Almost Like Mom’s Cooking

Posted on March 8, 2013 by hiyezz

After a round of midterms, a group of us decided to go to the International District and eat some Vietnamese food. Vietnam House is next to Tamarind Tree, which attracts many people with its lavish decor and pretty much a fancy fancy Vietnamese restaurant. Vietnam House is much more simple and authentic. They provide a variety of dishes that’s almost as good as my mom’s cooking.

Atmosphere: There are larger tables in the middle made for larger parties and smaller tables surrounding it. It’s not a particularly large restaurant, but a suitable size. They have some simple decor such as the light fixture posted below. Besides that, they keep it to a minimum.

Pricing: Dishes range from $8-$10 for individual entrees. There are also family style dishes that can be shared.

Service: There are only 1 or 2 waiters helping out, but they’re pretty nice and know their dishes. I can tell it’s a family owned restaurant just by how they interact with one another.

Food:

This is called bun thit nuong cha gio. Aka – vermicelli noodles with grilled pork skewers and egg rolls. Probably the next popular dish after pho. This is always a classic, served with fish sauce (essential!).

This is what I got! It’s com tam dac biet. AKA – broken rice with grilled pork skewers, shrimp cake (in the back), and a fried egg on top. Also served with essential fish sauce. Portions are large, and I was so hungry I ate all of it. This is also another classic Vietnamese dish that you can’t go wrong getting here.

Overall: I really like this restaurant because it has such a variety of dishes to choose from. Another one I really enjoy bun bo hue – spicy beef noodle soup. Not like pho, but these noodles are thicker and the broth is much different and spicier. There is an array of meat, including oxtail. If you’re craving some authentic Vietnamese food, this is the place to try!

First media tasting

Posted on January 8, 2013 by hiyezz

I had the pleasure to attend a tasting at Bai Pai Thai Restaurant in Ravenna, not too far away from my home at the U-district. Chef Jack Kanand was really helpful in explaining his knowledge about wines and showed us pairings for dishes. There were traditional plates as well as some fusion dishes.

Atmosphere: Upon walking in, it was a really great ambience with really nice decor. There’s some red lighting, which was not conducive to my picture taking. There was a bar in the back and they had a plentiful amount of wine. The restaurant is very spacious with nice wooding.

Pricing: A little bit pricier, but it is finer Thai than I’ve had. Appetizers are about $6-$10. It’s about $11-$15 on average for entrees. The most expensive is lamb for $28. They do offer a happy hour, half off appetizers and specials on drinks.

Service: Their wait staff was really friendly and quick to offer help.

Food: I apologize again, the pictures may not be my best!
Started out with a glass of Loredona Viognier, very light and crisp

Lamb satay – one of their premium features of the tasting menu. This is an appetizer. Craft Australian lamb legs marinated in red curry & rosemary and then charboiled served with peanut sauce. Very tender, one of my favorites
Tea smoked salmon – an entree, grilled tea-smoked salmon with coconut-pineapple sam bal sauce topped with enoki mushroom. I thought the salmon could have been a little more moist.

Pork & shrimp dumplings served with spicy pineapple dipping sauce complimented with bok choy. This was also another feature of the tasting menu that has never been served. I thought this was very good, especially with the pineapple sauce.

Entree. Rice noodles with egg, mixed veggies, and peanuts. I thought this was a pretty average phad thai dish.
Sautéed eggplant, basil, bell peppers, and fried tofu in black bean sauce. I really like eggplant and I thought it was a good mix of veggies.
Spicy honey wings glazed with garlic soy honey. I really liked this appetizer and the glaze were perfectly crunchy.

Not pictured:
Appetizers
Garlic string beans (tossed in a thick garlic sauce)
Larb (ground pork tossed with roasted crispy rice in lettuce cup wraps) – A traditional dish that you wrap using lettuce and I liked crispness of it, reminded me of a Vietnamese dish I would eat
Steamed ginger rice

Entrees
Bai pai noodles with prawns (spicy wide noodles with basil, egg, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes & prawns) – I really liked this dish with its many components. Very tasty
Chop-chop basil chicken (ground chicken sautéed with garlic, chili, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, topped with a fried egg) – Bai Pai is known for this dish and it’s generally a favorite.
Massaman curry beef (served with apple chutney & cucumber relish) – The apple chutney really made this beef even more delicious.

