Gastrolust

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, [...]

[Read more →]

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: [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

Yesterday I posted pictures of pig-filled plates outside of Seattle, and promised you local options. Here they are. Most are Asian, with appreciation of the utilization of as much of the animal as possible. Pictured above is bopis, which is a spicy and vinegary saute of pork heart and lungs. I [...]

[Read more →]

Dish: Bun Moa (#141)
Place: Thanh Thao in Columbia City, Seattle
Price: $6.95
In the Bowl: The menu advertises it as “mashed pork-pie, ham, pig’s feet and vermicelli spicy soup.”
Supporting Cast: A side dish of bean sprouts, shredded cabbage, a few strips of iceberg lettuce, Thai basil, banana blossom, jalapeno, and lemon.
What to do: Add whatever [...]

[Read more →]

It’s been a couple of weeks since I promised to write about HA & VL in Portland. I just returned from a long loop of travel, criss-crossing the Columbia River many times in going back to Portland and then on to the Yakima Valley, Quincy, Wenatchee, and Leavenworth before returning to Seattle. I had an ambitious [...]

[Read more →]

I laughed a little when I saw this little story about Baguette Box lowering its prices. Really? Most sandwiches dropped by under a dollar; some by as little as forty cents. The breaking news: They’re all under $8.00!
I like Eric Banh and his crew’s creations at Monsoon and Monsoon East (though I’m not quite sure [...]

[Read more →]

Still catching up on all my pre-December restaurant reports. Consider these quick bites of the Asian variety:

Buddha Ruksa serves up some beautiful plates, placing it in the upper echelon of Thai restaurants in the Seattle area. Not as high as Noodle Boat in Issaquah, which might be the best around, but certainly a solid choice [...]

[Read more →]

I hope I’m wrong about Long.
(The words don’t rhyme, by the way.)
I understand the excitement. It’s nice to have a taste of the International District downtown. We’ve got the recently reviewed Thoa’s slightly south of Pike Place Market, and now we’ve got Long Provincial Vietnamese Restaurant and Jelly Bar, just to the north.
Long is the [...]

[Read more →]

Alright, it’s safe to say that Vietnamese is the new Thai. I can’t quite keep up with all the openings. Moxie is now The Signature, Tamarind Tree’s owners have opened Long in the former Qube space. And there’s finally pho in Fremont.
 
Coinciding with the Vietnamese boom is the breakout of restaurant business at 1st and [...]

[Read more →]