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

Kabuki Fusion Sushi and Grill

Located just outside of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee was a surprising tasty little sushi joint named Kabuki Fusion Sushi and Grill.  Gratefully, it was close to my hotel, as well as a gaggle of other major hotel chains, and I was able to just mosey on down there for the Kabuki dance.  The decor was tacky, the service was stingy, but the sushi was solid.

I ordered:

Fresh scallop nigiri (pass)

Spicy scallop (pass)

Soy kingdom roll (good)
-tuna, salmon, mango and avocado wrapped in soy paper served with wasabi sauce

California roll (ok)

Oscar roll (good)
-Spicy salmon, asparagus, cucumber with white tuna, jalapeno and sriracha hot sauce on top

Phoenix roll (good)
-Yellow tail, spicy crunch, asparagus, and scallion with spicy tuna on top

The prominently displayed sushi bar on the left of the restaurant tried to be trendy, playing top 40 music with the staff in dark uniforms.   It was sort of cheap, with a modern feel that said both Japanese and middle of Tennessee.  However, the mix of paint, seat, table, and light colors can best be described as discordant.

Really though, you care about the food.  They had a decent menu.  The scallops were not fresh enough, and not the right kind for raw preparation.  They were ok, just not that good raw.  The Oscar roll, and Soy Kingdom (which actually comes out with a maraschino cherry) were standouts.  The rice was well cooked, and the overall value for what you have to pay is quite outstanding.  The Phoenix roll was good (just not as good as the Oscar and Soy Kingdom).  The place was lacking specials - you know the kind, displayed prominently on a chalk board by the sushi bar.  Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their sushi since Tennessee can hardly be considered a sushi mecca.  If I were you, I would go by on a Weds for half off (select) sushi.


Kabuki Fusion Sushi and Grill

10901 Parkside Dr # 101
Knoxville, TN 37934
(865) 288-9119
3.5 of 5 (overall)

4.5 (knoxville sushi)

Nishino

Nishino has the distinction of being my wife's favorite sushi restaurant in the Seattle area.  I think this owes to the fact that her first experience here was a very enjoyable omasake tasting menu that featured excellent, fresh ingredients.

Quality sushi restaurants must have two elements, in my opinion, a quality chef and quality ingredients.  I think that talented chefs in standard, savory restaurants, can turn relatively average food into great food.  For example, the snout to tail movement, fantastic chefs turn unloved parts of an animal into tasty morsels.  Also, a good recipe can go a long way, with a little spice.  You cannot tell me that my favorite Chinese, Middle Eastern, or Mexican places are using the best cuts of meat or getting stocked by Mr. Local Farmer who believes in Grass Fed (and notes the distinction between Grass Fed and Grass Finished) meat.  I feel that would be the equivalent to what is necessary for good sushi.

Now, a truly high quality ingredient will make the difference most of the time between a 4 and 5 in pretty much all circumstances, but I don't even think a sushi restaurant could get a 4 without high quality fresh ingredients.  And I don't think a Mexican place can get a 4 if they don't make their own tortillas.

In the end, how can a premium on quality ingredients be surprising with sushi?  You're eating something raw.

Our first omasake experience was a two hour food extravaganza, and featured thinly sliced hamache with jalapeño, spot prawn ceviche, nice nigiri fish, two maki rolls, and other delicacies.  That experience actually caused me to decide to start this blog.  This experience, a modified omasake (if you will), was just as good.  We didn't have a full two hours, we actually only had 45 minutes for dinner, and we sat at the bar, saw the same talented chef (who is not the head chef) as last time, and told him we'd like what was fresh.

The amberjack, scallop, and spanish mackerel (haji) came nigiri style.  They were fresh and delicious (so fresh, and so delicious we devoured them before taking a picture).  We ordered the tempura style anaheim chili with stuffed oysters and foie gras with seared tuna and mushroom off the kitchen menu.  The chilis were fried to a perfect golden brown and had the exact style of battered breading that I prefer (when it's not a panko style breading, I like my breading thin with minimal greasiness).  The contrast between the texture of the breading, slight texture of pepper, and soft oyster in the middle was a pleasing bite.  I would have liked a more spicy element somewhere in the center because these Anaheims were a little weak, but you never do know what you're going to get with them.

