The Walrus and the Carpenter

Seattle is nearly surrounded by water, and there's no better place to sample the region's wealth of seafood than the Walrus, as locals call it. Bright and buzzing, with a zinc bar, wire baskets filled with oysters on ice, and a salvaged chandelier that looks like it was harvested from a coral reef, chef-owner Renée Erickson's seafood-centric restaurant has quickly become an institution. I like to start with a half-dozen oysters – if the Effingham, a briny variety from Vancouver Island, is in season, that's my pick – before moving on to smoked trout with lentils, walnuts, pickled onions, and creme fraiche, Lopez Island spot prawns, or even hand-chopped steak tartare.
• 4743 Ballard Avenue NW (in the Kolstrand Building), +1 206 395 9227, thewalrusbar.com. Mains $8-$12. Open daily 4pm till late

Sitka & Spruce

Whenever I'm asked what Seattle's food scene looks like today, I point to Sitka & Spruce. Chef-owner Matt Dillon may draw inspiration from across Europe and the Middle East, but he showcases local ingredients like no one else in town. Tucked into the corner of Melrose Market, between a butcher shop and a florist, his open, inviting kitchen turns out flavours that are sophisticated but never fussy, simple but deeply satisfying. The menu changes daily, but if it includes creamed escarole and sorrel with an egg on top, Yakima chickpea puree with housemade harissa, or the buckwheat canelé with roasted stone fruit, you're in for a treat.
• 1531 Melrose Avenue East (in the Melrose Building), +1 206 324 0662, sitkaandspruce.com. Mains $8.50-$18. Open Mon-Fri 11.30am-2pm (lunch), Tues-Thurs 5.30-10pm, Fri-Sat 5.30-11pm, Sun 4.30-9pm (dinner), Sat 10am-2pm, Sun 10am-3pm (brunch)

The Wandering Goose

Seattle is nowhere near the American south, but the buttermilk biscuits, layer cakes, and collard greens at the Wandering Goose are as good as they come. Originally hailing from North Carolina, chef-owner Heather Earnhardt was a local legend for her baking even before she opened this small, cheerful cafe in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood. The towering biscuit sandwiches are hard to resist, but I rarely stray from the veggie plate, with its pimento macaroni and cheese, vinegary collards, tiny Sea Island peas, and flaky biscuit. And try as I might, I can never leave without a slice of one of Earnhardt's giant cakes in my bag.
• 403 15th Avenue East, +1 206 323 9938, thewanderinggoose.com. Mains $11-$13. Open daily 7am-4pm, Friday dinner at 7pm

Green Leaf

A hole-in-the-wall in the International District, Green Leaf doesn't look like much from the outside – or on the inside, for that matter – but it's never wanting for customers, especially at lunchtime. That's because it serves the best Vietnamese food around. Start with a crunchy, sweet-hot green papaya salad before diving into a (swimming pool-sized) bowl of vermicelli with grilled pork, which comes topped with fried shallots, pickled daikon and carrot, and nuoc cham (dipping sauce).
• 418 8th Avenue South, +1 206 340 1388, greenleaftaste.com. Mains $8.25-$12.85. Open daily 11am-10pm

Ma'Ono Fried Chicken and Whisky

The name says it all. Ma'Ono is the new incarnation of what was once the fine-dining restaurant Spring Hill, whose casual Monday-night fried-chicken dinners became so popular that chef-owner Mark Fuller reshaped his entire establishment to serve the dish seven nights a week. West Seattle is a trek from downtown but it's worth it for this chicken, with its burnished, crisp skin and accompanying kimchi, rice, and dipping sauces. Fuller also mines his Hawaiian heritage to make ethereal manapua (steamed pork buns) and hangover-curing saimin, a Hawaiian version of ramen, with pork belly and toasted seaweed. But whatever you do, don't skip the burger, despite the $19 price tag: a spectacularly juicy beef patty topped with bacon, special sauce, and – I love this detail – crisp, shredded iceberg lettuce.
• 4437 California Avenue SW, +1 206 935 1075, maono.springhillnorthwest.com. Mains $12-$21. Open daily 5pm-10pm, Sat and Sun brunch 10am-2pm

