Spokane Food Blog

I suppose Sultan isn’t on top of everybody’s place to visit, but should you be heading to Seattle on Highway 2 (or indeed go hiking through Stevens Pass) then Sultan Bakery should be a destination for anyone anyone who likes baked goods. And really, who doesn’t?

One thing is the cinnamon roll which is huge. I mean huge. The picture does not do it justice; this thing was about the size of my face. The real winner, in my view anyway, was the bear claw. Filled with strawberry and covered with a light frosting, it was the perfect sweet way to start off a drive back to Spokane with marathon-educed stiffness.

Word has it the food is excellent there too, but with lines out the door and an hour wait, we didn’t get the chance to check it out.

But hey, there are always other marathons.

It’s the little similarities that sometimes are the biggest differences between cultures. Take KFC: I doubt there are any in Morocco, but they do have Southern Fried Chicken. (”Lip licking flavor!”)

Yet while you’d expect SFC to be another chicken fast-food chain like KFC, it actually isn’t. In fact, SFC seems a bit confused about what exactly it is. Sure, you go up to a counter and place your order, but then you sit down at a table which has been set with plates and utensils, not unlike any “regular” restaurant. And the food is prepared from scratch. In fact, chicken didn’t even seem to be their main menu item. Instead…

That’s right. Shawarma! And I have to say, it was pretty damn good at that. The same thing went for the falafel, which even had avocado in it, and tasted really refreshing.

SFC is really just like KFC in name only. I mean, is KFC a hip place for teens on dates to hang out?

I think not.

Frankly, I’m not quite sure what I had expected Tangier, Morocco to be like. I’d heard Casablanca supposedly was based on events that took place in Tangier, and I knew a lot of tourist daytrips went through the city. I assumed the place would be fairly westernized, what with the close proximity to Europe and tourist stream and what not.

As it turned out, I was definitely off on the latter. There are western, particularly French, influences in the town, certainly, but spend a night or two in Tangier, and go for a walk in the more middle-class neighborhoods, and there is little doubt you’re in a Muslim country. Ladies, dressed in traditional, yet very fashionable, outfits, and cafes filled with men (only), drinking tea and watching soccer. Not that it’s all that different from here, but the split between the sexes and the differences in fashion serve as reminders that you don’t have to travel far from Europe to see a fairly different world.

Anyway, food and beverages. All pretty dang good. The lamb kebab, for example, were juicy with just a bit of spiciness to them. And of course no Moroccan meal can go without kuskus, served this time with chicken.

My favorite was still something as simple as the tea. Just simple straight forward tea, with mint leaves soaked in it and (lots of) sugar. Definitely worth sipping down by sea.

And if that’s not to your liking, there’s always another KFC rip-off. But more on that later.

If it has seemed a bit quiet here the last week, it can all be blamed on the Spokane Food Blog Editorial Board™ embarking on a Food Fact Finding Mission on the east coast of Spain. And for your enjoyment, here is the dossier of what we found.

Murcia

Murcia received some (I assume) unwanted attention for having the first death in Europe related to some sort of flu bug that was going around. Odds are that is the only time you’ve heard of the region as it is often described as a place both Spaniards and tourists avoid. This is really too bad as Murcia, the city, really is a pretty awesome place, with an old town that consists of dozens of sizable plazas, all equipped with cafes and tapas bars. And churches. Not sure why, but there were at least one per plaza, but I digress…

This is definitely a place to sit down and try out some hot chocolate or a coffee based drinks. While Italy might have made more of a name for itself for the latter, I can truly say that any espresso based drink I tried was awesome. Pretty refreshing, after the common “oh, stop inconveniencing me with your fancy schmancy cappuccino order” attitude we see here. Anyway…

While I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the tapas place we tried, it had some of the better beef tenderloin I’ve had in a while. Being a bit more inland, Murcia’s tapas are mostly meat based, and often served on slices of baguette.

Valencia

The third largest city in Spain is in many ways probably the one city anybody should visit if they’re in the south-eastern part of the country. And, again, the food is awesome here.

