Nosh Pit

Thirty-Eight Restaurants for Eating Cheap

At these spots, fill up for under $15.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 26, 2011 at 01:37PM 1 Comments

Photo: Amos Morgan

Bakery Nouveau: delicious, cheap.

Recently Seattle Met critic Kathryn Robinson rounded up her favorite restaurants for eating cheap. Click that link and find the 38 establishments plotted on a map, multiple locations included. The list is a veritable grab bag of cuisines, neighborhoods, and atmosphere. Value, however, is a constant. Enjoy.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Cheap Eats

Culinary Clips: Probing Seattle’s Love of Poutine Part II

“It’s like a savory bomb in your stomach,” says Chris Howell, head chef at Smith.

Posted by: Abby Tracy on Sep 14, 2011 at 12:46PM 0 Comments

Our poutine probe began in Fremont, where a line cook at Uneeda burger shared his theory on Seattle’s curious fascination with the Canuck concoction, in which gravy and cheese curds cover piles of French fries.

Now we head to Smith, a Linda Derschang joint on 15th Avenue East that has been serving up poutine since its earliest days. There, head chef Chris Howell schooled us on the proper execution for superior poutine, the popularity of which, he says, comes down to simple human appetite. “People love cheese, people love fries. It’s never going to stop.”

Behold:

Add a Comment »

Tags: Cheap Eats, Linda Derschang, Culinary Clips, Poutine

This Week in Cheap Eats: Free Fries, Marination’s New Happy Hour, More

Dining on a dime? We’ve got you covered.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 18, 2011 at 10:01AM 0 Comments

June in Madrona: Home of the $7 pickled beef tongue sandwich.

Photo: June via Facebook

Happy Hour News
Aloha, inexpensive beer: Hawaiian-Korean fun food destination Marination Station has jumped aboard the happy hour train. The HH runs Monday through Friday from 2 to 5pm. Buy two sliders or tacos, get a third free. Oh, and your Primo lager from Hawaii costs $2.

Free Food Alerts
This Friday, August 19 Boka will offer free pretzel dogs from 11:30am to 1:30pm. And since it’s the third Friday of the month, French fries are free at Pike Street Fish Fry, and New Belgium pints—Fat Tire and Blue Paddle Pilsner this month—are $2. That’s from 5 to 7pm; pick up your fries at Pike Street or Moebar next door.

Cheap Eat of the Week
This week’s featured cheap eat is the pickled beef tongue sandwich at June in Madrona, $7 during happy hour (weekdays, 5-7pm). People, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Especially those of you that are carnivorous yet environmentally inclined, because learning to love the oft-discarded parts is how we’re going to pull this whole meat-eating thing off, isn’t it? And there’s nothing to fear, the tongue is amazingly tender and tasty, and the sandwich in which it’s stuffed—aioli smeared on the toast, a healthy handful of arugula—is hearty enough for a light dinner.

Healthy Cheap Eat of the Week
Packed with protein but low in calories and fat, tofu is all kinds of good for you. But most restaurants like to deep-fry it—delicious, but certainly less virtuous from a nutritional standpoint. At Tamarind Tree, however, the tofu satay is grilled with lemongrass, onion, and garlic, and served with an addictive soy dipping sauce. An order of these awesome soy-on-a-stick snacks is $3.95 at lunch; $5 at dinner. Bargain.

Further reading: The Seattle Times’s Nancy Leson’s has a whole thing on tofu this week.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Cheap Eats, This Week in Cheap Eats

Just Eat It: Cheese Curds at Captain Blacks

Deep-fried deliciousness at the Capitol Hill bar with the curiously absent apostrophe.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 21, 2011 at 10:39AM 1 Comments

Order and be happy: The cheese curds at Captain Blacks.

As Nosh Pit’s resident cheesehead (born-and-bred Wisconsinite, I am, and true to stereotypes, cheese is often on the mind), I’m going to go ahead and state a bold claim: Captain Blacks makes the most-gooey-most-delicious cheese curds out there.

