Afuri

     This week's restaurant of choice is one of my favorite foods; ramen. Located in Old Town Portland, Afuri Ramen + Dumpling is next to the famous Voodoo Doughnuts. Normally, I choose not to venture near Old Town very often, but there are some amazing places to eat. Additionally, it is close to the waterfront and provides a great location for tourists to visit. 

     This location does bring in the down-town-attitude. The restaurant is busy with locals and tourists alike. The tables are communal tables with more private seating along the outer edges. For those who are looking to meet new people, the center communal tables provide a great environment to start a conversation with someone new. The window seats are great for individuals or pairs looking to enjoy their meal in peace. Outside the windows are great views of downtown Portland and the individuals who inhabit downtown. 

     Afuri is a great Japanese restaurant with several locations world-wide. According to their website; 

     "Afuri [named after a mountain in Japan] has long been known for its waters, and
in days past, it was considered a sacred mountain of good harvest, and thousands would journey to Mt. Afuri every year in pilgrimage. We like to think we're bringing sacred Mt. Afuri to the rest of the world. The mountain provides us with a kind of philosophy. It can be a little tricky to translate it literally from Japanes, but let's just call it "Higher". We push higher in everything we do - everything, from pickling to serving - and we intend to reach for excellence as we are AFURI. Mt Afuri remains - straight, honest, steadfast, dependable. That's our aime. One ramen. One staff. Always higher." 

     When you first enter the restaurant seat yourself, on the table are containers with chopsticks, napkins and an ordering explination. On the table are laminated QR codes to scan for the menu. I personally do not mind QR code menus and with COVID have noticed the recent increase in popularity. I do, however, know there could be potential difficulties with this. For this restaurant you do everything from the QR code. Each QR code is specific to where it is located within the restaurant. From the menu you can start a tab, order and pay all from your mobile device. For groups this makes splitting the bill much easier, but for families or groups that want to be on one check this means everyone has to share the one mobile device that it is set up on. 

Yuzo Shoyu

     When we went it was just Roy and I, and we don't mind one of us paying for the bill. I also enjoy when Roy orders for me since he actually knows what I do and don't like. Sitting next to us was a larger family with about four or six individuals. In this situation it meant that one of them essentially had to play waiter. There appeared to be two choices in situations with large groups on one check. One, pass the phone around to everyone, or two everyone reads the menu from their own phone and tells the person ordering what to put in the phone actually ordering. 

     I ordered the yuzo shoyu, a ramen in chicken broth with bamboo shoots, an egg, pork, fride garlic and nori (seaweed). Roy got the yuzu ratan, a slightly spicer ramen made with, chicken broth, bamboo shoots, sesame, peppers and lemon peel. While ours were not, they do offer gluten free and vegan options. 

     Another popular menu item is the gyoza dumplings. We have too many to count at home so we decided not to get some, but the family next to us got a couple servings and I almost immediately regretted not getting some. 

     In terms of accessability, I again did not venture to a restroom to see, but the rest of the restaurant is very friendly to all. In honest, the most difficult part would be other customers. The tables are spaced far enough apart to not only allow for customers to freely wander, but also to allow the staff to quickly navigate around crowds of people. 

      Afuri Ramen is a great place for lunch or early dinner. During evening hours I would not reccomend it just do to location. With that being said, Afuri has a sister restaurant (that I have not been to yet) in southeast Portland. Afuri Izakaya from it's pictures appears to have a much more upscale vibe and would be a much better dinner option, I'll try to make a trip accross the river sometime soon to verify. 

Azuri Ramen + Dumpling at a Glance:

• Simple, easy to chose from menu
• Moderate volume
• Communal tables
• Great accessibility
• Easy to navigate areas, low tables, extra space
• Price: Two ramens, one drink, plus tip $45.00

One Day in Seattle Itinerary

Chihuly 

     For Memorial Day weekend we took Amtrak up to Seattle. The train is becoming a new enjoyment of mine. The train from Portland to Seattle is approximately four hours and if you get the cheapest ticket, it is around $50 to travel round trip. Normally, I spend the train ride catching up on my latest tv drama, however this trip I had forgotten my headphones. Instead of television, I drew possible future home layouts, meal planned and caught up on social media planning. As my aunt says, the train is the perfect time to get work done because you are in an environment where it is hard to do other tasks. 

