I haven’t been eating sushi for very long, maybe 3 years now and it was only 2.5 years ago that I made the leap from lame sushi eater to adventurous sushi eater. Once I started, I found myself craving it on a regular basis. It was the hardest thing to give up while vegan. When I started eating meat, I was excited to get my hands on some good sushi. And yet, I was thwarted because I was living in Atlanta and its not exactly a sushi hub. I was really looking forward to come back to Seattle, to be back on the water in sushi country, where I would have my pick of local sushi joints, swanky sushi joints and everything in between. Right before I left Atlanta, I got into a bit of Sushi mania and soothed the savage beast with wildly successful trips to MF Sushibar (Atlanta) and Domo (San Francisco), which easily are my #1 recommendations for sushi in each of those respective towns. I was excited and enthusiastic to find “my” sushi place in Seattle, where I had only been able to try a few spots (due to veganism).

Saturday night turned out to be the perfect opportunity for my initial foray into the Seattle sushi scene. My friend Colin and I both decided that Japanese/Sushi sounded like the perfect idea for dinner. While he perused my copy of Seattle Metropolitian Magazine’s Met 200 and made suggestions, I hopped on Urbanspoon and located the most highly ranked sushi place in Seattle, I figured starting at the top was as good a place as any. Kisaku. Not only is it the most highly rated sushi place, it is #3 on the all restaurant list. I was simply in the mood for good satisfying sushi and I called Kisaku, thinking there was no way they would have a reservation as it was 7pm already. Not only did they have a reservation, but they had primetime 7:30 available for the taking. We snapped it up and jumped in the car to hightail it across town.  Kisaku is located in a hard to find spot, if you are not familiar but luckily for me, I know the cluster of shops, restaurants and coffee shops that is considered Greenlake, but is more Latona, more “random spot in the middle of the neighborhood”. We made it on time, whipping in the door at 7:29 and were instantly seated in the very clean, elegant (especially compared to many hole in the wall sushi places I am use to) and full with groups of people, couples and very happy looking customers.

But honestly, neither of us were in a particularly adventurous mood and all I really wanted was a nice selection of my favorites. Unfortunately for me, Colin doesn’t like Unagi and so one of my favorites was out. We tucked into some edamame and I appreciated that the server brought me a salt shaker after I asked if they could make sure that the edamame were really salty. No matter what, I always want more salt (that’s what running will do!) and so it was nice to be able to apply and reapply the salt while we worked through the bowl. I don’t actually think its possible to mess up a bowl of edamame, so this is not much of a comment on the food. We bee-lined for the “rolls” section of the menu and discussed possibilities. We decided on 4 rolls for the two of us: Spicy Tuna Roll (my personal favorite), Spider Roll (second favorite), and two unique rolls, the Devil’s Vegetable Roll (which is quite pricey at $7.50 for an all veggie roll) and the Garden Roll (both vegetarian options). The sushi came pretty quickly and my excitement mounted. I was sure with such a high level of approval that these options, though very basic, would wow me. And they did. But not in a good way.

The Spicy Tuna Roll was not spicy, the fish/shellfish was not flavorful and disappeared to the point of wondering if there was fish on them at all. The vegetable rolls were mono-dimensional and unexciting. I imagine that if I had tried a wider breadth of items on the menu, I would have found something that impressed me, but I was shocked that these particular items produced not even a blip on the radar. Worse still, after the rolls, I was still hungry and yet, unwilling to try anything else. It wasn’t worth the price, I was that unimpressed. Instead I went home and ate a cold baked potato w/ some almond butter (to make sure I wouldn’t die on my long run the next day).

I came in with expectations and faith of over 300 recommendations and was unmoved in the actual trying of it. It was not bad. If I lived around the corner, I might be willing to give it another try in a pinch. And while most restaurants really “deserve” several tries, when it comes to sushi there are so many good choices that it is easier to just move on to the next if one doesn’t have a righteous experience. I had better sushi at sushi happy hour at Nijo (which was delicious, fresh (fish) and inexpensive, though not convenient-Post Alley). I had better sushi (though considerably more expensive and much more a scene) at Red Fin. After Kisaku, I still haven’t found “my” sushi but I’ll keep looking. My recommendation: start somewhere else on the list, but try it at some point. Its middle of the pack right now. And at some point, I’ll go back and give it another shot after I have surveyed the rest of the Seattle sushi scene.

I have been to Sunlight Cafe about a dozen times in the past year since moving back to Seattle. I’ve known of its existence for much longer, but previously had never tried it. I remember being in high school and passing the hippie hangout thinking it probably was a mecca for wheat grass shots, alfalfa sprouts and rubbery tofu. I was not the eater then that I am now. When I moved back to Seattle, I found a list and sought out all of the vegetarian/vegan specific restaurants in town. Living in Ravenna at the time, I hit up Sunlight Cafe and quickly found that it became my go-to restaurant for a quick lunch or dinner or even brunch with friends and family. When I moved to West Seattle, and subsequently stopped being vegan, I frequented it less and began exploring the Seattle food scene and taking every opportunity to try new, different and tasty restaurants. I tried whenever I could, not to duplicate. Sunlight Cafe slithered off into the nether realm of my food world, cast out of the nearest orbit but not exiled completely. And then I went even further away to Atlanta and it, like all of my Seattle life, was temporarily forgotten or paused. When I came back, something unpaused quickly, some did not. I hadn’t thought about Sunlight since I was back and then it hit me, no it struck me: I was craving Sunlight Cafe.

