MSG150: Seattle International District Lunch Food: June 2008

In our last outing we passed by the new restaurant in ~~Saigon Gourmet's~~ Blue & Pink's old location under the HCG. Today we headed out to give Henry's Bento a try. The old Blue & Pink sign is still up. The only indication of the new name was a small banner over the door.

Programming Note: The MSG150 crew has had to slow our pace down a bit to accommodate vacations and busy work schedules, but we are still alive. We only have a few restaurants to go in the DLZ, but new ones are opening so quickly that if we don't pick up the pace a bit we may never finish. Sandie's has been replaced by a new dim sum restaurant and rumor has it that Harbor City will soon be replaced as well.

Henry's Bento, Seattle
Address: 502 S. King St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Taiwanese
Average rating: 2.9 chopsticks
Lunch date: 6/12/2008 @ 12:15:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 1 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 6 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 46 minutes
Chopstix quality: Smoothed Wood
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Taiwan
Number of tables: 6
Number of occupied tables: 4 (66%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (25%)
Number of "local" tables: 1 (25%)
Healthcode Score: N/A
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Beef Noodle Soup - $5.95
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Other than the new menu on the wall and new bank of smoothie machines the interior is largely unchanged. It is not, as first assumed, a Japanese restaurant. It is, similar to Fu Lin next door, a Chinese bento restaurant, Taiwanese, to be specific. The menu has the subtitle "Lunch Box & Taiwanese Cusine". Most of the bentos consist of fried meat, veggies, purple rice, and an egg. There are also a number of what I assume are Taiwanese favorites like Hand Roll Sticky Rice, Leek Pie, and giant Pot Stickers. In addition to the big wall menu, there were a number of posters with specials listed. Beef Noodle Soup caught my attention on one of these posters and I went with that.

The Beef Noodle Soup came out in a very large bowl. It had wide rice noodles, large chucks of beef, bok choy, chopped scallions, and a dollop of what appeared to be pickle relish. Upon further inspection, however, the "relish" turned out to be minced garlic and herbs. The soup was delicious and filling. The beef was fall-apart tender and the broth was rich and flavorful.

The table next to us seemed to be enjoying the Hand Roll Sticky Rice and Pot Stickers. I'll be back soon to give those a try.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Garlic Tofu with Vegetables Bento - $6.95
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

Henry has some big shoes to fill. Replacing one of our favorite restaurants in the ID? This place had better be good. This seems like a legitimate Taiwanese restaurant... so it could be fun... hell, it's even got stinky tofu.

I'm sure Rob is reveling in my recent medical woes... and to be honest, I deserve it. Recently my diet and exercise has been pretty horrible and lacking (respectively). I got a wicked flare-up of Gout. You'll notice a distinct change in the foods I'm ordering for the remainder of the chinese food quest... I'll be eating (mostly) vegetarian food.

The first meatless dish -- Garlic Tofu Bento. Guess what? It's definitely got a healthy helping of garlic. There were six (I think) big chunks of really tasty fried tofu pieces. Unfortunately, even "really tasty" garlic tofu can't hold a candle to meat. The rice was an interesting color, but tasted exactly like plain ol' rice. The veggies weren't particularly interesting.

A fresh new flavor in the ID. Nothing special, but I think this will be a decent little to-go restaurant.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Chicken Steak Bento - $6.95
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

I'm not at all bitter at Henry for replacing my beloved bibimbob at Blue/Pink. C'est la vie. In fact, I was looking forward to seeing some new restaurateurs in the neighborhood. The space is identical to Blue and Pink, except they installed Slushie machines. Awesome.

The restaurant was surprisingly full for a new place. The menu is pretty much just bento boxes. Intrigued, I ordered the Chicken Steak Bento.

This has got to be the strangest plate of food I've ever seen. A big pile of purple rice. A bunch of greens with some beans in it. The chicken was all crusty and black. The eggs were... off-white. The plate definitely had some color going on.

Digging in, the chicken was just . . . awful. It was kind of charred, overly breaded such that the breading soaked up tons of oil and got burned. The flavor wasn't nice at all, it just had this odd burnt taste. The greens weren't bad, rice is rice.

