Friday, February 29, 2008

Lunch #31: Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo

Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo The MSG150 troops headed out in full force today to commence a frontal assault on Seattle's Uwajimaya food court. We had a little skirmish back in early January with a glancing blow off of their western flank. Today we returned to begin what will be a long, hard fight. We are optimistic, however, that we will make a clean sweep of the food court before the end of March. It will not be easy, but we have a dedicated force that will see it through.There will be bad days. In the end the good days will prevail and we will walk away with stories of heroism and bravery that will be passed on to generations to come. Or we may just be happy to be moving on.

We counted nine distinct lunch options in that Uwajimaya food court. Three appear to be part of the Uwajimaya Deli and the other six are independent restaurants. We have already eaten at Herfy's and so thankfully don't have to do that again. We assessed the options as we entered today and quickly came up with a plan. We would start with the Uwajimaya Deli, working east to west and then move to the northern edge of the food court and work down the line again from east to west. This put us today in a line at Chef Kenzo's Japanese food counter.

Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo, Seattle
Address: 600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Japanese
Average rating: 2.1 chopsticks
Lunch date: 2/26/2005 @ 12:00:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 5 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 0 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 30 minutes
Chopstix quality: Smoothed Wood
Do they use MSG?: ?
Where is the owner/chef from?: Japan
Number of tables: 0
Number of occupied tables: 0
Number of business lunch tables: 0
Number of "local" tables: 0
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!

Luncher: Geary

Large Bento + Stuffed Squid TorsoLunch: Large Bento + Stuffed Squid Torso - $17.49
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Most of the food under Chef Kenzo's heat lamps is sold by the pound or a la carte. The large and small bentos are the only meals offered. The large bento appeared to contain small tastes of everything, so I grabbed one of the pre-made boxes. Michael convinced me to add on the stuffed squid at the end. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it before being sliced.

All of the food smelled good and had the appearance of being carefully prepared, but as we dove in, it became clear that if it had been carefully prepared, it hadn't been done recently. Everything was cold and a bit dried out. The flavors of most of the items in the bento were good, but I think it all passed its prime sometime the day before. The rice in the bento was cold and hard like leftover white rice gets in the fridge. The cold tempura bits were horrible. Anything breaded and fried needs to be eaten hot. A couple of the included fish dishes were still tasty, but for $10, I don't expect leftovers.

Emmett suggested that everyday we are in Uwajimaya we head into the store and each purchase something to mention in our review. Today I chose Kukagumi, Super Fish Cracker (Ikan Super). Strike one. Even though the woman on the package gave it the thumbs up, I can not do the same. They tasted like fish sauce flavored styrofoam. Not my thing.

Luncher: Emmett

Salmon + TempuraLunch: Salmon + Tempura - $8.60
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

We've arrived. The Uwajimaya food court is NOT my favorite place for lunch. Yet here we are, in Asian Food Heaven. There are literally a dozen options for lunch here. We start at Chef Kenzo.

Our large group quickly made a thick queue at the tiny buffet stand that is Chef Kenzo. Some big fella behind me rolled up and was like 'hmph', as if our venerable group is preventing him from getting his quick fix of Kenzo. I gave him a look that said 'fuck off dude - we're here on a mission.' The polite man behind the counter was friendly, welcomed us, and moved the line along quickly.

The salmon under the heat lamp looked good. They let me pick out my slice. I wanted some veggies to go with it, and all they had was Tempura - not the healthiest of options but looked tasty. For $8.60, I was on my way.

I put my food down on the table and ventured into the heart of the store. I wanted something unique to go with my greaseball lunch. Something I couldn't get at your average American 7-11. I saw it - Calpico - tangy and sweet, with a little bit of Hello Kitty for flavor. For $1.99, I was on my Calpico high.

The salmon itself was alright - flavorful, with a nice seasoning and a little bit of char that gave it a crispy flavor. It was, however, cold. The Tempura came with sauce, and while average in taste, it was cold. For $8.60, I would expect hot food.

The Calpico, aka Calpis, on the other hand, had an interesting zing to it, like yogurt. Otherwise it was kind of like milky gatorade.

So Chef Kenzo didn't impress. For Japanese food, I'd totally head back to Kaname over this place. We'll see if Uwajimaya improves in the coming days.

