Gastrolust

Dish: “Noodles Combo”
Place: King Noodle, International District
Price: $6.99
In the bowl: Your choice of soup base, noodles, and toppings (including vegetables)
Supporting cast/What to do: Your server will give you a form (in Chinese and English) and a pen. If you’re having a noodle bowl, you’ll need to build it yourself from the ingredient list, [...]

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Dish: Chow Mein (with Hand-Shaved Noodles)
Place: Spicy Talk Bistro, Redmond
Price: $8.25
On the plate: Hand-shaved noodles with your choice of pork, chicken, beef, vegetables, tofu, or prawns. Pictured is pork. It’s just noodles and meat, along with some cabbage and green onions, plus chili pepper to your desired level of spice.
Supporting cast/What to [...]

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When pig ear salad (shown here with the pickles of the day) was the first dish that Chino’s served me during a recent media preview, they had my attention. And respect.
After all, I’ve been disgruntled by Asian restaurant openings of late. Cocktails are trendy and some of the places are indeed cool hangouts, [...]

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I love hot pot. Perhaps the most famous place to get it in China is the huge chain known as Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. When Little Sheep opened in Bellevue (they already have several restaurants in California, one in Houston, and one opening soon in New York City), I knew [...]

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Is there a new king of King Street?
Henry’s Taiwan, at the base of the Chinatown gate, has been a fan favorite for a few years, serving some Taiwanese standards at reasonable prices.
Now Henry Ku has opened Henry’s Taiwan Plus a few doors down at 522 South King Street, site of the short-lived Noodle King and [...]

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I recently broke my Seattle-area dim sum boycott by going to Bellevue for the so-called “brunch” at Wild Ginger.
Why the dim sum boycott? Easy: dim sum in Seattle is mediocre, while just over two hours north in Richmond (just south of Vancouver), it’s simply amazing. As a result, I save my dim sum [...]

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Following my first two Vancouver reports (splurges and snacks, then Japanese food), here is a report on the real reason I love to go to Vancouver—and especially Richmond: really good Chinese food. (All places are in Richmond, unless otherwise noted.)
This report will cover:

Kirin
Empire Seafood Restaurant
Shiang Garden
Lin Chinese Cuisine and Tea House
Peaceful Restaurant
Suhang Restaurant
Shanghai River
Long’s [...]

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Dish: Assorted Goodies Over Crunchy Noodle
Place: Rocking Wok, Wallingford
Price: $7.25
On the plate: I ordered this dish because the name gives away little about its contents. Turns out the noodles are sitting in a brown sauce, covered with a variety of vegetables and meats.

Supporting cast: Nothing comes with the dish. But you might want [...]

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Yesterday I posted pictures of pig-filled plates outside of Seattle, and promised you local options. Here they are. Most are Asian, with appreciation of the utilization of as much of the animal as possible. Pictured above is bopis, which is a spicy and vinegary saute of pork heart and lungs. I [...]

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Dish: Combo Noodle Soup (#21)
Place: Mike’s Noodle House, International District, Seattle
Price: $7.30 (large)
In the bowl: Your choice of noodles, plus liver, kidney, stomach, and other pork pieces in a fish and pork broth with sliced green onions.
Supporting cast: A bowl with soy sauce, black vinegar, and diced jalapenos.
What to do: Per the server’s instructions, you’ll [...]

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