The foie dish was my wife's first bite of foie gras ever.  She said "Why have I not eaten this before?  Why don't places all over have this?"  It was very nice.  I would have preferred the temperature to be a little hotter overall (it was served room temp), but you have to be careful not to damage the foie.  Overall, I would give the dish a solid B+.

Finally, we received a salmon tartar order (a sushi/kitchen hybrid), arboretum roll, and Madison Park roll.  The salmon tartar was a hit.  The rice was made so crispy and delicious that I would go and buy it to take with me in a lunchbox if I could.  The tartar was good, salmon generally being fresh in Seattle, however I thought it again lacked a little capsicum.  I think some thinly sliced jalapeno worked in, along with thinly sliced lemon on the top (my wife's thought) would make this dish an A+.  As it was, again, I'd say a strong B+.

The arboretum and Madison Park rolls were good.  The arboretum roll looked a little scant, but tasted nice.  The Madison Park roll was served in a crepe, and was the chef's pick when we asked him to surprise us with our last dish.  Unfortunately, I think he was a little harried with the volume of people at the bar and in the restaurant that he was prepared sushi for, and while we both enjoyed the Madison Park roll - we were sad by the lack of creativity.  Without much in the way of daily fresh roll specials, this nice end to our meal was a period and not an exclamation point.

My wife then insisted on mochi balls, white chocolate with raspberry, which she loves.  They are a step up from the ice cream mochi balls you can find at Uwajimaya, but a little spendy for what you get.  That said, these mochi balls are her favorite and are tasty.

What is a solid B+ worth in stars, for another very enjoyable performance from the crew at Nishino (including the best sort of wait staff, attentive but not intrusive)?

Nishino
3130 East Madison
Seattle, WA 98112
206.322.5800
4 of 5

Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless and Chicago O'Hare Dining

Oh airport food, how you are only topped in bleh-ness, and grossness, and blandness, and gummy and chewy and salty and sweatiness by airline food. But wait, after a terrible experience at Sky Bridge Bar and Grill, Rick Bayless gives me hope! More than hope, he gives me such great food at O'Hare that I forgot for just a second I was in an airport...

Tortas Frontera, part of the Frontera Grill franchise of Rick Bayless, has a storefront right in the heart of darkness - O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Long the bane of travelers because their runways were not equipped to handle the snowy conditions Chicago deals out, O'Hare was the worst. Delays, cancelations, and the in-your-face Chicago attitude that pierces right through the American Airlines hub right into what seems like every stewardess and gate agent at the airport. So an extra thank you goes out to Bayless, for not only making O'Hare a bearable stop, but an enjoyable one.

Also, kudos to the wait staff and cashiers at Frontera Grill for being polite, friendly, and an all around joy. Your attitudes are not what I've come to expect while at the airport, so thank you!

And the food is fantastic! Stupid good. You'd think you stopped off at a specialty Mexican sandwich joint in any major city in the US. The prices are, well, Bayless-airport prices, but when you pay $7-10 for a nasty two-day old sandwich or salad, or $10-15 at the local Chilis-2Go for anything, who cares! This is the best food you will ever have in an airport. This may be the best Mexican torta sandwich you ever have. The guacamole is awe-inspiring. The salsas are delicious. The chocolate pecan bar was a tasty little desert to go.

I've had the fully dressed guacamole, pepito, and smoky garlic shrimp tortas, and corn & poblano chowder so far. I will keep going back until I try everything on the menu, because it's just that good. I have not eaten anything there that has not been great, not good, not very good, but great! (think Tony the Tiger.)

Smokey Garlic Shrimp

No wonder Tortas was named the best restaurant in a US airport. I've eaten at about half the list, and while they are better than most airport food, Tortas is a head and shoulders above every other airport restaurant in the US. I would not be surprised to see Bayless put one in other airports, or the downtown of a major city or two.

