Archive for the ‘I District Eats’ Category
Friday, January 12th, 2007
The Pacific Rim center is an odd mixed use complex that feels a bit like a smalltown airport. It’s home to New Kowloon, a smashing place for dim sum, a manicure salon, a Vietnamese restaurant, a dental clinic…it’s also home to the recently opened LA Cafe. We stumbled in to LA Cafe on accident when we found that Quoc Te, another restaurant was closed.
LA Cafe has a hip, brightly colored interior – lime green booths and red vinyl chairs, orange walls. The staff wear wacky wide neckties. And the menu is a trial. With tiny type and not very sensible categorization, it’s hard to know what to order – especially since there are so many things to choose from. Navigating the L.A. Cafe is, well, a little confusing. But also, wow, it’s totally worth it. Before I launch into what we ate, let me give you two pieces of advice:
- Go now. Seriously. They just opened and I don’t think the gringos know about it yet.
- Ask a lot of questions when you order. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with something that looks like the blue plate special at Denny’s. I’m not making it up.
The menu is a mix of Western style plates and Asian food. Japanese noodles and steak and eggs. It’s, as I’ve said, hugely confusing and the pictures are no help, they’re just clip art and have no bearing on what’s on the menu. You’re going to have to ask questions. There are a few things I’ll recommend.
Fried Tofu with Dry Scallop Golden Mushroom comes with some baby bok choy and rice. The tofu has the perfect texture and the plate has plenty of Enoki mushrooms on it; they’re almost like noodles. Shrimp and Pineapple Fried Rice has big chunks of pineapple and the rice tastes of sesame oil. The Seafood and Udon with Black Pepper Sauce is spicy and delicious with shrimp, fish, and squid tossed in with the peppery noodles. The Eel on Curried Rice was melt in your mouth delicious.
On the not-so-great side? The Shrimp Toast we had as a starter was odd and tasted like it came from the freezer section of your supermarket. The Pumpkin and Spare Rib Hot Pot was rather plain. And the Sole with Green Vegetables, well, that’s the one that seemed to have come from another restaurant entirely. The fish was attractive but plain and came with mashed potatoes and mixed green veg – also looking like they came from the freezer section.
The dishes we had that were good were not just good, they were exceptional. I’d go back just for the Udon with Black Pepper Sauce. I enjoyed the bright colors and it’s fun to eat in a place where you’re the only gringos. This place isn’t for unadventurous eaters – there’s a certain feeling that you’re not sure what you’re going to get. But hidden in this difficult menu are some real gems.
LA Cafe has been open for only a month. I’ll be back. If they can suss out the menu, this place will be great.
LA Cafe is at 900 Jackson in the Pacific Rim shopping center. They even have free, off street parking.
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Wednesday, December 20th, 2006
If you’re coming from the Tercel message boards, well howdy! You should know that we’ve since sold our old friend Theodore Tercel. He’s still running, though, and I saw him the other day in my old neighborhood, happy as ever, with a dog sitting in the front seat. Theo always wanted a dog, I’m glad he’s got one now. For the record, we replaced Theodore Tercel with a Pontiac Vibe, a four door hatchback made by, that’s right, Toyota.  I still kinda miss Theo, though, and today, when I pulled in to the supermarket next to an 87ish 4WD Tercel, I got a little weepy. The Vibe is nice, but it’s just a car, something I’d never say about my trusty old 85 Tercel.Â
Last night, a light bulb went out in the kitchen. I was handing the glass cover back to Mr. Nerd’s Eye View when he knocked it out of my hand. It hit the floor with a tremendous crash and shattered in to, well, I don’t know how many pieces.
Today, off we went to the hardware store to get a replacement. You know, you can’t buy replacement parts for hardly anything anymore, you have to throw the whole thing away and get a new one. This makes me crabby. There I am, crabby in the parking lot of the hardware store when I see that some fucker, excuse me, but that’s the best word I can think of, has plowed in to the front driver’s side panel of my car. It didn’t happen when I was in it, I think I’d have known. I was angry, to say the least.
Perhaps you do not know about my car. It is a 1985 Toyota Tercel Wagon. At the time, Toyota called it the deluxe model, which is a hilarious thing as this car has no power windows, no power steering, no power locks, the defroster has two settings, full and off…well, let’s just say that this car is free from features and in some places, paint. It’s kind of a hippie car and indeed, has served remarkably well on three long haul hippie odysseys, one to British Columbia and out to Calgary, one to the great national parks of the Rockies, and one along the spectacular Highway 1 Pacific Ocean/Yosemite route. When the Tercel first joined us, it got a whopping 44 miles to the gallon on the freeway. I thought it was a mistake in my math (I went to art school) until it continued to get 44 miles to the gallon for another several years.
I was pretty grumpy in the first hardware store and this did not get any better when it turned out there was no replacement glass or even a full fixture that would do the trick. We drove my wounded car across town to the next hardware store where they also did not have what I wanted. We made a quick stop in the appliances section where a whopping giant of a man asked me what he could do for me. “Find the bastard who hit my car,” I said. He stared at me for a minute. “What do you want me to do with him?” he finally responded. “Oh, I’ll take care of that.” He then offered me a great price on an appliance, but I was not interested in that unless he was going to drop it on the hood of the car that hit my Tercel.
