A Bellingham Foodie Blog Restaurant Reviews Bellingham Washington 98225

October 9, 2009

Harris Avenue Cafe – Fairhaven

Filed under: Uncategorized — Bellinghamster @ 7:37 pm

I had a delicious breakfast in Fairhaven this morning. So far, there are 2 great places to eat breakfast in Fairhaven. One is Avenue Bread, the other is Harris Avenue Cafe.

It is adjacent to Tony’s Coffee House and shares its bright relaxed atmosphere. The servers are friendly and attentive and the menu tempting. Wendy ate almond molasses granola, yogurt and fresh fruit. Her portions were more than adequate, especially her fruit plate with plums, apples, melon. And the coffee — excellent. This due to the fact Tony’s Coffee is served: “locally roasting and blending coffee in small batches for over 30 years”. I ate a poached egg, english muffin and black beans with chipotle ranchero sauce – smokey and spicey.

You can also try traditional egg breakfasts, seasoned red potato dishes, omelets galore along with griddle items. And if you show up with half-pints, they can enjoy a teddy bear pancake with a fresh fruit face. Now that I think of it, maybe I could have gotten some?

For lunch, the burgers are served with soup, salad or yam chips. The yam chips are not to be missed. Wendy’s folks love them. Grilled sandwiches: chicken, portabella or veggieburger. They have lots of salads and soups – today’s choices were split pea or cream of mushroom. Cold sandwiches with LTP (lettuce, tomato, pickle spear): roast turkey, greek tuna, chicken/peanut w/roasted garlic. Hot sandwiches, not to be confused with grilled sandwiches = club, cheese and greek tuna open face melt, BLT and catfish po’boy.

7 days 8am-2pm  Breakfast, lunch.

Harris Avenue Cafe  1101 Harris Ave Bellingham WA 360-738-0802

October 3, 2009

Sheela Bristol’s Home-Style Indian Dinner @ Community Food Co-op

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest — Bellinghamster @ 5:22 pm

I was at it again: a Community Food Co-op cooking class. It was a wonderful experience. The tastes and aromas were delicious and comforting. Sheela Bristol was our host and she is very personable and approachable. She grew up in Malaysia and South India before coming to the US. She cooked a great meal!

The dishes were vegetarian: paneer vegetable korma, basmati rice, papadums, parathas and aloo gobi along with sweet ginger chai.

Sheela was in command and Dorothy and I her helpers. We set up the room for a full class while Sheela prepared sweet ginger chai.  It was a sweet and peppery pick me up. Then, a great group of people showed up – hungry and eager to take it all in.

The first dish was paneer vegetable korma. It is a combination of vegetables (carrots, green beans, peas) and paneer (cheese) in a creamy sauce (yogurt). The interesting part of this recipe was the ‘tempering spices’ of cinnamon sticks, cardomom pods and cloves. Each spice is popped in a small quantity of hot oil to bring out its distinctive flavor. If the spices are combined, the taste is different. It tasted wonderfully complex with just the right amount of fire. Sheela served papdums with the korma. They are crispy lentil based wafers about 4″ diameter.

The second dish was aloo gobi made with potatoes, cauliflower and blend of spices:  mango powder, cumin seeds, asafoetida, coriander, paprika, chili, garam masala, turmeric. These are the mixtures that dance on your tongue. The spices you crave when you want Indian food. It was excellent!

This was served with Indian bread called parathas. We also made parathas in class. They are a whole wheat flat bread and very easy to make. I took home some extra dough and made more – YUM!

It is evident from spending 3 hours with Sheela that authentic Indian cooking is within my culinary reach. And, therefore, yours too.

October 2, 2009

Bloom Vegan Restaurant, Bellingham

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 6:26 pm

Bloom is a new restaurant that will be opening this year. So what? Lots of restaurants open every year? Well, not vegan restaurants, and in Bellingham to boot! A Community Food Coopster told me it will be located on Cornwall Avenue in the old Billiards space (across the street from The Vines).

Vegan/Vegetarian. PERFECT. Although there are many places to eat in Bellingham that serve vegetarian options, it can get a little dicey if you’re concerned about cross contamination the way a vegan or gluten free diner would be. So a restaurant serving exclusively vegetarian meals could address this concern.

I will be sampling the menu when they open. I do eat poultry and fish, but I thrive on veggie meals – light, filling and easily digested keeps me going. And I have a LOT going.

Bloom  (restaurant)   1320 Cornwall Ave Bellingham WA

Update:  Gluten-Free Doctor reports Bloom had a soft opening October 13th. It will be open Tuesdays thru Fridays 8am-2pm and on Fridays it will reopen as a lounge at 5pm.

Update 10/2009: Been visiting Bloom on a regular basis.. super foods, super greens, super comfortable. Enjoying the big tables and wifi as well. They have posted their daily menu on their new website – so check it out BloomBellingham.com.

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