Blue C Sushi

While dropping my sister of at the U in Seattle after her Thanksgiving visit, we stopped for an early dinner at Blue C Sushi in the University Village. What ensued was a rather unique dining experience.

Blue C operates on a conveyor belt. They have the food laid out on color coded plates, ranging form $1.25 for the greens, to $5.25 for the dark blues. The food sits on this conveyor belt and scrolls around the place, passing by each table, where the customers can grab it at their leisure. Soy sauce, wasabi, and ginger are siting at the end of each table. At the end of the meal, you add up the plates on a scorecard, and that becomes your bill.

The food is decent. There's Sushi, some cooked dishes, and some vegetarian dishes, but if you don't like Sushi, you'll find eating at Blue C to be difficult. However, if you are a sushi fan, or at least find it edible, then Blue C will be an enjoyable experience for you. The seared tuna is delectable. They've got the standard set of drinks, a functioning bar, and the obligatory sake menu, which allows you to quench the fire of the spicy salmon rolls.

The ambiance is solid. The layout is fairly open, and the walls are dominated by either large picture windows, large pictures of the iconic Tokyo Square crosswalks, or large televisions showing bits of Japanese life. The music is forgettable, and the din of the crowd usually drowns it out. The service is a little detached, as it's basically a moving buffet.

To get the best out of Blue C, bring a crowd. Each plate comes with 4 sushi rolls or 2 sushi slices. With more people, you can get more variety out of your meal. It's a little slice of Tokyo Chic in Seattle, and it's a 8/10.

Drina Daisy

Back in July, while in Astoria after the Mirror Image school, I ate lunch at an excellent little Bosnian restaurant called Drina Daisy.

Drina Daisy is located in downtown Astoria, on 915 Commercial Street. That block was hit pretty hard by a fire years back, and still hasn't recovered. There are a lot of empty storefronts around Drina Daisy, but the eatery seems to be doing all right for themselves. The interior is tastefully decorated, and managed to capture some of that old world charm. The service is friendly, attentive, and prompt. At no time did I feel rushed, nor neglected. My only complaint is that the bar chairs are bolted to the ground, and a little too close to the bar for me to be comfortable. That shouldn't be a problem for anyone with an inseam less than 36 inches though. They play Bosnian artists over the speakers, and the music is quite complementary to the theme as a whole.

While the service and ambiance are important, the key to a good place to eat is to have good food to eat. Drina Daisy has that. The menu is Bistro sized, 8-12 entrees, but the chef knows how to cook. She's a third generation chef who ran her own restaurant in Bosnia for 20 years. They have a decent selection of imported beers to complete the Balkan dining experience. They lack a bartender with experience with cocktails however, so if your looking for something other than a straight shot to quench your thirst for liquor, you might be disappointed. But believe me, the food makes up for it.

I ordered some bread for an appetizer. The bread was cooked in house, and was fluffy without tasting bland. To drink I ordered a bottle of a Bosnian pilsner, which is sadly the only Bosnian beer they can get with regularity. It was good, a little sharper than mainstream American pilsners. For the meal I had a rack of lamb. It was exquisite. Cooked perfectly, it was served with a side of assorted fruit slices that set off perfectly with the spices uses. It came with a spiced red bell pepper paste, normally I hate bell pepper, but this was pretty good. A piece of baklava for desert finished off a transcendent meal.

They have an website they're in the process of putting together, you can access it here. Drina Daisy was quite a find for me. You can be assured, that the next time I'm in Astoria, I'm going to be eating there. 9/10.

Food for Thought: Beer Muffins

Contrary to popular belief, beer has uses other than inebriation. One of those is cooking. The simplest recipe that utilizes beer is the classic beer muffin. To make beer muffins, you will need...

Bisquick
Sugar
Beer

That's it. Start by getting a mixing bowl. Measure out 2 cups of Bisquick and add to the bowl. measure out 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix it in with the Bisquick. Take one standard bottle of beer and stir it into the mixing bowl. Stir the mixture until it attains a creamy texture. At which point, pour the mix into a muffin tin. Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and shove it in. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes, until it attains a light brown color. Take them out, let them cool, and then consume.

They're good with honey or butter. I'm not sure if the type of beer matters in the taste. I've only used cheap beer left from parties. I might try a high end dark beer for the next batch I make.