Oh, and the Skybridge Bar in the F terminal. F! It's terrible. Grimy, dirty, poorly managed, not clean, greasy, gross. I can't say enough about how you should avoid this place. Go to
McDonald's (that's right, I just recommended McDonald's over it!)!

Tortas Frontera by Rick Bayless
4.5 of 5

Skybridge
.5 of 5 (why .5, at least it's human food)

Chiles
1.5 of 5

bandolero restaurant and tequila bar

Have I lamented before about the lack of serviceable Mexican food in Seattle?  Good, well let me tell you about another bleh experience.  Bandolero.

In typical fashion, my wife and I were starving.  We hadn't really eaten all day, had been gone from home for hours, and were stuck in that sort of upper U District, not quite Wallingford area of town.  We happenellinon ad artle f toter &nbsesta hapts. d upp;We lite tuclus awaof restaurants.  We were turned away at Kisaku, and then went to Bandolero.

We were d event to go to in just 45 short minutes, and knew we needed to eat in 40.  Well, telling the wait staff we were in a hurry did nothing for our service.  We waited 27 minutes for chips and salsa.  We waited tens of minutes at a clip to see anyone, and our drinks stayed relatively empty.

Starving, we ordered a little smattering of what they had to offer, sopas, ceviche, carne asada tacos, and their sort of signature chicken mole enchiladas.  I recognize it is unwise to order apps and an entree when you are in a hurry, but we told the staff to bring out anything they had ready when it was up and that we would take everything out on the table at the same time if possible.  No dice.




Who even knows how long we waited on our real food.  Did I say that we waited 27 minutes for chips and salsa?  Does that give you an idea?  The traditional salsa, by the way, was pretty devoid of spice and flavor.  The carne asada meat came out cold.  The ceviche was ok, but just ok.  The mole was ok, but thin and tasked burnt (not smokey).  It had the potential to be very good even, but the I just couldn't shake this burnt flavor.


So, did I mention the wait staff screwed up our order?  They did.  Carne asada tacos.  Out comes a carne asada nachos.  "We ordered carne asada tacos."  "Let me go check on that."  Out comes out waitress again, "I had here that you ordered carne asada nachos."  My wife "I ordered the tacos."  Waitress "Oh, well that's not what I had."  She held the food out and said, "I had nachos, is this ok?"  We had to leave 5 minutes before it even came.  My wife looks at me, sad.  I say "Whatever, can you at least bring out some tortillas?"  The waitress says, "Sure."


Ten minutes later, the already cool meat got colder, still no tortillas.  We wave someone down, ask again, and another 5 minutes later they arrive.  Three.  Wouldn't want to give out more than three.  The girl almost looks mad at giving them.  Getting the bill was a process I also don't wish to discuss, but let's just say that "in a hurry" didn't seem to signify either leaving the bill with our dinner, or coming by with the bill, or coming by at all after delivery or when delivering others' checks.  Get the picture?

Epic fail.

The place does appear to be more "saloon" in feel then restaurant, along with accumulated cob webs under the table.  For bar food, it was ok.  For a restaurant, it was terrible.  In review, not-tasty salsa, burnt mole, cold meat, wrong order, terrible service, no hurry.  And no restitution.  My wife left feeling bad, she wrote on the bill "less than average service, less than average tip" and left 5%.  I said, "Good job."

carne asada "tacos"

Bandolero
2253 North 56th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
206-633-5828
1.5 of 5 (only because the mole had potential)


UPDATE:  Apparently my wife and I weren't the only ones that had a terrible experience.  This restaurant's website is down, and appears to be closed.  They had over 3 stars on Yelp, yet another sign of the apocalypse   

Japonessa: Sushi Cocina

My wife and a small group of family and friends decided to visit the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) for the first Thursday (free Thursday) and then visit neighboring Japonessa for dinner. We heard they had a pretty liberal happy hour and were excited to give a new, highly regarded sushi joint a shot.

