Lunch #23: Kau Kau

Eastbound and down! The stars aligned today and the MSG150 crew headed out for our forth adventure this week. I think that's a record. When we started our quest back in November we set out to eat in at least two spots in our path per week and, except for the holidays, we have more than succeeded. A number of folks have called us crazy (some of them because of MSG150). Some have said it could never be done. Some said we'd get tired and quit. But... we're gonna do what they say can't be done. We've a long way to go and a short time to get there. Somethin', somethin', watch that Bandit run.

Kau Kau, Seattle
Address: 656 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Cantonese, Hawaiin
Average rating: 3.6 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/25/2008 @ 13:00:00
Time taken to be seated: 10 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 10 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 45 minutes
Chopstix quality: Nice wood
Do they use MSG?: Yes, but none added... its just what is in the premade sauces.
Where is the owner/chef from?: From Seattle, but a 5th generation Chinese-Hawaiin
Number of tables: 15
Number of occupied tables: 13 (86%)
Number of business lunch tables: 10 (76%)
Number of "local" tables: 3 (23%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Lunch Special with Sweet & Sour Spareribs - $4.99
Fortune: You will soon follow your heart's desire
Rating:

Emmett's Review

Kau Kau started off well. They had a fish that we could look at while we waited, that apparently is quite big. We also had to wait for 10 minutes, something that we're not accustomed to. Regardless, our patience yielded a good size table near the door and we quickly scoured the menus.

They have lunch specials that are pretty crazy - soup, fried rice, some bbq pork, and another meat of your choice for $4.99. Compared to Ga Ga Loc next door, who are you kidding? The soup arrived, it was chicken noodle, kind of bland, but I enjoyed it.

Next up, our meat arrived. I had the sweet and sour short ribs. The sweet and sour sauce was a little icky sweet, but the short ribs were nice. The bbq pork on the side was also quite good, dipped with a little mustard and sesame. The fried rice rounded out the meal nicely.

All told, Kau Kau great bargain for a great amount of food. I didn't feel so well afterwards, and not because I ate a particularly large amount, but rather, the meat hits you with some force. I'd come again.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Lunch Special with Roasted Duck - $4.99
Fortune: Your lover will be true to you.
Rating:

Geary's Review

Kau Kau is a large, nicely decorated restaurant. It is always crowded for lunch with a good mixed crowed. We had eight today and had to wait for a seat. They said it would be ten minutes and it was (kudos). The service was efficient and friendly. The man seating us was an owner. We learned from him that Kau Kau, Hawaiian for "eat eat", has been in his family since the 1950s. His family is from Canton originally, but are fifth generation Hawaiian.

They have a large dinner menu, but a fairly fixed lunch menu: your choice of eight meats plus soup, fried rice, and (just in case your meat wasn't enough) a side of BBQ pork. The soup was a simple chicken noodle and was nothing special. It was nice to have some soup on a chilly day though. The rest of the food was great. The fried rice is the best we have had yet. It had large flavorful bits of BBQ pork and nice crispy sprouts. My choice of meat, the BBQ duck, was delicious as was the BBQ pork. Both were moist and tender with lots of smoky flavor. Double yum!

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Lunch Special with BBQ Spareribs - $4.99
Fortune: Sing and rejoice, fortune is smiling on you
Rating:

Adam's Review

This is another Meat-in-Window (MIW) joint. I love the MIW. The lunch special with fried rice, steamed vegetables, BBQ pork, and a meat option. Because of previous experiences with MIW joints, most people were going to get the duck as their meat option. So, I decided to get the BBQ spareribs (yes, this pig has ribs to spare). And yes, this was an all-pork lunch because the fried rice had pork in it too

Lets start with the fried rice. I'm going to go ahead and toss this out there: this was the best fried rice I've ever had. There, I said it. It was full of flavor and chunks of meaty goodness. This wasn't cheap-lunch-plate-filling fried rice... this was honest-to-goodness fried rice. Delicious.

Also delicious: the pork. The BBQ pork was savory but not overly-salty... which is a problem that often plagues BBQ pork. This BBQ pork was plague-free. An excellent addition to this lunch special.

The BBQ spareribs were pretty good. The sauce on the ribs were good. My one complaint is that I wanted more!

Cheap eats. Delicious food. Seattle landmark. Get your meat-lovin' ass down here.

