Tai Lin is a brightly lit little place at the intersection of 14th, Rainier, and Jackson. It’s brand new – they’ve been open for two weeks. There are twinkle lights and mirrors and two TVs battling for your attention – one showed a Vietnamese stage production with a singing nun and the other showed a Chinese costume drama. There’s a big blue and white ceramic fish on the counter and a red and gold altar below a shiny Buddha in an alcove on the floor.… continued…
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.… continued…
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.… continued…
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.… continued…
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.… continued…