We made one final stop at Alexander lighting where I was able to get what I needed almost, but now I have a extra fixture with no glass. I hate to waste stuff that’s perfectly good, it makes me irritable. (Yes, yes, I will put it on Freecycle.) While we were driving home from the lighting store, I made a snap decision to stop at A-1 Chinese Buffet. We stood on the steps in the rain next to another crazy tall human, a woman who was an officer with the Seattle Police. The door was locked. People were inside chowing down on chow mein while Officer Seven Feet Tall paced back and forth along the sidewalk trying to get someone’s attention. I thought for sure that this was just another broken experience, but the door opened and the hostess explained. “Sorry, someone broke our door. We got burgled, someone came and took a lot of money. Please…” she put an hand on my shoulder, “sit down. Can I get you something to drink?”
A-1 Chinese Buffet isn’t exactly A-1, but it’s not bad. I don’t mean just adequate, I mean a-okay! Thumbs up in a cheery way! For seven bucks you can eat all the General Tso’s or Kung Pao or or or – they just keep it coming. They had a big tray of poached salmon with lemons and another batch of rather tasty mussels with some kind of black bean sauce. Their chow mein uses the fat tasty noodles, not the cheap greasy ones. The veggies are crispy, not overcooked. They have tiny eggrolls – but eat as many as you like – and funny little wontons stuffed with something that tastes like cream cheese and these roasted potatoes that are really good and, well, it’s a huge buffet.
And it’s a fun scene. At one end of the restaurant sat a table of 20 or so lunching ladies, Asian looking but probably locals, they chattered at the buffet in unaccented English. A couple of Spanish speaking girls stuffed breathtaking amounts of food in to ‘to go’ containers. A kid named Ezekiel – his mom called him – walked down the buffet line with his big sister while his dad, in a jumpsuit that said Washington Facilities, sat at the table. There was dessert too, jello, which Ezekiel really wanted, we heard him say so, and sesame balls and cream puffs and fruit.
I wouldn’t say it’s the best Chinese food in the city, but it was a-okay. The trick is, I think, to eat what the guys are bringing from the kitchen as they bring it – and they bring it, baby, they do. It keeps coming – and you can taste that everything is quite fresh. (Also, you with the take out containers? Don’t waste all that real estate on rice!) The only downside was that the dishes were not quite hot enough – hence the tip to eat what’s just come from the kitchen. FYI, I asked on the way out and dinner is a little different – they add King crab and salt and pepper prawns, among other things.
I’d recommend A-1 Chinese Buffet and hey,they could use your business, post burglary. May that thieving bastard that hit the nice folks of A-1 sit next to the fucker that hit my car in hell. If I have anything to say about it, you’ll all be at the level reserved for bicycle thieves. It’s nasty there. Also, Officer W., who came to take the report about my Tercel, told me that I should ask around and see if anyone saw the intentional accident. If you were on Cap Hill and saw someone crush my car, would you go to the hardware store, get a fridge, and drop it on the car that hit the Yodler? Thanks ever so. And yes, to my annoyance, I am now in the market for a new car.
A-1 Chinese Buffet is at 701 Rainier. Lunch is from 11-4, dinner from 4-930. Go hungry.
Episodes featuring the Tercel, from the archives:
Posted in Fish Wednesday, Food, Glorious Food, I District Eats, Seattle | 6 Comments »
Saturday, November 4th, 2006
It’s been ages since I’ve had Chinese food, so the steaming veggies and excellent broccoli with garlic at 663 Bistro really hit the spot. A big place with BBQ ducks hanging in the window 663 seems to be quite popular with the hip Chinese kids early in the evening and the not so hip who might be their parents after the kids clear off.
On the table? BBQ pork on rice, tofu stuffed with shrimp and sausage, spicy chicken wings, greens sauteed in soybean sauce, Buddhist delight (mixed veg) and the aforementioned garlic. The plates are big – the Buddhist delight alone is enough to feed two hungry vegetable eaters. The tofu was quite good, the rest of the food was certainly passable.
The service was a little erratic. The chicken wings, which we’d hoped to get as a starter, came last. And explain, please, why the gringos got their tea in plastic glasses while the other patrons recieved rather attractive ceramic tumblers?
The total came to 14 bucks a head for plenty of food but no beer. Given that there are so many other places to eat, there’s no need to rush back there.
663 Bistro is at 663 Weller in the International District.
[tags]Chinese restaurant, Seattle[/tags]
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Friday, October 27th, 2006
Canton Wonton House is a brightly lit place on Weller. The menu is noodles, noodles, and more noodles, served either soup style or on a plate with a dish of soup to dip your noodles in. The food is fresh and cheap, but not very satisfying. I’m not sure if it’s that the servings are not very generous or that the veggie dishes don’t have any protien in them, but even the meat eaters at the table wanted more after we were done. In Canton Wonton’s favor, the dumplings did get the thumbs up, but that was the exception. Skip it and go up the street to one of the other places – we eyed the menu at Chinese Noodle on the way back to the car and thought we’d have done better to eat there.