Luncher: Doug

Lunch: Lunch Special with BBQ Spareribs - $4.99
Fortune: You will enjoy peace and harmony in your home.
Rating:

Doug's Review

Great value for the money.

Luncher: Jeff

Lunch: Lunch Special with Roasted Sidepork - $4.99
Fortune: The time is right to buy yourself something nice.
Rating:

Jeff's Review

Kau Kau is exactly the type of place most people hope to discover in the ID. It’s a tucked-away family run place, with long roots to the community. It offered an excellent value and food that was great. If stereo-types are a way to begin an evaluation, this place exceeds on meeting every expectations. Massive fish tank with rare cool fish, Hectic environment, Roast ducks hanging for patrons to view, Bi-lingual menus, etc Best of all, the place was busy – always a good sign.

I had the Pork Side which came with soup, fried rice, and steamed vegetables. I believe they actually messed up our order and forgot me. When the waitress realized she was about to be short 1 meal – she hurried to get my lunch ready ASAP. I didn’t wait too much longer than the others, a testament to their efficiency.

My Pork was great. The rice was fantastic. The vegetables were average. The soup wasn’t the hot and sour I was hoping for. Nevertheless, it was good. It was a complete meal for $4.99. An outstanding value!!! Even though I spent most of this reviewing the place, not the food – please don’t misunderstand. This place is great and worth a visit. I think every member of our team had a good lunch.

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Lunch Special with Roasted Duck - $4.99
Fortune: You need not worry about the future
Rating:

Joey's Review

I give a 3 this time, but I’d usually rate Kau Kau bbq as a 4.

Luncher: Laurent

Lunch: Lunch Special with Roasted Duck - $4.99
Fortune: You are never bitter, deceptive or petty.
Rating:

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Lunch Special with Roasted Duck - $4.99
Fortune: You are independent politically
Rating:

Michael's Review

A fantastic lunch combination. Flavorful BBQ pork and duck along side the best fried rice i've had in months. A splash of color provided by steamed carrots and broccoli. All for less than 5 dollars a plate. This is the kind of lunch place we've been looking for. Kau Kau is a win.

Kau Kau Photos

Kau Kau


Big Fish


To Go Counter


Chicken Noodle Soup


BBQ Spareribs Lunch Special


BBQ Duck Lunch Special


BBQ Spareribs Lunch Special


Sweet & Sour Spareribs Lunch Special


Roasted Sidepork Lunch Special

Lunch #22: Mike's Noodle House

After Monday's failed attempt at Mike's Noodle House, the MSG150 team set out early to make sure we could get in this time. It was still a close call. There were eight of us and we had to split into two tables. The first group was seated right away, but the rest of us had to wait for a table to open up. It is obviously popular and the staff was very efficient with their small space.

After lunch, as we headed back to work, we passed by Unicorn Crepes and were happy to see that they had a crowd of people enjoying their delicious crepes. MSG150 is rooting for the Unicorn.

Mike's Noodle House, Seattle
Address: 418 Maynard Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Hong Kong, Chinese: Congee
Average rating: 3.8 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/23/2008 @ 11:40:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 7 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 16 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chopstix quality: Nice Plastic
Do they use MSG?: No, and there is a message on the cover of the menu that states this fact.
Where is the owner/chef from?: Hong Kong
Number of tables: 12
Number of occupied tables: 12 (100%)
Number of business lunch tables: 2 (16%)
Number of "local" tables: 10 (83%)
Healthcode Score: 5
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Sui-Kau & Brisket Noodle Soup - $5.35
Rating:

Geary's Review

Mike's is a small space but still seems to move people through quickly. Neither of the two servers were very friendly, but what they lack in warmth, they made up for in efficiency. The two of them handled twelve tables and dealt with the steady flow of people waiting. Also of note, one of them had palm trees (or flowers maybe) painted on her fingernails.

I have been to Mike's before, a couple of years ago, and ordered the Black Chicken Congee. I was with Frank, a Chinese speaker, and he had me convinced that Black Chicken is crow. As it turns out, black chicken is a small chicken with black skin, black bones, black meat, and apparently five toes. The down-side of the black chicken, especially in congee, is that since it is small and prepared in the typical Asian fashion of being hacked into small chunks, bones and all, and is therefore fairly labor intensive to eat. It was, however, tasty. I have always wanted to come back and try Mike's again.

