The mild hustle and bustle. Laid back chilly streets. The atmosphere of fresh air coming off the Pacific Ocean looking into Elliot Bay.

The positive energy and rich culture displayed on the city walls where passerbys left their mark.

The infamous fishmongers throwing fish in the Pike’s Place Public Market.

The array of beautiful bouquets of flowers to choose from; especially during Mother’s Day time.

 

Looking back now on my short trip to Seattle, Washington as I was en route to hop on a cruise to Alaska, was absolutely incredible.

However, although my trip was approximately only about 4-5 days spent in Seattle total, there were some favorite gem & tourist spots of mine that I collected during my visit that absolutely convinced me I barely scratched the surface and need to go back.

Below is a list of some spots (in no particular order) near and around Pike’s Place Public Market I absolutely loved:

1. Matt’s in the Market

   This trendy, semi-hidden seafood restaurant resides on the second story of a building just across the street from the main area of the Pike’s Public Market.

   

   right before the entrance into the restaurant

   Matt’s in the Market restaurant opened in 1996 where the owner, Dan Bugge, was inspired to create a place with an authentic, memorable seafood dining experience for others after being a fishmonger at the Pike’s Place Public Market for 11 years.

   

   Quality cocktails from their parisian café themed bar!

   We started off with cocktails and appetizers and displayed nothing short of top quality and aesthetically beautiful!

   

   Charcuterie Chef Special: Sourdough bread, sausage, chorizo mix, & liver paté

   This chef special appetizer with the liver paté frightened me at first at the sound of it, but it actually ended up becoming one of my favorite items to try here!

   

   deliciousness in EVERY bite!

   The below entrees were absolutely on point in terms of presentation, taste and flavor as well. The first dish that we tried was Matt’s market fish, which is also known as the fish that is caught fresh that morning. The fish special I got was salmon. Normally, I’m pretty picky with salmon, but the sauce that it was prepared with was absolutely amazing and made me finish every last bite!

    

    

   

   

   I’ve always tended to be a slightly pickier eater when it comes to sea food and have strayed far away from trying out dishes like the one below, but when in Seattle, I had to take the risk!

   

   Steamed mussels, clams, king crab legs, & fish

   I’m usually pretty skeptical when it comes to mussels and clams, but Matt’s in the Market pleasantly surprised me with this and the flavors and colors were so fresh and made me definitely want to come back for more. The mix of all of these items together was a great balance!

   

   Had to get that up close fresh shot!

   Below are some desserts we got to try as well…and of course with me having the biggest sweet tooth ever, I had to try more than one. Matt’s in the market only has 3 desserts on their menu. However, if you catch it at the right time, the chef might happen to have a dessert special like the affogato mousse and pumpkin glazed doughnuts we had below. In the left picture, the dessert on the left is their most popular dish known as their “Candy Bar” and the one on the right is the special at the time back in May this year. If you are not able to try out a dessert special, the candy bar with its salted caramel mousse, peanut butter and chocolate cookie crumble made us honestly want to come back every day (and I say this without any hesitation because this is probably the one dessert that I would absolutely come back just by itself!).

    

    

   

   

   

   Overall,  this restaurant has fair pricing for the quality and if you’re willing to spend a bit more for it, I think it’s absolutely worth it. The dining experience is great. The service is on point and our waiter was hilarious and on top of filling up our glasses and prompt to serve. Definitely recommend making reservations if possible and giving it a shot even if you’re not big on seafood!

2. Storyville Coffee Company

   

   that look when you smell coffee made with love…

   Storyville Coffee shop is located just to the right of Matt’s in the Market restaurant on the same level in the heart of Pike’s Place across the street from the Public Market as well.

   

   Front entrance to the elegant, premium coffee shop

   In the hype of the many different types of coffee roasters, Storyville started in Seattle in 2006.

   

   Elevator has to be taken up to get here!

   Although this may seem like a simple, chic coffee shop, the mission behind this company to end human trafficking absolutely resonated with my heart. 
   Human trafficking is an absolutely serious matter and with so much chaos and destruction that happens in our world today, I’m so happy to know there is a coffee shop with a purpose to shed light on the darkness and contribute to helping end something so terrible.

   

   To the right of the entrance in the coffee shop displaying different types of pots and ground coffee

   To learn more about how to contribute to donating to help their mission, read about subscribing to purchase their coffee and more about it on their website here!

   

   inside the trendy coffee shop

   Not only is their mission incredible, but their lattes and food items make it that much better to align with it.

   
   The atmosphere inside the coffee shop is homey and warm and this vanilla latte was one of the best I’ve ever had! NO understatement intended here.

   

   Vanilla latte, plain croissant & sticky bun

   The pastries I tried tasted as if they made it fresh that morning and made me absolutely want to try out almost all of their displayed food items and others by order such as paninis. I think their flyboy would agree that I will definitely have to fly back again to try out some of their other signature items on my next visit.

   

   View from Storyville Coffee shop overlooking Pike’s Place

   If you need to wake up, warm up, and you’re willing to spend a bit more for the quality cup of joe and help support a cause, I highly recommend making a stop here. You won’t regret it!

    

3. Starbucks Coffee Shop #1 (I had to, ok?)

   

   Just outside the front entrance window to 1st original Starbucks store

   So, of course we all know that Seattle is well known for their premium coffee grinds and blends. If you are not aware of this prior to coming, then I highly recommend researching a bit into their history on it or you couldn’t potentially be judged for it.

   
   However, like many coffee lovers, such as myself, I absolutely had to make one of my first stops into seeing the original first Starbucks store right in Pike’s Place Public Market. (Click on ‘Starbucks’ to see the whole timeline for the company.)

   

   Absolutely thrilled to walk into 1st Starbucks Store Ever!

