You Had Me At "Octopus"

On my mad scramble through Seattle, I was sure to keep my eyes peeled for an intriguing breakfast spot before I trained it out of town fairly early in the day. I had a couple of patisseries down by the Market I figured I could sample, but then a little something caught my eye in the evening, on my way to a night-time Space Needle ride...

It actually piqued my interest due to a couple of neon-flame chandeliers in the bar area. I'd been snapping a lot of pictures of local neon for a side project on my other blog, and was trying to figure out a good way to get pictures of the bar interior when I saw their breakfast menu. Now, when you hear the title "Tom's Big Breakfast," you might expect some huge, griddle-fried diner fare. Lola, however, offered octopus, walla walla onions, asparagus, poached egg, chives, and yellow squash. I'm not the biggest asparagus fan, on account of the smell undeniably reminds me of sweaty gym socks, and I'm not even the biggest poached egg guy. However, I'm a huge fan of the cephalopod in all its forms, and that combined with local onions, the sheer weirdness of the dish, and a chance to take a picture of those neon chandeliers proved irresistible. I decided this was where I had to have breakfast before I made my way to Portland.

Lola is located inside of a hotel in Seattle's Belltown district, not too far from the Monorail stop. It's a really classy looking joint, and they were very friendly, despite the fact I was looking a little more beach-bum then their typical clientele, I imagine. I sat in a booth and sipped my coffee and orange juice while waiting for the meal to arrive, trying to plan the remaining hours of my Seattle trip. The city reminds me of what would happen if someone from the Sixties time travelled to the future and tried to build San Francisco. They're both Bay Areas, hilly, and artsy, a little funky and proud of it. Seattle seems, comparatively, very clean, and I learned that there's so much to explore than I'd given myself time for.

As you can see, it was prepared beautifully, the jam even came in a little sealed jar, a far cry from the typical tray of Smuckers you usually get. The mix of textures was fantastic. The octopus was not too chewy, nor was the asparagus too socky. The marinade was really good, a very savory sauce that tied everything together really well. It was incredibly tasty and a satisfying way to end my stay in the Emerald City!


Atmosphere: 11/13
Clean: 2/3
Structural: 2/3
Decor: 3/3
Signage 2/2
Service: 2/2

Menu: 6/8
Variety: 2/2
Size: 2/2
Beverages: 1/2
Prices: 1/2

Food: 7/9 pts
Presentation: 2/3
Portion: 2/3
Taste: 3/3

Bathroom: 3/5 pts.
Clean: 2/2
Structural: 0/1
Decor: 1/2

Overall: 27/35