Luncher: Adam

Eggplant with Miso Sauce + Curry Croquette + Peking Pork ChopLunch: Eggplant with Miso Sauce + Curry Croquette + Peking Pork Chop - $4.80
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

This is going to be short and sweet. The eggplant was oily and not that tasty. The croquette was flavorless. The Peking Porkchop was meat-candy-esque, which isn't my favorite thing.

When in the Uwajimaya food court... don't visit Chef Kenzo

Luncher: Rob

Salmon + Vegetable TempuraLunch: Salmon + Vegetable Tempura - $9.62
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Rob's Review

The Uwajimaya food court onslaught has started. There had been far too much debate about how the MSG150 would tackle the UFC, and it was still a little up in the air as we walked in, but eventually we settled into line for the culinary expressions of Chef Kenzo. The two fish options, black cod and salmon, both looked interesting. The salmon was a couple dollars less per pound, so I went with that, and a selection of the veggie tempura. Chef Kenzo printed out some stickers, slapped them on the styrofoam containers, and handed them to the cashier who rang me up for a total of $10.48 (with tax). Whoa. Not the most I've paid for lunch, but definitely up there.

The salmon wasn't bad. It had a nice sweet edge to it. It was warm but not hot. The various veggie tempura also wasn't bad, except for one piece, which may have been the sweet potato, but I'm not sure. The tempura was barely warm. So, while it wasn't bad, it very well might have tasted better if I'd taken it back to the office and microwaved it for a bit. You'd think, though, at the start of lunch hour that the food under the heat lamps would or should have been warmer.

In conclusion, I spent over $10 for a moderately warm lunch that didn't fill me up, and actually left my stomach feeling a little off.

Luncher: Yvonne

Large Bento + Eggplant with Miso Sauce + 2 Tempura ShrimpLunch: Large Bento + Eggplant with Miso Sauce + 2 Tempura Shrimp - $15.52
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Yvonne's Review

Presentation was beautiful. However, in the end the food was cold and not as tasty as the presentation led me to believe. The squid rings were very good but the rest was lackluster at best. For the price, $16, this was not the finest Japanese culinary moment.

Luncher: Jared

Tempura Shrimp + Some other Shrimp + Vegetable TempuraLunch: Tempura Shrimp + Some other Shrimp + Vegetable Tempura - $10.92
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Jared's Review

Food was cold and expensive.

Luncher: Michael

Assorted Tempura + Tofu with Unagi + A bit of everything else I could sampleLunch: Assorted Tempura + Tofu with Unagi + A bit of everything else I could sample - $14.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Michael's Review

The Uwajimaya Food Court is a fantastic place to have lunch. There are at least 8 different cuisines to choose from. It's fast, and relatively cheap. You and your lunch posse don't have to agree ahead of time on what you want to eat. Everyone can get their own thing and meet back up for a fine multicultural shared table food court dining experience. You will end up sharing your table with someone. Maybe a homeless guy, maybe an 80 year old man who was born in china, or maybe a bunch of bored software industry people with too much time on their hands. Suck it up and enjoy your pacific-rim food court melting pot. This is why you moved to Seattle. Oh, and if you do end up at a table with a homeless guy it is polite to offer him the other half of your lunch as you leave.

Within the food court there are some great places and some not so great places. Today we ended up at a not exactly awesome place. Chef Kenzo and his amazing ala carte Japanese cuisine!!!!

This is my second trip to Chef Kenzo so I had an idea what to expect. Hint: this is not cheap lunch food. You order a few pieces of this and a few pieces of that and suddenly you are out twenty bucks. So go easy on what you order.

The neat thing about Chef Kenzo is the wide array of very tasty looking items he has on display. The layout of various Japanese dishes is much more appealing to the eye than the Chinese counter down the way. This is also the down side, some of the dishes have sat too long.

Let's take a minute to talk about general rules for food court dinning. If the tempura or any fried object is sitting under a heat lamp *don't* order it. Tempura should be very hot and very fresh. If your food came from under a heat lamp you are wrong.

My bad. I ordered the tempura. It wasn't hot, fresh, or particularly tasty. I won't make this mistake again.

I did order the tofu with unagi. This was really great. I traded some to Rob for a bite of his salmon. It was also a happy thing. There are dishes here that rock but you need to choose wisely.

Food court dining rule #2: pre-packaged equals bad. Several of my fellow dinners purchased pre-made bento boxes. You can tell who they are cause they are giving Chef K bad reviews. Don't order pre-packaged food unless you are heading for LEO or some god forsaken BFE spot in the GWOT.

