MSG150: Seattle International District Lunch Food

Monday, June 1, 2009

Lunch #77: LA Cafe

MSG150's good friend Tien has been talking up LA Cafe for years. It was not in the path of our original route so it went untouched. Now, as we expand east, LA Cafe gets its day. Not having had much luck with previous "cafe" types our crew was skeptical when we arrived at the Pacific Rim Center to get it on LA style.

LA Cafe, Seattle
Address: 900 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Chinese
Average rating: 3.8 chopsticks
Lunch date: 5/19/2009 @ 11:47:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 5 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 17 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 63 minutes
Chopstix quality: Forks!
Do they use MSG?: Likely
Where is the owner/chef from?: Guangzhou
Number of tables: 22
Number of occupied tables: 6 (27%)
Number of business lunch tables: 4 (66%)
Number of "local" tables: 5 (83%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Rice with Preserved Meat and Steamed Frog in Hot Pot - $8.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

Dude our trip into the heart of darkness keeps getting better. LA Cafe -- sounds like they sell crappy pizzas with goat cheese and no sauce -- has a lot of glitter and LED going for it on the outside. It is decorated like a diner, and gestures, invitingly for us to come in and gossip about the latest Beverly Hills Cop and how awesome A-Ha is.

Like these other Hong Kong Style diner places, the menu is immense. I asked the waiter to boil it down to one simple option - what does he like the best. Without hesitation he recommended the Rice Hot Pot with Chinese Sausages and Frog. Hells yeah BRING IT. I've had frog before (grew up in FL -- we eat weird) so I was initiated. However this was a new discovery for the ID. I dove in.

The rice was cooked well done, had very little flavor. The sausages were tasty, though not outstanding, definitely enhanced the rice. The frog legs were small, bony, a bit fishy and chickeny. The sauce it came with rounded out the flavors with some salty savoriness.

For dessert we had the black glass jelly. Try to pronounce that if you're an ESL kid and you'll sense our confusion as we ordered dessert. It was unlike anything I ever tried. It was bitter, cold, like jello. Jet black. Interesting. Apparently homemade as well. It cleansed the palate, leave my mouth fresh, clean, black.

Our server was fantastic. Prompt courteous service, and he encouraged us to try new things. The variety was definitely a refreshing change. My meal wasn't the greatest but I'm excited to come back, and see what else is in store.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Grilled Chicken Steak - $6.99
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

Back up to the Pacific Rim Center. I'm sure everyone will mention this, but we had a coworker, Tien, who absolutely loved this place. Geary sent her a message that we were going here, and she came back with a recommendation to get the "Grilled Chicken Steak."

I ordered the Grilled Chicken Steak... which apparently means Fried Chicken Steak. So, here comes a shocker: the fried chicken was friggin' delicious. I had my choice between 4 different sauces, and I went with the Garlic Sauce. So I've got this piece of fried chicken that is covered in what is essentially Garlic Gravy. All I can say is "winner." Get it.

The lunch special comes with all sorts of choices. I got to choose the sauce for my chicken steak. I got to chose between Seafood and Tomato Soup (I went with the Seafood, it was very sea-foody, and good). I got to chose between Mango Yogurt and Black Glass Jello for dessert (the Mango Yogurt was awesome!)

Lots of food. Lots of choices. Tien was right to love this place.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Braised Ox Tail with Red Wine Sauce - $8.99
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Self promotion is not their strong suit. If you didn't know it existed you would have almost no way of finding it. Other than a small sign near the parking garage entrance there is no exterior signage for the LA Cafe. East meets West in an odd way here. The interior looks like a fifty's diner but with clear Chinese accents like TV blaring Chinese soaps and the case of Chinese buns and other baked goods. The menu is a mix of Cantonese favorites plus western derivatives. The lunch specials come with a choice of white rice, spaghetti, or fries. In addition to traditional rice bowls and noodle dishes they serve club sandwiches and chicken fried steak. I went with Ox Tail in Red Wine Sauce with a side of rice. We also had a choice of tomato or seafood soup. I went with seafood.

Service was very friendly however even though it was not crowded our lunches took a while to come out. The seafood soup was good but not like anything I'd had before. It had a clear broth with tiny bits of chopped up, completely unidentifiable, seafood, small cubes of tofu, and carrot flakes. The Ox Tail was unexpectedly delicious. It wasn't anything that would show up anywhere near a Michelin star, but given the surroundings I was impressed. The meat was fall apart tender and the brown wine sauce was rich and tasty with peas, carrots, and mushrooms thrown in per spec. Seeing the amazing variety of the other dishes at the table makes we want to come back many more times to look for other gems in the vast menu. Way to go LA.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Fried Egg and Beef with Rice - $6.99
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

LA Cafe Photos

LA Cafe

LA Cafe Lunch Menu

LA Cafe Lunch Menu (cont.)

LA Cafe Interior

Street sign for LA Cafe on the side of the well cemented Pacific Rim Center

Seafood Soup

Grilled Chicken Steak

Fried Egg and Beef with Rice

Braised Ox Tail with Red Wine Sauce

Rice with Preserved Meat and Steamed Frog in Hot Pot

Behold the frog

Dessert went too fast for photos

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Lunch #76: Tsukushinbo

Today the MSG150 crew ate at the last restaurant in our Japantown route. We have now eaten at every International District restaurant west of I-5. This is a feat that has never before been attempted and will surely win us a place in Guinness. Or at least a Guinness. I'm buying.

