PNW Trip: Day 9 - Last Taste of Seattle

We slept kind of late (10, I think), but not late enough to recover from our late night in downtown Bellevue. I felt pretty groggy for my last chance to experience Seattle on this trip.

We went to the University District, which is a very cool, veg-friendly neighborhood, as you'd imagine. It's also dog-friendly, which was great because L's sister's dogs had been cooped up in the car all night. We strolled around for awhile, and then stumbled upon Flower's, an all-vegan Indian buffet that I had read mixed reviews about online. L and his sister were really excited about the offerings, and heck, I can't turn down a 100% vegan buffet.




Check out the spread!








My first plate:

Favorites of the plate: the yellow noodly dish, roasted cauliflower, roasted broccoli, and the spinach-tofu "paneer". I pretty much liked everything on this plate. I want to try and recreate some of this, especially the yellow noodly dish. The sauce tasted like it was made with Vegenaise, turmeric, mustard, and curry. Hmm...

My second plate, which wasn't as good. I wanted to taste all the other options, and I didn't like most of them, especially the cold eggplant dishes.


I hear the selection at Flowers changes often, so there's always an element of surprise when you hit up the lunch buffet. I'd say the offerings are pretty equal with hits and misses, but for $8, you can't go wrong.

We walked around some more. L & his sister stopped for ice cream at Full Tilt, but I didn't like their vegan flavors. I peeked inside Chaco Canyon, just to see what kind of things they carry there.

I was really impressed with their atmosphere, their dedication to sustainability, and their menu, of course. They have many raw food offerings that all looked so good, but I was plenty full after the Flowers buffet. Since Chaco Canyon offers vegan ice cream, I went ahead and got a taste. The flavor on tap that day was cookie dough. It's as if they knew I was coming. (Cookie dough is my favorite flavor.)

As you'll see in this picture, I forgot more than halfway through to take a picture, but I did remember eventually, so this is what you get.

Creamy vanilla ice cream with chunks of their "Cowboy Cookie," which is made with oats, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, and banana. Good stuff!

L's sister got a smoothie and I loved the "cup" it was served in.

Chaco Canyon is the kind of restaurant I'd love to open someday. Charming and cozy, sustainable and delicious.

I also poked my head in Sidecar Pigs for Peace, an all-vegan store in the U District, but I have to say, Food Fight! in Portland is way better.

Then we all loaded ourselves (puppies, too, of course) back into the car and made the 2 hour trek back to L's sister's cabin. The dogs ran around for awhile, then the three of us headed out to a showing of "Inception." (I recommend seeing this movie more than once. It's amazing how much I missed the first time I watched it.)

After the movie, we went to Nimbus in Bellingham, a classy little restaurant on the top floor of the Bellingham Towers building, which is the tallest building in B-ham. We were lucky to get a seat right in the bay window, so we had a lovely view of B-ham at night.

I ordered a drink ("Spring Fever") and a half-portion of their "housemade fried tofu." Quite possibly the best tofu I've ever eaten, and I love tofu, folks.

It was very dark inside Nimbus, so pardon the bright photo.
The tofu had a crispy, flaky tempura crust. It reminded me a little of the Tofu Filet at Local Burger in Lawrence, Kansas, but thicker and heartier. It was served with arugula, chantrelle mushrooms, and stuffed zucchini wheels. SO AMAZING. I'll be dreaming of this tofu.

We headed back to the cabin, still wiped out from the long weekend. The dogs were ready for bed, too.


Up next: a full day in Bellingham.