At Capitol Hill’s nautical-themed Blacks, the curds come by the dozen or so; some are large (get out the fork), others you can toss in your mouth like popcorn shrimp. Curds really are hard to screw up—they’re deep-fried balls of cheese—so what sets apart Blacks’s Beecher’s balls? The batter.

Unlike at some joints where the batter is a thick, mozzarella-stick skin, the wise Captain goes for a just-so fry job, creating just enough satisfactory crunch—you still get that crackly sensation upon first bite. See those bubbly crevices where pockets of cheese are oozing out? Yeah, you don’t find that too often elsewhere. Pull one apart and the perfect dredge almost dissolves into the gloppy mass underneath.

That there dipping sauce is a Mexi-flavored one. It’s tasty way to up the richness even more (read: do partake).

Add a Comment »

Tags: Capitol Hill, Cheap Eats, Food Finds

Cheap Chowder at Bookstore Bar

As in, $1 cheap.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 09, 2011 at 09:31AM 0 Comments

Chase your chowder with scotch at the Bookstore Bar.

The religious among us know that yesterday being Fat Tuesday, today is Ash Wednesday. And thus, this coming Friday, March 11, is the first Friday of Lent. And thus, on this day (and every Friday until Easter) eating meat is a no-no.

The Stranger points out that Bookstore Bar, a true delight among downtown eateries, will mark this initial meat-free Friday by serving $1 bowls of clam chowder starting at noon. Look for the slinger set up outside the restaurant near the corner of First Avenue and Madison Street, across the street from BOKA.

Happy Lenting.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Downtown, Cheap Eats

Wonton Wednesdays, Extended Hours, and Other Nettletown News

Including a cheap eats afternoon menu.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Feb 22, 2011 at 02:24PM 0 Comments

Nettletown, offering new hours and new menus February 23.

Changes are afoot over at Nettletown, which opened last year as a lunch/weekend brunch joint, then in July intro-ed Friday and Saturday dinner. Now Nettle is rolling out all-day hours and two more nights of evening eats.

Starting February 23, the Eastlake boite will stay open 11-9:30 Wednesday through Friday and 10-9:30 Saturday. For that couple hours of limbo between lunch and dinner, owner Christina Choi will serve what she calls a “happy afternoon” menu 2:30-5:30. (On Saturday, the menu is available starting at 3.) The offerings will be limited and consist of side-like items for under $10. Meaning “anything that doesn’t require the kitchen to cook” since toques will be prepping for dinner, Choi offered nebulously. Examples she did list include pickles, soups, rices, all of them likely novel and fresh, Choi being a doyenne of forest floor foods.

The chef is also introducing Wonton Wednesdays. On those nights a rotating selection of the dumplings will be on special. Diners can order them in a soup or spicy sauce and should expect fillings such as elk, mushroom, or the more traditional minced pork.

Note Nettletown’s Tuesday and Sunday hours remain the same: 11-2:30 and 10-3, respectively.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Eastlake, Cheap Eats, Food News, Nettletown

It’s the Year of the Rabbit, Let’s Eat Cheap in the ID

Eat your way around the neighborhood for a couple of bucks.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 25, 2011 at 09:15AM 1 Comments

This weekend: cheap chow and the Lunar New Year Celebration at the ID’s Hing Hay Park.

Chinese lore tells us 2011 belongs to the Rabbit, and Seattle’s International District is paying its respects this weekend. On Saturday, January 29 the neighborhood puts on a Lunar New Year Celebration in Hing Hay Park starting at 11am. In the works is taiko drumming, calligraphy, dragon dances, yadda yadda, but what’s catching our eye is, of course, the food specials.

Ten restaurants will serve up bites and bevs for $2 each, among them the always-delicious Thai Curry Simple (where splurging on roti is a must), and dim sum gold-star Jade Garden. (Find the rest of the roster on the CIDBIA site.) If you’ve yet to take advantage of the culinary gem that is the ID, Saturay’s fete is a golden opportunity.