     We arrived Friday night, and had intended to unpack and go out again, however when we were walking through Capitol Hill we noticed it was rather quiet. Once we had unloaded and made it to our lodging we were tuckered out from traveling and just called it a night. We did fill our weekend with exploring and site seeing, but the day that was filled was Sunday.

     We woke up around 8:00am Sunday morning to
take an Uber to go to the Chihuly Glass Garden near the space needle. We arrived just before opening and tried to find somewhere to grab a quick bite to eat but were unsuccessful. At 9:00am we entered the museum. We spent roughly 45 minutes walking through the entire museum, with 20 of those minute spent at the end taking photos in the glass house.

    We found a coffee shop, called Vita at KEXP for breakfast and to kill some time before our next agenda item. The space appeared to be a large industrial warehouse used as a multifunctional space. I got a cookie butter latte (which was a sweet as it sounds) and Roy enjoyed an Ethiopian drip coffee. After finishing, we made our way past the International Fountain to the Space Needle

Glass Floor

     At 11:00 am we stepped in line to go up to the top of the Space Needle. The process is rather straight forward. We waited in a line for the elevator to take us to the top. While waiting in line they have a place to have a complimentary photo taken in front of a green screen for you to choose your digital background later online. They give you a ticket with a QR code to scan in various locations to take photos and download at a later time. The elevator takes you to the top observation deck. I will say, the view from on top of the Space Needle is amazing, but the poor crowd control made our experience rushed. Trying to navigate through crowds, take a photo, or even just make your way to the exit was a constant push and shove that took away from the enjoyment of seeing a spectacular view. Taking the stairs down one floor brought us into the revolving glass floor. Similar to the observation deck, it was hard to enjoy the awe of the structure and height because of others. For us, or at least for myself, the experience ending up being more of a "let's get this over with" than it was enjoyment. 

     Once we came back down from the Space Needle, we stayed in the area to find some food and enjoy the Folklife Festival that was happening. After eating some delicious gyros, we began to walk the 30 minute walk down hill towards the Seattle Aquarium. On the way we got lost and wandered through the Olympic Sculpture Park. This was my favorite non-food part of the trip. We hadn't planned to go, but I got distracted, and saw something shiny to explore. Well, not actually, but the idea is the same. 

      We made it to the Seattle Aquarium around 1:30 and headed inside. By this time of day, families were wrapped around the building and rain was just around the corner. With these factors and Memorial Day weekend, the aquarium was full of families. We rushed through the first part to the seals and otter exhibits. Overall, we only spent about 40 minutes here, but you could definitely spend longer. 

     Following the aquarium, we took an Uber back to the Museum of Pop Culture. Of everything, this was my least favorite experience. Admittedly, there was a lot of interesting relics to see, and the Indie Gaming room was a favorite of Roy and I's, but overall, I felt that the museum was incohesive and had poor flow of traffic. We did go when it was raining, and the museum was probably at capacity, if not over capacity, but realistically with the amount of people that was there it was impossible to truly enjoy any of the exhibits. 

The Crab Pot

     We ended our night with Roy's pick of food at The Crab Pot. This is the restaurant located back by the Seattle Aquarium (yes our route was poorly planned), that is known for dumping its bucket of seafood on the table for you to enjoy. Both Roy and I were excited for this and I was particularly excited to enjoy some crab. 

     Other parts of this trip included, a trip to the International District/Chinatown for coffee, tea shopping, and a visit to the Waterfall Garden. An exploration of Capitol Hill and a drive-by tour of Freemont.

Three Day Weekend in Seattle:

• 

  Space Needle

  Arrived Friday at 9:00 pm
• Saturday
• 10:00 Coffee at International District/Chinatowns
• 11:00 Tea Shopping
• 12:00 Visit the Waterfall Garden
• 1:00 Fremont Statue Tour
• 6:00 Dinner back at Capitol Hill
• Sunday
• 9:00 Chihuly Glass Garden Museum
• 10:00 Coffee
• 11:00 Space Needle
• 12:00 Folklife Festival
• 2:00 Seattle Aquarium
• 3:00 Museum of Popculture
• I would switch this with the aquarium in timeline planning.
• 6:00 The Crab Pot
• 8:00 Back to Capitol Hill
• Monday
• 10:00 Breakfast at Glo's
• 1:00 back to the train station to go home.