First, let me provide the happy hour hours for Japonessa. All day up until 6:30 pm in the restaurant, and 8 pm at the sushi bar. It starts again at 10 pm throughout the restaurant.

Now, we understood the happy hour was after 8 pm, and set a reservation for 8:30 pm. Miss. Their menu (link) does not feature any "traditional" sushi rolls, California, Alaska, etc etc. They'll make any of those for you if you ask, but with so many specials, why not give them a shot. We ordered all house specials:

Salmon sampler (white king, red king, Atlantic king and sockeye)
-Hotate
-Perfect Gentleman (spicy tuna, cucumber, avocado, yamagobo, kaiware, sprouts, cilantro, topped with 7 spice seared albacore, chili garlic soy, scallions, and jalapeno)
-Orange Crush
-Tango de Mango
-California Crush
-Street Fighter ii
-The Mediterranean
-Paraiso Tropical
-Spicy Redhead
-Tarantula

So, the wait staff actually forgot to bring the hotate sushi. That's another miss, this time on Japonessa's account. Second, the wait staff seemed to buzz all around, but they didn't seem too interested in explaining things or making recommendations outside the most expensive rolls on the menu. So service, C+.  (Sidebar- this place is quite popular and I'd recommend a reservation.)

The fusion aspect of this joint, after all it's Japonessa: Sushi Cocina, wasn't present... compared to, for example, SushiSamba (where I've eaten in Chicago, IL). So let's throw out the fusion aspect and just talk sushi. It was good, even very good. The ingredients were tasty, the combinations were imaginative, and the neta (innards)-rice ratio was generous, as was the size of the specialty rolls. But they were pricey.  We thought the Paraiso Tropical and Tarantula were standouts, as was the Street Fighter ii and Perfect Gentelman (very close to the same thing).  The white king salmon was the absolute best of the sampler.

My main complaint was the sushi rice, which fell apart routinely.  It not only did not "add" to the greatness, but it significantly detracted.  My suspicion is that not only was it not made with the right consistency to stand up to the various sauces and innards, but it may have been prepped substantially earlier than its use - making it a little "bleh" and a bit "dried out."

Overall, it was a pleasant experience, but not Seattle's best and a bit overrated and pricey.  The specials were good, ingredients fresh, but with the so-so service, and rice, it stands a head above the average sushi places in town but not among the titans.  We'll be back, but for happy hour...

Japonessa
1400 1st Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 971-7979
3.5 stars

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

Chico's Tecate Grill

Yelp and I are friends.  It had never disappointed me... until it recommended Chico's Tecate Grill.  4 stars.  Please!  With around 20 reviews, it felt safe - but it wasn't!!

First, let's talk methodology.  Every now and then people's friends, acquaintances, family, or hired guns will over-hype average places.  Sometimes, even, poor places.  Crowdsourcing is a great way of combatting this.  Generally, the aggregate has it.  The masses.  Like voters.  Normally, you can expect a republic to function because the bulk of the populous are not bleating morons.  So with Yelp, I always consider what the average response rate is for a given area.  In San Francisco, it's generally 300-1200 for a decent place, New York sits around 200, Seattle around 50-100, Kennewick-Richland-Pasco is about 20.  That's your base.  If there are fewer responses than the average, by a standard deviation or two, the review is out.  I consider the responses unreliable.  If the responses are within a standard deviation from the expected output according to the area, and it's rated 4 (sometimes if I'm desperate a 3.5), I'll try the place out.

If you will allow additional digression.  A very good friend of mine runs a small business.  She has 5-7 five star reviews from clients.  Of those, 0, that's right zero, show up on Yelp.  Their "filter technology" filtered her real client's positive reviews because they seemed too good.  Automatically.  Her clients contacted Yelp, as did she, and all for naught.  I might suggest, given the 4 rating of Chico's, that there are more problems than just my friend's issue with the system.  YELP.  FIX THIS!

