[Paseo has suddenly and permanently closed early November 2014. Lots of lawsuits flying around after it filed for bankruptcy. BUT NOW, it'll re-open as of December 2014.]
There isn't anyone to pack us those awesome sandwiches from Paseo on this trip. Decided to head out to get some for ourselves. Since we're always hanging out in Ballard and also strolled by the other Paseo outlet at Shilshole Bay, thought we'd check out the original shack in Fremont.
Turned up right at 11 am. Fwaaah. There was already a line out of the door and onto the street. But it wasn't too long. Maybe 15 people ahead. Joined it. We were prepared to stand by the road to munch on the sandwiches. The line moved quickly, but the wait for the sandwiches was long. It was close to an hour later before we got our chow. There're only like...10 highly coveted seats within the shack.
Ballard's outlet holds more outdoor seating and a way shorter queue even at peak lunch hour. Fremont seems to be mainly a take-out joint. But everybody goes there, so nowadays, even at 3 pm, the line doesn't end. When we left Paseo, there were 50 people in line. We hung out at Fremont for a good part of the day. When we walked by it again before leaving town at 3pm, there were still 50 people in line. Win lor.
The slaw was crunchy-good. While their beans and rice were good, just stick to their famous Caribbean sandwiches. Lightly spread with aioli, the toasted baguette is still SO GOOD. Super consistent. Ahhhh, I love bread nicely toasted and all savory. If you take pork, their signature 'Caribbean Roast' of tender pork shoulder is to-die-for. The chicken breast and the grilled fish-of-the-day sandwiches are just as tasty. I'm in love with their 'Tofu Delight', 'Onion Obsession' and 'Havana Seared Scallops'. Not impressed with their idea of 'jumbo' prawns that are super fresh and crunchy but neither big nor sweet. You could go spicy on the scale of one to three stars. We were conservative and went for three stars. It was barely spicy. Duhhh. Next time I shall do five stars.
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| That's Nibs the Cat who owns the strip along Fremont Avenue, and cleverly hangs out mainly at Paseo. |
2 comments:
Sounds like a lot of food for 2 persons! Did this place get featured on some Food Network show before? Looks familiar....
there were four of us! heh. i think it was featured a loooong time ago on TLC. i didn't bother about that, but more of what the locals insist we try and based on what we ate the last round, we had to go to the outlet to try it fresh!
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