Maybe it's just a bad kickoff for Henry but I can't see myself coming back. If I hear good things in two months, I may stop in again.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Honey-Dew Fish Bento - $7.95
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Rob's Review

Ah, the ironies of life. In my last post I said my goodbyes, assuming the MSG150 train would keep a-rolling through the last few restaurants while I was off traipsing around southeast Asia. But here I am again, and there are still four or so restaurants to go. Additionally, the previous longest trackback for a restaurant was to Blue & Pink, which closed soon after. This is now our longest trackback, but to the same location where Blue & Pink used to be. Finally, veggie-hater Adam has suffered the consequences of his decadent and slothful ways, falling victim to the scourge of gout. At Henry's Bento, he ordered the garlic tofu bento, and, to rub it in, I ordered the honey-dew fish bento. The carnivore orders the tofu, and the vegetarian orders the fish -- ha! Victory is mine! I knew the fish would have a sweet taste, but cruel fate made me order it. As the waitress wrote it down, I heard Adam whimper slightly.

The large piece of fish was fresh and flaky, breaded and fried. It did indeed have a sweet taste, but not overpoweringly so at first. By the end, however, the sweetness had built up enough that everything tasted all honey-dew-ey The other bits on the bento plate were interesting to look at (purple rice, brown-edged hard-boiled egg, etc.) but nothing that really stood out, eating-wise. A had a taste of Adam's tofu, and it was crunchy and garlicky on the outside and soft and silky on the inside. Next time I'm here I'll order that. As I finished my last bite of fish, I looked up at Adam as he ate a piece of tofu, and a single tear ran down his cheek.

Luncher: Ben the Intern

Lunch: Honey-Dew Fish Bento - $7.95
Rating: 2 Chopsticks

Ben the Intern's Review

Somewhat interesting flavors but limited selection and the ambiance wasn’t great.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Chicken Steak Bento - $6.95
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Beef Noodle Soup - $5.95
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Henry's Bento Photos

Henry's Bento

Wall Menu

Beef Noodle Soup

Garlic Tofu with Vegetables Bento

Michael's Chicken Steak Bento

Emmett's Chicken Steak Bento

Honey-Dew Fish Bento

No MSG Sign

Armed with intelligence from an MSG150 fan (we have little of our own) we took a route today that passed under the HCG and past the former home of Blue & Pink. Blue & Pink has been closed for a month or so but today there was a new banner over the door, "Henry's Bento". Since we were meeting Erin today at Tropics we decided to stay on plan and then double back on the next MSG150 outing to get Henry's Bento. Hopefully it will still be in business. Tropics is one of only a few Thai restaurants in the DLZ and always draws a big lunch crowd. Today was no exception.

Tropics, Seattle
Address: 606 S Weller St, Seattle, WA, 98105
Cuisine: Thai
Average rating: 3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 6/3/2008 @ 12:10:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 18 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 15 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 51 minutes
Chopstix quality: Fork
Do they use MSG?:
Where is the owner/chef from?:
Number of tables: 16
Number of occupied tables: 15 (93%)
Number of business lunch tables: 15 (100%)
Number of "local" tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Family Style Dishes

#6 - Cashew Chicken - $6.95
Lunch Special - Spicy Noodle - $7.95
2 x #5 - Phad Ped Combo - $7.95 ($15.90)
#13 - Prik Khing Prawns - $8.95
#19 - Phad Thai with Pork - $6.95
#16 - House Noodles - $6.95

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Family Style - $9.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

There's nothing tropical about Tropics, except that they serve Thai food, which I guess is kind of Tropical. I've been here many times, as it is one of two places in the ID that serve Thai food. They always have a good sized crowd. We were seated quickly at the big table and promptly ignored for a long time.

Sooner or later we got our server's attention and placed our order. I usually go for the Green Curry Chicken lunch special but we went family style this time. Everything was tasty and fresh. The noodles were in a tasty sauce, while the prawns and veggies were nicely seasoned. On the other hand, they gave us a ridiculously small serving size for the price. It felt like a kids meal or something. I heard food was getting expensive so maybe they're trying to shrink the portion sizes to compensate. It wouldn't have been a big deal if I hadn't been STARVING 3 hours later and had to attack the creepy leftovers in our office fridge.

Anyhow, good food, and definitely better than their Thai competition in the food court, but small portions and slow service yield it a crappy score.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Family Style - $9.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Tropics was bustling when we arrived, but one of the large tables in the back was still open. We were seated quickly, but the staff seemed overwhelmed and it took a while to get menus and then even more time to place our order. There was heavy take-out traffic, which seemed to be clogging up their flow. We decided to go with family style so I ordered one of the specials form the white-board, Spicy Noodle (pan fried wide rice noodles with egg, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, basil, chicken, and prawns).

