Square Lotus

Square Lotus in Bellevue, Washington was an average Vietnamese place that seemed to cater to vegetarians.  It had a Four Star rating on Yelp (but in our opinion was not deserving).  The place had a very strip-mally decor down to faux brick wall paper, wobbly tables, and plates with the Square Lotus logo.

We ordered a few things, summer rolls, tropic rolls, stir fried soft egg noodles with beef (spicy style), and  super pho bowl (pho tai bo).  

Summer Rolls

Summer Rolls: They were a few herbs on the inside away from perfection, but they were very well done here. I prefer the fried wonton to be rolled in the middle, but to their credit they did include them flattened and in small pieces in the center.

Tropic Rolls

Tropic Rolls. We loved the combination of flavors and grilled chicken, but this roll was also missing a few herbs.  It was a nice variation from the classic summer roll, but was a little bland.

Stir Fried Noodles with Beef

Stir Fried Soft Egg Noodles with Beef - Spicy.  The portion was very small compared to other noodle or Chinese places.  The flavors were subtle, they don't jump out and slap you and "very very spicy" turned into barely spicy when it hit the tablet.  That was a tremendous disappointment.  The dish was good, in an average sort of way, but at over $9 I would not order them again.

Super Pho Bowl. Pho Tai (Bo).  The Pho broth was light, flavorful, and meaty, and the bowl is spacious (a personal preference I have come to view as vital).  The dish was very meaty when ordering the "super," but we can't comment on the regular (and judging by the noodles I suspect it may be very different).  The broth to noodles to meat ration was, therefore, quite on point if you order the Super Pho.  On the dig side, the broth was quite cloudy, which my wife assumed was due to not pre-boiling the beef bones before adding them to the pot with the other components (a quick was to make cloudy Pho broth at home).   

The biggest problem was really the poor, poor service.  Although we appeared to catch them during their lunch, the staff was not attentive at all.  We also got no hoisin sauce, crushed red pepper, or anything else out on the table (nor was it brought to us for quite some time after we had our food).  It was average, but with so many Vietnamese places in the Seattle area, there is no reason to overpay for noodles and get good (but not great) Pho with bad service.  I suspect if you are a vegetarian, you like this restaurant more  because they clearly cater to you with a large portion of the menu highlighted as Vegetarian.  If I were you though, I'd keep looking, because there are better places out there that also have vegetarian fare...



Square Lotus Fine Vietnamese & Vegetarian Cuisine
3540 Factoria Blvd SE # A
Bellevue, WA 98006
(425) 679-0680

2.5 of 5

Purple Cafe and Wine Bar

My wife and I decided to drop by Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in Bellevue, Washington for a quick bite to eat a few months ago.  I had eaten here once or twice before, and wanted to give my wife an opportunity to try her first risotto.  

Unfortunately, it was not a great first time for my wife.  The herb risotto was not creamy enough, and did not even taste as if it had been made with stock.  It was missing flavor, and the garlic came through with such a tang I doubt it was roasted off before being used.  Overall, I was sad (especially so since the picture turned out about as good as the risotto tasted).  


My wife loves calamari.  She liked this calamari, but did not love it.  She fell in love with their thick, spicy aioli.  It was just too bad that the calamari were greasy, and a little too chewy (overdone).

My wife's dinner, the BLTA was good.  She loved her fries, and the avocado was ripe and tasty.  The bacon was clearly of good quality, and the bread was fresh and inviting.

Then there was the lamb shank.  The arugula mashed potatoes were delicious.  Such a simple idea, and one I plan to implement at our home.  The dish, however, came out more room temperature than hot.  The jus had a great flavor, and the tapenade was cold.  It seemed that was not an accident, but it took an already under temp lamb shank and sapped what excess heat it had right out of it.  There was that, and the fact the tapenade had a sour note that I could not place, which either was an enzyme that reacted poorly with the jus or was just a bad olive or two.

The creme brûlée on the other hand was very good, and was clearly torched to order - the ONLY way to serve it.  

The waitstaff was not exactly bad, and not exactly good.  We did not order wine, and that clearly resulted in C-quality service.  Average, and the meal was average.  Unimpressive risotto, greasy calamari, cool lamb, it was not a good showing.  I have had some meals here that were better, and a special mushroom risotto was actually good.  I guess that means you cannot be certain how good the meal will be that you will receive on any given night.  Kitchen standards are important, and with so many restaurants out there, we will not be back.