Ok, so my wife and I are hungry for Mexican.  The Tricities are good for that type of food, much better than the Western half of the state!  After Yelp'ing, we landed on Chico's.  It's a sort of fast casual establishment.  When we arrived, I opened the car door and found a pile of vomit on the ground.  This should have dissuaded me.  But, four stars, right?  We got inside, and there were a bunch of high school kids, with one tatted up person in their early 20's running the place.  They all sat around talking, the cutest girl was at the register (of course), and we could see - see - microwaves in the back of the place.  That should have dissuaded me.

Now my wife is accustomed to my antics.  Ducks hanging in windows of Chinese restaurants promises authenticity and deliciousness.  Mexican places where the staff doesn't speak English, that look slightly dingy, are hallmarks of tastiness.  Plus, could Yelp be wrong?

Yes!  The food, when it came, when the high school staff got around to nuking it, was disgusting.  Burrito.  Gross.  Beans.  Nigh unto rancid.  Chips.  Stale.  There was one saving grace, a single salsa that tasted good.  The rest, I would honestly best describe as putrid.  They were clearly old, not moldy or anything, but not fresh and tasty.  And someone, someone!! please tell me how you can nuke food and it still be cool (temperature-wise cool, not high school-wise cool).

My wife took three bites. I took four.  Then we did something we never do.  We said, let's chalk this one up to experience, and threw out the rest.  We left, and found a better place for dinner - after our stomachs had recovered from their disgusting Mexican gut-bomb.

I really can't put too fine a point on it.  This was the worst Mexican food I've ever eaten!  Think of one of those places that Gordon Ramsey visits to save, before the saving.  Think of a cool (not lukewarm, but cool) pile of brown and grey on a plate.

Chico's Tecate Grill
Stay Away!
7704 W Clearwater Ave
Kennewick, WA 99336
.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

pho hai yen (seattle)

a 2. no, a 4. no, a 3. no, 3.25. no, 3.5. no, a 0. maybe a 5?

oh pho hai yen, how i want to love you. how i want to tell all 3 people who read this blog how they should run, not walk, to buy your bahn mi and fresh spring rolls. the bahn mi are the best in seattle, and come in a pork or chicken option. the pork, depending on the day, is either a thin-strip-less-tasty-but-still-good variety, a la the spring rolls, or bbq - which is excellent.

alas pho hai yen, i cannot. why? no, not because your pho is little better than average. or your bbq meat noodle bowls are likewise only 'good,' but because i cannot trust how you would treat my friends and strangers. your prices are an ever moving bullseye that i cannot comprehend.

your bahn mi, and spring rolls, have cost me a myriad of amounts. your menu says one thing, you ring up another in your register, and in the end it almost seems you're adding a 25% tax. an idiot tax? but i can count! your food is still a good deal, but the practice is dishonest. and i don't like it.

there is no real way to justify it. i have asked you more than once. you have shorted me an order of fresh rolls that i called in, and later when i told you (and had paid for it), you acted incredulously. you then did nothing. my last visit, you overcharged me a phantom $4 on top of the overestimation of tax and rounded up price rates. $2.75, for example, becomes $3.00 at a minimum.

so what do i do with you? first, i reflect upon my experience with other vietnamese people. while certainly a generalization, and maybe unfair, i have never met a group of more chinsy and schiester-y folks. always trying to get one up on you or cheat you (not all, but many), it's not like a flea market where it is in your face. it's not an indian or iranian rug merchant, or american used car salesman, or chinese herbalist. nay. and i have had no such problem with most thai folks, or filipino or malaysians, so it's not southeast asian. no, this seems a vietnamese thing. maybe a hold over from war-era animosity in the north (from whence pho came) or french colonial days. who knows! i expect you to make faces when i ask for sauce containers, and to give me one, or two, when i order 5 or 6 orders so i have to ask for more like the ugly, sauce-whore american that i am. but to so blatantly overcharge me, and different sums, every time?! even when your hand has been caught in the cookie jar? many times! i wish you'd learn, so you could earn the accolades your bahn mi deserve.

pho hai yen
810 rainier ave s
seattle, wa 98127
(206) 323-5570
4.5 of 5 (bahn mi and fresh rolls)
3 of 5 (pho)
2.5 of 5 (overall)

