The Black Bear Diner, Federal Way, WA.

If you are ever in Federal Way WA. you have to have breakfast at the Black Bear Diner.  Actually, you should have breakfast, lunch and dinner there, but if you are only going to have one meal there, make it the one that starts your day.

On my last trip to the Sea-Tac area, I stayed in Federal Way, and when I'm there, I always make it a point to eat at least one breakfast at the Black Bear Diner.  This time I had time for two breakfasts :)

The furnishings and décor in the restaurant stays true to their theme of a country hunting lodge.  The menu is even printed like a little local newspaper, which I thought was a nice touch.

I always have trouble deciding what I'm going to want there... a stack of pancakes with maple syrup or a full breakfast platter with all my favorites.  My first breakfast was the Hickory Smoked Ham Combo.  This includes a huge over 1/4 inch thick ham steak, country potatoes and 2 eggs... any style.  I had mine scrambled this time, and they were light and fluffy and perfect!  We added a side of bacon, because I wanted to try that too.

The bacon was done perfectly, or at least how I like it, just on the right side of crispy.  Like the ham steak, the bacon was thicker than expected, almost as thick as a slice of beef jerky... and tasted... well.. it was bacon!!!!  The country potatoes are mixed with onions and peppers and definitely one of my favorites. 

Due to the great "over medium egg debate" (about which I may at some day go into greater detail), for my next breakfast there, I ordered eggs over medium on the link sausage combo.  The eggs were dead on truly over medium.  This time I got the hash browns, cause I like to use them to sop up the egg goodness, and again, they were just how I like them; crispy on one side and tender on the other.

I wish I had not waited so long before writing this blog post, because I'd have much better descriptions of the food... especially these sausages.  Exact memories fail me now, but I remember truly enjoying these sausages.  I guess I just need to make my way up there again and take notes... but that would be impossible... I'm not doin' nothing but eatin' when I'm at the Black Bear... that food puts me in the zone!!!

Geoduck at last!!!

I finally got to try geoduck (pronounced "Gooey Duck")!

As the reader may know, I'm a huge fan of Seattle Washington.  Its one of my favorite towns.  So my friend there wanted to find something uniquely regional for me to try there.  That's how I learned about the geoduck (see my post "Christmas Duck"), and, as they are only found around the Puget Sound area, that makes them a prime candidate for a regional delicacy.

 

The geoduck was the culmination of a great day.  We had reservations for Shiro's Sushi bar when it opened at 5:30.  Reservations are required, and there is always a line.  Shiro's looks to be that good.  Its a very small, but elegant, Japanese Restaurant/Sushi bar.  Its well worth the time to get a table.  No reservations are needed for the sushi bar itself, but all the seats were taken when we got in. 

As we were going to downtown Seattle around rush hour, we left very early to avoid the traffic which is not much unlike Houston's, and spent some time sight seeing.  Down the hill from Pike's Place, is the touristy waterfront area with restaurants, amusements and tours of the sound.  Last year, an entrepreneur built the Seattle Great Wheel.  It is a huge Ferris wheel, much like the eye of London.  It is the largest observation wheel on the west coast, rising 175 feet above the piers.  It gives a great view of port including the Seahawks stadium, Mt. Rainer and the cargo loaders that inspired George Lucas' Imperial Walkers...

 

 Back to the geoduck...  I had watched some videos on YouTube about Geoduck and people described it as very buttery.  Well, I had never had clams before... yes, reader, I who likes to eat, had never had clams before... so, when they said that geoduck was a very "buttery' flavored clam, I thought it meant buttery in some sort of seafood way, like people say lobster is 'rich.'  I've never had lobster either, so, I've no idea what 'rich' means there... I know what a rich cake is, but not what a rich lobster is...

 

Shiro's serves their geoduck grilled in butter with asparagus and shitake mushrooms on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes on the side.  My first bite was amazing... that's all I can say... when people say that geoduck has a very buttery flavor, they are dead on... imagine if you grilled a pat of butter without it melting and give it a very tender fleshy consistency... and you have geoduck...  

 

Another wonderful thing about geoduck is that the geoduck you get in the restaurants and stores is farm raised, so the wild geoducks are free to live their lives minding their own business without hunters going after them for our culinary pleasure.