Dessert:
Mango sweet sticky rice with thick coconut milk – To be honest, because the mango was not ripe, it was not the best dessert. The rice was very traditional sweet sticky rice.

Overall: As this is my first media tasting, I am really honored and grateful to be a part of this. The hostess, Catherine, was also very helpful in coordinating the event. I would definitely come back to try their happy hour menu. This is a finer Thai restaurant that is classier than the Thai restaurants in the U-district. If this is what you’re looking for, you have found the jackpot. They also have open mike night twice a month, catering, and a private room for special events.

Want sum dim sum?

Posted on November 19, 2012 by hiyezz

One of the most notorious places to get dim sum in Seattle is Jade Garden. It’s in the heart of chinatown and they’re known for their cheap prices for decently sized portions. You will often see many people congregating outside and in on this busy corner, waiting for their name to be called.

Atmosphere: It’s on a corner of Chinatown and pretty easy to find. You’ll notice inside that it’s a pretty typical Chinese restaurant with a fish tank filled with lobster, crab, and fishes. There’s a main area with some smaller tables, and then another room with large tables. There’s also an upstairs with 3-4 large tables as well. Service up there is not the greatest because the dim sum carts do not go up there, rather they bring trays up. It’s always a really busy, crowded restaurant especially if you’re sitting near the front. You will definitely have people standing near by just waiting to be seated.

Pricing: It’s a really good price for what you get. I go with some friends and only end up paying about $6-7 and feeling pretty stuffed too. They categorize their plates from small, medium, large, and other specialty dishes.

Service: They’re quick knowing that this is a very busy restaurant during lunch time. Their goal is to get you in and out. I wouldn’t say their overfriendly or anything. It’s just pretty standard.

Food:
Sorry, I don’t really speak Cantonese to order dim sum, but all you need to do is point and say how many you want of each dish.

I don’t know what these are called, but if you say “football” they’ll know what you’re talking about. These are crispy on the outside with juicy meat on the inside. In general, they’re a little oily, but nonetheless really good.

The best way to describe this is rice noodles with shrimp. Soy sauce isn’t drenched over it, but a sauce that’s much sweeter. They also have BBQ pork and beef rice noodles too.

Honey walnut shrimp with light mayo sauce! Always a standard classic.

Chinese broccoli with hoison sauce. Gotta have some veggies They definitely were generous with this dish too.

Okay, for this dish, I know what it’s called. Shu mai These are one of my favorites to get. They’re filled with pork and mushrooms. They’re pretty generous with the portion and these are pretty voluptuous.

This is definitely not for everyone. Chicken feet! Personally, I love these. I really like skin, but the downside is that it’s very bony and it’s kind of a lot of work to eat. These are also pretty large compared to some other dim sum places I’ve eaten at.

This dish is also one of my favorites. It’s really hard to find here, but it’s pretty common in Vancouver, BC. This is called zha liang, it’s basically rice noodles with green onions wrapped around chinese donuts. This is with hoison sauce. It’s not as good as I’ve had it, but it still satisfies my zha liang craving. It came with peanut sauce, which made the sauce a perfect combo, but not this one

Overall: The wait is always really long, but I’ll let you on in a little secret. You can call in ahead to put your name down about 20 minutes in advance and it will cut down your waiting time. This a staple place to visit in Seattle to get some Chinese grub. I don’t recommend it for dinner though.. only dim sum

Asian Re-invasion

Posted on October 3, 2012 by hiyezz

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t blogged for a while! I have been very busy with pharmacy school. But I got a breather to give you an update. Enjoy, there’s lots of pictures I went to Revel over the summer because I heard from my brother that it was probably one of his most favorite restaurants! Even Top Chef Judge, Tom Colicchio was seen dining here twice! They are known to serve “urban-style Korean comfort food.”

Atmosphere: So it’s an interesting set up, they have a main restaurant area with a patio deck. There’s also a bar right next door, Quoin where people just go to wait out. Not too much seating especially if it’s a chilly day. What makes this place unique is that there’s a bar where people can sit at and watch the chefs at work. We sat at the bar and this definitely entertained me.

