I was befuddled by The Counter

The Counter taunted me for for weeks before it opened with images of perfect burgers piled with fixings of my choice. MY choice! I'm a Red Mill devotee, but was willing to consider defecting if the burgers demanded it.

K and I met there for Sunday lunch. Maybe it was the hour, but overall the place seems really kid-friendly, which makes sense considering the menu. It's just burgers, fries and shakes, right? But once I started trying to decide among the burger toppings, a burger no longer seemed so simple. Jalapenos, grilled pineapple, fried egg, red peppers, dried cranberries, bacon, gruyere, fried onion strings on a bun or English muffin or in a bowl?

Oh my. I couldn't think straight. Then I started to think they should have designed the burger for me. I didn't want to do it any more. And they have a few pre-designed options, but they all felt safe and lacked the tantalizing choices like roasted corn and black bean salsa. So I boldly went for: gruyere, caramelized onions, tomato, lettuce, avocado, garlic aioli. I know, not bold. K chose similarly traditional toppings, though she went for Russian dressing. You also can go halvsies on sides, so we split french fries and sweet potato fries ($4.95), forgoing the third choice, fried onion strings.

The fries were disappointing. A burger place should know how to do fries and The Counter's are not up to snuff. They were rather dry, and for thin fries, not very crisp. The sweet potato fries were much more satisfying, with a mellow sweetness.

But our burgers showed up piled as high with toppings as I hoped. They were quite intimidating to consider. The grilled bun was neither fantastic nor bad, just a pretty decent burger bun. The meat patty was quite thick, almost too thick and the meat was underseasoned. But the caramelized onions were beautiful, if slippery, and along with the gruyere and half an avocado, made up for the lack of flavor in the meat. The aioli also was served on the side, a nice touch.

I rather enjoyed my burger ($9.25) and K also had a banana shake ($4.95) that was thick with chunks of real banana. Nothing was really wrong with our meal except the fries. But it also was not the kind of place that ignites an all-consuming passion, like Red Mill with its incredible burgers and heavenly onion rings. Like its meat, The Counter is just a little bland.

The Counter
4609 14th Ave. N.W.
Seattle
206-706-0311

I brunched at Volterra

From K.

Brunch is my definition of the perfect meal. It's rarely eaten in a hurry; we love to linger over our plates, perhaps because we're stuffed to the point of immobility. It's typically rife with bacon, cheese and yeasty goodness like waffles and cinnamon rolls. It's often fancy and casual simultaneously.

I experienced all these things at Volterra, a Ballard restaurant I'd long maligned after a bad dinner experience on a recent birthday. "Go for brunch. It's their best meal," my friends advised me. How right they were.

Our table of six lovely ladies ordered a frittata, the wild mushroom scramble with truffle cheese, the chestnut pancakes, their un-traditionally good Traditional Breakfast and plenty of their delectable sausage and bacon. I thoroughly enjoyed my scramble, the way it blended salty and sweet and savory. I was surprised by what I admired most on my square white porcelain plate, though: the most ideal hashbrowns I've ever encountered.

Best of all, we walked out into the crisp fall sunlight with the Ballard Farmers Market just steps away. After all, it was time to start pondering dinner ingredients...

I watched the Maldives, Shim, Thee Emergency and Pickwick at the Tractor

From N.

I can't say I love alt country. I'm often about nasally indie rock bands. But I have been enamoured with locals The Maldives since Capitol Hill Block Party. Their mournful music and clear voices appealed to me. Plus the hype around their three-day CD release party that coincided with the 15th birthday of The Tractor Tavern was unavoidable in social media world.

I snagged tickets on the last night of the sold-out three day Tractor extravaganza. There were a lot of openers, including Pickwick, who I liked despite the name. The lead singer had an amazing voice and the alt rock band had an appealing sound that I want to listen to more. Thee Emergency, on the other hand, could use an emergency makeover. They were out of tune, their music wandered and they had no cohesive sound that I could make out. The lead singer had a strong voice, but that was about the only redeeming quality of the band. I've heard before they're talented, but I disagree and wouldn't waste my time with them again.

The next opener, Shim, was unexpectedly amazing. The two lead singers are throwback 70s with their long curly hair, but they had incredible stage presence with their arena rock music. Those two are meant to be rock stars. The band was powerful, and while it's not music I'd ever listen to at home, they are worth catching for the performance. They also had a rather fratty and drunk following who pumped their arms as they sang the words to every song. (Arm in the picture is from one aforementioned fratty follower.)


By the time The Maldives showed up, it was 12:15 and my ears were ringing from Shim. Still, the Maldives put on a helluva show.


Their music feels so lonely and quiet when you listen to them through headphones, but on stage, they are an intense, powerful rock band. I loved watching them jam and was swept up in their performance that night. If you don't already love them, you should.

Tractor Tavern
5213 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle
206-789-3599

I ate at Moshi Moshi

From K.

Ring-ring, ring-ring.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hai. K desu!"

"Hai! O genki desuka?"

Yes, I'm definitely genki, or feeling energized. I always feel this way after good Japanese meals. Something about the combo of miso soup, fresh fish, pickles, good rice and something fried just sets me smiling (all that tonkatsu et all is from Portugal's legacy in Japan BTW, but we can forgive them because it tastes so great). My friend KT suggested a trip here after we realized we hadn't shared dinner in ages. Too much training for triathlons and bootcamp make us forget how much fun we can have when we're not working out.



After the typical Ballard parking drama, we met up in a booth along one of the walls and perused the menu. KT went for a bowl of fresh sashimi (chirashi) and I ordered tonkatsu. We split pickles and each got miso soup. I think KT would have appreciated a pictoral sushi guide to better enjoy her dish, though she seemed happy. My tonkatsu came out piping hot, crispy and meaty, with a rich-yet-fruity dipping sauce (made me wonder if they just go ahead and pour Bulldog Brand straight from the bottle?). The pickles ranged from super tasty to bland and spiritless (they need to perfect the eggplant for sure). The miso made my mouth happy, as did the high-quality green tea. We enjoyed all this beneath the glow of their LED pink sakura tree that crowns the restaurant. While MM did not displace the ID's Kaname as my favorite Japanese spot, I shall return (I also love Hiroshi's on Eastlake for nikku udon and curry rice, but I digress :)

Next time I want to explore their drinks menu, as well as their mochi (I wonder if it's from Tokara in Phinney/Greenwood? Or of their own creation?). But this night we headed down the street to Cupcake Royale to try out their new, reformuated cake recipe.



They definitely seemed more moist and less crumbly. But then again, their cupcakes always taste great in store, not as swell by the time you're home (unlike Trophy). Seemed promising though, and I'm happy to experiment some more for the sake of scientific research :)

The deets
Moshi Moshi: 5324 Ballard Ave. N.W., Seattle, 206-971-7424
Cupcake Royale (Ballard): 2052 N.W. Market St., Seattle, 206-782-9557