Eating Out: Yakima

Looking for Yakima restaurants.  Here’s a few I’ve tried.  Tell me your faves.

E.Z Tiger

This upscale noodle and dumpling place just opened in Yakima on April 20th.  And in I went with a bunch of food and wine writers on April 22nd.  Oh, bless their hearts.  There were definitely some “just opened jitters.” A little deer in headlights look when our large party arrived, some timing issues, and a musical selection that ranged from  Asian Techno Zumba Fusion to what I swear sounded like the soundtrack to BeetleJuice.  But the food was GOOD y’all.  And the prices weren’t bad.  I would definitely go back.  Highly highly recommend the Bean Sprout Salad, Vegetable Dumplings, and the Dan Dan Noodles.

Cowiche Canyon Kitchen and Icehouse

I love a place that feels hoppin’ without being too loud.  Our table of 6 could easily hear each other.  The decor is air and wood.  Open space, open kitchen, and gorgeous wood floors, ceilings and walls.  The walls of stacked wood staves are not fused together.  Don’t ask how I know.  Service here was excellent – really stellar.  Our table ordered the weird combination of salads and fries to share.  Mind you these salads were not meant to be shared but the server took everything in stride and even split our checks. My bill reflected $0.83 worth of fries $1.24 worth of salad and $11 worth of booze. Don’t judge me.  The Prawn and Avocado Salad made me feel healthy, I need more of the Hong Kong Chicken Chop Salad in my life, and the Pisco Sour was mixed perfectly so the egg whites weren’t all left in the bottom.

Carousel Restaurant and Bistro

Carousel Restaurant and Bistro is special and romantic and sexy.  Brunch there should follow a very good morning if you know what I mean. White table cloths, crazy flaky croissants, and a build your own bloody mary bar to die for.  I have only been for brunch.  Don’t get cheeky, it was a press trip and Mark was not with me so the croissant was the highlight. But I have sampled some other menu items at a catered event and I’d definitely dine there for dinner. Oh and the bathroom is haunted, if you are into that sort of thing – which I am.

White House 

I was looking for someplace off the beaten path to eat in Yakima.  So far everything had been walking distance from the downtown hotels.  I chose the breakfast/lunch cafe at this little B & B.  It is not, as I had hoped, nestled in an old neighborhood.  But once inside it does feel homey, cozy, and nostalgic. There’s even a chandelier made of teacups and spoons.  The breakfast menu is small but the food was very good.  I ordered the breakfast that came with the “breakfast sweet.”  I was picturing a little tea biscuit.  Do you see the ginormous plate sized blueberry muffin with like a cup of whipped cream?

Los Hernandez Tamales

Everybody kept talking about these tamales.  Some people brought coolers from Oregon with the sole purpose of hoping to score large quantities of these tamales. It is asparagus season and these are like James Beard award winning tamales.  Guess I’ve been living under a rock.  One taste and I was sold.  I did not have a cooler and had a whole day of sunny Washington wine tasting before driving back to Oregon.  Luckily I had a handy insulated wine purse I bought at Goose Ridge.  The folks at Los Hernandez were nice enough to repackage and help me squeeze in a solid dozen frozen asparagus tamales.  I did a little dance. This is in Union Gap btw – near Yakima.