Frugal Fridays: Zum Zum Redux

Back in June when I visited the Food Court at 3rd and Marion St, I noticed some price changes at Cafe Zum Zum. That day, I decided to go for something different, but also vowed to come back to Zum Zum to see if I can still live off their delicious curries without breaking a $5.



Thankfully, I can, and it doesn't look like that's gonna change anytime soon. In the windows, they now have numerous (apparently) commercially-made signs up adverstising their $3.99 Daily Special. What that $3.99 ($4.39 after tax) gets you varies every day, but always includes some type of vegetarian curry, rice, a tortilla (aka low-rent naan) and a 16.5 oz fountain drink.

This trip, the curry was actually two curries - one scoop of a lentil curry, and one of a garbanzo curry - paired with the usual rice & tortilla. For my drink I went for the ol' Arnold Palmer: lemonade and iced tea.

So my worries about Zum Zum - a staple of my M-F diet for years now - were alleviated, and those signs in the windows suggest a serious commitment to continuing their tradition of being one of the best lunch deals in town.



(Frugal Fridays is a weekly series dedicated to finding Seattle lunch spots where you can walk in with a $5 bill and walk out with a fulfilling, preferably healthy, lunch. If you have suggestions of places in the Seattle area with a great lunch for under $5 after tax, post a comment - I'd love the help.)

Frugal Fridays: Cafe Zum Zum

For my second installment of Frugal Fridays, I couldn't resist hitting another favorite lunch spot - Cafe Zum Zum, in the food court at 3rd and Marion in Downtown Seattle.

Although the daily special - a combo of one of the veggie curry options with a fountain drink - is even cheaper at around $4.36 with tax, I don't want the empty calories from the soda or the unnecessary paper cup to throw away.



So instead, I get the veggie salad: A generous portion of shredded lettuce, topped with vegetarian curry and a warmed tortilla - for just $4.91 with tax. Besides shrinking the cost, the salad option is much lighter than the normal bed of rice the curry is served on, making it a good lunchtime portion for me. Plus, the owner allows you to get half-and-half of two curries for the same price, so I almost always get the split garbanzo curry (for my protein) and the spinach potato curry (for some veggies and starch).

Another great recent development at Zum Zum is the switch to compostable takeout containers - making getting my veggie curry fix less of a guilty pleasure. I take it back to my office, where I have silverware and a cloth napkin, thus avoiding paper napkins and plastic forks. And thankfully, my company has compost bins on every floor, so I know my container and food scraps are going to good use.

Thanks to the price and great food, Cafe Zum Zum draws a big lunchtime crowd, so I recommend getting there before 11:45am, so you can get in and out quickly and avoid a wait in the cold.



(Frugal Fridays is a weekly series dedicated to finding Seattle lunch spots where you can walk in with a $5 bill and walk out with a fulfilling, preferably healthy, lunch. If you have suggestions of places in the Seattle area with a great lunch for under $5 after tax, post a comment - I'd love the help.)