Still the Best!

Well blogomaniacs , seems like I've been slacking on the ol Blog lately...according to Smoj anyway, I have not blogged on joints previously visited. Val finally read the blog and was wondering since we eat every Sunday, why then was there not some notice of noshing on certain days, well I sez...cuz, I didn't feel it necessary to repeat, you know been there done that! Well I was soundly out voted, so's, I'm gonna tell ya all about The Chelan Cafe again. Hot T and Smoj drove this time, we left a little earlier than the usual time of ninish and were on the road rounda bout 830ish. You see there was a football game on, you might remember the Seahawks, I wanted to get back home in time to watch at least part of the game. This is how breakfast works with us and normally it aint no thing, the drive to the Chelan is about 20 to 25 minutes, another 5 to ten to wait for a table at the Chelan, once seated, another 2 to 3 to order, maybe ten to 15 more for our food to arrive. once it arrives another 20 to 25 to consume it...it was gonna be close, another 5 to look at the bill, you know debit or cash, how much tip etc. As you can see we've already missed the kickoff, but I forgot the most important part, the time M-sue and Smoj take to yak! or as they say visit, please, they've known each other for years! but...yak they do for at least 15 minutes, what cha gonna do? what can you do? it is what it is. We did however get food, maybe I should tell you about that. We got right in, no waiting, odd...there was a GAME on afterall, M-sue had Bacon and Eggs scrambledwelldonesideosalsa, yes its one word, plus a side of Biscuits and some of the best sausage gravy in town and Ice T w/lemon mmmmm good! Smoj ordered Chef Eddy's special, consiting of two delicious hotcakes ,1 egg how you like, plus meat o choice (Ham), OJ naturally to wash it all down, she scarrfed it all, she did...wonderful meal she exclaimed! Ol Hot T had the BBIT (best breakfast in town) cute huh? a scramble consisting of most of the meats on the menu, plus onions, peppers, cheese and browns all mixed up, plus toast and of course Hot Tea to finish it off. As for me, well I had my Hangover breakfast, although no hangover was involved, yep Country Benedict for me! Two Biscuits, two slabs of patty sausage, two scrambled eggsters.....wait for it..... and all covered with that same sausage gravy, plus browns baby! although I should add, it comes with Country gravy, the sausage gravy is a buck 90 xtra, Hell yeh! its that good, all swilled down with average jo, but plenty of it! So Smoj! I did it, I wrote about it again, not that your gonna read it any time soon. The Chelan is close to the best around, It's a Famished Four Fav(FFF) It should be a stop for everyone who enjoys a good breakfast at a decent price. We will go back, oh yes we will, buuutt.......I wont get so wordy next time.

Best of the Blog!

