Gastrolust

Dish: Bitter Melon Beef Chow Fun Place: Happy Times Bistro, International District Price: $7.50 On the plate:Pan-fried noodles with slices of beef, bitter melon, green onions, mushrooms, carrots, and black bean sauce. Supporting cast/What to do: Your main decision with this mein dish is what type of noodles you want. Choices include rice noodles, rice [...]

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Dish: Khao Boon Bha Place: Savatdee, University District Price: $10.00 In the bowl and on the plate: From the menu: “Traditional Lao fish soup. Slow cooked catfish in coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass and kaffir leaves. Served with noodles and topped with shredded carrots, cabbage and bean sprouts.” What the description doesn’t tell you is [...]

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It’s been fun watching the evolution of Mutsuko Soma since the closing of Chez Shea left the chef shopping for new options. She had a (buckwheat) seed of an idea to start serving handmade soba, and saw success in a variety of pop-ups, including the ones I attended at Sushi Kappo Tamura and Miyabi Restaurant [...]

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Dish: Guay Tiow Tom Yum Place: Pestle Rock, Ballard Price: $12.00 In the bowl: From the specials board: “Thin rice noodles with Carlton Farms ground pork, green bean, bean sprout, onion & cilantro, topped w/ground peanuts and rendered pork belly garlic (sic).” Supporting cast/What to do: This dish is listed as two peppers in spice [...]

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This week, Serious Eats posted my roundup of Vietnamese noodle soups in Seattle. An excerpt: I love the interactivity of Vietnamese soups, as most come with a side plate of herbs, vegetables, and lime wedges. It’s a must to taste the broth as presented, and then figure out how to spice it up, both with [...]

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Queen’s Deli is a perplexing place. First there’s the question of whether it’s in Seattle. The address shows Seattle, but it’s actually in White Center. This Cambodian deli is like the Vietnamese delis in Seattle’s Little Saigon, with some items in steamer trays and some packaged to go. Some items are recognizable to the Western [...]

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Several months ago, I reported about former Chez Shea chef Mutsuko Soma and her desire to bring a soba restaurant to Seattle. She did a pop-up at Sushi Kappo Tamura, serving zaru-soba as part of a multi-course lunch to showcase her handmade buckwheat noodles. Soma’s pop-ups continue, with the latest at Miyabi Sushi in Tukwila. [...]

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Dish: Bakmi Goreng Jawa Place: Indo Café, Northgate Price: $7.95 On the plate: From the menu: “Javanese style sweet stir-fry egg noodles with choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu, or shrimp (+2.00).” In addition to meat (I chose shrimp), the noodles come with carrot, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onions, and scrambled egg. Supporting cast/What to [...]

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One can argue that pho and teriyaki are Seattle’s favorite fast foods. These restaurants are everywhere. As I point out in a current New York Magazine article about Seattle, teriyaki can range from the standby, like Toshi’s Grill in Renton (by the man who started the boom) to the splurge, like you can find at [...]

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Dish: Golden Noodles Place: Thaiger Room, University District Price: $7.28 ($2.00 more for prawns and $3.00 more for mixed seafood) On the plate: Per the menu: “Rice noodles stir-fried with your choice of meat and mixed vegetable. Topped with delicious peanut sauce.” I went with chicken, and the mixed vegetables included broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and [...]

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