(pho) vina asian restaurant

little did i know that spokane had any real ethnic foods. sure, they have a fantastic new ethiopian place, which certainly rivals any in seattle - but pho??

yes. they have great pho. not good, not average, but great. this review is going to focus on vina asian restaurant's pho. they have other things on the menu, a hodgepodge of chinese, vietnamese, and thai-ish fare. the rest of the food looked marginally better than average, and the fresh rolls were ok. just ok. they were missing flavor in the pork. they were on the small side, and had some nice fresh herbs but not many. to be really good, they need to grill off the pork or do something to make them stand out. the sauce they serve with it could also be improved, and more herbaceous. while the fresh rolls seem be be an ok deal, compared to other vietnamese places they're on the pricy side for the portion they offer. if you haven't had fresh rolls, these are a fair rendition and you won't be disappointed, but don't go out of your way for them.

but do go out of your way for the pho!

the broth flavor was very good. so good i tried to coax my waitress into telling me about it. she wouldn't. the green onions were a nice touch, in particular as it's not unusual to order some fresh onion for 50 cents to a buck at other places. they also had the fresh regular onions too, gratis. the bowl itself was very reminiscent of hanoi pho because the broth is incredibly light, but flavorful and herbaceous. at the same time, it was better than any of the pho I had in vietnam. the sawtooth cilantro (coriander) was a welcome surprise. this southeast asian delicacy (the sawtooth cilantro herb) seems to be too expensive to be a mainstay at american pho restaurants. the warmed bean sprouts were also an interesting touch. warming them turns them an unsettling brown, but the addition of a small amount of heat keeps them from cooling down your broth! maybe if they were grilled, to add a smokey flavor, that would be the best of all worlds. (i digress.)

in addition, while a trivial thing, I love love love the size of the bowl!! the soup fits in it, with room. see. no overflow issues! it's such a small thing, but makes the experience of eating it less -stressful maybe- than even normally.

my only real dings: the restaurant was sparing on the meat they included compared to most other places and there was no brisket option.  oh well.

(pho) vina asian restaurant
2303 n ash st, #a
spokane, wa 99205
(509) 328-2197
4.5 of 5 (pho only)

taverna - best restaurant in tricities?

well, so far i have to say that taverna from tagaris winery served the best food that i have eaten in the tricities, those being kennewick, richland, and pasco, washington.

best is, of course, subjective. this is best period thus far. nicest, tastiest meal.  i might argue, if you get me on a good day, that a taco joint in pasco is also the best. that would be the best for the money. $1 a taco, you can't beat that. especially when they're amazing.  but...

tagaris winery's unassuming little grotto called taverna is the best food going in richland.  it's not cheap, but it's also not terribly expensive (especially when considering counterparts in seattle). lunches range from $10-15, dinner from $15-30. the ingredients are fresh and the menu is seasonal. that, clever flavor combinations, along with reasonable prices, is why this is the best restaurant in the area.

the fare is mediterranean. flatbread pizzas, calzones, fresh pastas, meats and seafood. i can personally vouch for the patatas bravas app, roasted chicken calzone, lamb burger, and fresh pappardelle with basil and roasted chicken.  (i cannot provide any commentary on their wines.) the cheese plate, unfortunately, was a bit of a letdown. it was the one low light of the meal.  not because it was bad, but because it was average, and not worth the $14. service was what you'd expect for a very good restaurant - attentive but not invasive. (one ding on the waiter though, he came to the table before he knew the specials for the day. don't do that again buddy.)

maybe the tides will change, but as for now, go here on a special occasion and sit on the patio while the weather is agreeable to see if it's the best meal you have had in the tricities.

taverna
4.5 of 5
844 tulip lane
richland, wa

509-628-1619

(it's in the back, down the road that foreboding has a sign that reads "dead end")

the tricities burn my face off!!

have you notice that i am a fan of spicy food?  i may not have made that abundantly clear.  i am a serious fan of spicy food.  love it.  