Purple Cafe and Wine Bar
430 106th Avenue Northeast
Bellevue, WA 98004
(425) 502-6292
2.5 of 5

casa d's taqueria

One day for lunch I swung by this place, Casa D's Taqueria.  Why not, there isn't much good Mexican food in the Seattle area.  The best restaurant that I've tried, in terms of Mexican (tex-mex) flavors and price is La Cocina de Puerco.  I must admit though that I've not tried all the places, so don't be too upset if you think it's only average.  It is.  I maintain that most Mexican food in Seattle is average at best.

Anyway, I ordered the mini tacos.  All the better to try their different meats.  They give you four tacos for about six bucks.  The white guy who seemed to run the joint informed me that the mini tacos came with choice of meat, onions, and cilantro.  They also throw in a few chips and salsa.  I asked about cabbage.  They didn't have it.  I asked about lettuce.  It is extra.  Extra?  Extra!  The white man then informed me that the traditional way for the tacos to be served was meat, onions, and cilantro, and any deviation would cost.  Thanks white man for that newsflash, I guess all the Mexican people I know who serve them with cabbage, or... heavens forbid, tomatoes, really must not be Mexicans at all.  I'm glad he cleared that up, my operating assumption is now that they're all Salvadorans, possibly even M-13 gang members.

In all seriousness, I had this flashback to Vietnam.  Everyone there charges you extra for everything.  Again, I attribute this to whiteness.  That's neither here nor there though.  Looking around, they had signs, written on paper plates, extra meat with a $.  Jalapeños (they looked grilled), $ .30.  Everything was extra.

I was happy he didn't charge me for napkins.  I took my tacos, and escaped to eat before he charged me for using the door.  They were, in a word, average.  The tortillas were the corn numbers that are bought in massive packs.  The steak was tremendously underseasoned.  I could see why when I saw him put them on, out of a pack from the supermarket, onto the grill.  No seasoning that I could see.  The chorizo, and shredded beef were good.  Maybe the Mexican lady who had dished up my food was allowed to spice them up.  The carnitas were average.  Frankly, I prefer Chipotle's carnitas, but I can't complain about anything in particular - I can only say that they are forgettable.

Casa D's Taqueria
102 Bellevue Way NE # B
Bellevue, WA 98004-5974
(425) 462-8410
2.5 of 5

wild ginger in bellevue

My wife and I decided to visit Wild Ginger in Bellevue.  I had heard that Wild Ginger was lauded locally as one of the best new restaurants in Seattle in 2010.  As it turned out, it was Restaurant Week.  We were able to have three courses for $28, a fair price.

Wild Ginger has pan Asian fare.  Think, PF Chang's.  As we walked in, the hostess looked harried.  It turned out that an event bought out half of her restaurant, and with the Microsofties having easy access to it due to its location in the Bravern and Restaurant Week in Seattle, it was jumping.  She promised a 20 minute wait, and I responded by asking if she meant a real 20 minutes or optimistic 20.  If it was optimistic, we were out of there before dinner started.  She said real, and to her credit, we were seated at about 13 minutes into the wait.

My wife, who has been reading a book by Ruth Reichl, noted both that we were sat in the back corner of the restaurant, and that the chairs were comfortable.  This was, in her estimation, a minus and a plus (in that order).  Speaking of, we ordered fried oysters, pork (meatball) satay, Singapore beef, spinach prawns, banana bavarian cake, and pumpkin cheesecake mochi.

As for the food, the appetizers came out quickly and the pan fried oysters were good sized, fresh, tasty oysters. The sauce was sort of a jazzed up version of tonkatsu sauce.  (For those uninitiated, Tonkatsu sauce is used frequently in Japanese cuisine with, surprisingly, Katsu's [fried schnitzel-like dishes] and tastes like a sweeter version of A-1.)  The house-made pork satay, a pork "meatball" on a stick of sorts, was juicy with onion, pepper, and was grilled to display nice char marks.  It was very tasty, but its sauce was average - a basic sort of fish sauce with vinegar, a la egg roll sauce you can buy in a bottle at the Asian supermarket for $2.00 per jug.  The meatball-on-a-stick did come with a few house made pickles, which did a good job of cutting the fat and adding a nice pop of flavor.
 