   Starbucks was opened in 1971 by a couple of University of San Francisco students with a passion to build one of the strongest brands and sell high-quality coffee beans to caffeine drinkers everywhere.

   
   Their first store outside North America opened in Tokyo, Japan in 1996 where 20 years of Starbucks in Japan was recently just celebrated! (That store is absolutely next on my list once I eventually make my trip over to Asia.)

   

   Some of the exclusive merchandise sold within the store

   Overall, inside the store, I loved the authenticity of the original logos on the walls and merchandise and the feel of a ma n pop shop without thinking of today’s modern Starbucks decor.

   
   Inside the store on the left side, they had a ladder lying against the shelves of exclusive merchandise and coffee beans for sale and on the right side of the store, they had boxes stacked high full of coffee beans.

   

   view inside the right side of the store: boxes on boxes on boxes

   I loved just seeing the original store inside and out purchasing a few exclusive merchandise I knew I had to get prior to leaving the store.

   
   I happened to be able to go inside the store at a good time on a Friday late afternoon around 4PM when it seems as if not many people are around.

   

   Gold marker indicator as 1st Starbucks store ever

   I was told by a few locals that the worst time to go would be during anytime on the weekend in the mornings where it can get somewhat packed with tourists like the photo I took below on a Sunny Saturday morning.

   

   Line of people taking photos and waiting to go inside 1st Starbucks Store in Seattle, Washington

    

4. Shug’s Soda Fountain

   
   Originally, when I was searching up different cute, trendy food spots to try out, I did not know exactly what to expect until I came across this cute Ice Cream Soda Fountain shop a friend told me about.
   
   My friend who goes by Seattle Foodie Adventure knew how much I loved bright and colorful food spots with sweet treats and this is exactly what Shug’s Soda Fountain had.
   
   This cute Soda Fountain Ice Cream shop is located in downtown Seattle just outside of Pike’s Place off 1st Avenue. It’s vintage, bright playful atmosphere almost draws in any customer to peak their curiosity.
   
   It almost reminded me of a Soda Pop bar from the 1950s that made me feel like I was in a kawaii cotton candy dream!
   
   Once I took my order, we sat at their Soda pop bar where they had all their sorbet flavors and ice cream specials written on the mirror at the back wall behind the bar. I appreciated this because it was right in front of my face just in case I wanted to get something else or remember exactly what I was trying!
   
   The first thing I tried out from their menu is their Champagne float with Blackberry sorbet instead of peach sorbet and it was heavenly. The blueberry sorbet was awesome. However, I would probably recommend trying it first with peach as the champagne nicely compliments the settle nodes of it where as blueberry has a bit stronger flavor to it.

    

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   The second item from Shug’s menu I tried out was their S’mores sundae and that was by far my favorite item yet!

   
   I am a HUGE sucker for s’mores flavored anything and their toasted marshmallows on top of their ice cream and house fudge almost melted in my mouth with every bite.
   
   In my opinion, if I’m going to come back to Shug’s Soda fountain, it will be for their Berry Soda and S’mores sundae by a landslide. I’m sure they have other items on their menu that I have yet to taste, but I guess I will have to come back to try it out!
   
   Shug’s Soda Fountain also had very cute merchandise as well and was sad that I was not able to purchase one of their shirts, but if you’re obsessed with mint or light pink anything and vintage items, I’m sure you might take a fancy to their items as well! Also, shout out to Colleen and the whole Shug’s Soda Fountain team for providing quality service and top notch A-game soda and sundaes! Definitely need to drop by again to try out one of your amazing new Affogato bar offerings in the future.

5. The Crumpet Shop

The Crumpet Shop is just located off 1st Avenue just a couple shops down from Shug’s Soda Fountain. (As you might be able to tell, I did not get too far to find another spot I eagerly desired to try out.)

This quaint little family owned shop started up in 1976 in downtown Seattle that was inspired by a trip made to England where the discovery of crumpets was made and brought back to Seattle, Washington to share with the locals for breakfast.

These crumpets are made fresh every morning to serve to customers and have almost any breakfast topping imaginable to put on it.

Now, these crumpets may look like just english muffins, but their texture are a bit different in terms of the top being soft and the bottom being a bit slight to crunch upon each bite.

I tried out the lemon curd ricotta and the tomato pesto with mozzarella crumpets. I liked both, but I loved the lemon and ricotta the most! If you’re a lemon lover like me, you’ll die for these. Also, not pictured, I later tried the nutella with cream cheese and that one was amazing too. So, it really depends on your preference! For more photos of the crumpets, feel free to visit their YELP PAGE!

SIDE SITE TO SEE:

THE AMAZING MARKET THEATER GUM WALL

This gum wall is located in Post Alley just under the Public Market past an array of awesome poster art down a ramp and to the left. 

This gum wall started in 1993 and was known as a tourist attraction in 1999. However, due to deterioration of the wall, Seattle decided to do a cleanup of the used gum in 2015 where the pressure washed it all off. Then, locals decided to start building it back up again.

 

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Of course, you know me…I absolutely had to take a few handful of photos to document my experience at this awesome gum wall amongst the germy, used gum collection from thousands of humans mouths travelled here near and far.

Overall, my short trip to Seattle prior to my cruise to Alaska was fun and a great experience to have. Even though I only got two weekends to stay in Seattle before and after my cruise, I quickly realized it was not long enough to visit all the sites and other food spots on my list such as the Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture, Central Public Library, Woodinville Wine Country, Kerry Park, China Town, etc.

If you happen to have any recommendations for future spots in Seattle such as food or site seeing related, please let me know and leave a comment below guys!

Article for Alaska coming soon….Stay tuned.

Remember guys, Keep it Savvy!

Cheers,

~Savanah(:

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