I guess we've ate at enough places, Ive drank at least 30 gallons of so-so Jo,so I spose its time to let all the faithful followers of the Famished Fours Sunday feedings, you know ,what we liked ,didn't like... Yada Yada! To be perfectly honest, I dont think any place that we have been was awful... just some were not up to our expectations, so heres some of what we thought were the highs, and a few of the lows. First off,all four of us like these joints just cuz the food is good,the coffee at the top four places never really got above ok... but the grub is so good... Any way here goes, Topping off the list... Numero uno.. has got to be The Chelan Cafe! for the plain reason we've gone there more than any other place, thats got to say something,yes the food is great, not huge portions, but enough. The service is excellant, they make a decent blood mary and its fairly easy to get to. In my opinion they have the best pancakes, but all the grub is good, and my recommendation for the best "hangover breakfast" Their Country Benedict.. English muffins topped with sausage patties.then scrambled eggs all topped with their sausage gravy mmmm.. mm! Number 2, 3 and 4 in line I gotta say are all tied for 2nd place really, for different reasons we all like these places. Pete's Egg Nest in Greenwood, great food .. A Big selection of Benedicts, and a different Scramble to please even the most pickiest of eaters..{Smoj} They definately are in the running for the most food on a plate award, their staffed by what appears to be family who care about their food and service, and your dining experience, the only draw back to Petes for me is that its in Greenwood and I dont always like to drive that far, but when we do it always seems worth it!Browns Point Diner could be in the running with the Chelan, BPD is Pretty basic ,with the exception of an outstanding Monte Cristo San, my frikkin goodness its good, and in my humble opinion might just be the best Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs Benny around. The Bay Cafe at Fishermans Terminal is a bit of a drive but well worth the fuel in my opinion for the plain simple reason They have Oysters for breakfast,Man what a concept. The Bay Cafe is staffed by what I would call the best of the best as far as service goes, coffee and Tea .. never empty Ice T refills.. never have to ask! and quite possibly the best hashbrowns ever! So those are the Restaurants we like the best... but there are some others who put out a fair feedbag in their own right Individual Fare kinda goes like this.. Since I am the only coffee drinker in the bunch {weird huh?} Numerus Unus has gotta Be Senor Moose in Ballard, Great Jo might be worth it to me to go back just fot the Coffee, food by wide concensus of the FF not so much. Number 2 Jo was Glos on Capital Hill, Pegasus was the brand I believe, food was weird, coffee great! everyone else tied for third thus my opinion that most people when they're eating dont care about the coffee as long as its hot and plentiful. The most Disappointing ,and I think this was unanimous, The Portage Bay Cafe {Ballard Locale} for the reason that everything that I had heard from friends and from reviews was that this was place to go! Long Waits and so so food doesn't cut it, even the organic ketchup sucked! honorable mentions gotta go to Draftchoices in Covington, their CFS is outsanding and their hoemestyle taters Scrumdidly! Voula's Offshore Cafe { Went there today}Their Scrambles and Hobos are so big and good that MSue gets two lunches out of em everytime I again had the Big Voula, which consisted of a plate of very good browns topped with 3 eggasauruses over perfect ,2 bacon, 2 greek sausage mmm , good burpin later!! Another place that needs to be mentioned is Dixies in Sumner! Good food ? Yes! Great Sausage gravy, and their Dads Potatoes, well you just gotta have those, sliced like Cottage fried, but cooked like frenchfries, Darn Tasty! its loud in there but the food is good , also family run, which seems to be a good thing . Best view has gotta be Lowells at the Pike Place Market, food is good, a little spendy, they also have oysters {Hangtown Fry} Dungeness Crab Benny and a darn fine Blood Mary or Caesar {clamato} So I guess that bout wraps it up, Will I Blog again? Yeppers I will!, the format may change a bit , maybe some pics or illustrations ,I do skip a week here or there but since we go to some of our favs multiple times and Quite franky MSue and Smoj dont vary much in what they order, I figured why? But Smoj thinks there should be some record de chew... so I shall comply. 2011 should be fun There are a lot of Cafes and Diners we have yet to try, and there is lot Jo De Blah I have yet to swill, and who knows maybe I'll find that magic place , where great coffee and great food coexist ....I'll keep Looking

Diamond in the Rough? Nope, Federal Way!

