Isabel

After a quick tour of the Ten Thousand Villages fair trade store on NW Everett, I arrived at Isabel - a cafe on 10th and Everett, recommended by a friend -- the awesome woman whose hospitality I'm invading.

It's a great little cafe! It's all windows -- I had a great view facing the Lovejoy Columns courtyard next door. The staff was very friendly - just don't ask them for food suggestions! There are so many good choices, they don't even know what to recommend!

I ordered -- on my first day back of NOT being single -- the Single Happiness dish. Toasty grilled chicken on top of rice, with grilled seasonal veggies, and a side of peanut sauce. The chicken was really tasty, and the spices they flavored the rice with were absolutely amazing. A huge punch of flavor. I used some of the peanut sauce, which had a mild flavor, but mostly just enjoyed it the way they'd cooked it. The veggies were green and yellow squash, broccoli, and sprouts (I adore sprouts!)


I also ordered a Passion Fruit Iced Tea with Lemonade, because it had the longest name, and sounded intriguing. Well, it tasted like iced tea to me, folks! But, so far, nothing that says "passion fruit" in this country actually tastes like real passion fruit.

The meal came with chopsticks. I am afraid I am not quite proficient in chopstick, yet. Ok, ok, worse than not-quite-proficient. It's very hard to get into the snooty food reviewer groove when it seems painfully obvious that your fine motor skills have just flown out the window. So, apologies to anyone who may have been witness.

Single Happiness lunch: 10
Passion Fruit Iced Tea with Lemonade: 2.5

I would highly recommend Isabel. They had some more intriguing dishes that I'll come back to try later (like Spicy Clam Chowder!) The Single Happiness was good, but don't get starry-eyed over the "Passion Fruit" tea -- it's just iced tea!