After dinner, we went for mediocre ice cream at the food court at Uwajimaya. “Not the best ginger ice cream I’ve had” said one, and “Not worth the calories” said another. All in all some pretty disappointing dining. That’s not to say it was a bad night out – good company and lively conversation make up for dull food. There’s no excuse for making the same mistake twice, though. Bypass Canton Wonton House and go somewhere else. If you’re still peckish, pick up some Ben and Jerry’s and head home.
Canton Wonton is at 608 Weller in Seattle’s International District.
Nerd’s Eye View isn’t famous but Jaunted, the Pop Culture Travel Guide links to NEV in a recent post about Graz. Jaunted is a first rate travel blog but it bugs me that you have to be a member to comment.
[tags]Chinese food, Seattle restaurants, noodles[/tags]
Posted in Food, Glorious Food, I District Eats | No Comments »
Saturday, August 12th, 2006
Up at the top of Jackson at the corner of 20th, there’s a funny little place called Hidmo. There’s a bar with a dance floor – Hidmo has live music every other Friday night – a sort of hallway with booths in it, and the restaurant is at the back under a sign that says “A Taste of Eritrea.”
The menu isn’t huge and it’s mostly the stuff you’re used to seeing at Ethiopian places, served up with injera – that sponge-like flat bread. We started with fitfit, a salad that’s highly reminiscent of tablouli with the bulgar replaced by shredded bread. For our entrees, we shared a curried sort of chicken and the veggie combo.
The waitress (from Cameroon) was unbelievably charming and adorable, almost enough to make up for the fact that the food was just adequate. The red lentils were quite good, as was the okra, which I typically don’t like, but the rest of the selections were bland and not very hot. The green beans tasted like they’d popped a pack of frozen beans in the microwave and the chicken was overcooked. It was like eating leftovers.The food at Meskel on Cherry is much better – Meskel should steal the delightful waitress from Hidmo for an overwhelmingly winning combo. Hidmo may be better left to dropping in on live music night to have a beer and take in the scene.
Hidmo is at 2000 Jackon. Meskel is at 2605 Cherry.
[tags]Hidmo, Eritrean food, Ethiopian food[/tags]
Posted in I District Eats, Seattle | 4 Comments »
Saturday, June 10th, 2006
It’s Kung Fu tea,†said the proprietress, pouring the second round of hot water over the leaves. “It’s a lot of work.â€
We were sitting in the Tea House on Maynard in the International District. When the owner spotted me wandering past twice, camera over my shoulder, she came out and gave me a clear order. “You come in and take pictures,†she ordered, not unkindly. After the usual niceties for tourists – “We live here, but I always carry a camera†– we sat down to learn how to make Oolong the right way.
“I thought you said you knew how to make tea!†said our teacher, teasing Victor. Here’s how it’s done: First, you pour boiling water over the leaves. Then, you pour that water in to the tiny tea cups, rinsing and warming them. You pour that out in to the tea tray. Again, you pour water on the leaves. You wait, not long, just half a minute, and then you pour the tea. This time you drink it. You can do this up to eight times.
Until the recent remodel, Tea House was a furniture store under the same hands. They’re still selling the furniture but now you can sit and have tea and talk with the charming owners. The shop is full of beautiful things – from tiny teapots that are smaller than the palm of your hand to red lacquered screens depicting auspicious scenes. And tea, of course. You can get some nice Oolong for 35 dollars a pound or something called Monkey Pick for 144 dollars a pound. The Tea House is at 416 Maynard.
After tea, we went around the corner to the newly opened Vegetarian Bistro. There can only be one reason this place is a little slow on a Friday night – no one knows about it yet. Because we were a table of nine, we were able to order and sample a great variety of dishes. The food poured out of the kitchen on large plates and eventually we had to step in and cancel anything that wasn’t yet prepared. We had ordered too much food.
The Szechuan Spice Eggplant was a little bit like tempura, but with a spicy kick. The Salt and Pepper Tofu was perfectly crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The Taro Fish – not fish, but taro in a fish shaped mold with green peas for eyes – came with sweet and sour sauce and was served on a bed of crispy seaweed.
Everything was delicious. We had three appetizers and eight main dishes and though we actually ate it all, we probably would have been just as satisfied with one or two fewer main dishes. The service was excellent – the waitress helped us thought he ordering and did not steer us wrong – and the tab came out at 18 dollars a head. Vegetarian Bistro is first rate, and a great place for you to take your strict vegetarian friends as there are absolutely no meat products on the menu. From the menu:
All meat and seafood menu items are made from vegetable protein product and vegetable oil. All menu items no eggs or milk product except the dim sum menu – Steamed Cream Buns and Egg Custard.
Vegetarian Bistro is at 688 King St. Walk, if you can, parking in the International District can be tricky and hey, you’ll need a little stroll after dinner. Just because it’s veggie food doesn’t mean you won’t go home absolutely stuffed.
Posted in I District Eats, Seattle | 1 Comment »