The waters are a risin in Federal Way, but that didn't stop the Famished Four, {FF} from their weekly AM Nosh. Todays Venue de Chew, Diamond Jims in Beautiful, all be it soaked F Way. To be clear, The Famished Four was minus one, MSue is in Baltimore, Delaware and Wash DC till friday. Smoj and HT Ken picked me up bout 9:00 and we sloshed our way out. We had been to DJ's before but not for a while, It's kinda funny tho, when in Federal Way for breakfast, you seem to run into familar faces, It Seems all us folk who live out that way eat breakfast at the same 3 restaurants, Black Bear Diner, Village Inn or Diamond Jims , they sorta go in a circle, you know visit one place for a while till they screw up something then off to the next place untill they in turn cook your eggs to hard... then to the next, we however dont eat at any of these places all to often, dont get me wrong now all three are decent,quite frankly I think they all make their coffee in one giant urn and share it between the three of em... Sigh... such is my quest. But nuff said bout that, Diamond Jims is pretty good, no waiting , good service and the food arrives hot and fast. we were seated immediatly, asked what our Bev o choice would be, Coffee for me, just water for Smoj, and Hot T for ol HT , didn't see that coming did ya? so Ken got his tea, Val her water, Coffee ?....... musta forgot. Our Server arrived and took our order, and assured me the coffee would arrive soon. Now I know the coffee in these places kinda sucks but doggone it I still want it,and just when I was gonna say.. Scuse me, my Breakfast arrived along with my first cup of Cafe de Mediocre. DJ's Eggs Benny for me, their rendition is a triple egg affair along with browns, pretty good Hollandaise. Tho my eggs were runnier than perfect { better than too hard}, Thats Not what she said! I am talkin eggs here, kinda had to get my own ketchup.. oh well I shouldn't really whine to much it is what it is right? Smoj had had a Ham and cheese scramble, browns and toast, she was a good eater this morning, almost all gone . Ol Hot T along with his namessake, had the Waffle breakfast, Two eggs two links... He said it was good, what was good was the price ,mine was 12 bucks out the door! I'm sure Ken and Vals was equally thrifty! We will I'm sure at some point go back.. not sure when, Lucky for me there are many Starbucks close by! ...... P.S Like I said earlier,bout runnin into folks, we ran into an elementary teacher of both our daughters Jess and Cass! she's one of the people we see at these joints, always great to see her, dressed all Chrismassy, Mrs Muscutt! yep one of the good ones for sure. Still got the lipstick on my cheek to prove it!

Etta's at the Market.. turn it up!

Greetings, Blogophyles! been a while since we went someplace new. Todays Target of Consumption was Ettas, its one of the many Tom Douglas affairs in the city and for a nice Sunday morn in November, it wasn't too crowded, tho we did make reservations, it really didn't appear to have been needed . MSue and myself Whisked by and picked up Smoj and Ol Hot T and headed out. A short preface before we start... Last year for Christmas MSue and I presented Val and Ken {Smoj and Hot T} with a copy of Seattle magazine, it was the one that listed many of the fine breakfast locals,that we have visited this past year. We informed them that this was their "Christmas present" that is that they could pick any place in the magazine or any place else for that matter, and that particular fare for that day would be Gratis.. free... on the cuff .. we'd pick up the bill.. Well they sure took they're sweet time, but today was the day and Ettas was they're choice , of course since it was on us, we drove... right?. So's we arrived at our destination, and as par for Market type dining, we had to park a bit a way ,We dropped the Chicks and hit the Bricks!... Well we parked any way, and Ol Hot T and Me made are way back to meet our dates. Ettas does not have a huge menu, but its a bit different than your basic eggaline con bacon. They have a nice selection of Morning pick me ups, Scratch Bloody Marys. Bellinis, you know the use! So bein the rebels that we are, MSue had Ice T w/lemon , Ol Hot T .. wait for it.. yep Hot T and good ol Smoj had Water.. yep h2o, I said Hey! your throwin off the Blog! were buyin, have an OJ, or a cocktail.. shot o tequila!... Nope just water, oookkk. MSue and Smoj again ordered the same meal, Dungeness Crab Eggs Benny! with spinach also , roasted spuds and , well I guess that was it for them, they both enjoyed the meal, although MSue says maybe a little lite on the Hollandaise, and I did notice that Vals eggs were a little over poached, Msues of course were scrambled {well done} but instead of the two eggs, as is customary, she requires them to only make hers with one egg, dont ask me to explain, two eggs are just too much! Nuff a dat! Ol Hot T ordered the Ettas Hash, also with roasted spudniks, wedge of toast and his two poachers appeared to be perfect, it also came with Habanero ketchup... What ? Yep You heard right and it was Awsome! They should offer it with every plate, I spose you could get it .. if you asked... I will next time, in fact if they bottled it ,I would buy it! Well thats almost it, Cept for me and as you might have guessed Ettas is at the Market.. what do they have at the Market?.. some one said "Seafood"! Right you are Scooter, and what may I ask is my Seafood o Choice?.. right again Scooter!! OYSTERS!! Hangtown Fry Baby!!! Ettas version of this dish is a kinda Omlette with bacon and onions and a little bit of swiss, Topped with two lovely little pearls of the sea, actually pretty good sized lil oysties , they in turn were topped with a bit of creme fraiche. Yumtatilicious!!! I burped em for two hours... man thats good burpin! Also with Taters mine did come and a wedge o toast, and Ol Hot T was nice enough to share his Habanero Ketchup! thanks buddy! I washed it all down with plenty o Hot Jo, black as coal and pretty darn acceptible. Yessiree Bob we liked it , and will go back at some point, but Cutters is right across the street, and Lowells is in the Market proper.. Rumour has it they both have Oysters!

