My Seattle Bites: Lunches at Brave Horse Tavern and Green Leaf

The last week in Seattle included two downtown lunches with old friends.  The first in South Lake Union at Brave Horse Tavern, the casual bar restaurant by Tom Douglas.  The spacious restaurant was open cafeteria style seating with a shuffle board in the center.

CI and I shared two brick oven soft pretzels with a trio of dips, sour cream with crispy onion, pimento-cheddar and a smoked peanut butter with bacon.  I had a soft spot for the pimento-cheddar and the sour cream with crispy onion.  The peanut butter with bacon was really nothing more than a creamy peanut butter with a smattering of bacon bits.

Even though I was very tempted to make the mash potatoes with blue cheese and bacon my entree, I went the healthy route with the Methow Valley harvest fall salad.  The bed of butternut squash and farro was topped with lacinto kale, brussels sprouts, apple slivers, and white cheddar finished off with pumpkin seeds.  A light take on a harvest salad, just what was needed before a big Thanksgiving meal later that week.

Lunch number two was at the Belltown location of Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant.  I have been craving a nice hot bowl of pho for a while so I selfishly chose Green Leaf to meet IH.  That day was uncharacteristically windy and brisky so I ordered a hot Vietnamese coffee the second I sat down.

One order of the Vietnamese pancakes was more than enough for two people to share, too much in fact.  This large crepe was stuffed with pork and shrimp as well as bean sprouts.  This was a hands-on dish and since neither of us have had this before, our server was kind enough to explain.  A leaf of the lettuce with some herbs and a splash of the fish sauce made the crepe come alive.

As good as the crepe was, our attention was quickly diverted as soon as our piping hot bowls of pho came out.  The combination bowl included all sorts of beefy goods, rare beef, brisket, tendon, tripe, meatballs and well-done beef.  The broth was fragrant and rich and the noodles were that perfect consistency, clean with a nice bite.  I topped mine with crispy bean sprouts and basil leaves.  One good squeeze of lime, I was ready to dig in and didn’t come up for breath until most of the bowl was done.  Definitely worth the trek from downtown Seattle.

Brave Horse Tavern | 310 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA, 98109 | http://bravehorsetavern.com/

Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant | 2800 1st Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98121 | http://greenleaftaste.com/