The main courses were not what we anticipated.  The Singapore beef, my wife dubbed "eggplant seasoned with beef."  Frankly, it tasted like any good Szechuan beef with eggplant.  There was nothing distinctly Singaporean about it.  It was a good spice level for me, but too much for my wife - who had to give up after a small portion.  The spinach prawns surprised us too. Not necessarily in a good way.  As the picture makes clear, it was almost a creamed spinach with some fish sauce served over medium-large shrimp.  It started off pretty decent, but not reminding me of anything particularly "Asian" I have eaten, but lost its appeal after cooling.  Beyond the visual of a plate of green "gloppy" substance, it also had a bit more fish sauce than it needed.  The entree came with a  string bean plate that was no different than Chinatown for $5.  That said, it was a good rendition of the dish, and also had a good spice level. 

 

In the end, the desserts let down the rest of the meal.  The banana Bavarian cake was dry.  It had the flavor of banana, but didn't hit you on the mouth with banana like you may expect from a desert named "banana Bavarian cake."  The mochi, don't even get me started.   The pumpkin cheesecake was more like pumpkin pie filling, and the outer layer of the mochi was so thick as to almost make the dessert inedible.  They really let down the rest of the meal, which was itself a better rendition of PJ Chang's.

The service, in a word, was average.  It didn't take anything away from the meal, but certainly didn't add anything either.  Our drinks were filled, sometimes, and the waitress came around to ask about us, occasionally.  For the first time in awhile, a server earned a tip of 15%.  Average, but below my defacto average of 20%.  I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wanted to go to a slightly upscale version of an average International District restaurant when a group, or husband/wife, cannot decide between Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

Wild Ginger in Bellevue
11020 NE 6th St. Ste 90. 
Bellevue, WA 98004 
(425) 495-8889
3.5 of 5

thai ginger

thai ginger is an institution in the greater seattle area. first in factoria, based in a trailer, the place touts its "on of the 50 best thai restaurants in america" honors from 2007. now it has 5-ish locations. in sum, very good thai food made for the american palate. here are the details:

the ambiance is very kitchy. bamboo, a little thai art, some background music that smacks of the way southeast asia is, in people's heads. it's about as authentic an experience as maggiano's is an authentic italian experience. service neither adds nor detracts, it's middling.

this go around, i had pad thai and mini egg rolls (egg rolls = not that great, without much flavor and no meat). last time it was red curry, green curry, and tom kai ka. this hardly represents the entire menu, but it's a decent cross section.

portions are small. smallish for a normal dinner, exceptionally small for thai served in america. food flavors are good, but i take exception to their spice. first, it is not spicy. 4, 5, whatever they call their version of the most spicy, it's not. what this means is, they're serving to an american palate, and/or they had enough people complain about real spice that they stopped and now a normal spice loving person can't get a reasonably spicy meal. next, lazy spicy. spice is not developed in an ingenious stewing concoction, or with a combination of spice sources or fresh peppers. it mostly comes from crushed red chili. verdict - lazy! now, for a disclaimer. if you have an american palate, that is to say, you are a normal person who likes normal fare in the good ol' u. s. of a., i doubt you'll be disappointed.

my first thai ginger experience was with a family group of about 5 or 6. everyone ordered something different, and it was a family-style type atmosphere. i ordered a green curry with (their max) 4 stars. i went to lengths to tell the waitress, disregard my whiteness and bring me real, thai-spicy, spicy food. she chuckled and said ok. it landed with some extra chili peppers/red chili flake, and she told me she would bring me more, but i declined. a spoonful of dry chili peppers might add spice, but that's it. it destroys any real flavor that the dish does have. i tried it. i looked around. is this a joke? another friend was there, a female who loved spicy food, she also found it lacking in the spice department. meanwhile, 4 other people kept talking about how spicy their food was, and one person had forehead sweat beads. i concluded, (as the other side of the table also ordered green curry) maybe they had made it out of the same batch and disregarded their request for 2 stars. and then i tried it. it was like eating green curry flavored coconut milk. their was nothing spicy about it. nothing. truly my puny 4 star spice was spicier than their 2 star cat-milk spicy food. shock. awe. shock.

what does this all mean? not much. it's passable. good even for seattle thai food. certainly overhyped, certainly catering to the eastside's bourgeois. if you're right there, i'd stop by and give it a try, but i would not go out of my way for it.

thai ginger
five locations
my experience from:
3717 factoria blvd se
bellevue, wa
425-641-4008
http://www.thaiginger.com/
3 of 5