The food took a while to arrive, but once it started to come it arrived in a pretty steady stream. The Spicy Noodle was one of the first dishes out. It was good: tender chicken and shrimp, fresh still crisp vegetables, and a rich, tangy sauce over wide rice noodles. The dishes that came with a side of white rice seemed to be a bit skimpy on the dish part, but everything was cooked and prepared well with fresh ingredients. There was a bit of sameness to all of the sauces and nothing really stood out. If you're in the mood for Thai and in the ID, there is no better spot.

The food alone rates a 3.5 chopsticks for me, but when forced to round to a whole number the slow service takes it down to a solid 3 chopsticks.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Family Style - $9.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

Thai Food! Huzzah! I haven't had thai food in a while, so I'm pumped. Rob wasn't with us, so we were able to have a meat-eating family-style lunch. We got a pretty good array of dishes... but had to wait with bated breath for 15 minutes for our food to arrive (after waiting 18 minutes to get our order taken). An aside: in general, the service was a bit disorganized.

Of all the different dishes we had, I have to say that the Lunch Special Spicy Noodle was the best. All of the dishes (except the Phad Thai, and House Noodles) tasted almost identical; I honestly couldn't taste the difference between them. They're all decently good.

The meat selections seem to be somewhat ignored. I think our Phad Thai with Pork actually came out with tofu. Also, each dish had a different spice level... which was completely ignored. When each dish was brought out, they actually quoted the wrong spice level. The spice level that we asked for didn't really matter anyways, because everything came out weakly spiced (approx 1-star).

If you're looking for Thai Food, the International District isn't the best place. But if you're hankering for Thai and you're in the ID... this is definitely a reasonable option.

Luncher: Erin

Lunch: Family Style - $9.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Erin's Review

Tropics is definitely a lunch time hot spot. When I arrived I saw the main group had gotten a large table, but otherwise the place was packed and I would have had to wait for a table. We waited for a while before someone brought water, and then we had to ask for menus. Maybe the server thought we had already ordered. We waited for someone to take our order.

Once someone came to take our order, most of us decided to share the dishes family style. Most dishes were ordered 3 to 5 stars hot. The food did not take long to arrive. Quite a few of the dishes looked the same. There was a house special noodle, fried noodles in a broth, served in a bowl. I had tastes of several things. My favorite was the Priking (sp?) Prawns. They were prawns stir-fried with green beans in a spicy sauce. The other dishes I preferred were the Cashew Chicken and the house special noodle. Although the dishes were ordered spicy, I did not find them very spicy. I would have rated most of the heat at about 2 stars. Also, the portions were small, even for lunch, and a few even looked a little lost on the large white plates.

Overall, the food was tasty and fresh, but with small portions. Service was slow and brief. This is a good place for quick lunch Thai, but not special enough for more than a three chopstick rating. Go early or late, but not right at noon.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Family Style - $9.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Jared's Review

The food was quite good, though the portion sizes were small and most of the dishes seemed to be minor variations on a theme. Service could have been faster too.

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Family Style - $9.00
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Joey's Review

Honestly, I did not expect much from this place for being the only Thai place in Chinatown. Okay, there might be one other… might be in the Uwajimaya food court or something. But when I think of Thai food in Seattle I think of the Ave and then maybe Broadway. But I’ll give it a chance. I was definitely more optimistic than when we went to Fortuna!

I ordered the phad kra pau. Not sure of the spelling since every place spells it differently, but it’s one of my favorite Thai dishes – stir fry vegetables with choice of meat (I like to get chicken) and basil leaves. I ordered the maximum 5 stars, because Al told me they’re conservative with their stars. Someone else ordered the same thing, but with 3 stars. When it came I couldn’t tell, which one was 3 stars and which one was 5. I notice many Thai restaurants are not so accurate with their stars.

The portions for the phad kra pau were tiny, so I was glad I decided to join in on the family style. The phad kra pau was okay. I think it lacked some of the sweetness that I like in most phad kra pau sauces. I also didn’t really taste the basil. I remember the Singapore noodles being pretty good even though it’s not my style. Other than that this place was not the greatest. Average 3 rating.

My favorite Thai restaurants for phad kra pau are Best Thai & Pho in Renton and Little Thai on the Ave.