The neon signs in the window call out "Congee" and "Noodles". I had the congee last time, so I ordered the Sui-Kau & Brisket Noodle Soup. We also ordered Baby Bok Choy and Chinese Dough Nuts as starters. The Bok Choy was fairly standard, steamed and drzzled with oyster sauce. The Chinese Dough Nuts were new to us. They are long deep fried tubes of very slightly sweetened dough chopped into bite sized pieces. They are not very interesting by themselves, but it appeared that most people were dipping them in or adding them to their congee like you might do with crackers in clam chowder. My noodle soup was good. The sui-kau, dumplings with shrimp, pork, mushroom, and other veggies, were the gem. The beef was good too, but the broth and noodles were not nearly as good as the Gourmet Noodle Bowl or Szechuan Noodle Bowl.

I'll come back again for sure, but will stick with the congee. There are much better spots for Beef Noodle Soup.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Black Chicken Congee - $4.95
Rating:

Adam's Review

• Adam: What is Congree?
• Geary: Its like rice pourage with meat
• Adam: Definitely never had that. We'll see

we tried to sneak out of the office so we'd only have a small group going to Mike's small dining room. When we arrived at Mike's we had managed to only accumulate 8 people. Flipping through the menu, I determined I definitely wanted to try congee... and I wanted something "classically congee." I figured "Black Chicken" would be some cajun-esque blackened chicken. Holy crap... the chicken in my congee was black as Steven Hawking's blackhole. Ok, so if you don't know what black chicken is, it is actually a type of chicken called a Silkie. The Silkie's skin and bones are actually black.

The meal was totally new to me. It was good, but nothing special. I'll go back to try this place again.

Good food. Pretty good prices. Very popular.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Wonton & Sui-Kau Noodle Soup - $4.95
Rating:

Emmett's Review

This tiny restaurant was crowded, usually a very good sign. The staff was quick, friendly, and polite, and the interior was very clean and well decorated. I ordered the Sui-Kau and Wonton Noodle Soup.

They certainly didn't skimp on the wontons and sui-kau. THe soup was literally loaded with them. I counted 5-6 in a pretty small bowl of soup. And they were huge! They tasted home made and were delicious. The wontons were stuffed with shrimp and shiitake? mushrooms, while the sui-kau had pork and shrimp in them. The broth was flavorful and tasty. The noodles themselves were average - typical skinny ramen noodles. I prefer the thicker noodles of Szechuan Noodle Bowl and Gourmet Noodle Bowl.

All in all this place was tasty and pleasant. I'll definitely be back.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Rock Cod Noodle with Vegetable - $6.15
Rating:

Michael's Review

Everything was tasty and fresh. Cooked just right. This place is worthy of many return trips. Seems to be a popular lunch spot. Expect a crowded house and little elbow room.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Rock Cod Congee - $4.75
Rating:

Rob's Review

I'd been to Mike's Noodle House once before a year or two ago and had chosen poorly -- I got some sparse non-soup noodle dish instead of the congee. The MSG150 mob arrived earlier this time, in two groups of four. The first group sat down about the same time as my group showed up, and we had to wait no more than ten minutes for one of the four seat tables to "open up" -- if there are larger groups waiting (and there usually are) groups or two or one sitting at a four-seater get asked (politely but efficiently) to move to two seat tables when those open up. Gotta keep that soup flowing. Anyway, I flipped through the extensive menu until I reach the congee page. Decisions, decisions: rock cod, taro and water cress, or sweet corn and white fungus? I flipped a mental coin and it came up rock cod. This was my first time having congee, actually, and I must say it was glorious. It was thick and piping hot, with enough subtle flavor to forgo adding anything other than pieces of Chinese donut (highly recommended - the tubular bits of thin, fried dough with the congee were awesome), and the generous amount of cod was tender and flaky. On a freezing cold winter day, this was absolutely perfect. Can't wait to go back.

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Beef Brisket Noodle Soup - $4.95
Rating:

Torrey's Review

I ordered the beef brisket so that I could have a direct comparison to the Gourmet Noodle Bowl. The beef was seasoned nicely, but was not better than Gourmet. Secondly, the noodles were not homemade and not as tasty Gourmet. The lunch atmosphere was definitely happening in this small dining room and I would definitely go back.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Minced Beef Congee - $4.35
Rating:

Al's Review

I love beefy cream of wheat rice!

