Korean Restaurant inside Olympus Spa (Lynnwood, WA) VF

Well, this is definitely a first --a dining experience wearing nothing but a bathrobe. I could get used to this!  Allow me to explain.  This restaurant is inside the Olympus Spa located in Lynnwood, Washington -- an amazingly relaxing place.  This is a little off topic, but I can't contain myself and it's my blog so I make the rules, right?  The spa is incredible -- there are four hydrotherapy whirlpools, each at different temperatures (my favorite was a toasty 95 degrees), two saunas (one was herbal) and an array of heated rooms, most of which contained a natural element (such as charcoal, jade, sand, salt) that had health benefits listed on the door of each room. They also offered the usual spa treatments like massages, facials and the like.  

Now, on to the Korean restaurant review. Does it even matter?  I don't even know if it had a name.  The restaurant was nothing really to look at, oh wait, I didn't have my glasses on, so that could explain it.  (I certainly could not wear glasses into the 170 degree mud and jade room, could I?) 

The food was Korean (quite appropriate given the Korean-style spa) and my aunt and I shared the vegetable and tofu bibimbap. It was quite tasty and hearty with the raw egg in the middle and bottle of sauce on the table that was labeled "spicy" - I was able to see that fine, yes.  It wasn't too spicy as I recall, though.   They did serve the traditional small plates before the entrees, too and some odd things, like Snickers bars and big cookies were available at the counter, which I felt were out of place. That's just me.

Service was a bit too prompt and efficient for a spa where relaxation was the theme.  I hope the staff gets free spa passes or discounts at the very least.   As for the bill, I was so relaxed, I can't remember exactly how much it was!  (It was definitely not outrageous though -- I would remember that for sure!)  

Check out the website at www.olympusspa.net. 

There are two locations, both in Washington state.

Olympus Spa (the location I visited)

3815 196th Street S.W. Suite 160

Lynnwood, WA 

(425) 697-3000

Hours:

Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Fri. and Sat. 9 a.m. - midnight

Closed Sundays, Thanksgiving and X-mas

Pan Africa Market (Seattle, WA) VF

What a great location, just around the block from the famous Pike Market, an amazing culinary delight in itself.   This African restaurant has an eclectic look with a hipster meets industrial vibe, exposed piping in the high ceilings and Bob Marley playing in the background.  I was here with my aunt, who lives in the Seattle area, whom I was visiting last week. 

There is an entire section of the menu for vegetarian food, which of course, I appreciated. We decided to share two vegetarian entrees.  The first was the foul (rhymes with "bowl" not "fowl" like the bird) which included fava beans, peppers, tomatoes, onions and the option of adding feta cheese, which we wanted to add too late, apparently because we could not flag down the waiter to ask him to bring some over before finishing our delicious meal.  He was the only waiter on duty and the place filled up, so he had his hands full.  The second entree was even better than the first -- that was the veggie groundnut, a West African groundnut stew with yams (my favorite), carrots, bell peppers, seasonal veggies and rice.  Both entrees came with tasty little salads on the entree plate, too.   The spiced tea was a nice treat on a cold day, too.  It was so fragrant but the recipe, apparently was top secret, because when we asked the waiter what was in the tea, he informed us that if he told us, he would have to kill us.  A little humor to warm us up on a chilly Seattle afternoon.  

The lunch bill warmed us, too at a very reasonable $22 total (about $8.50 per entree) for the two entrees and teas.  Be sure to also check out the breakfast menu on the website or better yet, in person.  I wish I saw that before now.  Yum...

Pan Africa Market

1521 1st Ave

Seattle, Washington

www.panafricamarket.com

206-652-2461

Sunlight Cafe (Seattle, WA) VEG

It turns out this is an original vegetarian restaurant in Seattle and opened in 1975, way before vegetarian food became more mainstream as it is today.   Pretty cool to be so ahead of the crowd.  

The restaurant itself is nothing to look at. It has high ceilings and a homey, hole-in-the-wall 60's diner sort of feel.  They did display a huge Pez collection, which was sort of quirky.  

The menu was extensive with lots of salads, soups, and lots of other goodies, including a nut burger, sweet potato cakes with tofu, and black bean burrito.  I ended up ordering the brown rice salad for $8.50 (cheap!) that included lettuce, vegetables, avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, organic brown rice, seeds and a side of tofu (for $2.50 extra).  The broccoli and cauliflower were raw, which is not my style; I would have much preferred them to be steamed, but that was the only complaint about the dish. The side of tofu was excellent, really flavorful.   My aunt, who I was visiting, had the veggie cheese enchilada with beans and rice and enjoyed it.  Portions were abundant.  

We did not order dessert but some options were cookies (kitchen sink cookie), pies and tofu cheesecake, which were modestly priced at $3.95 and less.  

Definitely an enjoyable meal in one of my favorite cities.

Sunlight Cafe

6403 Roosevelt Way NE

Seattle, Washington

Can't find a website or online menu

(206) 522-9060

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily