April 20 - More Dan Madness! Russian, Japanese

Premature delicious.

And now for the (much belated) second part of my Dantastic weekend!

This being her first visit to the emerald city, we were pretty much obligated to hit Pike Place Market. And since she's dating this Russian boy, I thought I'd take her for some tasty Russian treats. Piroshky!

For those not in the know, piroshkies are delicious pastries filled with varied innards - generally beef and potatoes and onions, etc. Pike Place is home to Piroshky Piroshky, a Russian bakery that brags it's been around "Since 1992." That doesn't seem like too big a deal to me, but I guess you have to be since sometime.

Since it was before noon, I went with a ham, cheese, and spinach piroshky. Dan's boyfriend later told me on the phone that cheese should never go in a piroshky. I told him cheese is welcome in every foodstuff.

Eggy, spinachy, cheesy goodness!

We couldn't resist the draw of the freshly baked apple cinnamon rolls. The doughy wheels in the window of the shop came out of the oven with a golden brown delicious quality that seemed impossible to pass up.

Kinda gooey, really delicious.

And of course, being in the Market, we had to make the requisite stop at Le Panier. Because if there's anything I love more than cheese, it's butter. While I made my standby purchase of a heavenly palmier, Dan went with a chocolate eclair, which was delicious and gave me a chance to photograph some innards!

CHOMP!!

That evening found us in International District, cruising for a little dinner. I'm sad I never got a chance to eat at Takohachi before it closed, but the restaurant that came up in its place looked interesting enough. Kaname advertises itself as a sort of izakaya bar and restaurant - the sort of place where Japanese business professionals go after work to wind down with some shochu cocktails and tasty bites.

A pensive Dan.

I started with a sunomono - cucumber salad with a tangy dressing, topped with octopus and miso goo. The dressing on this version was a little heavy for my taste, but the octopus was some of the best I've had. It was lightly chewy and incredibly tender, with a nice octopussy flavor.

Mmm. . . goo. . .

Since I'd never had it before, I wanted to try the agedashi dofu. It's one of those dishes people always eat on Japanese shows, and I thought it was high time I knew what they were enjoying. Turns out it's chunks of lightly fried tofu with a sweet-savory sauce and an explosion of crunchies on top. I'm not sure if the cruchies are traditional, but they sure looked cool.

Foodchitecture!

Dan tends to stay away from the fish n tofu side of the food spectrum, and satisfied her food needs with spicy teriyaki chicken. It was pretty alright stuff, not too sticky-sweet and pretty tender. It got the Dan trademark seal of approval.

That's a chunk of Dan-tested tofu on the side. . . she wasn't on board.

I decided I had to horrify Dan with my choice of entree, Sanma - a whole broiled needlefish. I was rather delighted by the fact that it came out intact, I think Dan died a little inside.

The fish was pretty tasty, but had a pretty strong flavor. Not recommended for the casual seafooder.

Dan thought he was looking at her.

Tune in soon (I promise!) for the exciting conclusion of Dan's West coast adventure!