It only seems sensible to start off my Seattle / PDX / Vancouver posts in the place the trip started and with a few of my very favourite Seattle places: Wayward Cafe, Mighty O and Georgetown Liquor Company.
Nick and I started our first day in the city with breakfast at Wayward Vegan Cafe, this all vegan diner style place has one of the most ridiculous menus I've ever seen. There are pages and pages of all day breakfast and lunch options as well as dinner and gluten free pages. I thought that choosing what to order would be difficult but The Lumberjack really jumped out at me.
Not only do you get this epic plate of perfectly seasoned tofu scramble, hash browns, sweet and salty tempeh bacon, a sausage patty and a piece of Wayward's homemade vegan (s)ham for your 10 bucks but you also get this side plate of silver-dollar pancakes which, upon comparison, were nowhere near the size of a real silver dollar!
This is genuinely the best American breakfast I've ever eaten, ever, in my entire life. And I've eaten a lot of breakfasts! This next offering was a close second though, on our second visit I picked The Griddle Combo which comes with tofu scram, a sausage patty, tempeh bacon and your choice of a pancake, slice of french toast or a waffle. I went with french toast and it was deeeelicious. I haven't eaten much french toast in my life but this was awesome, up there with the best I've ever had for sure.
I squeezed a third visit to Wayward into my trip when Randi and I were back there just before we flew home. This time I went for a non-breakfasty option and picked the Tempeh Reuben from their lunch menu.
This reuben comes with fries and a delicious crunchy pickle. Yum! Honestly I've eaten better reuben's, the one from Chicago Diner regularly pops into my thoughts, but this was still a solid choice. I was also lucky enough to get to try some of Randi's biscuits and gravy and they were wonderful. I would certainly order them again, perhaps alongside The Lumberjack!
One of my other Seattle favourites was Mighty-O Donuts. This all vegan donut co' is based in North Seattle and they specialise in cake donuts, my very favourite kinda donut. Over the three visits I made to Mighty O I managed to sample quite a decent selection.
I think I managed to eat around 17 donuts in about a week and my three favourites were the Chocolate Raspberry, Sprinkles and Coco Loco. I could (and did!) eat these every day and I would certainly keep on doing that if I lived in Seattle. As well as being able to pick these up at the Mighty O store on North 55th you can find a smaller selection at the Whole Foods locations dotted all over the city.
Last but by no means least I loved my visit to Georgetown Liquor Co, everything from the dive bar atmosphere and fantastic company to the friendly staff and delicious food was perfect.
I was lucky enough to meet Anika from Seattle Vegan Score at Vida Vegan Con and she got a group of friends (including Dawn from Vegan Moxie) together for brunch and gave us a ride down south to Georgetown so that Randi and I could try the much talked about Picard sandwich.
Obviously it was brunch so there had to be booze. I actually don't drink that often (compared to most Brit's!) but I find it hard to resist a good cocktail and this Cranberry Crush really jumped out at me. A mix of vodka, cranberry and orange with a splash of gingerale this drink reminded me of a classier more delicious version of the Sex On the Beach cocktails I used to drink as a teenager, what a perfect start to a weekend morning.
The brunch menu looked so amazing that Randi & I decided to share two things, the famous Picard Sandwich...
...and Hogthrob's Breakfast Sandwich.
Both plates were delicious but I can tell why so many people (okay, mainly Stephanie!) rave about The Picard. This sandwich is made up of a toasted ciabatta bun stuffed full of lentil sage Field Roast slices, roasted red onions and creamy roasted garlic spread and it comes with an au jus dipping sauce that really elevates this sandwich to the next level.
The breakfast sandwich whilst overshadowed by the ridiculously epic Picard was also excellent and it would be a stand out dish at any dining establishment. This sandwich is veganised with a tofu egg and vegan mozzarella alongside the 'ham' or 'sausage', we went with ham. It was served on a perfectly toasted English muffin and we loved the roasted potato and fruit sides.
Next time I'm in Seattle I'll be heading straight from the airport to Georgetown so that I can eat The Picard again. I really enjoyed spending time in Seattle and I managed to eat my way around a fair few of their vegan-friendly dining establishments, look out for posts about Plum Bistro, Razzi's, Pizza Pi, Bamboo Garden, The Highline and Sidecar Grocery coming soon.