arrived. My safety net was the chicken dumplings. I thought that if everything was too spicy, I could rely on the dumplings. Well, they were stars on their own. Each bite was tender and satisfying, while the dipping sauce was salty and complex. I would definitely order this again and again. They really filled me up, though and I had just tried the Grilled Lemongrass Beef skewers.
Wow. The flavor of the beef was sweet and spicy and the tender meat pulled easily off of the lemongrass skewers. This dish definitely scored high in my mind.
But surprisingly, my all time favorite was the Asian Eggplant with spicy coconut sauce. It was silky and tender and rich and divine. Oh Monsoon, you have taken over my taste buds and made sure that I'll be back. Thank you.
#seattleblogger #monsoonseattle #seattle #vietnamese #pnw #datenight #capitolhill #seattlerestaurants #illbeback
I love when I find an artist hiding in plain sight. I was at the farmer's market this morning (it was packed!) and I couldn't believe my eyes when the significant crowd shifted and I caught sight of this table.
I was mesmerized by the layers of purple vegetables and the simple bucket of flowers that complimented it all so well. This person knows how to make a display! I walked up and said, "Tell me everything."
A sweet twenty-something girl told me that the small vegetables were "Fairy Tale" eggplants. She said that she and her colleagues argued often about best preparation of them. She likes them baked, her boss likes them sliced & sauted and another guy has a roasting method. At that point, "pro-roasting" guy took over and said that all I needed was to prick them with a fork, and dress them lightly in herbs de provence and olive oil and then roast.
He ended his cooking instructions with "Oh, I could just eat them right now!" In my book, that kind of enthusiasm is gold and I bought some on the spot. I am sure they'll be delicious (dinner tomorrow!), but I am telling you now in case you can get to the market and have them for your Sunday dinner too.
