The snowfall continued today in Seattle with no reliable forecast in sight -- even Cliff Mass, UW professor or atmospheric science and local weather expert, admitted in his
blog posting earlier today that this week's weather forecasting was "not my profession's finest hour." Regardless, Snowmageddon 2012 was greeted with happy children all over the Puget Sound who happily sled down snow-covered, carless hills for the past two days. Personally, I took advantage of these unexpected snow days by making snow angels all over the neighborhood and visiting two of my favorite spots on Queen Anne hill:
Betty and
Molly Moon's.
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| Snow angel. |
Snow days are perfect for happy hour, thus we braved the 28-degree weather and trudged through the icy snow, heading straight for the bar towards the back of
Betty. We arrived just after 5 (happy hour is daily from 5-6:30), and the tables and bar counters were already half full. Grabbing one of the open tables, we unzipped our layers of winter gear and got down to business.
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| Betty: 1507 Queen Anne Ave. N. |
Who can pass up $1.50 raw oysters on the half shell? Not us. The oyster selection here varies, and tonight's oysters were Totten Inlets from the south Puget Sound. These medium-sized oysters with beautifully, ruffled shells were briny and full of seaweed flavor with a smooth, creamy texture. They were served nice and cold with lemon wedges and a red wine mignonette.
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| Totten Inlet oysters on the half shell. |
Continuing on the seafood trend, we ordered one of our usual happy hour items, the clams in tomato broth. At just $4, it's one of the best values on the menu (other $4 items include grilled manchego-stuffed grape leaves, crostini du jour, salami plate, and pulled pork tacos). The clams are notably fresh and not too fishy (as sometimes is common with happy hour clams/mussels), and the tomato broth is nicely seasoned. The best thing about this dish is that you really get two dishes in one -- delicious clams as well as dipping sauce for the always free and unlimited servings of a golden crusted, mildly sweet baguette (confession: nice restaurants that charge for bread tend to rub me the wrong way).
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| Clams in tomato broth. |
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| Free and unlimited crusty baguette. |
I should also add that the bread (made by
Grand Central Bakery) is always served with a small bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That's not out of the ordinary, but their olive oil has a wonderfully rich, fruity flavor that I absolutely love.
Another happy hour favorite of ours is the pulled pork tacos with Sergio's mole. I don't know who Sergio is, but I'm glad we're back to the original Sergio and not the bland one that made a short appearance last summer. This Sergio's mole was mildly spicy with a subtle sweetness and deep flavor, and it generously coated the tender, juicy pulled pork. The pork was topped with a crunchy mix of shaved carrots and red and green cabbage. There's just enough filling in these tacos to satisfy each bite without falling out the other end of the soft corn tortilla.
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| Pulled pork tacos with Sergio's mole. |
For those of you wondering about the happy hour drink specials.. You should easily find something tasty to drink with their $6 well martinis and manhattans (made by Betty's cheerful bartender), $6 wines by the glass (all wines offered by the glass are included), and $3 draft beer (rotating selection; all are included).
We left Betty with happy stomachs but decided to take it one step further and end our snow day with a visit to
Molly Moon's. Any small, local business whose employees insist on making the snowy trek up the hill rather than closing for the day is worth visiting, especially when they're offering free hot fudge for snow day patrons. We were the only customers in the shop when we arrived, but several others strolled in, stomping off the snow from their boots, while we were enjoying our post-dinner treats. Here's to very happy bellies and organic vanilla bean and
Theo chocolate ice cream with complimentary snow day hot fudge!
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Molly Moon's vanilla bean and Theo chocolate ice cream
with complimentary hot fudge. |
LOVE Betty's. Their pulled pork tacos have the right mix of spice and flavor.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea Molly Moon's came to Queen Anne already. Where have I been?
www.thegirlieblog.com
Jealousy is coursing through my veins! I want to eat ALL of these items, especially the dessert topper. HHF: I assume you were in snow proof boots--sans heels...?
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