Luncher: Wayne

Lunch: Special Fish Ball Noodle Soup - $4.35
Rating:

Mike's Noodle House Photos

Mike's Noodle House


Noodle Masters


Fancy Menu Cover (notice no MSG logo)


Black Chicken Congee


Minced Beef Congee


Rock Cod Congee


Dough nuts & Bok Choy


Rock Cod Noodle with Vegetable


Sui-Kau & Brisket Noodle Soup


Special Fish Ball Noodle Soup


Wonton & Sui-Kau Noodle Soup


Brisket Noodle Soup


Wonton Pozin'


Noodle Slurpin'

Landmark: Union Gospel Mission

Last week MSG150 passed by the Union Gospel Mission's Women and Children's Shelter between Fu-Lin (lunch #19) and Unicorn Crepes (lunch #20). The International District has given us so much that we figured it was time to give a little back. At Micheal's suggestion, we signed up to serve lunch yesterday at the shelter. All it took was a phone call. They were very flexible with scheduling and allowed up to five people to volunteer for the meal. They were glad for the help, but I suspect they need more help at dinner (from about 4pm to 6pm). They served lunch to about 45 women and young children but have more than 60 for dinner with kids out of school. Everyone fed at this location is in a residency program at the shelter. They do open meals at the men's shelter over on 2nd Ave. Ext.

After we checked in with the office upstairs, the cook, Kathy, got us scrubbed, netted (hair), and gloved and showed us our stations. Michael and I would be dishing out the food. Adam, Jeff, and Rob would be delivering. Lunch started promptly at noon. As people arrived, Kathy told them to take a seat as they were being waited upon today. It appeared that this was not a common occurrence, and the women really enjoyed our efforts.

The UGM is an overtly Christian organization, and even though we are not all Christian, the experience was both fulfilling for us and appreciated by them. It was a win-win. When all of the women were done, Kathy offered us the remaining stew and biscuits for lunch. As we were finishing up, one of the residents came by to thank us and give us a tip:

Do you want to help the Union Gospel Mission?

• Donate Money on the UGM Website
• Volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission is incredibly easy and flexible. To sign up for a time to volunteer, it only take 45 to 60 seconds (literally). More information can be found on the UGM's Volunteering Page

Chopstick Rating:

Lunch #21: Ga Ga Loc

The MSG150 crew headed out into the cold, sunny winter's day for Mike's Noodle House. A few of us had been before a couple of years ago, and we knew it was small, but we thought that maybe we'd have luck finding room for our large group on this holiday Monday. We showed up with ten hungry lunchers at about 12:15 and there were already two other parties waiting, so it was on to plan two, Ga Ga Loc. We will circle back to Mike's the next trip out.

Ga Ga Loc, Seattle
Address: 424 Maynard Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Cantonese
Average rating: 2.2 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/21/2008 @ 12:30:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 15 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 49 minutes
Chopstix quality: Cheap plastic
Do they use MSG?: Yes
Where is the owner/chef from?: Canton
Number of tables: 12
Number of occupied tables: 3 (25%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (33%)
Number of "local" tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 15
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Szechuan Beef - $4.25
Fortune: You will hear from an old friend.
Rating:

Emmett's Review

My first trip to Ga Ga Loc was over six months ago. After a long night at Seattle's Best Karaoke, we found ourselves craving some late night deep fried chinese. It was about 3:30 AM and we headed to our usual crappy Chinese spot - Purple Dot. Though the sign clearly indicated that they were 'open', we were refused service. An argument ensued. How could they refuse us service when we were so chipper and rational at that hour? Anyhow, they kindly directed us to Honey Court. Honey Court was clearly closing, but they redirected us to Ga Ga Loc. It was surprisingly crowded. I can't remember the food. The service was poor. Hell it may not have even been Ga Ga Loc. Or Seattle for that matter.

I walked in biased. This was the place all right. But where were the people? Maybe they do 90%+ of their business between 2 and 4 am. We were seated quickly; the table was clean and the menus had nice new covers. They have great bargains for lunch where everything seems to be less than $5.

