Safari Room

The Safari Room is part of the Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane.  It is actually located in the Davenport Tower on the corner of  First and Post.  You can go there for breakfast, Lunch or Dinner.  We chose Dinner.

I was surprised to discover that the Safari Room, is not actually a room... it is the whole Tower lobby, and the whole lobby is decorated with wild African animal art.  you feel sort of like you are in a palace on the savanna.  Your adventure begins as you walk on the giraffe skin styled flooring and encounter the wild cheetah chairs.  There are wild things represented all through the place. 

The place is amazing.... and the food...  quite delicious.  I forgot to photo it until we had eaten it all.   I actually photographed our empty plates, but I will spare you the dirty dishes and just tell you we thoroughly enjoyed it

We didn't quite know what to order, but our lovely waitress graciously helped us choose.  She had no problem recommending that Geo try the ribs and I the shrimp and basil fettuccine.  Good choices for sure, and certainly good selections for us to try... but I suspect that everything on the menu has merit... after all, it was hard for us to choose.

We loved the elephants...  and they were everywhere.  Did I mention that there were animals all over the place?  There is even a taxidermy tiger. Now personally I am not too much into the taxidermy thing, but I do find it interesting to see what an animal looks like, up close and personal, sort of. 

We were offered a lovely selection of desserts on a dessert tree  There were tiny tastes of various treats... Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Mousse,  Cheesecake and our utmost favorite of the evening,, Creme Brulee..

The desserts are usually $2.00 each, but they were half price that night, so we splurged and tried them all.  If the prices at the Safari Room are a bit out of your budget but you still want to hit the downtown scene sometime,  remember, they have special deals from time to time.  Some of their specials even include accommodations overnight.   All you have to do is check their website, or call and ask about dining specials...which they do have, making a visit here quite affordable for the person who lives local,  particularly during "happy hour."

The Davenport Hotel has specials worth checking out from time to time as well... and of course there is always valet parking!


HEre are some animals in the lobby of the Tower...
a hippo and a rhino....

and I am not certain, but I think this pool of water is smiling. If it is, it must be because we had a lovely time at the Safari Room at the Davenport Hotel Tower!

Maggie's South Hill Grill

The name of this place i fun to say, at least I think it is... Say it, will ya, "Maggie's South Hill Grill."

Maggie's is located at 2808 E. 29th Avenue.  You can view their menu up close and personal at the website.

This is the second tie we have been to Maggie's, the first time we did not stay.  We didn't eat wither.  The place was crowded and we left because we were uncomfortable.  Frankly, this format for serving food to customers is awkward in my opinion  and Geo just happens to agree with me. 

I cannot figure out whay people like to be served this way... and I wonder, "IS there something wrong with your waitress comming to your table and taking your order?  On this particular day that we didn;t stick around to order anything, we came in sat down, looked at the menu and thought about getting up to oder but were thinking that maybe someone would come and take our table while we were up... and then when they got up to order we would probably take their place.  Not only that, but what if you order food and then there is no where left to be seated?  This is how crowded it was.  It was all so awkward and crowded that we just left, but tonight when we peeked in, it was not so crowded and we decided to try it again.  It is obviously a place people like to come to eat.

The customers here were really nice.  We talked to several before even sitting down.  One person enlighted us to the pork tacos, which they had ordered tonight and said were very good.  She told us the Black and Blue Salad was exceptional too. 

Maggies is obviously a South Hill neighborhood thing.  The place is friendly, even if the method is as awkward...but how is the food...  (THAT is really want you are looking for aren't you?)

You will have to check out their menu... which by the way features some "gluten free foods."

I  was considering ordering the Fish Tacos, but ended up ordering the Ruben.  I am thinking I kinda like Spokane selection of Ruben sandwiches.... anyhow, sandwiches and wraps at Magpies come with a side dish, and  I selected the Butternut Squash Soup.

Geo ordered the Thai Chicken Wrap also with a cup of soup ... whatever the other soup of the day was.  I forgot what it was called.

We shared half and half on the entrees.

I loved my Ruben Sandwich!  It was great.  The soup.... hmmm,soup with a baby food consistency is just not my thing.  As for the wrap.... I thought it was odd to have noodles in a spinach tortilla... but the flavor was wonderful.  My wrap, which actually was quote tasty, ended up witting a little long on my plate and getting soggy, so I just ate the inside.... which had some wild purple cabbagey stuff in it.  I liked it.  I think I would prefer however ust to order the Thai Chicken Noodle dish and skip the tortilla..

Interesting photo huh?

We began by eating inside and then moved outdoors.... they have a little veranda of sorts, adjacent to the parking lot.  I imagine this is handy when it gets crowded here, especially in the summertime... but really the sights and sounds are a bit unattractive... that is, if you ask me.  At least half of the tables were occupied out doors.  Here are the ones by the wall. 

My advice, if you order a spinach wrapped Thai noodle sandwich... eat it first, and try to sit indoors.  The traffic and the moving sign noise is unappealing. 

While sitting indoors, near the counter, I had to opportunity to hear a lot of people order desserts and I got to look at the desserts in the cooling case.  There was a lot to pick from, and one item was even gluten free.  I venture to guess that in addition to sandwiches and salads, dessert is another of their specialties.


 
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Chinese Gardens (Couer d'Alene, ID)

Sometimes you need a tasty trek adventure when you are in another state. and when we recently found ourselves in ID we googled for a a Chinese eatery and found ourselves at this little spot... Chinese Gardens.

Things here were definitely Chinese.  There was the tropical fishtank, (a common feature of many Chinese restaurants,) Chinese writing on the wall... even a painting of  the great wall of China.   The only thing not Chinese was our waitress.  She did not look Chinese.

  In 2005 readers of the local business journal voted this restaurant the best Chinese place in town, so we figured we would give it a try.

The menu had a lot of interesting Chinese dishes to try too.  There were several people in our hungry group and, as we were all a bit famished, having been out all day near the water's edge, we passed our tastes of China around a bit.

We had Rangoon


and Kim Chee for appetizers.






One person in our group had never had Rangoon.  I love Rangoon, but have to say that these were not the best I have ever eaten.  The person who had never eaten Rangoon before loved them though.  The Kim Chee, like most all the  Kim Chee I know, had to grow on you a bit.


The other dishes we ordered  to our table were the Mar Po Tofu
  No Pork in this dish, and it was spicy!

Kung Pao Chicken...
I didn't care for the bell peppers.

Geo ordered the Crispy Noodle Chow MEin and was disappointed because it was not what he thought it would be.  IT was mainly stir fired vegetables  and chicken on top of those chubby crispy chow mein noodles.   He said that it was good though.












and we also tasted their Curry Chicken.

All of our dishes were served with rice. I have to say I thought the Curry Chicken dish was the most aromatic and tasty.  I think it was the touch of ginger in the dish that made it so flavorful, but then it was a curry and I like that too.