bobg

OK, I am biased. I had two favorite pizza restaurants in the Kirkland / Juanita / Kenmore area. The now out of business Dan & Daves and Pizza Works. My wife and I bought Pizza Works a almost 3 years ago and kept it going as it was. We have added a few items. We now have Whole Wheat crusts and Gluten Free Pizzas, Vegan cheese alternative and Vegan “meat” toppings from Field Roast.

I am searching for good pizza ideas. If you have read many of my reviews, you might know why! My daughter, grand daughter and I tried Apollo’s last year.

We were seated and talking when the waitress came for our order. She over heard us talking about my daughters hubby being off in Tanzania, East Africa. I told here I had a pizza place in Bothell and we were sampling Olympias best and had heard good things about Apollos. We were really the only customers. She brought us out a sample of the Tanzania groundnut soup. My daughter said it was almost authentic, “It is just missing the burnt after taste that we had in Africa” So she actually liked it better LOL.

I can’t recall which pizza we had, but it was definitely one of the best in Olympia and the prices were not unreasonable like some of the other Westside pizzerias.

This was my favorite pizza place during college (yes they have been around that long). Looking back it must have been because they sold us pictures of dark beer really cheap. I went back there with my daughter and granddaughter and ordered a Gay 90’s Special, with pepperoni, sausage, cashews and onion. The crust was still the same as I remembered, but It left us wondering “Where’s the toppings.” There was a light hint of sauce, a single circle of pepperoni around the edge of the pizza, followed by a few shrimp and a smattering of cashews and onions. Very disappointing.

Yeah, the posters on the walls was fun. And a lot more fun after rolling up some smoking material on the way in the door and drinking 2 pictures of beer. (Hey, it was the 70s and as one of my former co-workers stated “If you remembered the 70s you couldn’t possible have lived through them.”) It is fun to go remember old times, but I don’t think won’t be back for pizza nostalgia again. Now a picture of beer with an old buddy I hung out with there – that’s different – if I could just remember who I hung out with when I frequented this place!

After years of bemoaning the lack of a REAL Chinese restaurant in Olympia, I should have looked to Lacey. Tea Leaf has been on the corner of Pacific and College for 20 years and I missed it.

We were seated by the Waitress who turned out to be the owner, also.

My daughter, her hubby and 6 year old and 14 month old kids and I went there for dinner. We usually don’t get the preset family dinners, but we made an exception. The dinner for 4 includes Egg Flower Soup, Pot Stickers, Egg Rolls, Kung Pao Chicken (listed as cashew chicken on their take home menu), Mongolian Beef, Chow Mein and Sweet & Sour Pork.

I am usually not a fan of egg flower soup, but this was an exception. It was flavorful, and had a nice combination of tofu, bean sprouts and mushrooms. It was so good that my son-in-law asked for more after the bowl was empty and the waitress / owner brought him another bowl and didn’t charge us for it.

The pot stickers, and egg rolls were excellent, as was the rest of the meal. It has been a while since I have had Chinese food this good, and it is as good, if not better, than the best I have had in the Seattle area. We asked for moderate spicy and she brought extra hot pepper sauce for my son-in-law, although he didn’t use much of it. The Mongolian beef and Cashew chicken were just the right degree of spiciness and the spice did not overpower the excellent flavor. The sweet and sour pork was more sweet than sour, but I have come to expect that. And all this without any hint of MSG, when I had asked, she said they didn’t use it because it bothered too many people.

The waitress / owner was very friendly and attentive. We arrived fairly late, so by the time we got our main courses, her other two tables had emptied. She kept stopping by and feeding bites to the 14 month old.

I thought their menu had plenty to choose from. I have not seen any Chinese restaurants in the Seattle area with any better selection. They got the extra star from me for the owner and her attentiveness.

Update: we went there last night and had their Hot & Sour soup, Mu Sho Pork and Garlic Chicken. Wow! Hot & Sour soup where you can actually taste the sour? What is this? I have only been to one other Chinese restaurant where this was the case. I thought I would have to make my own to taste that again! Delish!! Mu Sho pork was good, but I have had better. Garlic Chicken was delish, too. So much has been great, that I would take off maybe 1/4 star for the Mu Sho pork but add it back for the Hot & Sour soup.