I ordered the Szechuan Beef. The soup was average, the tea was good, and the beef wasn't bad. It was hot and fresh, had a nice flavor, and filled me up. It wasn't the best Szechuan Beef I've ever had, but it certainly wasn't bad. For $5, I get soup, a lunch, and some tea. This must be one of the better bargains in the international district.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Chicken with Assorted Vegetables - $4.25
Fortune: You have an active mind and a keen imagination
Rating:

Geary's Review

Ga Ga Loc (no relation to Tone) is a fairly typical looking small ID Chinese Restaurant. They have a large menu with a fancy faux suede cover that includes the standard crappy American-Chinese lunch dishes. Being bound by rule #2, I scanned the lunch menu and went with what I figured was least likely to suck, the Chicken with Assorted Vegetables. Our waitress was very friendly and took our order in a timely manner and didn't seem too put off by our occasional indecisiveness or custom requests.

The $4.25 lunch special comes with only one soup option (no luck for the egg flower people) and our waitress brought out a large serving bowl and ladled out theH&SS right on our lazy susan. Nice show, but the soup sucked. I mean it sucked more than any H&SS has ever sucked before. No tang. No spice. Funky after taste. It could only be up hill from here. We'll maybe, but at an almost imperceptible grade. The lunch special came with white rice (no fried rice), which was probably lucky, since it didn't suck, and I'm pretty sure the fried rice would have. The gooey chicken-like lunch special with soggy veggies was not quite horrible. In fact, I'd call it just mediocre. Unfortunately, the sucky soup brings down the whole experience to a solid two chopstics.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: General Tsao's Chicken - $4.25
Fortune: You luck has been completely chanted today.
Rating:

Adam's Review

Geary, Al and I had been to Ga Ga Loc before, and... lets just say that I wasn't excited to come back here.

I ordered a standard chinese dish: General Tsao's. It was disappointing. The chicken was over breaded. The sauce was bland. The rice was difficult to eat with chopsticks. My Hot & Sour Soup was neither hot nor sour. The soup was watery and the contents were mostly flavorless.

Don't feel bad about walking by this place on your way to something deliciouser

Luncher: Al

Lunch: General Tsao's Chicken - $4.25
Fortune: You will be invited to a social gathering.
Rating:

Al's Review

Food was only o.k., but price was excellent.

Luncher: Jeff

Lunch: Szechuan Beef - $4.25
Fortune: You will be invited to a social gathering.
Rating:

Jeff's Review

Ga Ga Loc is a big loss of real estate for the ID community. As an Asian food provider I rank it only slightly above China Express that I can get at Safeway. I am glad that it appears to be a family run business rather than some chain. And, the restaurant itself was clean, comfortable, well maintained and capable of accommodating quite a crowd. Now, if only I could find as much good to say about the food… Not bad – just not memorable.

To be fair – the food is fresh and edible. It’s also a good value for a $5 lunch. At that price I had tea, soup and a meat / rice dish which I didn’t finish. The flavor simply lacks any inspiration or individuality. My dish was exactly as you’d expect for mainstream Chinese food in the US. The ingredients were fresh enough. The meat quality was fine. The rice was good. It just didn’t do anything other than meet the bar. In middle America, this place may be “great” ethnic cuisine. In the ID… it just doesn’t stand against the rest of the neighborhood.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Kung Pao Tofu - $4.25
Fortune: Look in the right places, you can find some good offerings.
Rating:

Rob's Review

Ah yes, the unfortunately named Ga Ga Loc. I hadn't been here before, but the decor was so standard that I kind of felt like I had. I decided to try the tofu-cation thing again and ordered the Kung Pao Tofu, to which the waitress happily obliged. It's been years since I've had a Kung Pao dish, and I was actually looking forward to it. The hot and sour soup arrived, and it was really bad. You tilt the cup of soup and you can watch it unevenly ooze to the new level. Ugh. I was only able to choke it down by adding some hot sauce, and because everyone else seemed to be finishing theirs -- peer pressure made me eat it. The initial pot of tea was tepid. At this point I was thinking this was the worst Chinese restaurant I've been to in a long time, but then the Kung Pao arrived, and it wasn't terrible. It was a bit bland, and it was missing all those little red peppers I'm used to seeing in Kung Pao, but it wasn't terrible. I was able to eat most of it by adding some hot sauce, but the overly large baby corns tasted a little off, and the full pieces of bok choy were a little hard to manage. The main dish made me think about giving Ga Ga Loc a three, but then I remembered that I gave KC Kitchen a two. The main dishes were fairly similar in quality, and KC Kitchen's hot and sour soup was much better. So there you go. It was too bad that our original destination, Mike's Noodle House, was way too full when the MSG150 mob came a-calling.

