When I first moved to Seattle (which, incidentally, was Labor Day Weekend 1997), my first apartment (once I was done sleeping on my brother’s couch) was in North Capital Hill, around 23rd & Aloha. I shared this apartment with Minnea, and I vaguely recall talking about this restaurant called The Kingfish Cafe, which was some popular soul food restaurant that was just amazing. At the time, it was also always crowded, and, you know, for a recent college grad, kind of pricey. So, yeah. Never got around to going.

Fast-forward 16 years and look at that, I finally made it out there. The packed crowds are a thing of the past (at least on the day we were there, which was on the early side, because that’s how I roll), but the creole food remains, now surrounded by a ton of new stores and condos. So it goes. Here’s some Kingfish Cafe goodness.

Welcome to Kingfish Cafe.

Frog legs. Taste like chicken.

Gumbo

Slice of crazy chocolate mint cake that was bigger than my head. The mint was the frosting. It was good, but seriously, too much. Even for me, a devoted lover of all things sweet.

Finally.