WRITTEN BY NANCY LESON PHOTOGRAPHED BY BARRY WONG

	Countryside Donut House in Mountlake Terrace is worth the quick detour off I-5. Here (left to right) Kim Heang, Sokngim Taing Lim and Youkhun Taing show off their handmade doughnuts. Come early to get 'em while they're hot.

If I feel the urge to break the fast with a blast, I'll head for Crown Hill and the Wild Mountain Café to throw back a hell-fire-hot wasabi Bloody Mary, then settle into a platter of "Persian Sun" — French toast layered with sesame paste, drizzled with lemon-honey, draped with fresh pineapple and sided with a slab of country-style ham. (1408 N.W. 85th St., Seattle; 206-297-9453)

When in the mood to start the day with big, homey food, I'm off to Kirkland and The Original Pancake House, where the ooey-gooey baked-apple pancake is the size of a standard apple pie, rising to hefty heights and wafting with the scent of Granny Smiths and cinnamon. (130 Parkplace Center, Kirkland; 425-827-7575)

Others may beg to differ, preferring to get their big cinnamon rush at the Maltby Café. And who could blame them? Why fill up on pancakes, eggs, rashers of bacon and chicken-fried steak when you can have an enormous cinnamon roll whose star attractions are walnuts, raisins and icing? (8809 Maltby Road, Maltby; 425-483-3123)

If a doughnut's more likely to hit the spot, we've got the national chains (Krispy Who?), and the locals' favorite (terrific Top Pot, whose brand-swanking-new flagship shop recently opened on Fifth Avenue downtown and whose rounds are available at retail outlets all over). Then there's that Mountlake Terrace strip mall delight: Countryside Donut House, where the doughnuts (love those glazed!) are handmade, served with a smile and worth the quick detour off I-5. (21919 66th Ave. W., Mountlake Terrace; 425-672-7820)

Speaking of dough, the talented hands that roll the dough that create the flake that responds when baked at Café Besalu inspire this thought: Paris has nothing on Ballard when it comes to satisfying our morning munchies with delectable croissants. And if that earth-shattering suggestion could for a moment be denied, one taste of pain au chocolat or a silken pastry embellished with sweet, ripe, seasonal fruits will prove otherwise. Come (early — on Wednesdays through Sundays only), stay (for coffee), and know what it is to see the City of Light in a single bite. (5909 24th Ave. N.W., Seattle; 206-789-1463)

If a simple bagel is really all you need, good luck. Finding a great one — that's boiled, baked and given a generous schmear of cream cheese — is tough in these parts (must be the water). The closest I've come to the real deal are the rounds at Bagel Oasis. Best bet: pumpernickel. (Ravenna: 2112 N.E. 65th St., Seattle; 206-526-0525; Fremont: 462 N. 36th St., Seattle; 206-633-2676)
 

	At Hosoonyi Korean restaurant in Edmonds, customers can sit on cushions at low tables in semi-privacy while others dine in casual café comfort in the adjoining room.

I'm often asked, "Where's the best place for Sunday brunch?" (Sunday brunch meaning a big buffet of breakfast goodies, made-to-order crepes and omelets, pounds of pastries, barons of beef and, if you're brunching at Salty's, heaps of all-you-can-eat seafood.) Truth be told, I have no taste for buffet brunches, save one: Sahib Cuisine of India. In addition to a Puget Sound view, this royal repast offers an extravaganza of freshly made and beautifully spiced dishes, a changing array of meat and vegetarian specialties including aloo gobi (owner Kabul Gill's lovingly presented potato pancakes), delicate vegetable pakoras, various curries, soothing paneer and moist tandoori chicken, the whole enhanced by salads, chutneys, desserts and fresh naan pulled hot and blistered from the tandoor. What's more: an abbreviated version of this bountiful buffet is reproduced Monday through Saturday at lunchtime (and it's a steal at $7.95). (101 Main St., Edmonds; 425-775-2828)

