Travelers Tea Company

501 E Pine St Seattle, WA 98122 (206) 329-6260

★★★☆☆

Menu

I believe it is worth noting that this is a vegetarian menu.  This will save you time searching the menu for a possible lamb dish that might be worth trying as I did. 

The Cardamom Almond Cookie ($1.00) did not lack cardamom and was surprisingly tasty.

The Naan Pizza ($4.50) - garlic naan topped with green chutney, jack cheese, tomato and red onions is baked so the soft naan has a nice crispy crunch on the bottom- what is there not to like?! 

The Samosa Lunch, $7.00 for two samosas or $5.00 for one, was served with chik pea curry, raita, chutney and some sort of sweet sauce.  The samosas were quite light, as they were baked instead of fried, but also a bit light on seasoning.  The pototo filling was nice but was better when eaten with a bite of the chutney.

The Thali Lunch ($7.50) was served with the chef's curried vegetables - potatoes and cabbage, dal - lentil soup of the day, raita, basmati rice and chutney.  The potatoes and cabbage were ok but again were missing the bold flavors expect from something curried.  The lentil soup was good but it was a split lentil soup this particular day and had a somewhat grainy consistency.

The food came fairly quick after ordering upfront at the counter.  Extremely friendly service and very patient while answering questions about the menu and different dishes.  Although nothing had huge bold flavors, everything was well balanced and tasty! (sb)



Giving your tongue a ride on the el camión

★★★★☆

With Seattle and Portland well into the food truck craze and the variety of cuisines and gourmet trucks filling empty parking lots and curbsides of streets otherwise devoid of any appeal, we explore a taco truck called 'el camión'. "The bus", as it is translated, is a reincarnation or refinement, if you will, of the original food trucks that started it all, which would be the taco truck.

Only a decade ago or so in this city, we may recall seeing a dirty, white, broken-down school bus with flat tires suspiciously parked and hawking food out of a window to Mexicans eagerly waiting for a taste that reminded them of something south of the border. Everyone else walked briskly by wondering if it was a legal operation, let alone sanitary, armed with only knowledge of where you could sit down and have the best margarita and free basket of chips and salsa served to your booth. Fast forward to 2011, Taqueria El Asadero, that very same truck institutionalized on Rainier Ave next to a salvage yard that many held their suspicions is now a revelation and exemplifies a standard authenticity of tacos.

el camión, shines as an example of the transformation from the ordinary taco truck. The glossy back trailer with professional red lettering is nestled alongside the historic buildings of the SODO neighborhood close to the ballparks. Here a line awaits soft corn tortilla tacos coming fresh off the grill with a myriad of meat selections. The fish taco ($2.00) is a popular favorite with the first bite consisting of a slight crunch coming from the preliminary stage of a slight fry from the grill. The slaw incorporates well with the purple cabbage, onions, cilantro, and a douse of a thousand-island-like sauce on top of the tender tilapia that tastes slightly pan-fried with all the freshness of the fish. Some may argue the authenticity of the fish taco, but after having one as good as it was, if not one of the best I've ever had between Mexico and the U.S., who really cares?

The tacos, each with it's slightly crisp hot tortilla, comes with plenty of filling in the standard selections (asada, pollo, lengua, carnitas, cabezas, tripas...$1.45 each) with the asada being a standout without any dried out meat pieces you might get from the other stands. You can taste the marinated beef slightly in its own sauce and the salsas including additional salsa options to add on affirming what a great taco should taste like..

There were some complaints like the cochinita pibil being a bit too wet for the taco and lacking in flavor intensity and the tamales having too much masa and not enough meat filling, however these are small things easily overlooked. The pork tamale ($2.50) comes with plenty of maize infused with a smokiness of chipotle and slow-roasted pork. The filling being extremely moist and flavorful from the pork fat and the steam bath.

If meat filling was lacking in the tamale, it made up for it in the Huevos con Chorizo ($6.85), a brick-heavy breakfast burrito with plenty of spicy chorizo, scrambled eggs, cheese, and pico de gallo. This messy but delicious package will make you nap instead of energize your day.

So when the sun shines warmly in Seattle, you may want to consider a six pack of cerveza to accompany your el camión to-go platter over sitting down with a watered-down margarita and basket of chips. el camión is taco truck version 2.0. Newer, cleaner, brighter, tastier, with all the efficiencies in feeding the masses out their window in consideration of the long lines and popularity it has deservedly earned. The bus has three locations (SODO, North Seattle on Aurora, and Ballard). It re-establishes the relevancy of tacos as a strong option among the growing plethora of unique and niche street food choices in this city. Get on the bus! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

-JB

Jade Garden

424 7th Ave S (ID), Seattle 98104, (206) 622-8181

★★☆☆☆

Hours: Mon-Sun 9am - 2:30am (! - Really?!)

Price - Reasonable - $10 contribution and I'm stuffed.

