Archive for the ‘I District Eats’ Category
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.
Chinese food, Seattle restaurants, noodles
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.
Hidmo, Eritrean food, Ethiopian food
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.”
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 »
Saturday, June 3rd, 2006
This week we made something of a scavenger hunt out of The Jackson Street Crawl.
I talked to my friend M. who is married to T. from Vietnam and he says this: Pho Bac makes the best deep fried spring rolls. We’re going to meet there.
Where’s Pho Bac? It’s on Jackson, of course. It’s NOT the Pho Bac in the pink house, it’s the Pho Bac with parking just west of the pink Pho Bac. The pink Pho Bac is on the funny little traffic island at, what, Boren and Jackson? That intersection where Rainier and Jackson and 14th all run together. This one is west of there, on the north side of Jackson. Honestly, it might not even be called Pho Bac. I dare you to find us. We WON’T be at the pink Pho Bac, they have NO vegetarian choices.
I also made no mention of date, but our new friends R/B found us anyway and we were delighted they could join us.
It wasn’t called Pho Bac, at least the sign over the door did not say Pho Bac, it said Pho Viet. Which doesn’t explain why the water glasses and the bowls said Pho Bac. Pho Viet/Pho Bac is weird and shiny inside with stainless steel tables and red chairs. It’s vaguely like a 50s diner where you think you’ll be ordering a shake, if it’s mid-day or late late at night, or maybe a big old burger and a mountain of fries. No such thing was on the menu, it was your standard Vietnamese fare of noodles or rice and some kind of meat. I hadn’t been there in a while and they’ve clearly changed hands since my last visit because the veggie options were narrowed down to almost nothing.
The spring rolls that were so recommended by M. were, well, odd. I’m not much of a meat eater and I made the mistake of ordering my Bun (bowl o’ noodles with stuff) with the aforementioned spring rolls, and I just didn’t care for them. They weren’t bad – and I’ve had inedible in my adventures in the International District – but I just didn’t like them so well. J’s grilled shrimp was yummy, N gave the pork a “not as good as that other place”, K soldiered through the mixed animal parts in an admirable manner but there was one piece of something or other floating around in there that even he didn’t have the strength for. “I need a glass of vodka or something to wash it down with,” he said. B was stuck with rather plain veggie pho. We tried R’s fish cakes, I found them dense and rubbery. The tofu rolls were fine, nothing to write home about.
Pho Bac/Pho Viet had customers coming and going throughout the evening. The service is just fine, but the food is fairly mediocre. It’s cheap, 11 dollars a head for a table of seven with a handful of beers and some appetizers, including tax and tip. Everything was fresh, but with standard fare and a minimal menu, I’m not sure it warrants another visit.
Pho Bac is at - well, you have the instructions. Try to find it.
Posted in I District Eats, Seattle | 3 Comments »
Sunday, May 21st, 2006
Empty restaurant, Friday night
We had a big turn out for the Jackson Street Crawl on Friday night, but I was crabby. Maybe I shouldn’t dine out while crabby. See, I found the whole experience more irritating than funny. It should have been funny, but I was just getting impatient with the whole experience. I’m not usually like that. (Forgive me, fellow diners.)
There was one Vietnamese couple dining in Bam-Boo, otherwise, the place was empty. The menu was a mystery, listing such items as “Pork, Shrimp, and Beef with Noodles” under Vegetarian entrees. Our waitress peered over our shoulders to get a look at the menu up close. The poor thing clearly needed specs. One of our eaters tried to order a dish “with no pork, please” but it wasn’t possible to get the message across. “No English,” said our visually challenged server.
Our tofu spring rolls turned out to be pork and shrimp rolls. The veggie bowl turned out to be the beef bowl. We all eyed the tofu skewers with suspicion, but they were indeed as advertised. The place stayed ominously empty. There was no music, so it was oddly silent in there. Bam-Boo doesn’t have a liquor license, so my crabby edge remained intact. No beer, no cheer. Bah.
How was the food? It was okay, just okay. Though three out of eight did say that their meal was delicious. I tasted the grilled chicken, it was all right. I had the shrimp on sugar cane and found it rather dry and plain, like something was missing.
While the folks that work there are really nice, there are loads of better choices. Maybe in time, they’ll get their A-game on, but until I see the place filled with Asian families on a Friday night, I’m not going back.
Bam-Boo is on Jackson, just east of 12th.
Posted in I District Eats, Seattle | 1 Comment »
Sunday, May 7th, 2006
Ah, Seattle! Let’s just cut it short and figure that for the last 400 words, I’ve rambled on and on about how great it is to be back in a multicultural society! Also, let’s skip the argument about how Europe actually IS multicultural by asking, with obligatory snark, “Our Alpine small town is multicultural compared to what, exactly? One of those compounds in northern Idaho? That place in Papua New Guinea where the people live up in those tree houses? Um, okay.”
Okay, now that we’re through with that….
Ah Seattle!
Taking the enthusiastic recommendation of our neighbors to heart, we headed down to Mekong Grocery on Ranier Avenue. “It’s just down MLK!” I needed to pick up a few Asian ingredients for my kitchen and I was jonesing for some Trung Nguyen coffee. This ramshackle little market appears to employ about a dozen workers. While we were there the produce section was being restocked by a woman in a green apron and rubber gloves. She unloaded cardboard crates of mystery greens while carrying on a high volume conversation with the guy at the other end of the aisle – who was also involved in moving around crates of unidentifiable merchandise.
The produce looks great here and it’s cheap, too. There are also the required 1000 kinds of noodles, but surprisingly, not the kind I was looking for. This market is primarily Southeast Asian, and as such, not so many Japanese products are available. No problem, they do have a staggering array of pickled vegetables in jars and the pickled ginger here is cheaper than I’ve ever seen it. Mekong doesn’t have everything, but for your Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian cooking and excellent prices on greens, it’s great.
While I’m on the subject of Vietnamese food, we rejoined the Jackson Street eaters last night. We cruised down the hill and stopped at the Pacific Rim shopping center. New Kowloon was hosting two large weddings and the place was packed with families in their fanciest evening wear. (Aside: I’m always gobstruck by the beautiful Vietnamese girls in their towering high heels. How do they do it?) The place we wanted to go to was closed, but there’s a third restaurant there and we were all hungry so a decision was made.
Mai Thao is another one of those big charmless places with excellent cheap food. The tofu rolls had lots of fresh greens in them. The crepe was crispy and delicious and again, served with a pile of fresh greens. My entrée – the vermicelli noodle bowl with fried tofu rolls – was perfect and the pork rolls also got a high rating. The other two entrees were so so – the vegetarian hot pot and the shrimp fried rice. We broke with form and ordered dessert, too – flan and coffee ice cream. The flan wasn’t that good, but the coffee ice cream was a big winner. Delicious. And a bargain, too, 18 dollars a head – this included the appetizers, beers, tip, and tax.
Mai Thao is at 900 Jackson.
Posted in I District Eats, Seattle | 4 Comments »