Good Food and...

We did something today Blogomaniacs that we haven't done for awhile.. Yep had breakfast with Ken and Val, oh yeh you might know them as Hot T and Smoj. They decided to quit all this globetrotting and hanging out with the rich and famous and have a nice little everymans breakfast with their friends Jim{me} and Msue{Msue} We have been going out ,Msue and I have ,but the places weve been going have been some of our old haunts{noticed how I worked that in, Halloween an all} So today we were going to go Petes Egg nest, Msue wanted bacon!..but since we have been there like a cajillion times ,ol Hot and Smoj thought we should try somthing new, you know, something to blog about{although frankly.. I replied to one of Vals postings on Facebook, and referred to her as Smoj... She didn't know what it was,sure I read your blogs Jim,well she should after all shes a big part , as much fun as I poke her way} Sigh.... Anyhoo we followed their lead and agreed "To Sumner we would go, our quest for our late morning mastication ritual was to be K C's Bakery and Cafe on Main st in quaint lil dtown Sumner, gotta parking place right in front yeh baby! and in we walked,got seated right away at a table upstairs. Right when we sat we heard from another table, Wow look at that bacon!, Msue turned around so fast, she bout fell over, she does like her bacon.We order our bevs o choice, Coffee for me, ol Hot T and Smoj were up to their old habits yep, Tea and OJ for them, Msue of course has that Ice T Monkey on her back ,soooo Ice T W/lemon she orders, but wait, she didn't get a lemon in her Ice T, so I, bein the stand up guy that I am, asked the waitress if she might bring her one... waiting, waiting.. no lemon, so I asked the Busboy, sure as shootin she got her self a lemon slice, he brought it out with his fingers and handed it to her, the look on her face was really? Fingers? but she held out her glass and plopped it in, whew!, 1 star taken away {we all start with 5}We did order food , Smoj ordered the Swiss and spinach mushroom omlette, as a scramble of course,and Msue says ditto for me.. same ol same for the both of em,one of these times, I'm just gonna order for the both of em.. Ol Hot T had the Ham steak, eggs over med and hashbrowns, I had the Biscuits and Gravy, 2 eggalinas over medium, and browns as well. Of course we had no silver ware, so a small wait for that, refills on my coffee.. absolutely, refills on Ice T not so much..one more star ..Snatched away! The girls food arrived first. for 4 egg affairs they were kinda dinky, and they had just a little slice of swiss cheese on top,a bit of a turn off at first but they managed ok and said that it was good,although they would order differantly next time, the scramble came with hollandaise on the side,which was really good. Hot Ts Ham and Eggs looked really good, the slab o ham was big and thick, eggs done perfect and Ol Hot T said the browns were almost the best ever! My Skits and Gravy were fantasmic! ,the gravy was almost as good as the Chelans,{which is almost as good as Msues homemade} Eggs over perfect, and I gotta agree with Ol Hot T, Damn good browns... MM! The portions not huge but ample enough, Msue needed a box for her leftovers so again we asked and we waited... and she also needed a to go cup for her Ice T and we waited... Wham!" one more star" no longer there. It did arrive, both containers that is and the food box had Muchos Gracias imprinted on it , we just thought it was kinda funny... Sooo Peoples, KC's bakery and cafe, the food was good, really good, mine and Ol Hot T's were anyways , the service was..polite.. but a little slow, I think they meant well. We decided we would rate these places as "Gotta go back" Will go back"We might go back"We'll only go back if they say please"or Never Never Ever go back.. KC's rated a "Will Go Back" Cuz you know the food was good , right? The Service I'm sure will be better next time! Oh Yeh! the Coffee.... not so much.. but I'll keep tryin!

