Gastrolust

It’s been nearly two years since Taiwan’s Din Tai Fung opened its second restaurant in the United States, in Bellevue’s Lincoln Square Mall. Locals went crazy, celebrating the arrival of the trademark xiao long bao (soup dumplings). People lined up for hours just to get a seat at a table. I went close to the [...]

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Seattle is teriyaki town, according to a colleague of mine. Teriyaki joints are ubiquitous in this city. Most are Korean-owned, though we can probably attribute the honor of launching the local teriyaki craze to Toshihiro Kasahara. Toshi’s Teriyaki took off, though he retired from the business—until recently. More on that another time, after I get [...]

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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 cravings [...]

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Leave me breathless instead of brothless Nearly seven months ago, on April 24, I broke the news that Din Tai Fung was coming to the Seattle area. My prediction came true: “Knowing the food scene here, knowledge of Din Tai Fung’s arrival will be cause for every food lover in Seattle to have a simultaneous orgasm – [...]

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Note (11/22/10): Din Tai Fung has opened. Please read my challenging update. A friend with Eastside restaurant knowledge told me first, and then a representative from the restaurant just confirmed it: Din Tai Fung (famous for its xiao long bao, pictured to the right, courtesy of Din Tai Fung) is apparently coming to the Seattle [...]

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It was one year ago that I was craving eastern European dumplings known as pelmeni, giving them a try at Café Yarmarka. The menu listed beef, pork, chicken, turkey and lamb options, but while I liked the many options, I found the pelmeni a little mushy and bland, and the sauce lacking in kick. I [...]

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Still lamenting Seattle’s lack of quality xiao long bao, Seattlest picked up a copy of A World of Dumplings and decided we’d start making them on our own. (Refining the recipe will take time, so don’t hold your breath on a restaurant opening anytime soon.). While thumbing through the book, we stumbled upon a recipe [...]

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After a few visits to Flushing, I’ve grown fond of the food in its various Chinatown eateries. As time allows, I’ll have to post photos and description of some dishes from Waterfront International Enterprises (some name, huh?), Spicy & Tasty, and a little bing place I found. Just before this trip ended, we noticed a [...]

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We normally run from a restaurant that’s advertised as Chinese and American. Common sense, but it also dates back to a day in New Hampshire when we walked into “Judy’s (or whatever her name was) Chinese Restaurant” and were given dinner rolls and butter along with our menus. Shi’An Restaurant (12534 Lake City Way NE) [...]

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It’s been 27 years since leaving Long Island after high school graduation, and while I don’t miss the area, I do miss New York-style bagels and pizza.  So on my rare trips back to the Big Apple, it’s critical I consume some to tide me over until the next trip. Two years ago we decided [...]

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