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Broccoli Beef - $4.25
Fortune: You will visit a faraway land that has been in your thoughts.
Rating:

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: General Tsao's Chicken - $4.25
Fortune: Your life will be happy and peaceful.
Rating:

Luncher: Wayne

Lunch: Mongolian Beef - $4.25
Fortune: You will be successful in love.
Rating:

VIP Luncher: Erin from Harborview Medical Center

Lunch: Mongolian Beef - $4.25
Fortune: A career change may be in your future.
Rating:

Erin's Review

When we walked in and found the restaurant half empty, I knew this was not a good sign. They had an array of standard Chinese-American lunch specials, a dish with rice and soup for $4.25. I had the Mongonlian Beef, and since is was a day off of school for my kids, I ordered Sweet & Sour Pork and Chicken to take home for Max and Jake. The beef dish was standard stirfried beef with onions and green onions, in a brown sauce. The soup was a hot and sour soup, which had too much corn starch in it, so it was sort of stiff. The beef was fine, but nothing special, and I have had it prepared more interestingly elsewhere. the Sweet and Sour Chicken and Pork (two dishes) was pronounce "lame" by the boys. I think that better prepared and better tasting lunch specials can be had elsewhere, even at that price.

Since I start a new job this week, I thought my fortune was pretty funny.

Ga Ga Loc Photos

Ga Ga Loc


Ga Ga Loc


Lunch Menu in Window


H&SS


Mongolian Beef


General Tsao's Chicken


Kung Pao Tofu


Szechuan Beef


Broccoli Beef


Chicken-like meat with Assorted Vegetables

Lunch #20: Unicorn Crepes

The MSG150 advance crew spotted Unicorn Crepes last week on a recon run. Some of us have suffered nightmares seeded by plasticized window crepes ever since. All of us, however, were excited as ten of us headed out today. This is one of the few truly new cuisines we have encountered in our journey so far.

Unicorn Crepes, Seattle
Address: 621 6th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Japanese: Crepes
Average rating: 3.8 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/16/2008 @ 12:15:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 5 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 35 minutes
Chopstix quality: Paper Cone Holder
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Kyoto, Japan... but they have lived in the US for a while.
Number of tables: 5
Number of occupied tables: 0 (0%)
Number of business lunch tables: 5
Number of "local" tables: 0
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Pizza + Banana Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Emmett's Review

Man I was scared about this place. For those that don't know me, I hate mayonnaise. I mean, I REALLY hate mayonnaise. It's white, gooey, and disgusting. So when I walked by this place early in the week, it was pretty obvious that they use a liberal amount of mayonnaise on all of their meal crepes. However, they did have a couple of options that don't have the lattice-work of mayo portrayed on their fake plastic crepe models. I would go for one those. Yes, this plan could work. We'll see.

The place is quite nice on the inside. It's well lit, and you can see them prepare everything in front of you. The people working there were great. I got the Pizza Crepe, he asked if I wanted green peppers and onions. Yes! They put a little pizza sauce, the veggies, some lean pepperoni, and cheese in their freshly made crepes. It comes out warm and tasty. The crepe itself is light, flaky, and sweet. It holds up pretty well to the kind you get in Paris. The pizza fillings rounded it out to make a fantastic crepe. The sweetness of the crepe mixed well with the savory of the pizza ingredients. It was delicious, and far less filling than a slice of pizza.

For dessert I had the Banana Choco Whip crepe. It was good, but actually kind of heavy and filling. I think I enjoyed the Pizza Crepe more.

I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I'll definitely be back.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Unicorn Crepe with Cheese + Banana Custard Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Adam's Review

It's called Unicorn Crepes. This is going to be good.

I ordered the Unicorn Crepe, because I thought a crepe made of a Mythical Beast Meat (MBM) would be magnificently delicious. Turns out that the Unicorn Crepe isn't actually made of MBM... it's made of Teriyaki chicken, boiled egg, cabbage, mayo, and the House Special Sauce (HSS). I was pleasantly surprised about how good the crepe was (even though it was lacking MBM). The hard boiled egg must have been pretty cooked recently, because it hadn't turned yellow/green around the yolk yet. The crepe was fresh... I know because I watched very attractive young woman behind the counter make it. I liked the crepe, and will definitely come back again when I need a light lunch.

