Dinning in the 'hood.

Here's a quick run down of the places we're eating in and around Columbia City over the last few days.

All-Purpose Pizza

There's a lack of pizza delivery options here in Columbia City, with Pizza Hut and Domino's being the mainstays. Fortunately All Purpose Pizza & Ale House delivers to our 'hood, and while we haven't had much luck with the salads or pastas, the pizza kicks ass. All Purpose uses a sourdough crust that's pretty damn tasty, and the red-wine marinara that's slathered on some pies is out of this world. While AP is kind of expensive, but we don't do delivery often, and it's nice to have a steady source of decent pizza at our beck and call. It's no Flying Squirrel, mind you, but All Purpose will do in a pinch.


Both Ways Cafe

We wandered in to Both Ways Cafe, a Seward Park mainstay on a late Saturday morning and waited for a table. We were soon seated, sipping away at cups of good, strong coffee, and agonizing about what to order. Both Ways is known for their biscuits, so I went with the obvious choice of biscuits and gravy, while the wife had a biscuit sandwich (eggs and cheese on a biscuit, duh).

Our food came out quickly (despite what the haters on Yelp say), and I got acquainted with the single crumbly, dense, biscuit was swimming under a layer of sausage gravy. I dug and found the biscuit to be quite good, despite its hockey puck like density, and it worked well with the overwhelmingly salty, sage infused gravy that enveloped it.

The wife enjoyed her breakfast biscuit sandwich, though the home fries that came with hers were mediocre at best. Not a bad meal, though a single biscuit w/ gravy will set you back 9$, which is a bit ridiculous. Still, it's nice to have a viable alternative to Geraldine's.


Tony's Bakery

MLK and Graham St is littered with Asian markets, specialty shops, and bakeries of all shapes and sizes. There are a billion to get banh mi in the area, and while the best in Seattle can be found in the International District, there are a few decent places in my 'hood. Tony's, a Vietnamese bakery tucked in the Viet Wah shopping center, is the one I hit most often when I need a quick banh mi fix.

Tony's isn't the cleanest place in the world, but they do a decently consistent 'pork meatball' banh mi and have lots of tasty looking, authentic Vietnamese food served up cafeteria style. They've even got chicken feet, one of my favorite gristly bits ever, but I'll save those for my next visit. Tony's is located right next to Thanh Thao, one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese joints.


Island Soul

Oh Island Soul. I want to like you, don't get me wrong, but it's just not working out. We've been to Island Soul a few times now, and every visit has left me wondering why I bothered in the first place. Sure Island Soul's got great coconut corn muffins, outgoing wait staff, and full bar, but the mediocre food and expensive-ass prices are a deal breaker.

20$ for a portion of fatty, bony, and not-very-flavorful oxtails is just dumb. The one good thing on my plate, IS's vegan collard greens, isn't enough to salvage our already rocky relationship. The 9$ dark and stormy, made from ginger beer that's brewed in house was great in theory, but the execution fell short. Au Revoir.