monkey tree cafe

on vashon island, there were two places where i was interested in having lunch: monkey tree cafe and la boucherie (the retail and dining arm of sea breeze farm, which i also wanted to visit). since la boucherie is only open wednesdays-sundays, that left one choice. (with me, not having to make a decision is often a good thing).

when we got off the ferry, julia asked where we were supposed to go, and i told her we were going to lunch. we made the wrong turn from the ferry, but that was okay since it gave us a chance to see the island and we weren't really in a hurry anyway. once it reached the southern tip of the island, the highway turned around so we were soon heading in the right direction.

this is the monkey tree cafe, a nondescript building next to a gas station and the electric company. if you didn't know about it, you wouldn't give it a second look when you're driving down the highway. so, it's a good thing that i did know about it. once we parked and i saw the outside, i was rather glad because it did look like a cool place even from outside.
when we walked in, the first thing we saw were bread and pastries (it's a bakery as well as a cafe)--they looked delectable. the place itself was small--there were wooden tables (some made from wine barrels), coffee table books propped against the walls, antique knicknacks, and just and overall eclectic mix of decorations.

we headed to the back of the cafe (there's outdoor seating, too--but it was too wet and cold for that. in fact, while we were eating, it drizzled, hailed (small ones), and snowed), and grabbed a table. the waiter (he might have been one of the owners, too) brought us the menu and told us about the specials on the board. everything sounded good. for the soup specials, they had white bean minestrone soup, garlic potato soup. for their entree specials, they had udon soup with tofu and pear caprese salad. everything on the regular menu sounded good, too.

though i was tempted by the garlic potato soup, the walnut basil cream pasta (from the regular menu) and a bunch of other things, i chose the croissant french toast. julia had the open-faced sandwich (with artichoke, havarti, peppers). we also had to get the beer-battered sweet potato fries with various dips.

while we waited for our food, the waiter brought us some yummy blood oranges.

this was my french toast. it was a huge order--a misunderstanding on my part. the waiter had said they had half orders, and i had asked how big it was (but i was thinking about the full order). when the waiter said 1 1/2 croissants, i didn't think that was so big so i ordered the full order. well, i got 3 whole croissants with some cooked apples and butter. oh my gosh, this was utterly delicious! at first, i was wondering if i was supposed to get some syrup, but one taste of the butter and i was just thinking, yum. i don't know what kind of butter that was--it was whipped or something--but it provided all the sweetness that i needed. of course, the croissants were already sweet. though i tried to eat it all, it was just too much. we had to take home one croissant.

this was julia's sandwich. i didn't try it, but she said it was really good and that it's probably the best sandwich she'd ever had.

this was our sweet potato fries. i don't think they were all sweet potatoes, though. they were nicely battered and fried. there were three different dips, but i'm not sure what kind they were. one seemed mayonnaise-y (aioli maybe), one seemed like thousand island dressing, and the last was something tomato-ey. all the dips were good, though the fries were good all on their own, too. with all the food, we did not finish this either; we probably ate less than half, so we had to take that home, too.

before we started eating, we had thought about buying some baked goods to go. but we were so full afterwards that we couldn't really think about it anymore. i ended up just buying one chocolate croissant topped with walnuts (i had it this morning. it was so-so).

they really have great food at this place. i was telling julia that she should take her parents here and somehow she mentioned that everything was vegetarian. being the carnivore that i am, i hadn't even noticed that! out of all the places i've eaten at so far during this trip, i think that the monkey tree had the best food.

i wish i could have tasted the other food. the place was full, and everybody seemed to enjoy their food. many seemed like they were regulars. i would heartily recommend eating here, or getting some of the food to go for a picnic. they don't take credit cards, so bring cash or check.