Since we were reviewing the place, I decided that I needed a dessert crepe too. I ordered what was recommended by the cashier.. the Banana Custard Maple Whip. Its made with homemade custard and organic maple syrup. It's a winner.

The three people running the place were all very nice, and two of them were siblings.

Good food. Kinda high, but reasonable prices. Nice bathroom. Great service.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Cheese Chili Hot Dog + Ice Strawberry Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Geary's Review

Just because you can imagine it, doesn't mean it's a good idea. Leave it to Japanese youth to come up with this one: French Crepes wrap around American lunches and deserts. OK, the desert part seems like a good idea, but someone had too much Sake when they thought about putting tuna salad in a crepe. And, as if to point out how bad an idea this is, someone crafted plastic replicas of the food to place in the window to scare people off. This was my state of mind when we walked into Unicorn Crepes. Would Unicorn Crepes need a unicorn chaser?

My first impression upon entering was that someone had fused a French creperie with a food stall from the state fair and pulled three friendly, good looking kids out of a Japanese disco to run it. As it turns out, it was the three kids that did the fusing, and the creperie + carny food thing is currently a big deal in Japan. Being hesitant, I waited back and was the last of the group to order. The three owners are energetic, and excited about their food. I watched them methodically make everyone's crepes. Even though they rolled up the crepe before handing it over, they carefully constructed each as if it were going to be displayed open faced in the window. The meat and veggies are carefully placed inside and the sauces are streamed on top in an artful pattern. By the time it was my turn to order I had forgotten about the scary window crepes and was excited to place my order for a Cheese Chili Hot Dog Crepe. Bring it on!

It far exceeded my expectations. The "Hot Dog" was not just the run-of-the-mill dog, it was half of a nice, well spiced sausage link. The chili too was better than expected. The crepe was seasoned with some diced onions and chopped lettuce to give it a little crunch. The personal Tabasco packets they provided added a nice little extra kick. Maybe a crepe is a better chili cheese dog holder than a soft spongy hot dog bun. Who'd a thunk?

I topped off my lunch with an Ice Strawberry Whip Crepe which consists of a crepe filled with ice cream, strawberries, and whipped cream. It was as good as it sounds. Really, how could that not be delicious. If you are looking for an afternoon treat in the ID, don't look past the desert crepes at Unicorn Crepes. I think even the one with Corn Flakes would not let you down.

In the end I am torn on how to score this spot. Although the lunch crepe was better than expected, I don't think I would go out of my way to get it again. Also, $9 seems a bit much for a fairly light lunch. They should consider a combo lunch special. Maybe $7 for a lunch and desert crepe. If this blog were about deserts, this place would be a five, but it's not.

PS: Jess Thompson over at the Seattle Weekly Voracious blog also visited Unicorn Crepes recently but was too chicken to try the lunch crepes. Do the right thing Jess. Don't be a chicken. I challenge you to eat a lunch crepe.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Unicorn Crepe with Cheese + Custard Creme - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Jared's Review

A little on the small side for me. This is probably better for a dessert snack than for lunch.

Also, they can’t handle large crowds, and need to work on handling orders in order.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Cheese Chicken Salad + Almond Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Al's Review

Great, fast, light lunch.

Luncher: Erin

Lunch: Pizza + Banana Custard Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Erin's Review

This is a tiny place, but filled crepes make great walking food! I had a pizza crepe ($5.50 with tax). It was a fresh made crepe filled with pepperoni, onion, bell peppers, & cheese. It was surprisingly good: I thought this would be strange combination, with the slightly sweet crepe and savory ingredients, but it worked! Billed as a "light meal" it was made while I waited, and I did not wait long. I also had a banana chocolate crepe with whip cream for dessert (courtesy of Michael), which was very sweet and yummy. The only improvement they should make is to perhaps use higher quality ingredients. Most everything was middle of the road. Service was friendly, and the food was tasty. This is a place I would go back to, it's perfect for a smaller, light meal or mid-afternoon snack.

Luncher: Jeff

Lunch: Teriyaki Cheese Salad + Banana Custard Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Jeff's Review

I was happily surprised by Unicorn Crepes! I had the Cheese & Teriyaki salad crepe. While this may sound a little odd – and the picture made it look questionable – it was actually fantastic. My ingredients were fresh. It was an excellent serving size the actual crepe was just about perfect. Not too sweet. Not too thick.