Pricing: A little pricier than your average meal. Salads $8-9. Appetizers $9-10. Main entrees $11-16. Dessert ~$7.

Service: At the time that I went, it was pretty crowded so the service was a little slow. It seemed that they were understaffed in their waiters/waitresses. She tried her best to be attentive though.

Food: This was inside Quoin
At the bar
Summer greens, red quinoa, black sesame creme. Interesting combination with a little bit of tang but the sesame creme placated it and made the flavors distinguished.
Short rib, scallion, shallot dumpling! Just the right amount of crispiness and meat.
Assorted sauces – fish sauce, soy, chili & bean paste. I was watching the sous chef make these for every single new table.
Roasted duck, smoked tea noodle, pickled raisin, duck crackling. This had a sweeter broth than the other noodle dish we had. The broth was more like a sauce and the duck was quite tender. The noodles were also different than any other ones I’ve had, but it fit the flavor of the sauce well.
Dungeness crab, seaweed noodle, creme fraiche & spicy red curry noodle. A little too spicy for me, it was still very nice and they sure were not stingy with the crab meat.
What’s a meal without dessert? Strawberry shortcake! The shortcake part was like a cookie crumble. I’ll just say that this was the perfect ending to a delicious meal.

Overall: Portions are pretty decent for the price you pay compared to some other nicer restaurants. The noodle dishes really filled me up and they even feature some great rice dishes that looked tasty. Next on my to try list. Even though they have a small menu, they really do specialize and put more effort into each dish they present. Expect a wait when you come, but it will certainly be worth it. This Korean fusion restaurant beats out others that I have been to.

Asian invasion

Posted on August 7, 2012 by hiyezz

This was a bit ago, but I realized I never blogged about this place! Facing East located in Bellevue is kind of a hidden gem. They specialize in Taiwanese food and it was quite an experience right from the beginning.

Atmosphere: They had a remodel, so even though the wait is pretty long, I couldn’t imagine how long it was before. This place has expanded and it looks more open. There’s a little closed off section in the front and some tables in the first area, larger tables and the main dining area is in the next room over.

Pricing: It’s a pretty long list, but appetizers for the most part, range from about $3-$8 and larger/main entree dishes are about $9-$15. Typically, the meal is eaten family style, but some dishes can be for an individual.

Service: I would say they are pretty good to their customers, compared with other traditional Asian restaurants.

Food: Five spiced friend chicken – spicy for sure. The crunch actually wasn’t as crunchy as I thought it would be, but a distinguishing texture.
Taiwanese pork burger! Oh my gosh, one of my favorite dishes. I’m not a big fan of cilantro, so I took it out, the pork is just so tender and went well with the hum bao. Drool.
If I recall correctly, I believe this was a special at the time, pig ear in salad. Not really memorable, thus I probably only thought it was okay.
Five spiced beef wrap – crunchy exterior, gave it a nice munch with the veggies. I would say this was a pretty good dish, felt very complete.
Yearling oyster spring roll – okay, definitely the most interesting thing I ate. I’m not sure how I felt about the sauce, it was a little on the sweet side and the texture of the roll was a little too chewy for my liking.
Spiced pork stew over rice – okay, another one of my favorites! The sauce was just so flavorful and it was so good eating it with rice. The pork was also tender and fatty just how I like it.
Stir fried string beans – just to get our fill of more veggies. It was seasoned well, and a little hard, not as soft and soggy.
Taiwanese chow mein – I really like noodles, and this really hit the spot. Another noodle I recently tried was the sesame noodle. It was a light saucy flavor, and they really give you a ton. I really enjoyed it! A much more unique dish than this chow mein.
My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. Shaved ice with with mango, strawberry, mochi, and condensed milk. The perfect summer dessert to share with family.. or for yourself. I’ve never tasted anything so delicious, light, and refreshing…

Overall: Well I would come here just for shaved ice. They do have a number of dishes that stand out such as the pork stew over rice, Taiwanese burgers, and specialized noodles. Long wait, but well worth it if you’re craving some well done Asian dishes.

Documenting tasty goodness

Category Archives: Asian

Almost Like Mom’s Cooking

First media tasting

Want sum dim sum?

Asian Re-invasion

Asian invasion