rarely are foods spicy to me that bother other people.  at indian restaurants, the pickled/spicy peppers that is both extremely citrus-y and hot, isn't that spicy to me.  wasabi doesn't bother me much these days.  jalepeno is more nutty than spicy.  crushed red pepper paste in asian restaurants is downright sweet.  tabasco is laughable.  whenever i go to a thai or vietnamese or chinese or mexican or any other place where they say they have a scale, 1-5, 1-10, i say 5 or 10 or 6 or 11.  


most of the time, when i like the food somewhere and i go back, i have to tell them to make it more spicy.  i tell them to not focus on my whiteness and treat  me like they would family.  that normally does the trick.  sometimes it takes some convincing.  capsicum doesn't bother me much, lots of black pepper does (but i just find that lazy).  ok, is the stage set?


it's not often that i'm surprised.  and i was surprised twice, in eastern washington.  it's not exactly the middle of nowhere.  the tricities are the third major population center in washington state, but they're not even as densely populated as a new york city or boston commuter suburb, let alone big city.

(phuket)

my first surprise came from phuket thai cuisine in kennewick.  they have a sign, "we take our spicy level seriously."  ok.  sure.  i got the go ahead from my wife to order one dish at 5 stars (their top).  it was the beef and basil stir fry.  the waitress, a teenage girl, says " are you sure?"  "yes i'm sure, thanks for the warning" i reply.  she responds, "the cook/owner hates it when dishes go back because they're too spicy.  she won't accept them."  i considered myself duly warned.  my wife ordered a pad thai.  


when the 5 star dish landed at the table, visually you could see the red pepper paste on the top.  mashed, thai peppers and oil.  you also smelled it.  after one bite, my tongue was on fire.  fire.  it took quite a bit of rice to calm down the ol' taste buds.  i could have honestly ordered it at 4 stars and been very happy.  5 was too much.  it was more like the kind of thing you eat on a dare.  that said, it did have a nice flavor.  the spice wasn't lazy, it was layered.  my wife's pad thai (a 2 i think), was a nice break - but she wolfed it all down.  i suffered in silence...


in the end we had a nice black rice pudding, which was very tasty and a nice way to conclude the meal.  by that point my mouth had recovered.  the food was shockingly good.  good in general, very good for kennewick.


if that was not enough, then there was woo's teriyaki in richland.  

they have korean (bibimbap and bulgogi), and japanese (yakisoba and teriyaki).  i ordered the chicken yakisoba, hot.  "how hot?  we do low, medium, and high heat."  i replied "high."  the pile of noodles, with brownish-red sauce, and teriyaki chicken hits the table.  it didn't look quite as foreboding as phuket, but phuk it was hot!  i'm talking burn my face off hot.  worse than phuket.  i turned to the businessman i was trying to woo and said "this is hot."  he smiled and said "well, i'd heard a story about a guy being surprised by the spice, but i was waiting to see your reaction to figure out of it was true."


stinker!  not a month or two earlier, we'd had another meal together at a local mexican place.  it was pretty good, and i ordered their camarones a la diabla.  i also had their "hot" salsa.  i didn't break a sweat, it was nothing.  i commented that the flavor was there, but it lacked a little in the spice department.  well, not woo's.  it was there on taste, even better than phuket, and it was there in spice.  i had to order a tapioca ball smoothie and steal some of my compadre's rice to beat the heat.  he was a good sport.  i finished most of the plate, but the food did burn going down.  did i mention my mouth was on fire?    


after i finish the dish, manlily, the waitress says, "how was it."  "hot" we reply.  she smiles.  "how do you normally get it?" asks my new friend.  "very very hot, it's two levels above yours.  if i don't eat in a few days though, i can't even stand the normal hot.  you just have to get used to it."  get used to it!  my mouth recuperated about 20 minutes after lunch.  i can only imagine very very spicy.


phuket thai cuisine restaurant
ste d, 1407 north young st
kennewick, wa ‎
3.5 of 5 (4 for tricities)
(yes, if you saw the earlier thai ginger post, this place is better than thai ginger.)


