Eat, Play, Run

Mo's Dark Bacon Bar

For Valentine's Day, my friend sent us on a walking chocolate tour of downtown Seattle (more on that later). At one of the stops, the Chocolate Box, to be exact, I picked up a Mo's Dark Bacon Bar.

Bacon. Chocolate. What could possibly go wrong? The answer-- nothing. Well, OK, the price, $3.00 for a small candy bar is a little steep. But, the flavor of the $3.00 chocolate bar? Very good.

The chocolate is nice, while the bacon is actually quite subtle. But, once that salty flavor sits on your taste buds, the sweetness of the dark chocolate and the salty bacon are a natural.

Peanut butter and chocolate is a nice combo. But bacon and chocolate... even better!

MOD Pizza

MOD opened a couple of weeks ago in Bellevue. I really miss pizza by the slice. While MOD isn't really 'by the slice,' you do order a full pie for $5.88 and easily devour it in five minutes.

All pizzas are the same price, no matter how you top it. But is it any good? Well, the toppings on the spicy meat pizza I ordered were quite good. The cheese was OK, too. But the crust was very disappointing... it was dry and flavor-free. Too bad.

Overall, though, for the price, I would eat there again.

Bellevue: John Howie

Bacon tempura. Deep fried bacon. 'Nuff said.

Capitol Hill: Anchovies and Olives

 When GQ magazine called Anchovies and Olives the fifth best new restaurant in the country in 2009, I made it a priority to visit it the first chance I had. Located in a nondescript Capitol Hill building, the vibe has a serious New York feel. It's a little small, the tables are a little too close together, and the chatter is a little too loud. I loved it.

In all, we ordered four dishes, plus dessert. The first dish to arrive was soft boiled eggs topped with anchovies. The eggs were perfectly cooked... just hard enough to keep their form, yet soft enough to run down my chin. The anchovies did what anchovies do best, adding a salty/fishy flavor to the eggs. These were a real treat. Thankfully my friend only ate two of them, leaving me with four.

 Our next dish was a simple plate of prosciutto. I'm not going to wax on too much about the prosciutto. It was very good, with ample fat (this is a good thing). Thinly sliced, it was an appetizer.

 Our first 'main' course was potato gnocchi with pork and cauliflower. I much prefer ricotta gnocchi to potato, but it was fine. The pork was cooked in a style reminiscent of kalua pork. It was shredded, with a nice smoky/salty flavor, and very tender. Together, the sweetness of the cauliflower and saltiness of the pork mixed well with neutral flavor of the gnocchi.

We ended with probably the best dish of the night, the seafood risotto. This dish had so much flavor it made me break out in a giant smile on the first bite. The risotto was nice and tender, without being overcooked. The seafood was chopped small and did not overpower the dish at all. It's a very plate, and very good.

For dessert, we had a "molten" chocolate cake. It was good, but not great. Would've been nice to end the meal a little better. But, the four dishes that preceded it were excellent. I won't hesitate to eat here again.