Spinasse

Chef Jason Stratton has made a name for himself in the rustic, glowy kitchen of Spinasse, cooking food of the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Sit at the marble-topped counter, order a glass of barbaresco and the tajarin (impossibly thin egg noodles) with ragu, and watch the plaid-shirted cooks at the stove. The menu changes frequently, but when in season, don't miss the salad of chicories with marinated rabbit, or the pork cooked slowly in milk until it falls apart and the milk turns into a loose, savoury caramel.
• 1531 14th Avenue, +1 206 251 7673, spinasse.com. Mains $12-$34. Sun-Thurs 5pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm

Hot Cakes

If you've got room for dessert following dinner at the Walrus, head down the street to Hot Cakes, a bakery-meets-bar that will likely have a line out the door, even on a weeknight. Though it is best known for its molten chocolate cakes in tiny Mason jars, the real winner is the milkshakes, which can be had with or without booze. I go for the no-nonsense dark chocolate flavour – thick, creamy, and not too sweet – though the Drunken Sailor shake, with peanut butter, caramel, and whiskey, has been known to sway me. And the salted peanut butter cookie, spiked with milk chocolate chunks, more than does the job.
• 5427 Ballard Avenue NW, +1 206 420 3431, getyourhotcakes.com. Cakes and shakes from $7 each. Open Mon 6pm-10pm, Tues-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri -Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-10pm

Poppy

You wouldn't expect to see a lush herb garden on a bustling corner in Capitol Hill, but that's exactly what you'll find behind Poppy. The freshest flavours of the north-west shine in chef-owner Jerry Traunfeld's menu, which takes its inspiration from a thali, an Indian metal platter with small, fitted with small bowls of vegetables. Poppy's thalis come in seven- or 10-item versions and change frequently: one night, black cod with carrot sauce might be on offer, with a nettle, lovage, and mushroom soup and a fennel, orange, and wild ginger pickle. If you have a sweet tooth, close the night with a nutter-butter square, a dreamy confection made for the dessert thali but also available separately, if you know who to ask.
• 622 Broadway East, +1 206 324 1108, poppyseattle.com. Thalis from $24. Open Sun-Thurs 5.30pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 5.30pm-11pm

Paseo Paseo

Paseo Paseo makes the world's messiest sandwiches, but they're good enough that you won't mind the dry-cleaning bill. The most popular is the Caribbean Roast, a toasted baguette spread with aioli and filled with tender slow-roasted pork shoulder, pickled jalapenos, and big, juicy loops of caramelised onion. The Paseo Press, which adds sweet banana peppers, ham, and cheese, is a close second. If it's a nice day and you're at the Ballard location – a pink shack facing Puget Sound – walk down the street to Golden Gardens Park and have a picnic on the beach.
• 6226 Seaview Avenue NW, +1 206 789 3100, paseoseattle.com. Open Tues-Sat 11am-9pm. Also at 4225 Fremont Avenue N, +1 206 545 7440, Tues-Fri 11am-9pm, Sat 11am-8pm. Sandwiches $6-$8.95, cash only

Analog Coffee

Seattle has a coffee shop on nearly every corner, but few make coffee as well as Analog. Hidden on a quiet residential street in otherwise-very-urban Capitol Hill, you could easily walk right past this spare neighbourhood cafe with a hand-lettered sign on the sidewalk. Inside, the friendly baristas bring exacting standards to their work, using locally roasted Herkimer Coffee beans and Fresh Breeze milk from Lynden, Washington. I've never had a better macchiato. Empty seats are hard to come by, but if you can snag one, grab a comic book from the table by the door, and sit for a while.
• 235 Summit Ave East, +1 206 678 7443, analogcoffee.com. Open Mon-Sun 7am-6pm

Molly Wizenberg is a food writer and restaurateur from Seattle. She has published two recipe books and writes at orangette.blogspot.co.uk. She and her husband own the Seattle restaurant Delancey and the next-door bar,

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