Gastrolust

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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Dish: Kitsune udon
Place: U:Don, University District (”U” is pronounced “You”)
Price: $5.75 for a medium bowl
In the bowl: From the menu: “Udon noodles served hot with our extra thick fried and marinated tofu (Atsu-age), sliced green onions & grated fresh ginger.”
Supporting cast/What to do: Grab a tray and slide along the line, cafeteria-style, [...]

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Dish: Ayutthaya Noodles
Place: Ayutthaya Thai Cuisine, Capitol Hill
Price: $8.50
On the plate: From the menu: “Seasoned stir-fried wide noodles with chicken, egg & garlic. Served over green lettuce. Garnish with ground peanuts & green onions.” Julienned carrots add color and crunch.

Supporting cast/What to do: Spice up your dish if you like from the [...]

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Dish: Mi Vit Tiem (braised duck noodle soup with Chinese herbs and spices)
Place: Hue Ky Mi Gia, Little Saigon
Price: $7.00
In the bowl: Free-range chicken broth with a leg-thigh section of braised duck, noodles, shiitake mushrooms, baby bok choy, green onions, Chinese red dates (hong zao, or jujubes), and “five spice” seasoning.
Supporting cast: [...]

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When I attended the Culinary Institute of America’s annual Worlds of Flavor conference last year, one speaker cited a report that there are 25,600 ramen restaurants in Japan. Those are dedicated ramen shops, selling little more than gyoza on the side.
Seattle has two such shops.
To learn more about my favorite Japanese noodle [...]

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Dish: Combo Vermicelli
Place: Ba Bar, Capitol Hill
Price: $12.00
In the bowl: From the menu: “Imperial roll, grilled white prawn, grass-fed beef bo mo chai, cucumber, rau thom.” This and more (see below) over cold rice vermicelli noodles.
Supporting cast: A side of nuoc cham (made with nuoc mam, a.k.a. fish sauce).
What to do: Pour the [...]

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Dish: Inaka Udon
Place: Showa, Fremont
Price: $7.50
In the bowl: From the menu: “chilled udon, daikon oroshi and tempura crunch in cold dashi broth.” There are also green onions and nori (seaweed strips) on top. I opted to add a raw egg for fifty cents more.
Supporting cast: Just what’s in the bowl.
What to do: [...]

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Dish: Phad Lao
Place: Viengthong, Mount Baker
Price: $8.00
On the plate: From the menu: “stir-fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, phad Lao sauce, topped with green onions and parsley.” You get your choice of chicken, pork, or beef with this dish, which also comes with thin strips of fried egg.

Supporting cast: Nothing, unless you [...]

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Dish: Tonkatsu Ramen
Place: Yoe’s Noodles, Bellevue
Price: $7.80
In the bowl: Ramen noodles, half of a hard-boiled egg, corn, thinly sliced green onion, mushrooms, and bean sprouts in tonkotsu broth.
Supporting cast: A plate with sliced tonkatsu, a lemon wedge, and some tonkatsu sauce with karashi (spicy mustard).

What to do: Try to eat the noodles quickly so that [...]

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Dish: Drunken Beef Noodles
Place: Indochine Asian Dining Lounge, Tacoma (on Pacific Ave.)
Price: $13.95
On the plate: From the menu: “Tender marinated beef, rice noodles, bamboo shoots, onions, and bell peppers are sautéed with Thai basil and dressed in sweet soy sauce and rice wine.” From the photo, you can see that there’s also [...]

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