Marination Station

The last couple of months have been crazy, to say the very least. Between my 3 week work trip, Kyle interviewing for (and getting!) a new job, and many other fun, but time-consuming and busy life events, time has slipped away from me and I am now sitting on over 23 unwritten posts. It is early on Saturday morning and I am going to try to chip away at the "drafts" that are patiently waiting for me to bring to life with some type of semi-decent caption.

Kyle and I have had the great pleasure of being at some of the city's most exciting restaurant openings. By chance, he stumbled into Ting Momo, Tom Douglas' new dumpling spot on it's grand opening day. We also popped into Bravehorse and he had a final feast on Wunderman's tab at Cuoco.

I have finally seen the day where my little column in the North American post has got me a free meal! In March I wrote an article on Marination Mobile, which has put Seattle street food on the map. Co-owner, Kamala Saxton, was so kind and generous with her time, and I was so lucky to have an opportunity to hear more about her business. At the end of April, they opened the doors to their new brick and mortar Marination Station (located on the corner of Pike & Broadway, above QFC) and an insignificant food blogger/writer for a small newspaper got a coveted invite to the soft opening!

I have never been to a soft opening of a restaurant, but I felt like a VIP when I walked in and found myself on "the list." The menu is similar to their truck, with one huge difference...there is beer! And not just any beer, Tiger beer, which was a staple of Kyle and my Singapore trip. Carmen and Jamie, let's put this on the list for your upcoming trip home!

Kamala came out, her typical huge smile and all, to say hello and greet guests. Luckily when my mom and I showed up, there were not a lot of people there yet. We got to talk with Kamala for a while and then headed to the front of the line where we ordered my favorite eats. About 10 seconds later, a huge crowd showed up and we were thankful that we beat the rush. 

Of course I ordered the spam slider and kalbi taco, two of Marination's best dishes. As always, it was delicious and a perfect bite of savory meat, crunchy slaw, and lick-the-plate-clean sauce.

My mom had not yet been to Marination Mobile and was excited to experience what all the hype is about. She agreed that the food is great, and she really liked the fact that we could sit indoors rather than standing outside the truck in the rain. As we are on the eve of Mother's Day, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be able to share memories like this with my amazing mother.

Congratulations, Marination Station! Thank you for the ono food and the warm Aloha hospitality. Be sure to check it out next time you are in Capitol Hill.

Happy Eating,

Emi