Ahhh... Jade Garden. The go-to dim sum restaurant for the folks we work with. I didn't take the time to get pictures on this visit, but don't worry... you didn't miss anything. Jade Garden is consistently mediocre dim sum. It's not terrible, nor is it worthy of an out of the way visit. I never crave any item from there, but will gladly join the work peeps for lunch. It's not the cleanest restaurant in town (recent visit saw a cockroach scurrying across the table), King County tells me they are fine. They would probably come in at a strong 'C' in Los Angeles. I'm certainly not saying this is a reason to avoid! We go fairly often. I just know there are better options for dim sum in the area. (tk)

Viengthong Restaurant

2820 MLK Way S, Seattle 98144, (206) 725-3884

★★☆☆☆

Hours: Tue-Sun 11am-8pm (Closed Monday)

CASH ONLY

Price: A little high ($42 for lunch for 4)

Before we move on with the review/description I want to point that, yes, I do realize these pictures are absolute crap. This post will be remembered as the one where we started to spend a little more time while taking the pictures. I'm not a fan of photographs in a restaurant, so I try to rush through. As a result, the pictures for this expedition have suffered. Just be happy we included pictures! (tk)

We came across this restaurant at the last minute while trying to decide where to eat today. Orignally, I was looking for a non-Asian restaurant. Just to take a break. I was planning on driving us out to a burger place in West Seattle, but then a member or our group complained it was too far. Viengthong had been on my list to try for a while, so I thought we would give it a go. It's a self-proclaimed "Lao-Thai" restaurant near the MLK/Rainier intersection. We had a friend that was Lao that would occasionally give us homemade Lao sausage and sticky rice to try. I loved that stuff, so I was looking for something like that at Viengthong. Before leaving, I quickly did some research on what others order and liked from previous visits. (tk)

First up was the Som Tum ($7.50). It's a papaya salad that's prepared either Thai-style or Lao-Style. We went for Lao-style since we've had Thai-style many times before. From what I could gather, Lao-style had a heavy dose of shrimp paste and fish sauce. I'm sure there is much more to it, but that's all we tasted. When first presented it had an odd dirty water glow to it. While taking my first bite, I didn't think I would continue eating. Amazingly, it kind of grew on my throughout the meal. It's very strong flavored and not for someone that is opposed to shrimp paste. We asked for medium (mild, medium, hot were the options), but it came with little or no spice. You could see the peppers and pepper flakes, but they gave off no heat. Could have been old peppers. (tk)



The Viengthong Dry Beef ($8.25) was brought out at the same time as the Som Tum. I had read a reviewer comment on how much they enjoyed the Dry Beef. As I was reading that, it made me think this dish may be similar to one I have many times in Los Angeles at Jitlada. That stuff is awesome. It's a dry style curry and gives off that back of the head tingle when eating. Amazing. What we ordered at Viengthong was nothing like that one. So I was way off in my assumption of what I thought it might be like. This was more of a Lao beef jerky. Fun, but not great. (tk)



We also ordered the BBQ Chicken ($8.25). This was the winner for the meal. It's marinated in coconut milk, garlic and black pepper. I think it was either 3 or 4 thighs cooked up and then cut in large slices. Super tender and delicious. I would order this one again for sure! (tk)



For our noodle choice we opted for Lard Nar with pork ($8.75). The menu describes this as "Stir fried rice noodles topped with mixed vegetables". As you can see from the picture our "mixed vegetables" were cuts broccoli. I guess the "mixed" part was the fact that they gave us stalks and tops! This dish was pretty boring and flavorless. The sauce was weird too. A little too snot-like for me. The noodles themselves had nothing going on either. Bland. (tk) - UPDATE: This was much better a few days later reheated and then topped with a poached egg. (tk)



I wouldn't normally comment on the rice, but their's was fantastic. We got the sticky rice ($3.00... I think) and it came in the little bamboo holder. It clumped up well when reaching with your fingers. Very good. (tk)


Overall, this place was average. We all enjoyed the chicken the most, but nothing else stood out. Probably no need to go back except to order the chicken and have a beer or five. (tk)

Menu:

Szechuan Noodle Bowl

420 8th Ave S Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 623-4198

★★★★☆

Hours:
Tues - Sun 11:30 am - 9 pm

Payment: Cash Only
Price: Cheap

The Green Onion Pancakes are crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and tasty!  The best green onion pancakes I have found in Seattle.

We ordered the Pork and Napa Dumplings with the hot and spicy sauce on the side.  The dumplings are simple and delicious.  The sauce is neither hot nor spicy but is a wonderful blend of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and some light spice.

The Won Ton and Noodles with Soup is not about the soup.  The broth is extremely light and just a back drop to the delicious gingery, pork won tons.  The noodles are fresh and tender like the bok choy but the dish is really about the won tons which are worth trying!

Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant

★★★☆☆

http://sichuaneserestaurant.com/default.aspx

1048 South Jackson Street Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 720-1690

Menu

Price: Cheap

Rating:

Sichuanese Boiled Fish, the name does not do this dish justice. This was a favorite of the dishes ordered for lunch. It was surprisingly mild but the sauce/broth was delicously rich and the fish and cabbage were tender but held together.

The Fried Dumplings were pretty good. As was the case with the rest of the meal, they were fairly tame in terms of flavors. The dough was done right. I would order them again. Especially at $5 for 20 of them. Yes, I did count them.

The Cheng-Du Noodles were kind of a throw in at the last moment. Maybe we thought we needed more food when we were ordering? I don't know, but if that was the case we were wrong. The noodles were fine. They would have been good at extinguishing any fires the peppers brought to the party. Unfortunately, there was no need for that. The menu said they came with peanut sauce as well has spicy sauce. In short - Overly peanutted up.

The Dried Cooked Chicken with Green Beans was somewhat a disappointment. The beans? Perfectly cooked and delicious. The chicken? Lacking. In fact, all I really remember eating were the crunchy batter pieces from the frying process. I think there was chicken in there, but cannot prove it with any photo evidence. As with the other dishes, this one lacked in the spice department until you ate the last few pieces at the bottom that had been sitting there for a while. Oh, and you had to add chili sauce to that as well. The beans were good though!

Henry's - A Haiku

★★★★★★

I Do Love Henry's

I Love the Pork Chop and Soup

And Everything Else


-Jim