"Long Time no Blog"

Well I really cant believe it was August 8th since last I blogged,Have We not had the need to feed? indeed not! no we have ... eaten that is. Has no place been blogworthy? no.. we've been to some decent joints. What could it be you ask? Can you say Kitchen Remodel?.... Good! I knew you could, what I didn't know, was that it could be so encompasing, so time consuming, and with no contracter to blame , who was gonna get the hot end of the poker? thats right ,"this guy"! Lucky for me , I had some much needed and much appreciated help from my buddy Jeff , for without his help I would be in a sad state of disrepair,along with the kitchen. The end is within reach now, its looking good, no major setbacks really , things just take longer apparently ... anyhow I digress, restaurants ? yes there have been a few, although some of the details may be a bit scetchy, I should be able to hit a few of the high notes along the way. Hmmmm since I last blogged we have been to "Dixies" in Sumner, "Mary's in Kent, "Sara's Coffee Shop",also in Kent. Oh Yeh, and "BlueberryHill" in Manson and Today We went to the "Bay Cafe" yes deja vu, Been there blogged that , But still noteworthy and not just cuz they have oysters for breakfast,{the're still awsome} no, it was the quality of the company that made this particular trip special. My Aunt Jean was in town from Wisconsin,and if that wasn't cool enough ,she brought one of my favorite people in the world with her ,my Cousin Diane. Now I have known my Aunt all my life, she's my late Dads younger sister, tho how much younger , she wont reveal. But Diane really I've known for just a short time, 10 , 15 years maybe, it's a shame really, it seems I've missed out on someone pretty special, any ways We dont get to see them very often, so it was nice to have breakfast with them this A.M. Our usual partners in crime, Smoj Val and "ol Hot t Ken" are on vacation, no shos this trip. I of course had Oysters {Duh!} along with what I forgot were damn near the best Browns ever sided by 3 eggers over medium, only one thing to say bout that" MM"! My Aunt Jean had a Waffle, side o bacon Cuz Diane had blueberry pancakes, the waitress asked if she would like whipped cream with her cakes? Diane replied, Ive never had that, but bring it on, she must of liked it, when it was all said and done,the whipped cream was gone, although I noticed that maybe her pancakes wern't quite up to snuff.. for there were a few doughy berries left behind, I offered her an Oyster, which she immediatly declined. Never did like those things , she stated, She was a bit surprised when mine arrived cooked, I like em raw , I do, but fried or grilled is better for breakfast. MSue had an Omlette, but ordered as a scramble, It had feta cheese,spinach, tomatoes and shrooms along with crispy browns, side o salsa, and plenty of Ice T w/lemon to wash it all down. Yeppers Good Company, good breakfast. Yeh that was today in a nutshell, the other places I mentioned? Oh yeh Dixies in Sumner, a long time ago it seems , I cant quite remember quite what we all had but we have been there before, quite a few times in fact, the food is good, the place is loud as hell and the wait can sometimes be long, but its worth the wait, big portions, friendly family owned, on Main st in downtown Sumner. A few of the highlights are a pretty good CFS, "Dads" potatoes and all their Omlettes or Scrambles . Now Marys in upper Kent... Eh nothin special, I did have the CFS there , I maybe spoiled by some of the other places we've been to but the CFS was a cfs, yep.. pretty tiny, the rest of the food ordered was ok I guess, but unremarkable. "Sara's Coffeshop" on central in lower Kent I guess you'd say. Sara's was tiny tiny, and probably not remodeled since JJ said DYNOMITE! but I gotta tell ya the food was pretty darn good, now both M sue ordered simple breakfast fare, she had the bacon and eggs,scrambled well done, side o salsa. no salsa! what? oh well no biggy, Ice T of course. My order was the same, cept egglys over med... good browns, lots of thick bacon yep pretty good.. coffee, not so much, but the food was good and we will go back,we went by ourselves, Ken and Val absent once again ,Vacation I guess . Ok now for Blueberry Hill in Manson Wa, I went there While MSue was Vacationing with her clucky hen friends in Palm Desert, I was attending a family wedding, our niece Stacy's it was in Chelan , very nice affair... after all the festivities, on our way home we stopped at his place Myself, Herb and Theresa, {MSue's sister and hubby} their kids Kristen and spousel unit Jake and the coolest kid ever ,their son Colton, gonna be two pretty soon and Katie, their youngest, minus husband Adam {had to work} anyhoo you go in this place and order your food at the counter, they in turn bring you the food when ready, so we find table and wait, and wait and wait just abit more, finally the food arrived, Skits and gravy for me and Herb mmmm good, probably the best I've had. but The Coffee tasted like bad instant... next time I'll have juice, course it is in Manson, next time may be quite a long time. But if your ever in Manson, go early, long lines long wait....