woo's teriyaki
1379 george washington wy
richland, wa ‎
4 of 5 (5 for tricities)

a la mode pies

pies.  delivery.  YES!

a la mode pies has quickly become a favorite in my house.  my wife is an excellent baker, and her pies are top notch.  every now and again though, it's nice to not have to put forth any effort.  it's even nicer to not have to put forth any effort, and to have it delivered.  welcome, a la mode pies.

the pie above was how it all started.  my friend's girlfriend loves key lime pie, but he was concerned that he neither had the time, nor skill to make a good one.  so, he did some googling and found a la mode pies.  he ordered it to surprise her, and it was "the best key lime pie they ever had."  he decided to surprise her family and bought another one - through happenstance it was delivered to my home, and my wife and i just sat and looked at it.  this guy (below) brought it. turns out, he is chris, or "the pie guy," or in other words - the owner. good for you dude.

fast forward, to a little pie night, and the couple came over and we all split the below cherry pie.  the cherries were tart and the pie was excellent.  the crust is a little doughy and a little crisp, which is just how i like it.  it also looked just like the website advertised - a nice plus if you plan to order one for the office or a party.

i have to admit that i'm not on the organic bandwagon, but chris touts fresh, mostly organic ingredients, hand made pies, etc etc.  they are very good.  and it's local.  and they deliver!  sure, $25 is a little steep, but then again - 1., it's delivered! and 2., you pay $5 for a single slice at a restaurant, so why not $25 for 8 slices worth?  if you're not convinced, here is a link to places that serve the man's pies.  go try a slice.

5 of 5
online only:
http://alamodeseattle.com/index.php?route=common/home

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

pritty boys family pizzeria

alas, this blog also lacks a picture of the actual food.  i'll get accustomed to taking pictures of food sooner rather than later.  let this suffice:

this is an actual picture from pritty boys, just not mine.  but, speaking of deficiencies, you'll find no commentary on soups, appetizers, salads, panini, and pasta.  this is all about the pizza (and service).  having looked in the area for a pizza place on yelp (and seen it a few days before while visiting bistro turkuaz), we decided to give pritty boys a whirl.  we combated the (fairly overwhelming consensus) bad service by calling in our order.  

phone: "ring ring" 

them: "hello"

us: "hello, two large pizzas please"

them: "ok, they'll be ready in about 30 minutes"

us.  30 minutes for two pizzas, for pick up?  wow!  we arrived and asked about our pizzas, and the poor server looked clueless.  two pizzas huh, let me check in the back.  i think i found them. hold on.  oh, -to the other server- your name is on this order, can you ring these people up.  -other server- my name, i don't remember that.  -servers looking confused-.  finally, an intrepid young lad went in the back, another one took our credit card, and 10 minutes later we were out of there with two very large pizzas.  if this experience was indicative of the overall service experience, well, head there ready for a little ???  on the bright side, pritty boys seems ready to combat this with video games for the whole family.

ambiance: the place looked good for family.  a hipster family.  the servers all had plaid shirts on and skinny jeans.  the place was spartan but dig the job.  video games were off to the side, and some flat screens to watch sports.

now for the pizza.  as you can see, it's thin crust new york style.  it seems the ovens don't run quite hot enough to give it a super crisp crust, but it's still good.  they go for the "caramelized" top crust (slightly charred but not offensive).  the cheese is thick and greasy, so if you're a cheese lover you'll particularly like their rendition.  the sauce was tasty, but overpowered by the cheese in my opinion.  the toppings tasted fresh, and they opted for small crisped pepperoni, thin crisped ham, thick dense ground sausage pieces, etc.  $20 for a large is a little steep, but it can easily feed parents and two small kids because the pieces are very generous.  overall, it's a pretty good seattle rendition of new york style pizza.

3.5 of 5

pritty boys family pizzeria

1430 34th ave 

seattle, wa

206-257-1319

prittypizza.com

11-9, 11-10 fri/sat

ps.  i cannot vouch for it, but they have gluten free offerings.