On a related note, Long Provincial plans to ring in the Vietnamese New Year with a five-course dinner February 1. Both vegetarian and traditional menus are available for $20.11—a steal, really. Call 206-443-6266 to reserve a spot.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Cheap Eats, Food Events and Festivals, International District

Just Eat It: Eltana’s Wood-Fired Bagels

The Packard Building corner occupant fills a hole in Capitol Hill’s food scene.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 11, 2011 at 10:42AM 1 Comments

An Eltana bagel with red pepper and walnut spread, $4.25, and a Moroccan carrot salad, priced the same.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

An Eltana bagel with red pepper and walnut spread, $4.25, and a Moroccan carrot salad, priced the same.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Eltana’s spicy garlic cream smear on a sesame bagel.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

The wood-fire oven anchors Eltana on Capitol Hill. Flanking the wall to the left is a community crossword. A roll-up garage door at the front of the cafe will make Eltana a nice summertime joint.

Finally, a decent bagel place on the Hill!

Just shy of one month old, Eltana on Capitol Hill has steadily been rolling out its hand-rolled menu, the staple of which is Montreal style wood-fired bagels.

The bagels—choose from seven varieties—aren’t anything huge. One won’t sate Gulliver (read: don’t come starving), but on the flip side, it’s nice to venture back into the world sans that carbo-bomb heaviness most bagels slap on you.

Savory and sweet ingredient-forward spreads put the prices right around $4. Raise an eyebrow if you must, but know the toasty ring of dough and the novel schmears (eggplant pomegranate!) makes for a tasty way to start the day. Particularly delicious is the red pepper and walnut (that’s the spread above), as is the spicy garlic cream (second photo in the slideshow).

Rounding out the menu is Eastern Mediterranean street–style fare: a couple of salads (the Moroccan carrot is pictured here), soups like fava bean and vegetable lentil, and sweets. If you’ve got a five spot, you’ve got yourself one of these tasties. Coming soon are more substantive “mains.”

Add a Comment »

Tags: New Seattle Restaurants, Capitol Hill, Cheap Eats, Food Finds, Bagels

Po Dog Celebrates One Year with $1 Hot Dogs

The cheapies happen on Sunday, November 14.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 11, 2010 at 11:46AM 0 Comments

$1 on Sunday.

But you’ll have to hustle to get one: The deal only goes to the first 365 customers (how clever) at the Capitol Hill location on East Union Street.

Common sense would dictate a bacon-wrapped hot dog with baked beans, Tillamook cheddar, and onion straws just isn’t right to consume before noon, but the place opens at 11am, and people are rabid about their Po Dog, so consider it.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Capitol Hill, Cheap Eats, Deals

Just Eat It: Chile Green Onion Ramen at Samurai Noodle

The tonkotsu may be the star, but this spicy bowl isn’t bad either.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 19, 2010 at 12:39PM 0 Comments

Chile green onion ramen at Samurai Noodle.

When people talk about Samurai Noodle, they talk about the tonkotsu. A teeming bowl of long-simmered pork broth, tonkotsu is Japanese ramen cooked the way you want it—soft, medium, al dente. Nestled among the noodles is ultra-tender pork, green onion, and black mushrooms. You can get it out of two storefronts: one next to Uwajimaya, and the other on the Ave, the newer of the pair. Dine in and it’s $6.75; grab-and-go and it’s $4.95.

But enough about the tonk. Let’s talk up another item of note: the chile green onion bowl. This one’s made with a chicken broth, and like almost all Samurai servings is laden with pork. Bamboo supplants mushrooms, and a generous helping of onion wedges freshens up the mix. That blood-red broth is a good indicator of the kick that’s to come with each spoonful, but if the spicy sesame oil isn’t doing the job, red chile flakes await at the end of the table. (Note: water pitchers do not.) Either way, prudent taste bud softies will steer clear of this $8 dish.

Oh, and don’t forget to get sloppy—slurping the noodles is Japanese custom.

Add a Comment »

Tags: University District, Cheap Eats, Food Finds, International District

Cheap Eats: $2 Sausage

Through October, Fonté will bring you a two-buck brat when you buy a brew.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Oct 05, 2010 at 02:18PM 4 Comments

Fonte’s got $2 brats.

