Han + Diana Northwest Trip: Seattle's Pike Place Market

On Friday morning, Han and I braved the chilly weather and headed to Pike Place Market. The market was my absolute favorite Seattle spot! Yes, it's a tourist magnet, but this is one tourist magnet that I would go to over and over and over again. It's got all the standard farmers' market selections, plus a lot more.


I especially loved all the flower shops in the market, all selling beautiful bouquets of my new favorite flower: dahlias.

And super affordable - this bouquet sold for just $5!

There's also, of course, a ton of fresh seafood:


But okay, it's time to tell you about all the food we inhaled. Our first stop at the market was the famous Piroshky, Piroshky, specializing in Russian pastries. It all smelled and looked amazing.


Han and I decided on one pasty each, because we knew there was a lot more ground we had to cover. Han picked the cheese & onion roll, which the cashier said was the most popular.

It looked gorgeous (hellooooo burnt cheese), but we both thought that it was too dense and actually kind of bland.

I went with the potato & onion piroshky, which was carbtastic.

I loved the inside - the slivers of potato and green onions were delicious. Overall, while these pastries were tasty, I didn't think they lived up to the hype. But that doesn't mean we won't be trying more pastries at Piroshky Piroshky next time! I look forward to it.

We then continued walking around intending to hit up the next spot on our itinerary, when we spotted this:

Zeppole and bambaloni (Tunisian beignets) at Michou.

Clearly, we got distracted and had to order a bambaloni. Could you have resisted the words, 'Tunisian beignet?' No, I didn't think so.

It's just what it looks like - fried dough covered in sugar. Sadly, it was also a little stale.

Back on track, we headed to Daily Dozen Donut Company for our fill of mini-donuts.

Hipsters serving us food = theme of the trip.

We tried three flavors: chocolate sprinkles, powdered sugar, and cinnamon sugar.

All there flavors were pretty good, but these donuts were definitely not as fresh and delicious as the famous mini-donuts of Soulard Farmers Market. (*nostalgic sigh*)

It's hard to believe that after Russian pastries, a bambaloni, and donuts, we weren't quite finished with breakfast! Our last breakfast stop of the day was also my favorite: The Crumpet Shop!


This adooooorable little shop serves hot and fresh crumpets all kinds of ways.


I don't think I'd ever had a crumpet before, so the nice lady behind the counter gave us a crumpet tutorial. She has such a sweet smile!


While we waited for our crumpets, we took note of the crumpet man in the crumpet-making space - ie, where the magic happens.


We ordered some hot tea and a couple of crumpets: Han got the green eggs & ham crumpet, and I got a crumpet with cream cheese and homemade raspberry preserves.


Close-up of green eggs & ham:

Han enjoyed this, but I think she would have preferred that the egg not be cooked in the microwave.

My crumpet:

There really are no words. This might even be my favorite thing that I ate on the whole trip. The shop was incredibly generous with the cream cheese and preserves, for which my stomach is very thankful. And the crumpet itself... oh my *lord*. I loved the sponginess. The crumpet tasted pleasantly yeasty, and the bottom was just so slightly crispy. I definitely experienced 5 minutes of heaven. I would fly to Seattle just to go to The Crumpet Shop.

And there you have it, our marathon of a breakfast now complete. The rest of the day to come soon. In the meantime, have a happy and feastful Thanksgiving!

Piroshky, Piroshky
1908 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA 98101

Michou at the Market
1904 Pike Pl
Seattle, WA 98101

Daily Dozen Doughnut Company
93 Pike Street
Seattle, WA 98101

The Crumpet Shop
1503 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98101