- Address: 14045 NE 20th St, Bellevue, WA
- Type: Korean Grill & Sushi
- Pricing: $20/person ++
- Rating: 4/5 stars
From the outside, it looks like just another restaurant in a strip mall among strip malls. Once I stepped in the door, however, I realized how spacious and well-planned this restaurant must have been. There are many tables, and sections divided up on what type of meal you plan on having (just sushi or do you want to grill too?) with large stainless steel fans above the grill tables.
We went on a random Monday night, and it was exceptionally crowded. I admit that we weren’t looking for something as upscale as this place turned out to be - I just didn’t feel like cooking that night. The waitress said we had to order a minimum of two meat dishes to be grilled, which was unfortunate because the two of us never eat that much food to begin with. We took a couple of the waitress’ suggestions, and also got a single order of tuna sushi just for kicks.
The spread was gi-mongous, and we barely touched a lot of it. There was a large salad for us to share, and at least 7 different side dishes (of which we sampled each one and that was it.) For the main entree, we received two large plates of meat and 3 different kinds of very awesome sauces for them. The grill was great and we definitely filled ourselves up.
Honestly, I don’t remember thinking the sushi was good, but then, if I had known the grill part was going to be so huge, I would never have ordered it in the first place. I would have to sit down and have a real sushi-only meal to give this place a fair rating in that area.
My drink was always full and the waitress was very helpful. I would go back to this place all the time if it wasn’t so expensive.
We just did a 4-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon on the Havasupai Reservation. It was awesome and beautiful and tiring. I’ve only backpacked once in my life, so it was quite a trip, but I’d do it again for sure.
More pictures to come, plus more descriptions and all of what we did. I’m also hoping to add our packing lists and trip itinerary to let others know what things I figured out before and during my trip, but that’s kinda secondary. Right now, I’m home trying to reconnect with the modern world.
I thoroughly enjoy Mexican food, and I love salsa - though I admit that I’m somewhat more lame because I only like any salsa that is not spicy. Salsa is pretty easily made spicy, however, so add your favorite pepper and you’re good to go.
Ingredients
- 1/4 sweet WallaWalla onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 large garlic clove
- 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- small handful fresh cilantro
Pretty simple: I threw each item in a food processor, blended a little till mushy, then added the next ingredient in order. Very simple but quick and tasty for a more interesting weeknight dinner. A more subtle flavored version would include roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic. In that case, I would probably add one extra tomato for increased smoothness.
Links:
A more complicated salsa
Roasting technique
This is my favorite eclectic salsa though it always comes out a little different every time I make it. 
Ingredients
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 2-3 large avocados, chopped
- 1 ear of yellow corn, cooked and chopped
- 1 roasted tomato
- 1 roasted yellow bell pepper
- 1 roasted orange bell pepper
- 4 cloves of roasted garlic
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
- salt & cayenne pepper, to taste
Method
In this salsa I like to use a combination of chunky items and more smooth, mushy items. In general, I believe roasted items tend to do better when processed in a food processor (even if just a little bit).
I start by roasting the bell peppers, tomato, and garlic in the oven. While that is going on, I am also cooking the corn and chopping and combining any leftover ingredients (onion, other tomatoes, etc). When the roasting process is complete, I blend the items in the food processor just a little bit, as to still be slightly chunky. Finally combine everything together in one dish, and add a little salt/cayenne pepper to taste.
Roasting brings out some really nice flavors in a lot of some of my already favorite fresh foods. It’s important to use a good amount of olive oil to cover the item - it ensures there will be less burning while in the oven.
For garlic:
Place entire head on a large piece of tin foil. Drench in olive oil, making sure all parts of the skin are wet. Wrap closed so it kind of looks like a hershey’s kiss.
For tomatoes & peppers:
Cut in half, then dip tomato or pepper in olive oil, making sure all parts are well covered in oil. Lay with skin side up on a cookie sheet or broiler pan.
Cooking:
Leave in 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, checking on them frequently close to the end of that period to make sure nothing is burning (a little blackness is good, full on crispiness is bad). Garlic will often want to be in closer to 30 minutes or sometimes more if it is an especially large head.
For tomatoes and peppers, you’ll want to remove the skins. Immediately after removing them from the oven, place in a dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Leave it set for 20 minutes or so. When you remove them, from their little enclosure, you should be able to just slide their darkened skins right off.
For the garlic, you can just chop off the pointy end and squeeze the cloves right out of the head.
Lake Wenatchee District Campgrounds
This is a group campground, so you have to call ahead to reserve, but if you have a large family outing planned, this would an awesome place for you! We went as part of a 10 person or so group from work.
There is no potable water here, so you must bring your own or bring a filter and use the creek running right along side the campground. There is one vaulted toilet on the premises, though. There was a large group firepit with a grill and three tables in the center, and two smaller tables/firepits on either end of the campground. Plenty of trees and it seemed like there was also plenty of small trails to follow — though we never got a chance to explore any of them.
There were 5 couples when went, and I figure there could be one or two more tents without it being kinda uncomfortable. If everyone were more familiar with each other (we weren’t) I’m sure you could even squeeze some more in there.
Good location close to Lake Wenatchee and the Wenatchee River, and plenty of hiking…we completed these 4 small hikes on the same weekend trip:
My only complaints:
There were sooooo many yellow jackets. Bring 2-3 traps per table. It was very bad, though another couple had camped there before and said it had never been like it was this August. I didn’t have any traps, so we set a piece of sausage far enough away from the cooking area and it worked for a while.
It was pretty dusty. It’s probably only because we are in a drought after all, but it was still pretty annoying and I felt that my lungs were caked in crap.
- Address: 425 Cedar St, Seattle, WA (near space needle)
- Type: Thai
- Pricing: $10/person (lunch)
- Rating: 4/5 stars
Large selection, always busy at lunch. my co worker says “the spring rolls are like crack - you just can’t get enough.”
Good lunch combinations and they have a nice ’spicyness’ scale. I believe the hottest stuff is supposed to be very very hot, though I’ve never tried it myself I always get one of three dishes (I know, I’m lame)…They are all $6.29 for lunch:
- Pad Thai
- Rad Na
- Showering Rama
- Address: 2618 Bellevue Way NE Bellevue, WA
- Type: Sushi
- Pricing: $20/person
- Rating: 3/5 stars
Been here a couple times, good food, good atmosphere. nice comfortable place to eat with decent selection. I haven’t been in a while, I can’t remember everything about it; I just remembered that I liked it. I remember the staff being super nice and friendly.
If you are driving down Bellevue Way, you won’t see it immediately as it is in a little complex behind a gas station.
Lately I’ve really enjoyed ‘chef selections’ and bento boxes, and this place has a good variety.
This is a Clallam County Park owned campground, and it was well maintained and very nice to stay in for the weekend. It’s just outside of Sequim, Washington, and very close to the Dungeness Spit which is an awesome place to spend the day.
We went on a relatively cloudy weekend in May of this year, and there were not too many people in the campground. There are plenty of trees and more secluded campsites, campsites that are good for RVs (i.e. with pull-thru parking spaces) and a nice beach trail along the cliff. Water and normal bathrooms with showers were available.
My only complaint was that on Saturday early evening it was incredibly windy, and sand was everywhere and on everything. It was really horrible, so we opted to stay in our tent and read. Later on the wind died down and it was mostly gone, so maybe it was a temporary thing?
