The Seattle Traveler

Today I have a guest post from fellow b5media blogger Milo Riano.  Milo lives in the Philippines, and shares some of his favorite restaurants and places here in Seattle.  It’s a fun glimpse at what someone who lives outside the U.S. finds endearing about Seattle.

I have been to Seattle three times – 2006, 2007 and March of this year. I would be coming to Seattle again on the last week of April and I am definitely excited on my trip.

I instantly felt at home in Seattle seeing the vast number of places where you can get connected and the number of Microsoft techie people in malls, restaurants, buses. I specialize in Microsoft technologies and work with the top IT Services firm in the world and seeing a lot of Microsoft people around definitely felt home for me.

Aside from the work environment and being a Microsoft country region, I am big on food and drinks which Seattle has a lot to boast off. I would usually start my stay in Seattle at The Cheesecake Factory which has a large menu selection, lots of desert choices and large servings which is just what I need after almost 21 hours of travel from the time I leave my place in the Philippines until I arrive in my hotel in Seattle.

The Whisky Bar

2000 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 443-4490

I would usually visit The Whisky Bar on my first day in Seattle and drink as much as I can to make sure I get to sleep at night and fight off jetlag. Inside the bar there is a billiards table, performers at the corner and the overall place is compact and nice which is what I love about it the most. I’d usually frequent the Whisky Bar every time I’m in Seattle.

Kell’s Irish Restaurant & Pub

1916 Post Alley
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 728-1916

The first time I went to Kell’s was during my last visit, March of this year, and I cannot wait to go back there in April. I love the local sports viewing, the cozy and warm atmosphere of the place. Kell’s is near the Pike Market Place which is familiar to me as I’d usually get a cup of coffee at the first Starbuck’s located in Pike.

Buenos Aires Grill

220 Virginia St
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 441-7076

Buenos Aires Grill is said to be the best Argentine cuisine in the Northwest and I would agree you get a different dining experience especially when they served our food (see image below) with various meat on top of each other. We were surprised when the waitress took out all of our plates and told us to eat on what we jokingly called the placemat underneath the plate. I love the different kinds of meat that was served to us; but I loved the wine the most. It worked perfectly well with the meat. The place isn’t cheap as my colleagues and I ended up paying around 90 dollars each but it was definitely worth it.

Metropolitan Grill

820 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 624-3287

The Metropolitan Grill is also one of my favorite places to dine for steak. They usually make it as one of the top steak houses in the U.S. and I guarantee you the steak is excellent. The place is huge and you’d expect it to be packed with people enjoying their meal. We’d usually spend around 90-130 USD per person, money well spent in this kind of restaurant.

PF Chang’s China Bistro

400 Pine St
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 393-0070

This is probably the restaurant I cannot live without in Seattle. Great Chinese food, atmosphere and reasonably priced at around 20-30 USD per meal. I am an Asian and a Chinese cuisine lover, I rest my case.

Others places I love

I have also visited great places like the EMP, Space Needle, & Museum of Flight and I do recommend dropping by those places.

Final notes

I love Seattle and it is a great place both professionally and personally.

Milo Riano is an Associate Manager at Accenture, Philippines who travels to Seattle every now and then. His personal blog is at Milo Riano, technical blogs at B5Media’s WindowsVistaWeblog, and Techticles.

Photo credit:  flickr

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