Seattle's Best Dumplings

Din Tai Fung

In our humble opinion, Din Tai Fung is the king of soup dumplings. The wait at this restaurant is always obscene, but it's worth it. Our tip? Don't go with a party bigger than two. Then when you arrive, try to snag a seat in the bar area. Same delicious food, 1/8 of the wait time! 

What to order? Pork XiaoLongBao and Spicy Steamed Pork Dumplings (Foodie Tip: the sauce the spicy dumplings come in is also great poured over fried rice)

Fu Man Dumpling House 

Fu Man Dumpling House is famous for their garlic dipping sauce. It is CRACK. Probably full of all sorts of bad stuff, but who cares. Indulge, pour it all those steaming, delicious dumplings and enjoy how happy your mouth feels. 

What to order? Fu Man Boiled Pork and Vegetable Dumplings 

Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon

Judy Fu is literally making your dumplings in the back room. She gets mad respect from us because even though these dumplings are misshapen and, compared to others, quite skimpy on the stuffing, they are so so good. We could eat 20 alone (we aren't saying we HAVE, but you know...we COULD). 

What to order? Pork and Vegetable Jiao-Zi, the handmade noodles are also to die for! 

Little Ting's Dumpling House

Little Ting's has great dumplings which are made fresh every day before each shift. They also add to the great dumplings with their friendly service and cute decor. 

What to order? Pork and Chive Dumplings and the Pan-Fried Scallop and Chive Dumplings 

Seattle Gems: Bakeman's

The Soup Nazi is a someone we all know and love from the days of Seinfeld. The nervousness on Jerry and George's faces as they approach the counter to order, the shout of "No soup for you!" and George's soup being snatched from his hands. Classic comedy. 

Well you can live their hilarious experience right here in Seattle. Bakeman's in Pioneer Square is a cheap, cafeteria style lunch spot where the ordering moves FAST and if you slow down the process they will not be happy. Owner, Jason Wang, shoots options for sides and drinks at you rapid fire once you reach the register and you better believe he will have opinions about your decisions. 

Oh and don't make the mistake of pulling out your credit card. Obviously, they only accept cash. 

Besides the pure joy you feel when you make it through the ordering process ("I am AMAZING. I just successfully ordered a sandwich without being yelled at!") their sandwiches are delicious and dirt cheap! Their bread and butter is definitely the turkey with cranberry, but we are suckers for the meatloaf too. 

Alright, god speed, best of luck, you got this. Now GO GO GO. 

The incredible turkey sandwich with cranberry

The meatloaf sandwich. We never said it looked pretty, but it tastes amazing!

Bakeman's cafeteria

The intimating ordering counter

Sips in the City: Seattle’s Urban Wineries

Woodinville may boast more than 90 wineries a short distance from the city, but did you know that Seattle has more than 20 urban wineries right here? It’s true. With production facilities and tasting rooms within the metropolis you can try a variety of wine styles while even using public transit.

Deconstructed barrels are repurposed at Kerloo Cellars’ tasting room in SoDo.

The collective of wineries known as Seattle Urban Wineries often throws open the doors for joint events, such as the recent SoDo Block Party. Celebrating a group of wineries jointly located at SoDo Urban Works on First Ave. So., the Saturday event was packed as visitors and tasters flocked to tastings by Full Pull Wines, Kerloo Cellars, and Waters Winery, among others.

A concrete fermentation vessel in an urban winery’s production facility

Not far away you can jet into Georgetown to try wines at Laurelhurst Cellars or Charles Smith Wines. Feel like staying over in West Seattle? You’re covered there too with four urban wineries including the Northwest Wine Academy, a division of South Seattle Community College. Here students can earn certificates in food and wine pairing, wine sales and marketing, or wine production. With a full tasting room on site you can try several vintages made right in house.

Nearly open: The upstairs tasting room at Almquist Family Vintners

Even north Seattle has more than a half dozen wineries, including the award-winning Almquist Family Vintners. A joint family effort by cousins Mike and Ben Almquist, the winery prides itself on its first-rate facilities, replete with a full bottling line and barrel storage. Producing more than 45 varietals in a gorgeous space adjacent to the Fremont Cut at 198 Nickerson St., Almquist Family Vintners also offers up event space utilizing the entrancing now-vacant space once occupied by the restaurant Hommage. (Don’t worry – a new restaurant called Branded is in the works and I fully intend to give it a whirl.)

I chatted with Ben as he took me around the facilities and he explained they often work with other wine makers to produce, age, and bottle wines in their facility. Anything from a single barrel to commercial production can be done without leaving the city. They even have a full distillery in operation and a wine garden, open daily, with room for more than a hundred guests.

Ben Almquist showcasing the bar in the lovely greenhouse at 198 Nickerson St.

Full bottling line at Almquist Family Vintners

While there may only be about 25 urban wineries in Seattle today, Ben projects that number will be closer to 100 in just three to four years. After all, he explained, with wines being all about a sense of place and style, why would you move the production to Woodinville when the bulk of the wine drinking population is right here in Seattle?

Barrel storage and aging at the Almquist Family Vintners facilities

To learn more about locations, tasting room hours, and special events, I encourage you to visit Seattle Urban Wineries. Let us know which urban winery becomes your next favorite. Salud!

Amy L. Dickson is a communications professional, freelance writer, and contributor to Rain or Shine Guides. She’s currently training at the NW Wine Academy for her Level 1 sommelier certification. Follow her at @amyldickson75.

Seattle Brewery Tour: Downtown

Downtown Seattle. It's a love hate relationship we have with you. On one hand you are the epicenter of our city. You house Pike Place Market, our favorite place in the city. On the other hand you also smell kinda bad and lack the fun atmosphere so many other neighborhoods have in Seattle.

Luckily, if you are in downtown and are overcome with the smell of urine or just need to get away from that man on the corner trying to convince you the end of times are indeed upon us there are a few breweries you can duck into for sanctuary. 

Photo from Pike Brewing Instagram

Pike Brewery Company

The big hitter downtown. The George Clooney of the downtown breweries. They have been around awhile and know what they are doing. They have it down, they rarely create something that isn't good (cough cough.. Batman...cough cough). They have a big location, good for groups, a large food menu, and offer brewery tours. 

Our Favorite: The Space Needle IPA, but if it goes off the menu the Scottish Kilt Lifter is a year-round goodie.

Old Stove Brewery Co.

Another brewery in Pike Place Market? What??!! Yep. It just opened this year and is set to expand into the new MarketFront building next year. They have communal tables in a true beer hall fashion, large windows that open to bring in fresh air and don't forget about the beer. It's pretty good too. We attended the Grand Opening and did a full write up here. 

Our Favorite: Galaxy Smash Pale Ale (you had us at citrus aromas).

Good color palette plus good beer equals happy bloggers.

Cloudburst Brewing

We saved the best for last, like the red skittle or the pink starburst. This brewery was born at a time of turmoil in Seattle, when Elysian sold out to The Man (aka InBev), and we were all crushed, but from the ashes rose something beautiful, from the ashes rose Cloudburst Brewing. There is not a bad beer on the menu. Everything is different in a delightful way. Exploring this menu is like exploring a beautiful utopia where you encounter something better at every turn. It's really that great, we are not hyperbole-ing here people. 

Our Favorite: It is so hard to pick one but if we MUST...Happy Little Clouds... or maybe the Clickbait IPA... but then there is the....crap. ok. stopping before this gets embarrassing

Need to find breweries in Ballard? Check out our first post in this series.