Gastrolust

Dish: Boat Noodle Soup
Place: OK Noodles, University District
Price: $6.78
In the bowl: Per the menu: “Small rice noodles, bean sprouts, spinach.” “Small” is written in because “Wide” is crossed out. Beef is the logical choice with boat noodle soup, so I went with that, though chicken, soy chicken, soy beef, and tofu [...]

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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, [...]

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Dish: Tsuivan
Place: Joy Teriyaki, Lake City
Price: $8.50
On the plate: Per the menu: “Steamed flour noodle dish with beef and veggies.” Or, per the photo in the front window: “Stewing Beef, Salt, Flour Noodles, Garlic Onion, and Black Pepper. MSG and Sugar Free.” Those vegetables include yellow and orange bell peppers, [...]

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Dish: Pad Thai
Place: Thai Palms, Rainier Valley
Price: $6.99
On the plate: Per the menu: “Thai noodles mixed with ground peanuts, onion and bean sprouts.” There’s also lots of shredded carrot and purple cabbage, and my meat choice of pork.
Supporting cast/What to do: No supporting cast, and some of the main characters are quite [...]

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Dish: Ikura Somen
Place: Momiji, Capitol Hill
Price: $9.00
In the bowl: Per the menu: “house marinated ikura over salmon sashimi & thin noodles.” There’s also shiso and all-important dashi.
Supporting cast/What to do: That’s the serving, so enjoy it for what it is, along with the pretty bowl and the gorgeous garden in the background.
Noodling around: Actually, it [...]

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Dish: Hot Soba
Place: Nook, University District
Price: $10.00 as part of a three-course tasting menu that includes appetizers and dessert
In the bowl: Soba noodles in warm dashi with oysters and negi (a long onion that looks like a leek)
Supporting cast/What to do: The soup was served with a sampling of tempura–consisting of shrimp, scallop, and [...]

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Dish: Singapore Noodles
Place: Bako, Capitol Hill
Price: $13.00
On the plate: Per the menu: “Wild prawns, honey roasted (char siu) pork, bean sprouts, curry, rice noodles.” Note that the dish also includes red bell peppers, carrots, and egg, with corner garnishes of carrot and green onion, as well as pieces of cilantro (which [...]

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Dish: Black Bean Sauce Beef Chow Fun
Place: Regent Bakery and Cafe, Capitol Hill
Price: $8.95
On the plate: The menu doesn’t offer any further description of the dish, but you’re getting rice noodles with beef, red and green bell peppers, onions, and fermented black bean sauce.
Supporting cast/What to do: Same as with most of [...]

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Dish: Pho
Place: Pho So 1, Little Saigon
Price: $6.99, large ($6.15, small)
In the bowl: Pictured is #20: pho tai, nam, gau, gan, sach with rare beef, well-done flank, fatty flank, tendon and tripe along with banh pho rice noodles, onions, green onions, and beef broth
Supporting cast/What to do: Before your bowl comes out, [...]

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Dish: Tokyo Ramen
Place: Boom Noodle, Bellevue (also in Capitol Hill and University Village)
Price: $10.95
In the bowl: Chashu (braised pork butt), tamago (egg), menma (bamboo shoots), green onion, and a piece of nori (seaweed) in soy seasoned chicken-pork broth
Supporting cast/What to do: You can order fried garlic chips or fried shallots for an [...]

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