Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [262]
Beth’s is open round the clock and is not a place to please a fastidious epicure. It is what some have called an “alternative greasy spoon,” attracting wee-hours diners from the fringes of city life. And in Seattle, those fringes are pretty far out!
The Crumpet Shop
1503 1st Ave.
206–682–1598
Seattle, WA
BL | $
The Crumpet Shop is a great place to kick back and take a break from the frenetic food bazaar that is the Pike Place Market. Located on 1st Avenue at the very entrance, it is a small tea shop that serves crumpets for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. In case you don’t know, a crumpet resembles an English muffin. Here it is cooked fresh from batter on a griddle, coming off chewy and flavorful with a craggy-textured surface that begs to be heaped with butter and fruit-clotted marmalade. You can have one simply buttered, or with butter and maple syrup, or with your choice from among nearly two dozen different sorts of sweet and savory toppings, including honey, Nutella, local jams, ham, cheese, and smoked salmon. On the side, have espresso, cappuccino, or, better yet, imported tea. If crumpets are not your cup of tea, the Crumpet Shop also bakes terrific loaves of bread, including a rugged groats bread that is an apt foundation for a hefty sandwich.
And do bring home some edible or potable souvenirs! The shelves are filled with exotic teas from around the world as well as a fabulous assortment of honeys and preserves, oatmeals, grains, and cereals from the Northwest and the British Isles. Crumpets are available, too, already cooked, sold by the six-pack, ready to take home, heat, and eat. We bought one of our all-time favorite kitsch souvenirs here many years ago: a clock in the shape of a toaster, with plastic slices of toast that went up and down as the second hand ticked.
Daly’s Drive-In
2713 Eastlake Ave. E
206–322–1918
Seattle, WA
LD | $
Why, exactly, Daly’s calls the salmon burger a burger, we cannot say. It is not the patty of mealy, ground-up salmon we expected when we first saw it listed on the menu of this family-owned drive-in that opened during the World’s Fair of 1962. It is in fact a broad, thick slab of grilled salmon presented on a whole wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce. The meat is pink and juicy, densely flavorful and protein-rich.
The menu also boasts of flame-broiled hamburgers, so even though our general mission is to eat more local cuisine (such as the salmon burger or excellent crisp-fried halibut and chips), we could not resist trying one. It turned out to be a slim, modest patty with a neat pattern of cross-hatch grill marks and no pretensions whatsoever. If we were in a serious hamburger mood, we’d more likely go for a double or, better yet, a double deluxe, which is two patties, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, relish, and mayonnaise.
French fries are excellent in a raunchy-crunchy way and milkshakes are flavored with fresh, in-season fruit. We are especially fond of the ultra-casual air of Daly’s. Meals are presented on plastic cafeteria trays. Carry your own to a seat, preferably at the counter or, better yet, on the patio with a magnificent view of Lake Union.
Emmett Watson’s Oyster Bar
1916 Pike Pl., Suite 16
206–622–7721
Seattle, WA
LD | $$
A laid-back eatery just across the street from the Pike Place Market in a back-street nook inside the Soames-Dunn Building, Emmett Watson’s can be maddening if you are an efficiency nut in a hurry. For leisurely enjoyment of oysters, clams, and mussels, or baskets of fish and chips, or wonderful soups and chowders, this brash little place is a Seattle treasure. There is a sunny, flower-adorned courtyard behind the building for warm-weather dining at rickety little tables, and an indoor area with small booths.
For many regular customers, Emmett Watson’s is a place to come for several beers accompanied by oysters on the half shell, either raw