Worth noting: Sahib's new Eastside sibling in Redmond Town Center boasts its own daily buffet.16474 N.E. 74th St., Redmond; 425-883-8989)

That's Some Dim Sum

At a buffet, the food stands still. At dim sum, the food comes to you. And I love the parade: Dim sum carts stocked with savory Chinese treats, including steamed and fried dumplings, congee ladled into broad bowls, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves, dancing squid tentacles and pointy-toed chicken feet. I love the sight — and taste — of shrimp-stuffed eggplant, bean-curd wrappers embracing crunchy vegetables, squares of pan-fried turnip cake and flaky egg-custard tarts. Dim sum: It's not just for weekends anymore, though that's when the crowds make for a festive feast and choice pickings are available at dim sum restaurants everywhere.

In Bellevue, I join the fun at that pastel-pink palace, Noble Court, keeping my eye open for delicate pork-filled pastries and skewers of garlicky fried prawns with dry, spicy salt. (1644 140th Ave., N.E., Bellevue; 425-641-6011)

At the elegantly appointed Imperial Garden Seafood Restaurant in the Great Wall Mall, I wait in hope of steamed lobster dumplings, garnished with fish roe, and small crocks of exotic seafood soup with shark's fin floating by. (18230 E. Valley Hwy., Kent; 425-656-0999)

China Gate, in the heart of Seattle's Chinatown/International District, is Dim Sum Central, perfect for a quick weekday lunch (parking problems notwithstanding) or a leisurely weekend brunch, and now features cooked-to-order Shanghai-style dim sum in addition to its many excellent roll-by standards. (516 Seventh Ave. S., Seattle; 206-624-1730)

Noodlin' Toward Noon

Once tapped into my hankering for Asian eats, it's only a matter of time 'til I'm hot on the trail of soup noodles — my idea of a perfect breakfast, lunch or anytime snack, particularly when I'm feeling low or slow. I have favorite soup-noodle stops throughout Greater Seattle, places that implore me to drive here — no, there! — for a bowlful of steaming goodness. These include such upscale destinations as Wild Ginger, whose spicy, seafood-enhanced Malaysian laksa has, for more than a decade, kept me exploring the recesses of my broad bowl for one last morsel of scallop, sliver of cucumber or spoonful of slippery rice noodles. (1401 Third Ave., Seattle; 206-623-4450)

Super Bowl Noodle House is far from a high-end hangout, but no less appealing on a gut level. This small café's Thai influence is apparent, but the noodle-soup options go a long way toward crossing borders (locally and internationally) with such pleasures as Green Lake Noodles (with chicken, pork, fish balls, fried wontons, plus aromatic greenery); Old Faithful (whose Chinese accents include wontons and barbecued pork); and the palate-whomping, peanut-sprinkled M-80 Noodles (a heat-packed noodle bowl garnished with meats, seafood, sprouts, onions and herbs). (814 N.E. 65th St., Seattle; 206-526-1570)

The Chinatown/International District and neighboring Little Saigon abound with soup-noodle options. My money's always well-spent here at Canton Wonton House a no-nonsense café where I slurp sui-kau noodle soup, fragrant pork-, mushroom- and shrimp-filled dumplings nesting over egg noodles in a serious chicken stock. (608 S. Weller St., Seattle; 206-682-5080)

Noodles need not apply when the weather has me singing "Baby, it's cold outside." Instead, I may warm up over a heady cauldron of soon do boo, the soft tofu soup and specialty of the house at Hosoonyi Korean restaurant. Bubbling with meats, seafood, vegetables and custardy clusters of tofu, garnished tableside with dried seaweed and a whole raw egg, this heat-driven concoction is deeply satisfying. And if that's not enough to float my freezing boat, a complimentary bowl of steamed rice and an array of interesting-textured banchan — spicy kimchee, pickled daikon, rice vinegar-napped leafy greens, gelatinous kelp and tiny dried fish — precede the soup's arrival. (23830 Highway 99, Edmonds; 425-775-8196)

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