Gastrolust

Here are five quick bites, culminating with news about a national champion.
Ivar’s is a Seattle institution. No doubt about that. And that institution was in the news this year, with stories about its underwater billboards. For me, the story is whether its food warrants a stop or not. This past year, I had chances to [...]

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Just a couple of months left to the year, and I’m beginning to ponder whether to do a “best of” posting. So many memorable meals this year: ART, Olivar, Boat Street Cafe, Harvest Vine, and Cafe Juanita come to mind, just to name a few. (And that’s just in Seattle!) Meanwhile, the ongoing favorites continue [...]

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Congratulations to Rachel Yang (and Seif Chirchi), as their precious Joule was included in Friday’s Wall Street Journal article “The Hot New Cuisine: Korean.”
The article makes mention of Kogi, the Korean taco truck that’s all the rage in Los Angeles (when do we get one of those in Seattle?), the popularity of Korean frozen yogurt (Pinkberry, Red [...]

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After three weeks of fabulous food in Asia, what restaurant did I most want to hit after coming home?
Joule.
Recall that Joule is in my list of top five Asian restaurants in Seattle, and may be my top pick overall for the past year. It’s that good.
I enjoyed some of my favorite dishes, like the spicy [...]

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Sound enters the fusion food fight and emerges with Seattle’s best
Wanna have some foodie fun? Go to Chowhound’s Pacific Northwest message board, ask for opinions about Wild Ginger, and watch a virtual food fight break out. People will passionately toss out terms like “fake Asian” versus “the real thing,” debating whether fusion fare is a [...]

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Have you heard the ad war between Tulalip Casino Resort and the just-opening Snoqualmie Casino? Snoqualmie sure faces a challenge to be number one, as there’s lots of fun at Tulalip. Take, for example, Tulalip’s luxury hotel. There are 370 guestrooms and suites; I got a look inside some of those suites, including the Pan-Asian, [...]

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Finally time to report back on my one good meal during my family trip to the New York City area: lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar. After most of my family left town, and now with a little more culinary control, I suggested to my brother that we sneak into the city for late lunch at [...]

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In the past month, I’ve been lucky enough to eat at such places as Rover’s, The Herbfarm, Inn at Langley, and Crush. As much as I enjoy these fine dining experiences, I’m not pretentious; I can be just as happy, if not more, at a hole-in-the-wall joint in the International District. Such restaurants typically have [...]

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Admittedly, we were skeptical. We thought about turning back. In fact, we felt almost forced to turn back by the smoke in the casino.
“Isn’t that where the outlet mall is?” we wondered, when Tulalip Bay invited us in for dinner. Not exactly our crowd. Nor was the gathering of somewhat zany, frequently zombie-like people playing [...]

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Still in the fish club of sorts, we snuck into Nishino at the very end of the November 25 for $25 promotion.
This was a big step for Seattlest. Lucky of late to make frequent trips to Japan, we’ve been hesitant to spend our hard-earned dollars on sushi in Seattle for fear of [...]

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