We set out for Tsukushinbo again today which, as we learned last week, is closed on Monday. We showed up at 11:40 to find out that it doesn't open until 11:45. Luckily the sun was out and soon we were in to give it a go.

Tsukushinbo, Seattle
Address: 515 S Main St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Japanese: Sushi, Japanese: Noodles
Average rating: 3.6 chopsticks
Lunch date: 5/12/2009 @ 11:45:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 3 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 14 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 45 minutes
Chopstix quality: Smoothed Wood
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Kawasaki, Japan
Number of tables: 9
Number of occupied tables: 6 (66%)
Number of business lunch tables: 4 (66%)
Number of "local" tables: 2 (33%)
Healthcode Score: 10
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Katsu Don - $6.75
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Tsukushinbo is the most hole-in-the wall and likely the most authentic Japanese restaurant in Japantown. And, if they were going for the run-down restaurant feel they nailed it. The sign and storefront are in need of an update and a good wash. The interior is dark and also in need of a good wash. There are short curtains that hang over the doors just low enough that your head (at least my head) gets a light brush that as a result have started to turn a little brown along the edge. All of the plastic chair cushions are cracked with exposed foam. Mine also had a small helping of last night's dinner crusted too it which I had to brush off before sitting. Our server was nice, possibly the daughter of the owner, and passed out menus and answered questions. Although, either through profiling or neglect, she failed to bring us green tea for our meal. However it wasn't all bad. In fact the food was mostly good.

I ordered the Katsu Don to see how it stacked up to Ichiban, my current favorite. It was $1.20 cheaper which was a good start. It was very good, however, my dish somehow had a big dollop of cold, uncooked egg white that was hard to overlook. I tried to stir it in, but the rice and bowl weren't quite hot enough to cook it so it just turned the rice a little gooey. However, I'm not chicken when it comes to raw egg so I dove in anyway. Like Ichiban, there was lots of sauce and the pork was nice and tender. I ate every bite.

If you're looking for a sterile Japanese dining experience, you'll have better luck across the street. However, if you are looking for an authentic, family run, slightly grungy Japanese restaurant experience with tasty food then look no further. You won't be disappointed.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Sanma Shioyaki & Tonjiru with Rice - $7.50
Rating: 5 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

Well god damn. You could walk by this place and not even know it exists, but once the door opens, you enter a warm, welcoming, inviting place. There is a sushi bar in the rear right corner, and a smattering of tables fill out the rest of the room. There's a white board of specials that all look intriguing.

On the Tuesday we visited, the daily special was Sanma Shioyaki with Tonjiru. I can't recall ever having Sanma, or Mackerel Pike in English, but it was a short fish about an inch in diameter. Briefly before my meal came over, I saw the Sushi Chef with a blow torch, and I can't help but wonder if the blow torch was doing it's number on my Sanma. It was delicious. A little bony, and it took some work to get the fish off, but it was juicy, savory, and delicious. The Tonjiru was the star of the show. Basically Miso soup with sliced pork. Why didn't I think to try this before? In a word, awesome. The special was rounded out by a mediocre green salad with some macaroni thrown in. Forgiveable. All for $7.50.

Besides being a delightful surprise (and relative bargain), the daily special menu is tempting me to come back. Jay Friedman gushed recently about their Top Secret Friday shoyu ramen. I can't wait to stand outside on a Friday morning at a quarter til noon to try this.

Thank you Tsukushinbo, for reminding me why I do this. 5 chops.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Oyako Don - $6.50
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

11:45AM is a weird time for a restaurant to open. Normally, we would get there after the time, but Dave is an early luncher, so we had to wait outside the door for 5 cold minutes.

To be honest, Don buri dishes have never sounded that appetizing to me; they sounded really boring. After everyone got done raving about the Don Buris at Ichiban (and my experience was crap there), I decided to go with the Oyako Don. Hot dang! It was good. The little marinated chunks of chicken thighs (my favorite part of a chicken), mixed with well-cooked eggs (not runny but not dry) and the sweet sauce they put on the rice was a winner. I spiced it up with some Shichimi, and enjoyed it some more.

Overall, I think the Don Buri was good but will remain a dish I keep on a back burner. It's good, but it's simple and gets old after a whole bowl of it. If the windows in our office opened, I could throw Geary, and hit Tsukushinbo. I'm pretty weak, so let that give you an indication of how close this place is. I'll definitely hit this place up again, for both it's proximity and good food.

Luncher: Dave

Lunch: Oyako Don - $6.50
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Dave's Review

Tsukushinbo is an unassuming little place, and a little dingy; it's showing some definite signs of age and neglect. This maybe isn't the place to impress a date. That said, you don't eat the decor, so down to what matters: this was a darn good bowl of oyakodon. I love donburi -- if it's on the menu, that's what I'm getting. To me it's comfort food: steaming rice, scrambled eggs, sweet mirin-and-dashi sauce. This bowl was exactly what I wanted: the balance of sweet and salty in the sauce was spot on, the eggs weren't overcooked, and the chicken was tasty enough. The bits of seaweed and the pickled radish garnish were great, and the unexpected strips of fish cake were a nice textural contrast. And as a bonus, the price is right. I can definitely see this place making its way into the rotation, at least for me.