I yearned for a crisp, hearty, perfectly dressed with Herbal dressing Blushing Lettuce Salad. I wanted nothing more than their Savory sauteed tofu. With the holidays and the snow, all I wanted was my “comfort food” aka incredibly healthy, clean, wholesome food. That comforts me, uplifts me. I was dreaming of that salad and made it my mission to get my mouth on it. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to find a partner in crime for lunch and we headed over to Sunlight. My friend Colin got the sweet potato cakes, which have an awesome curry kick to them not for the faint of taste bud as well as the steamed vegetables with brown rice, tofu and peanut sauce. He was impressed, satisfied and delighted. Sunlight makes delicious, simple and healthy foods. Whether you are looking for a vegetarian burger or a helping of veggies with hummus so large it takes 4 people to finish it, Sunlight is the perfect go-to, low key, down home, vegetarian food restaurant. This is the kind of place to go in your Seattlite uniform of jeans and Patagonia/Columbia/Northface coat and snuggle down in a cozy booth and linger for a while, unstressed over whether or not the food is coming slowly, as it is prone to. The menu is extensive and not only offers said savory sauteed tofu, but also options for organic greens and things such as a heel of their homemade bread. While you will find nothing profound or moving about the food at Sunlight Cafe, it is consistent, comforting (if you are comforted by healthy foods like I am), hearty and delicious. I highly recommend not making the error I did for all those years I passed this place by under the auspice of “I’m not vegetarian” and try it out.

There has been alot written about La Carta de Oaxaca and after two successful trips, I agree with the 89% of approving votes on Urbanspoon. But, like my trip to Cafe Presse in the snow, I have managed to have alot of luck with some of the major detractors about this restaurant. The fact of the matter is, I have walked right in and sat right down on both occasions, though I was very aware that I seemed to come in the exact moment before the onslaught of people (and thus, waiting) begins. Also, I know that unlike alot of people, I don’t get vexed easily by waiting at a good restaurant, I don’t lose patience with servers who are working their tails off to serve a packed house and move people through. While I do think restaurants where people are prone to linger insist a reservation system, La Carta doesn’t seem to be the type of joint that that was the case, tables just turned over too rapidly for that. And there are plenty of other places in Ballard to linger over a beer or cocktail. Another thing that lends itself to rapid turnover is the high noise level and excited conversations that are not contained by the space in any way. You are not likely to enjoy this place if you try to linger for a good long time, so if that is what you are looking for, try some place else. If you are looking for delightful, authentic Mexican food, that will get you in and out in well under and hour, this is your spot. Everything about this place was genuine, unpretentious but seriously on point, even the prices, which were very reasonable at about $7-$9 per plate.

The first time I went to La Carta, I was looking to facilitate and come to encourage my move back to eating meat. And one of the things that, for the most part, is not compatible with veganism is traditional Mexican food. While, not cheese and sour cream laden, like Tex-Mex, the poor (and very American) interpretation of Latino food, there is still a stronger prescensce of lard, cream, meat and some cheese. Fact of the matter, reading the menu there was not a single thing, other than AMAZING guacamole, fresh hot, salty chips and assorted salsa bar, there would have been for little gluten-free vegan me. Thus the de-veganism fueled the desire to go to (all) the restaurants I had been missing out on and the restaurants themselves and the promises of a renewed world of taste, flavor and food encouraged me to continue on becoming non-vegan again, which was what was best for my health.

Over the two trips, I have surveyed a good representation of their offerings from the Entomatadas my mother enjoyed to the Mole Negro Oaxaqueno that my friend Colin tried to the Fish Tacos I tried on my first visit, everything has been successful. The guacamole is delicious and fresh, the magaritas crips and refreshing. I was most excited on my second visit to try the Posole. One of my favorite recipes, which was part of my culinary showcase, is Vegan Posole. I had never tried regular Posole and so very keen to understand the different flavor profiles. They are such different flavor experiences. Other than the garnish (cabbage, radish, chopped onions) and the hominy, there is not much else similar in the vegan and nonvegan versions. Which is actually a great thing. They are distinctly different and both so delicious you would want both for so many different reasons. Posole is made with pork, shreddy and tender and has a spicy but not thick broth, complimented by hominy. It was a perfect light, but satisfying soup. The Entomatadas and Mole Negro were a bit more hearthy than the soup, but still had very reasonable, some might say small, portions. I found this too be a good thing, in the past eating I always associated going out for Mexican food with huge portions and overfull bellys. But not at La Carta. I was perfectly satisfied. And I was encouraged to continue to incorporate more meat back into my diet, as my doctor had been recommending and to continue on my omnivore way. La Carta de Oaxaca didn’t just provide a delightful eating experience, it helped me change my ways for the better.