You gotta love the Bavarian Deli, that most charming little German sausage shop in Pike Place Market.

Through October, Fonté Cafe and Wine Bar will charge you just $2 for a bratwurst from Bavarian Deli when you buy a beer. I may not always love the service at Fonté, but I can always get behind the beers they serve, especially the Unibroue Maudite from Quebec.

Also currently on tap at Fonté: Leavenworth Oktoberfest.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Downtown, Cheap Eats, Total Sausagefests

Chow for Cheap: Best Bites Under $10

You can’t go wrong with these delicious, easy-on-the-wallet noshes.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jun 29, 2010 at 11:46AM 0 Comments

Photo: Nick Feldman

The tonkotsu, a pork broth with mushrooms, green onions, and al dente ramen noodles, at I.D. favorite Samurai Noodle. Here, most items on the menu range from $6.75 to $8.

View Slideshow » Photo: Nick Feldman

The tonkotsu, a pork broth with mushrooms, green onions, and al dente ramen noodles, at I.D. favorite Samurai Noodle. Here, most items on the menu range from $6.75 to $8.

View Slideshow » Photo: Nick Feldman

Cod fish and chips paired with a house made tartar sauce. The crispy staple of Cap Hill late-night noshing costs $8 at Pike Street Fish Fry.

View Slideshow » Photo: Nick Feldman

A bowl of red lentil soup, which costs $3.50 at Pike Place Market gem the Crumpet Shop. The wee spongy cakes (pictured here is one topped with tomato, English cheese, and pesto) are $1.55 to $4.75.

View Slideshow » Photo: Nick Feldman

At Thai Tom , try the swimming rama: spinach and bean sprouts covered in chicken and what could be called the city’s best Thai peanut sauce. The cost: $7.45.

View Slideshow » Photo: Nick Feldman

At Citizen in Queen Anne, crepes come either savory (like apple-smoked bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and basil drizzled in maple syrup) or sweet (strawberries, ricotta cheese, and honey sprinkled with sugar), and cost $7.25 to $7.95.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Roti (or ro tee, as it’s spelled at the new I.D. joint Thai Curry Simple ) is the Asian equivalent of a crepe—thin, floppy, flatbready. Thai Curry Simple’s milk-sugar variety costs $2. Other kinds from which to choose: cheese ($2.50), chocolate (ditto), chocolate and banana ($3), scrambled egg ($3.50)—all drizzled with copious amounts of condensed milk.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

New banh mi stand Baguette doesn’t offer much in the way of atmosphere, but that’s okay, you’re here for the sandwiches, like the ginger-sauteed chicken. It’s stuffed with pickled daikon and carrots, jalapenos, a garlic pepper and soy sauces, cucumber, and cilantro and costs $4.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Mitt-sized tortillas made with corn or rice flour, pupusas maintain both the floppiness of a pancake and the tough chew of pita bread. They are perfectly round, and at Guanaco’s Tacos Pupuseria come stuffed with a pasty chicharrón (pork) or chicken and a variety of veggies: spinach, ayote (zucchini), jalapenos, refried beans. Here the pupusas cost $2.35 each and arrive with a side of sweet slaw.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Chungee’s Drink and Eat ‘s wonton soup sets you back $6.95. Pair it with General Tso’s chicken ($9.95) and a Chungee pancake ($4.95), and you’ve got a meal for two with leftovers likely.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

During lunch at Kaname beef sukiyaki costs $8.95 (a vegetarian version is a dollar less).

Cheap eats are hardly a rarity in this city (hello happy hours), which is why happening upon truly great grub for just a couple bucks is like scoring shiny Cole Haans at Nordy’s Rack. You can’t help but feel tingly plucking those gems from the piles of wonky-soled Reeboks and Diesels.

The point being: Bargain bites abound, but that doesn’t mean you should be eating all of them. Discrimination is needed when determining which deserves your dollar. To help you decide, let’s look at our favorite eats that won’t set you back more than $10. Deets are in the slideshow to the left.

Add a Comment »

Tags: Bargain Bites, Cheap Eats