Touristing in Issaquah

Today, I went with long-time friend M to the southeastern city of Issaquah for pasyal. In case you aren't familiar with the term, "pasyal" in Filipino means to go on a short trip. Although both Fil-GuAm Washingtonians, we each live nowhere near Issaquah, and there was major weekend traffic from highway improvement projects, so it definitely felt like a mini road trip.

M had to go to a horse store called the Grange to return equine mats for her horses, but Boehm's was really our main stop. Boehm's is one of the oldest chocolate and candy shops in the state, celebrating 79 years of business this year. And I love chocolate and will always love chocolate, so it was definitely on our list to visit. I hadn't eaten yet, and it's not like I frequent Issaquah, so I splurged, even buying a mystery box and bags of chocolate-covered gummy bears.

Afterward, we went less than 2 miles over to Naan n Curry Issaquah, located in a strip mall next to a floral shop. We were ready to dine in, realizing upon arrival, however, that all menu items would be takeout (makes sense, as we are still in pandemic times and restaurants want to be safe). After studying the menu for several minutes, I got a chai, lamb tandoori plate, garlic naan, and chicken biryani. M got a chicken korma with a side of garlic naan. We went to her house in White Center to eat. No photos of this Pakistani-Indo culinary goodness, but their biryani is so so good, it's definitely worth stopping by for!

The storefront resembles a Swiss chalet,
inspired by founder Julius Boehm.

Chocolate Coast Salish spindle whorl art

Locally owned, family-run business 

of the Garbusjuks 

So many choices...

Ooooooh, Philippine sea salt caramels? Yes.

Preparing to open the Mystery Box...

Hah, these definitely were a surprise! The UFO wafer candies were a bit boring at first,

but grew on me. No one I shared them with liked them, though. But we're also not kids.