What else? oh the squid. Thank you Geary for getting the stuffed squid! This is a great big freakin purple squid stuffed to the gladius with a mushroom and rice filling. Sliced up into bite size morsels this was the high point of lunch.

I'm giving this lunch spot high marks for visual appeal, and uniqueness of food. Some of the seafood dishes are great. But sadly several items suffered the slow death of the heat lamp. Although there are better and cheaper places to eat at the food court I will go back someday for more stuffed squid.

Luncher: Wayne

Small Bento BoxLunch: Small Bento Box - $6.00
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Wayne's Review

I had high hopes for this lunch. I’d heard good things about the food here, I have great fondness for bento lunches, and I haven’t eaten Japanese food in way too long. Unfortunately, the loftier the expectations, the farther you fall in disappointment.

There was a great variety of items in my bento lunch. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bento with such a variety of dishes. I’m not sure of what most of the items were , but two that were particularly tasty were the egg plant and chicken skewer. They were both probably great when they were freshly made. The cold, soggy tempura offered no appeal. I wish I could have tried it when it was still warm. It’s too bad really. I think most of the food in front of me had been good or great when it had been prepared. Unfortunately, everything that should have been warm had long since cooled off.

This meal left me sad. I could taste a hint of what the meal had offered when it was freshly prepared. I wish I could have had that lunch instead.

Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo Photos

Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo
Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo

Heat Lamp Fish and Tempura
Heat Lamp Fish and Tempura

More Heat Lamp Offerings
More Heat Lamp Offerings

Stuffed Squid
Stuffed Squid

Large Bento
Large Bento

Michael's Lunch
Michael's Lunch

Yvonne's Lunch
Yvonne's Lunch

Small Bento
Small Bento

Tempura
Tempura

Tempura and Salmon
Tempura and Salmon

Adam's Lunch
Adam's Lunch

Hello Kitty Calpico
Hello Kitty Calpico

Emmett's Lunch
Emmett's Lunch

Gindaco Savory Puff Balls
Gindaco Savory Puff Balls

Kukagumi
Kukagumi

Oishi Ribbed Cracklings
Oishi Ribbed Cracklings

Notime Toothbrush Gum
Notime Toothbrush Gum

Japanese Pop Rocks
Japanese Pop Rocks

Monday, February 25, 2008

Lunch #30: China Gate

ClosedChina Gate is no longer in business. It has been replaced by Gom Hong.
China Gate Another dim sum... this is awesome. We walked in, and instantly recognized the man seating us-- he also sat us when we went to Vegetarian Bistro. He's actually the owner of China Gate but the owner of Vegetarian Bistro is a friend, and they help each other out when needed. (Sorry for the blurry pictures today. Primary MSG150 camera was a no-show today.)
China Gate, Seattle
Address: 516 7th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Dim Sum
Average rating: 3.6 chopsticks
Lunch date: 2/25/2008 @ 12:05:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 0 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 45 minutes
Chopstix quality: Cheap Plastic
Do they use MSG?: The server didn't understand my question... and I gave up. My Body is screaming "Yes... they used MSG."
Where is the owner/chef from?: Hong Kong
Number of tables: 29
Number of occupied tables: 5 (17%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (20%)
Number of "local" tables: 4 (80%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon
China Gate

Family Style Dishes

  • Hum Bow
  • BBQ Pork Turn-over
  • 3 x Sticky Rice
  • 3 x Shu Mai
  • Shrimp Ball
  • Pork Spareribs
  • 2 x Sesame Ball with Shrimp and Veggies
  • Green Beans with Pork bits
  • Vegetable and Shrimp Steamed Dumpling
  • Fried Bean Curd
  • Taro Root
  • Pork and Mushroom Football
  • Beef Spare Ribs
  • Fried Rock Fish
  • Fried Shrimp Ball with Seaweed

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

China Gate is all that separates us from our our Mt. Everest - the Uwajimaya Food Court. The outside is pretty groovy looking, and they have karaoke every night - seems like a recipe for something good.

We were seated immediately. As I walked through, the spacious interior was medium full - a good sign for a restaurant this size. And the clientele definitely originated from the Far East. I think they were blinded as I walked in, cause they gave me a quick glare and returned to their food. Our friendly server had previously served us at Vegetarian Bistro. Service was quick, and the Dim Sum staples soon covered our table.