Breakfast in Covington? Hell yea!

Ok, so let me paint the picture for you faithful blogomites. My sister has a BBQ party every year,right about this time every year.They started having this wingding years ago so their kids and their friends could get together,and they as parents could see their kids friends yada, yada.Well its turned into quite the deal, the kids are older now some of their friends have kids of their own ,other people ,neighbors, friends of friends, all seem to be welcome.Lots and lots of good food and fun! So my nephew Troy ask's "Whats on the Breakfast Blog Menu for tomorrow?"{faithfull follower that he is} Of course MSue says back,dont really know most times we just figure it out on the fly. Well you get enough people together,and you start to drink a bit , it seems every body has their fav B-fast joint . To make a short story a bit longer, after numerous suggestions Troy and his lovely wife,Krystal along with their close friends Dave and Krista said we should try "Draft Choice"in Covington, they all raved about it! So Having all the respect that I do for Troy's opinion on such matters,ie; liquor and food and what not ,we decided Why not? Troy and Krystal and Dave and Krista say heck if you go, we'll meet you there.. alright then its a date. So ol Hot T and Smoj Val show up at our place round a bout 8:30 and off we go! Rag top up this trip... Raining in August.. oh well, the restaurant is a little bar/lounge right on the Kent Black Diamond rd. the cross street is Thomas rd I believe. Well sir We walked right in just like my niece said we would, sat right down, not crowded at all ,got our drink on ,so to speak.. MSue and Val had Bloody Caesers, I of course had coffee, ol Hot did not dissapoint ordered Hot T, He asks "Do you have English Breakfast?"The waitress says nope.. Lipton it is! Troy said this place wasnt't fancy ,kinda divey, My kinda place!Well we din't find it that way at all, what it is is small to medium size, nice neighborhood Watering hole that happens to have a really kick ass breakfast! MSue and Val both again ordered the same.. Eggs Benedict.. Cept for Msue had hers with egg scrambled well done, Home Fries instead of the usual Hashbrowns, Cuz my Niece and Krista said order the home fries, I think they both would have preferred the browns! They said they were good but nothin special, But they did really like the Benedict, the sauce was mildy lemony and rich, Canuck Bacon an all and no leftovers.. Mustodelicioso!!! ol Hot T ordered the" Farmers Scramble"; sausage, bacon assorted veggies and cheese and a mix and match of taters, half browns, half homers, Big platter o grub for ol Hot T he could not finish. He did however like it!! Troy says to me , you gotta have the CFS, Uncle Jim, its the best! Well Troy I gotta tell ya.. Hell yeh ! It was damn good, crispy with just the right amount of greasy goodness that I find appealing in a cfs! I also had the Homers, stead o browns They were fresh red spuds cooked perfectly, I liked em a lot! course with Eggsters over medium and wheat toast, mmmm ,I
really should have taken half my steak home , cuz it was hugeormous... noper I ate it all,I did !and sopped up the remaining gravy and yolk with my last piece of toast!! Nice Recomendo Troyo! Cept for one thing... YOU GUYS DIDN'T SHOW UP! Lucky for us the Waitress and the cook did, it was one of the best breakfasts I've had , pretty good jo also, basic but strong and plentiful! I dont know where our travels will bring us too next week Troy, you guys are welcome to join the crew, tho I wont hold my breath! Yep Yep, "Draft Choices" Covington was the right choice for Famished Four on this sunday.. we'll be back!