We flew with Hawaiian Air again, though this time travelling business class. This meant that before our 6.30pm flight out of Brisbane we were able to go into the Air New Zealand lounge. They had a little buffet of food available, and I was able to put together a tasty pre-flight snack of rice, hummus, olives, sun dried tomato and salad as well as some fruit.
Even when flying business class Hawaiian Air does not offer any sort of vegan meal, which is pretty poor. I bought a sandwich from Subway to take on the plane with me, as well as several snacks including McDougall soup and ramen and assorted snack bars. The flight staff were also able to provide me with some fruit plates. After finally watching Frozen and having a laughable attempt at sleep we landed in Honolulu for a five hour layover. This is the worst part of this sort of trip, because this is kind of a silly partially open air airport. I helped myself through this rough time by getting a Roobos Vanilla Soy Latte from Starbucks, walking around a lot, having a brief nap and getting some Split Pea Soup from the little California Pizza Kitchen in the food court.
Then it was another flight to Seattle. We arrived at about 10pm and caught a taxi to our hotel - The Red Lion on 5th Street. As soon as we checked in it was just a short walk to Cyber Dogs, which is open quite late. I had the Seattle Drunken Dog, which had cream cheese and grilled onions.
The next morning we headed down to Pike Place for one of my favourite Seattle experiences - breakfast overlooking the waterfront. I always get breakfast from Cinnamon Works and then get a spot overlooking the beautiful water. This morning it was a blackberry scone and a large cinnamon soy chai.
After breakfast I took my mum for a walk through Pike Place Market, and I was thrilled to see that my favourite peonies were in full blood. We spent some time wandering around and exploring all the little nooks and crannies of the market, visiting a couple of my favourite shops from last time and finding some new ones.
After wandering around some of the streets downtown, buying a cookie scoop from Sur La Table and having a little break back at the hotel, it was time for lunch. Since I was last in Seattle, the downtown location of Veggie Grill had opened. More importantly, I could see it from my hotel room. So I headed straight there for lunch. I ordered the Harvest Bowl, which had Field Roast sausage, kale, vegetables, quinoa and gravy. It was as good as it sounds! Washed down with some strawberry lemonade.
After some more wandering around downtown, I was feeling very sleepy, so I naturally needed a snack. Back to Veggie Grill it was! I had a bowl of their delicious Mac and Cheese, and also got a slice of carrot cake to go for a later snack. Their carrot cake is seriously amazing.
After my snack and a short power nap, I jumped on a bus (number 11) to the new Madison location of Araya's Place for some seriously awesome vegan Thai. The new location is in a cute little building, tucked away from the main street and just across the road from Cafe Flora.
My mum didn't come with me, so I had to think very carefully about how to maximise the number of things I could eat as I couldn't share. I had heard good things about the Fried Brussels Sprouts (brussels, broccoli, garlic and lemon), and they were indeed pretty damn tasty. Though once they start to cool down they go a bit gluggy. I also had to order their Tofu Satay, which I had last year, as it has the best peanut sauce in the whole world. It didn't disappoint. Finally I ordered some Tom Yum Soup, though I didn't realise when I did that it would come out in a giant soup volcano! I was expecting a smaller bowl. I had requested it mild, and they made it without any chili at all, so it did lack the subtle heat I like about a mild Tom Yum, but it was still good. I had to take some of the tofu and Brussels away in a doggy bag (she gave me extra peanut sauce, bonus!), because I was so full. Though I finished those off for a snack later on that evening.
Yeah, remember how I said I was so full I had to get some to take away? I had left a tiny bit of room for dessert. Their Jasmine Creme Brulee is a thing of pure joy. I could eat this forever. A crispy top and a cool, creamy custard and had an amazing flavour.
The next morning I started my day at The Crumpet Shop with a marmite crumpet and a peanut butter and maple butter crumpet. I had some rosehip, chamomile and peppermint tea as well.
Afterwards mum and I went on a tour of the Theo Chocolate Factory, which is something I had been wanting to do for a while. It was a very interesting tour, full of samples. Not all the samples were vegan, but most were and they even got me a vegan truffle (chai coconut) at the end. The tour ends in the shop, so of course I had to buy some chocolate (the sea salt one is amazing) as well as a peanut coconut caramel and a salted caramel ganache truffle.
After heading back to the hotel to drop off my purchases, I headed out to Capitol Hill to In The Bowl, another first in my Seattle adventures. I had heard good things about the Angel Curry on Get Sconed!, and it did not disappoint. Lots of veggies, fried tofu and a beautiful, mild curry sauce with some brown rice. So very very good. When the bill came they also brought a dessert of some sort of black bean, corn and coconut concoction. Very nice.
Cute Kitty Photo of the Post
OK, so not an actual kitty (don't worry, I have so many kitty photos in my next post!), but this adorable kitty painting adorns the wall at The Crumpet Shop.
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Seattle seems truly awesome for vegans. A crumpet shop!!!!!!
ReplyDeletei have seattle on my to do list! so cool that you got to tour the theo factory!
ReplyDelete@Veganopoulous - Seattle is my favourite. Portland is great and all, but I would recommend Seattle to any vegan traveler in a heartbeat!
ReplyDelete@Kendy - I hope you get there, take some time because it is awesome! The chocolate factory tour is great - it is really cheap to do and they give you samples, so yay.