My wife and I arrived in Washington State late at night after a flight from Bangkok by way of Manila. I had always wanted to visit the Pacific Northwest and was really excited to have a few days to explore Seattle before meeting up with my parents for an adventure in some of Washington's national parks.
Dating back to 1907, Pike Place Market is one of the oldest continually operating public markets in the United States. The market overlooks Elliot Bay and is a major hub for fresh food, goods, and crafts.
When you step inside the market, the first thing you will see is the 550-pound bronze statue of Rachel the Pig. The statue is more than just a photo op; it is actually a giant piggy bank. Rachel was installed in 1986 and was modeled after the sculptor's neighbor's pet pig. Astoundingly, the bronze statue still weighs some 200 pounds less than the real Rachel, who was a prizewinner in the 1985 Island County Fair!
People visiting the market will drop coins into the bank, which is emptied daily. She is said to grant your wishes. I guess it's sort of a karma thing, because donations made to Rachel aren't just for fun, they go to a good cause by funding real impactful services for the community. Around $25,000 work of spare change is collected every year with donations going to the Pike Place Market Foundation, which supports the market's residential and working community in order to "preserve the traditions and diversity of the Pike Place Market neighborhood" with an emphasis on social equity and economic inclusion.
When you leave a coin or two in the piggy bank, your donation will help support affordable, high-quality early education for the children of parents working in the market, a senior center and food bank, a neighborhood health clinic, and over 400 units of low-income housing helping seniors in the neighborhood. The foundation, and Rachel herself, are integral parts of Pike Place Market and are indicative of the strong sense of community in market neighborhood. Even foreign coins, which would otherwise be useless as a donation, are creatively reused as play money at the market's preschool.
The market receives more than 20 million visitors every year, making it one of Seattle's most popular destinations. It is possibly home to the freshest and best seafood in the entire country.
Just past the statue of Rachel is the Pike Place Fish Co., another market landmark, which is famous for a tradition that evolved from a practical way for fishmongers to save time.
When a customer orders a whole fish, a fishmonger shouts out the order and hurls the fish through the air to a co-worker who catches it with a paper wrap to the delight of the crowd.
We wanted to start our adventure in Washington with a special breakfast, so we queued up outside of Lowell's Restaurant to be the first inside when they opened.
Lowell's first opened their doors in 1957, and serves up incredible seafood breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a three-story space inside the market overlooking Elliot Bay.
It was a chilly morning, and as we were walking through the market, an apple cider stall caught my eye. Tiny's Organic Cider sells freshly pressed hot and iced apple cider, and when you buy a cup, they allow you to sample as many different flavors of cider as you want before filling up your cup. I really enjoyed their iced lavender cider, but it was too cold outside, so I ended up having a cup of spiced cider.
Another place that we were super excited about visiting was Beecher's Handmade Cheese.
We first ordered a "breadzel", a soft, cheesy, garlicky non-GMO heritage wheat bun made in collaboration with the WSU Bread Lab.
What we were really here to try, though, was Beecher's famous grilled cheese sandwich, which was made to order and came to us right out of the grill.
We also bought a piece of smoked "salmon candy" to take back to the hotel for a snack later. The name intrigued us. It turns out that salmon candy refers to a piece of salmon meat which has been cured in salt and sugar before being smoked. It didn't taste much like candy to me, but the slightly sweet, savory, smoky salmon was really good.
The final dish that was a "must-try" on our list at Pike Place Market was an order from the famous Pike Place Chowder.
And Pinky had the smoked salmon chowder, which was made with capers, potatoes, and cream cheese.
Their most famous breakfast dish is the Dungeness crab benedict, which of course we ordered along with two cups of hot coffee. A thick piece of west-coast sourdough bread was toasted and topped with a heap of sweet, juicy crab meat, two runny-yolk poached eggs, and Lowell's house-made hollandaise sauce. The breakfast also came with a gigantic serving of amazingly crispy hash browns which took up nearly half of the plate! So far, we were off to a good start on our foodie tour of Pike Place Market!
It was a chilly morning, and as we were walking through the market, an apple cider stall caught my eye. Tiny's Organic Cider sells freshly pressed hot and iced apple cider, and when you buy a cup, they allow you to sample as many different flavors of cider as you want before filling up your cup. I really enjoyed their iced lavender cider, but it was too cold outside, so I ended up having a cup of spiced cider.
Every day, Beecher's produces over 50,000 pounds of cheese, made fresh from local Washington cows and processed on-site at their factory in Pike Place Market. A glass wall separates the cheese factory from the shop, and visitors can watch the cheese curds being cut, pressed, and molded into wheels on-site.
Posters on the wall explain the cheesemaking process and proudly announce that "two days ago, this cheese was grass".
The sandwich, made with Beecher's flagship cheese, was also filled with tomato and basil. The cheese was completely melted and soaked into the toasted bread in the best way. It's hard to mess up a grilled cheese sandwich, but it's more than possible to take one to the next level, and this definitely ranks among the best I've ever had.
We also shared a small cup of Beecher's "World's Best Mac & Cheese". With a bold claim like that, how could we pass it up? It definitely does live up to its name. The fresh gooey cheese coated every bite of the thick, chewy noodles. Beecher's flagship cheese is a mild white cheddar with a sweet, nutty flavor which seems to compliment everything it's added to. I would have liked to have bought a wedge to take home with me, but I imagine that cheese is hard to travel with (plus, I'm almost certain it's not allowed through customs!).
Another day, we returned to the market for lunch and ordered an incredible salmon sandwich with tartar sauce on ciabatta bread and a cup of tomato-based seafood chowder
The final dish that was a "must-try" on our list at Pike Place Market was an order from the famous Pike Place Chowder.
On our first day, we tried to eat at their restaurant inside the market, but there was already a queue around the block by the time they opened. After a little research, we discovered that we could place an order online, so we went back to our hotel and ordered our lunch for the next day, which was ready and waiting for us right on time.
I ordered the classic clam chowder which was served in a giant sourdough bread bowl.
Both were great, and among the best food that we had during our visit to Washington.
Pike Place Market is also home to the original Starbucks location, which I'm sure probably has a special menu or something, but I wasn't about to wait in line for Starbucks, so we made our way out of the market and off towards more adventures in Seattle.
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