Hot Mama's

Pizza. Everyone's favorite lunch, dinner, and midnight snack. What better way to top a night than with warm, cheesy goodness! Pizza can come in all different shapes and sizes, but there is one pizza place we've stumbled upon that simply can't be beat. Hot Mama's Pizza is a small, and sometimes cramped local pizzeria in Seattle's Capital Hill District. However what Hot Mama's lacks in space they certainly make up for in taste. Located on the corner of Pine Street and Boyleston Ave, they are just a block or two away from Broadway. They have pizza by the slice or you can buy a whole pizza to share. One of their more distinct varieties of pizza includes the infamous "green" pesto pizza. Not to be fooled by it's green, monstrous appearance, this slice of pizza is one of my most favorite kinds of pizza to eat. The crust is a perfectly thin, crispy texture, with the perfect amount of cheese and sauce (or in our case, pesto). Not only do they serve delicious pesto pizza, but they serve margarita pizza, hawaiian, veggie lovers, and classic peperoni. This place is often more crowded in the evenings and late at night, so seating can be sparse. Don't be surprised if you're sitting across from a stranger, as there are only about 8-10 places to sit. Hot Mama's is a great place to grab a quick bite with friends, or a latenight snack. Slices run at about $2-$3, so this can be an inexpensive, but satisfying, dinner.

Louie's Chinese Cuisine

Yesterday we had the pleasure of visiting one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in Seattle. “Louie’s Cuisine of China” which is located on 15th Ave in Ballard. The exterior of this building can give off a kind of intimidating feeling as it is painted in dark colors with no windows showing the inside of the restaurant. But do not be fooled! Louie’s is anything but threatening as you are welcomed by the allure of a warm and cozy atmosphere on the inside. There are several things that make this restaurant our favorite Chinese restaurant in the Seattle area.

Reason number one is that it has a very traditional Chinese style ambiance with classic Chinese paintings on the wall; cozy booths separated by walls of bamboo, and little bonsai trees adorning every table. The second reason is that Louie's serves killer Chinese food! Asian cuisine in Seattle and particularly Chinese food, is a dime a dozen and there are places that do it right and places that do it wrong. Louie’s would definitely be one of the few that has gotten it right. I have only sampled several dishes at Louie’s but every single one has exceeded my expectations. If you ever have a chance to order the duck, you will not regret it. It has the perfect balance of juiciness yet not overly fatty. The general Tsao’s chicken is also to die for with the perfect crispness to its chicken and a tangy sweet sauce glazed over the entire meal. It is also a requirement when dining at Louie’s to order the crab wontons! Words cannot express how much these little crab stuffed, fried pieces of heaven mean to us. Combining the wonton with the sweet sauce dip provided with the appetizer is like experiencing a brief lapse into Nirvana.(Ok maybe an exaggeration, but they are good!)

The service at Louie’s is also very speedy and friendly, we have never had to wait very long for our food and they also provide you with complimentary tea and fortune cookies at the end of your meal. Who could ask for more? The typical entrée dishes at Louie’s is around 10 to 15 dollars, but expect to pay around 20 a meal if you decide to order the crab wontons.

Rays

Do you ever get a craving for seafood? Something in your soul just cries out for clams? Well we were hit by this hunger last Friday night and decided to try out "Ray's Cafe" which is located right on Seaview Avenue on your way down to Golden gardens. Ray's Cafe is actually apart of a larger restaurant called Ray's Boathouse, but for the price conscience food consumers like ourselves the Cafe offers a slightly more limited and simplistic menu at about an average of $10-$20 dollars cheaper than the Boathouse. But do not be fooled by its simplistic demeanor, because the cafe offers some of the best seafood entrees in the area!

The cafe has the ambiance of a cozy Pacific Northwest cabin and is located beach front with a wonderful view of the Puget Sound that makes you feel right at home. We started off with an order of their Skookum Inlet Manila clams which are steamed in beer and dill butter. Great light snack to start off the meal! And the broth the clams are boiled in serves as a great dip for bread throughout the rest of dinner! Then for our entrees Shelby ordered their grilled top sirloin steak, which comes with creamed Washington russets, Dungeness crab meat, and horseradish hollandaise. Caroline decided to go for the pan-seared Southeast Alaskan halibut, which came with pea and parmesan risotto cake, pea vine-spring onion salad and ginger carrot emulsion. Both dishes were melt in your mouth good as I'm sure any of the options on the menu would have been too! We gave Ray's Cafe four stars, but would warn anyone contemplating eating there to expect to spend around $35 per person.

Late Night......SNACKS!

There's just nothing quite like a 2am run to your local eatery, when all hope of a healthy and nutricious meal have gone out the window and one is forced to default to the convienent, greasy alternatives. This past weekend we expericed this first hand as we were dragged to a 24 hour cafe by a mutual friend at an ungodly hour to be awake. We feared the worst as we anxiously awaited a table in a suspiciouly crowded resturatant considering the time of night. However we were both pleasently suprised by The Hurrican Cafe located on 7th & Bell in downtown Seattle. This classic American diner offered everything a empty and eager stomach could want at 2am! During this awkward hour a person must always first grapple with the age old question, dinner or breakfast? The decision ended up being too much to handle and we ended up settling on a combination of both, ahh the overwelming glory of a bleu cheeseburger with hashbrowns!

The cafe offered all the standard American comfort food you would expect it to have at a fairly reasonable price, with the average entree ranging from 8 to 12 dollars. All in all we would give the Hurrican Cafe a three star rating. Great place to visit in the wee hours of the morning, but we dont think it would offer the same allure in the light of day. Suggested visiting hours range from 10pm to 5am.