La Taberna de la Reina, located centrally in Plaza de la Reina, is a pretty big lunch place for workers in the area. Again, the tapas here are served on bread, though the majority of it is seafood. Very very fresh seafood, some smoked, some fried, and all delicious. Make sure to sample a variety of the cheeses too, as, and you probably already know this, Spanish cheese are really quite great.

Also, and this goes for most cities in Spain, make sure to check out the food section in the department store El Corte Ingles. If a major chain can hold as high standard they do in Spain, a country with nearly 20% unemployment, I can’t help but think Fred Meyer is looking a bit puny.

Cartagena

Another city with a nice old town. This is where I probably had my favorite meal of the trip, though I didn’t note down the name of the place, nor did I take a picture of it. But, let’s try to describe it: Walk from the water up the main pedestrian street in old town (you really can’t miss it) and a few blocks up, on the left, you’ll see a restaurant with an outside seating area that stretches almost a block. Go in, and order the shrimp in garlic, and then cry over how good it tastes. Fresh shrimp and perfectly balanced garlic sauce. Man. I miss it already.

Torre de la Horadada

This little town, where we spent the majority of the time, is difficult to find as it’s not marked on any road signs. Follow Pilar de la Horadada, south of Torrevieja, however, and you should be able to locate it. It’s a beautiful little sea town, with a boardwalk that leads you to a small plaza with about a dozen restaurants. Here there are three you need to try:

First, there’s Lilly’s, a continental European style restaurant owned by a German. Their pate platter is delicious, with cheeses and olives, and is a flavor-kick that suits any warm Mediterranean evening. And the savory crepes? Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and I mean that in a good way.

Also in the plaza is one called Manuel’s or something similar. Try the plate with tomato jam, goat cheese, and bread, and you will be a happy person. The same goes for the pizzas which are great.

Finally, there’s Heladeria Galan. If you follow us on Twitter, you might already have seen the gelato they serve there. And it was good. It was oh so good.

Furthermore…

And lastly… Worth trying is churros and chocolate. The churro is a bit different than its Mexican cousin, in that it’s thinner and more dense. It goes perfectly for dipping in a hot chocolate sauce, in other words.

During a Spokane Food Blog business trip over in Hood Canal, the Spokane Food Blog Editorial Board was forced to drive through the Dalles because of snow conditions in the passes. This is not a good thing, as it tacks on a good four to five hours to the driving time. However, on the upside, it is an excuse to stop by Cousins‘, quite possibly the Mecca of diners in the northwest.

Nothing is done halfheartedly at Cousins’. As you walk through the mooing door, you’re greeted with a “Howdy cousin!” by your waitress, while a model train passes above your head. I mean, come on! You’re in The Dalles! Might as well soak in the barn-themed experience!

And really, the food is pretty awesome. My fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans tasted as classically home-made as I wanted it to be, with the potatoes soaked in gravy and all. The portions are huge. Mine looked like something I had expected to see in an eating contest. A dinner at Cousins’ is more like two dinners.

Same goes for the shakes, which are excellent, but really… You get two shakes for the price of one.

Food comas are part of the game at Cousins’, and I am OK with that. The home-style food is pretty awesome, and the shakes themselves are worth the trip.

There are many many reasons to visit The Dalles — they have a Home Depot people! — so while you’re there, check out Cousins’. It’s awesome and a half.

I purchased “one of everything” from this spice vendor in Kabul, AF.  I paid about 8Afs/ $15.00 for about a gallon of assorted spices that included saffron from Iran.  I found it interesting that the majority of spices in Afghanistan are sold by Hindus.

I won’t bore you with details a Discovery Channel type program could tell you about Dubai, just know it is all that and a bag of chips. And remember to see the laborers’ side of town so you get the full picture. If you stop over anytime soon, be sure to look up my friend Rahul. He can help you know the other side of Dubai.

Amazing food. We stopped at one Southern Indian style restaurant in the locals’ part of town. Amazing: All vegetarian and inexpensive. Follow that up with some Southern Indian sweets and you are set. Fresh squeezed mango juice, lemon and mint juice, pomegranate juice… I just could not get enough of that in the beautiful warm winter sun.