I snagged some lotus sticky rice first, which was dang tasty, and went through some Sui Mai, Shrimp Balls, Shrimp Dumplings, some crab and shrimp thing. They brought out some beef short ribs in a sweet tangy sauce, and some rock fish deep fried, which was delicious. It was all pretty tasty, a little better than House of Hong, but not quite Jade Garden. On the flip side, they use a ridiculous amount of MSG. I can feel it in my brain.

I'll be back for Karaoke.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

I was scared this was going to be another low-traffic old-food Dim Sum place. Luckily there were more people and fresher food than I expected.

We ordered a ton of food. And after we ordered all that food, the owner came over and cooked us some special food (I'm pretty sure he figured out we were reviewing the place). The dim sum was pretty standard. The only really outstanding dish we had was the Rock Fish (which was one of the specials that the owner brought out). It was lightly fried and served with red peppers and jalapenos. The spice was perfect and the breading flaky and not overdone. The shu mai was good... but it's always good.

The other special dish that the owner made for us, the beef spare ribs, were a little too sweet for my taste. One diner in our group called it "meat candy." The owner also described another dish that he makes, with a sauce based on coffee grounds. It sounded interesting... and I hope to remember it next time around.

This place is a Sunday morning favorite. So that is a really fun time to go.

Standard Dim Sum. Good food.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

It's two days later as I'm writing this and I'm just recovering from the massive dose of MSG that we were hit with on Monday. China Gate has a cool, fortress like exterior and like some of the other large Dim Sum joints they are clearly trying to make up for average food with flash and color. The inside is much more subdued and has a bit of a cafeteria feel. Dim Sum needs a crowd to work well and there were only five other tables seated when we arrived. Not a good sign.

We were seated quickly and loaded up on most of the non-chicken feet options. The Dim Sum cart ladies seemed pushier than other places. Luckily we arrived early enough to get mostly hot dishes, but as the lunch progressed, it was clear that the few carts that made the rounds (or sat parked in the corner) were no longer being reloaded with fresh, hot dishes. There was nothing really stand out. The sticky rice was tasty, but about half the portion of Jade Garden. The green beans had good flavor but were over cooked and not even comparable to Veggie Bistro. The dumpling dough was dense and chewy. The shrimp in most dishes was fishier than I like. The owner was very friendly and when asked for recommendations he prepared two special dishes for us. I suspect one of these was the MSG bomb that destroyed me for the rest of the day. I can take MSG in reasonable doses, but after China Gate I had ringing in my ears and was slimy with sweat for the rest of the day and I wasn't able to fall asleep until 4 am. Three chopsticks minus one for excessive MSG and no sleep equals two chopsticks.

Luncher: Jeff

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Jeff's Review

I really liked China Gate. The staff was friendly, plenty of seating, plenty of food, and lots of options. If we weren’t comparing to other lunch stops, I’d probably rate China Gate as 5 Chopsticks.

Like Jade Garden, this really is first rate Dim Sum. And, as usual, I eat way too much at these stops. My only gripe with China Gate was price. We ordered about the same amount per person as we had at Jade Garden. However, at Jade Garden we got out for ~$9.00. At China Gate it was $13.00 per person before tax.

I’d happily go back to China Gate… but with Jade Garden only a block, I’d just as soon go there and save my $5.00.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Jared's Review

Very good food. I also liked the fact that they gave us water right at the start.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Al's Review

> House of Hong and < Jade Garden

Luncher: Erica

Lunch: Family style - $13.00
Rating: 5 Chopsticks

Erica's Review

Candied meat (yes, I was the diner referred to by Adam), sesame adorned hot dumplings, and scary looking Alaskan King Crabs in the aquarium as you enter. I just can't ask for more.

China Gate Photos

China Gate Restaurant
China Gate Restaurant

BBQ Pork Turn-over
BBQ Pork Turn-over

Shu Mai
Shu Mai

Fried Shrimp Ball with Seaweed
Fried Shrimp Ball with Seaweed

Sesame Shrimp & Vegetable Ball
Sesame Shrimp & Vegetable Ball

Green Beans
Green Beans

Fried Bean Curd
Fried Bean Curd

Beef and Mushroom Football
Beef and Mushroom Football

Taro Root Puff Ball
Taro Root Puff Ball