Ice cream parfaits and noodles and BBQ! Oh my!

Driving up Pike street, Trove’s bright red X is visible from blocks away. At a closer look, the restaurant’s exterior is modern with what looks like an ice cream truck attached to the face of the building. The sandwich board outside Trove advertises four different restaurants in one: parfait, noodles, BBQ and a bar. Each restaurant has different business hours and takes up separate parts of the space.

Trove fits right into the edgy mold of the Pike-Pine corridor. Pike-Pine is located just up the hill from downtown Seattle and is jammed full of bars, coffee shops, including the enormous Starbucks Reserve, fancy shoe stores and Gay City—an LGBT community center.

As I entered the restaurant, I didn’t feel hip enough to be there. Coming straight from a Mock Trial competition, I was tired and wearing a conservative costume: tights, ballet flats and a felt dress. I felt like a walking juxtaposition with Trove’s bright, clean and modern interior.

I quickly forgot about my discomfort as I breathed in a whiff of freshly cooked noodles. I already knew what I was going to order: pad thai with chipotle, pork belly, yu choy and chili peanuts. After looking at the parfait menu, I decided on the Chocolate Orange, which contains dark chocolate frozen custard, orange anglaise, five spice financier (similar to cake) and is topped with vanilla macaroons. Altogether, my parfait and pad thai were around 20 dollars.

My pad thai was ready first. The smell alone made my mouth water, and it tasted just as good. Although the noodles-to-meat-and-vegetables ratio wasn’t the best, the flavors were delicious. The yu choy was mixed into

the noodles and provided a fresh taste, while the peanuts and cilantro served as accent tastes. Altogether, the dish’s flavors reminded me of a Vietnamese vermicelli noodle bowl.

About halfway through my pad thai, the parfait arrived. It was perfect timing, because I needed a break from the spicy noodles. Frozen chocolate custard was the ideal item to cool my mouth after eating chili peanuts. The Chocolate Orange is delicious, but this was my second time at Trove and I have to say I like the Candy Cane Lane parfait better. That one contains frozen

peppermint custard, white chocolate sugar cookies, white chocolate sauce and a candy cane-sprinkled marshmallow. Unless you are a big fruit and chocolate person, I recommend the Candy Cane Lane parfait over the Chocolate Orange.

If you buy a Trove parfait, remember to keep the jar so that you receive a dollar off your next one. Also, they make great containers for future homemade parfaits and smoothies. You can fool your friends intothinking you went to Trove before school, which may or may not be what I did.

Grade: A-

By Annie Cohen