Then off to a few great restaurants serving mix-grill. This time I even loved the chicken. Wonderful, amazing hummus — not the kind you get prepackaged from the US grocery stores. This stuff is smooth, shaped to hold olive oil and sometimes meat or pine-nuts that you stir in yourself. While indulging and sitting on the patio, watching the parade of cars drive by. Check out this bit the license plate numbers: numbers 1-1000 cost extra money. The lower your number the more you paid for it. And by paid I mean $375,000 just for number 82. Some VERY exclusive expensive cars don’t have these special plate numbers and seem to lose their prestige. The cars with the elite plates, no matter the car, make you look up and say, “oh there’s a number 36, I wonder how he makes his money.”

After grazing late into the night, watching groups or men walk by or groups of women followed by their hired escorts, you may want to stop at the market and check out the “Not for Muslims” section of the store. There you can find a concentrated area of products made from pigs, or food not prepared halal style. For you meat lovers, this overwhelming amount of made-with-pig products could be your dream come true. When you go to pay, you may be surprised to find a small box of chicklets instead of small change. Gum is unofficially an official form of currency.

I wish I could tolerate Chili’s because there are as many in Dubai as there are Starbucks. When pretending you don’t see the popularity of the “American cuisine” look up to watch the “national” bird of Dubai, the crane, and I am not talking about the type with feathers.

Dubai = great food. If anyone has a bunch of cash and would like to invest in a great restaurant idea in Dubai, let me know and I will fill you in. Serious inquires only, please.

A typical produce store.

A typical KFC (Kabul Fried Chicken).

When we received approval through SMS messages that we could start crossing through Kabul after being on lock down due to suicide bombers at three ministries, I requested a stop at Flower Street to pick up a few items before the continuation of the lock down.

First I went to an International Market called A1 Super Foods where I grabbed some quick eats for tonight: A halal prepared cup of noodles from Singapore, some cheese from France, crackers from Pakistan, and plastic bags to make Valentines.

Then onto the search for some type of decorative paper. I found red heart and rose paper at a flower shop. Outside were several carts of different fruits, eggs, and nuts. I stopped for a few oranges imported from Pakistan, seven for 30 AFS ($0.60).

When I arrived back at my guest house, I turned on the satellite TV and flipped between AFN Spectrum, BBC, and one of the Northern Afghanistan War Lord stations. I stuffed the plastic bags from A1 with Kirkland chocolates, a heart cut from the paper, and a business card to complete my Valentines bags. Kabul is quite the American Psycho town when it comes to cards, they are worth their weight in gold. I added boiling water to the noodles which were surprisingly good and the oranges spectacular.

I also found out Le Bistro, the restaurant that serves my favorite cake and soup, burned down two months ago. Rumor has it they will reopen in another month.

However, this could just be another Churchill’s story.

Pulling up to Rose Cafe you can expect to see a grill master manning the BBQ with plenty of kebobs making a smoke big enough to send rescue helicopters.  The Cafe has expanded to a rather large dining area complete with a “Women’s” section placed away from windows and covered with a curtain entrance.  My lunch buddy Sardar and I were escorted to table 41 in the women’s section.

Of course I have to check out the bathroom before ordering and follow a great tradition that should be used more strictly in the USA, washing hands before eating.  This bathroom came with a men’s sign but all of the men in the cafe assured me it was unisex.  A “squatter toilet” –  not bad because sometimes a seat is not good in cold weather if you know what I mean.  But dressing for the scene with long coats and shirts and layers it can be a challenge.  Overall on a Kabul bathroom scale this could be a 2/4 star.  About average.  Working lights, relatively clean by comparison, without toilet paper (always bring your own!) and soap at the sink.

Sardar ordered a spicy lamb kebob and a pull-tab Fanta for 150 AFS ($3.00).  He also recommends dipping the meat in the Knorr’s spice sauce and eating it wrapped with a piece of bread.  I tried the new item on the menu: pizza.  It was a mushroom, corn, green pepper, vegetarian pizza, with some spicy sauce.  The cheese leaves much to be desired.  Overall, though,  it is a good place to eat when you are in the Kabul University area.  You will find the restaurant is packed inside with locals, and outside the front-door you will find men to repair the soles of your shoes instead of men with guns guarding the door.

A refreshing change compared to the “Foreign Passport Restaurants.”