The presentation of preparation was great. Although your food ended up wrapped into a crepe with a paper cone around it, the staff was well aware of the art to preparing the food with layout, balance and aesthetic appeal. It was entertaining to watch. The only negative: It was difficult for this small place to handle our 10 person volume. By the time I received my lunch crepe – many of us had already finished and were ordering desert.

Desert: I had the Banana / Custard / Maple crepe. I was extremely surprised this wasn't too sweet. The fresh whip cream was light – without being overly sticky sweet. The custard was nice. The maple syrup was tasty and they judged the amount needed appropriately. It would have been easy to add too much. I’ll definitely be back for more!

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Cheese Chili Hot Dog + Banana Custard Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Michael's Review

A bunch of bored white software developers eat tasty American crap wrapped in a French pancake served by Asian kids in a Seattle lunch spot while listening to obnoxious Japanese dance music. Fantastic. This is why we live on the Pacific Rim and not in Random McBoring Town in some brown square state out in the middle.

My Chili Cheese Hot Dog crepe was delivered to me with the words: "You have to wait for the best." He wasn't kidding. Sure my lunch came off the 2 grills a few minutes behind the pizza crepe, but you can't rush awesomeness. No, awesomeness has to be grilled up and carefully placed on a steaming hot fresh crepe and served with chili.

There isn't another lunch place in the ID that is this new, this tasty, and this much fun.

I hear that Unicorn Crepes is only 3 weeks old. I predict this place will have Salumi sized lunch lines stretched out the door by June.

100% win.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Potato Salad + Corn Flake Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Rob's Review

Japanese-style crepes? I have to admit I was nervous while marching with the MSG150 mob to this new little restaurant. Most of the light meal crepes feature some sort of meat, so my choices were tuna salad or potato salad. I've never been a fan of tuna salad, so I bravely ordered the potato salad crepe. And yeah, that's what I got: potato salad, boiled egg, and some mayo all wrapped up in a nice, light, fresh crepe. It was decent potato salad, at least, but still, it was a potato salad lunch. Didn't fill me up, either. I went back for one of the sweet crepes and took my chance with the corn flake choco whip. The corn flakes gave a fun, crunchy edge to the whipped cream and chocolate, I was happy to discover. So, while I probably won't have lunch here again, I'll definitely come back for their dessert crepes.

Luncher: Tyson

Lunch: Pizza + Banana Custard Choco Whip - $4.99 + $3.65
Rating:

Tyson's Review

The pizza crepe was wonderful tasting, though it wasn’t enough to fill me up. You will need to buy at least two crepes to be satisfied. The banana chocolate custard dessert crepe was not as good as I hoped. Though I’m not a huge custard fan and always forget that until I order it. Haha. It was still good though.

Unicorn Crepes Photos

Unicorn Crepes


The MSG150 Invasion


Menu Board


Plastic Window Crepes


They put the fig leaf on the wrong side


More Plastic Crepes


The Unicorn Crepes Team


The Unicorn Crepes Team


Pizza Crepe in production


Unicorn Crepe in production


Almond Choco Whip in production


Banana Choco Whip in production


Corn Flake Choco Whip in production


1/2 of a Pizza Crepe


Potato Salad Crepe attack


Cheese Chili Hot Dog Crepe


Ice Strawberry Whip Crepe


Where unicorns pee


MSG150 post invasion


They removed the scaffolding from the HCG today

Lunch #19: A Piece of Cake Bakery & Cafe

Our route today took back under the HCG and back past the abandoned Blue & Pink, or affectionately "Boo Poo", which remains closed. We did notice this multilingual sign. Can anyone translate? My guess is, "Caution pacemaker wearers, microwave in use."

While lingering a bit trying to decipher the Blue & Pink mystery, the MSG150 crew couldn't help but notice that the HCG straddles the seediest two corners of the ID. There's the unnamed alchy bar on the north and the open air crack market next to the abandoned apartment building on the south. Nothing says welcome like drunks and junkies.

Also of note, the MSG150 crew has a couple streaks going now. Today marks the sixth straight lunch spot without any health service violations. Yay! It's also now the sixth straight lunch without fortune cookies. Boo! The last lunch with both was the marginal Four Seas Restaurant. Today's lunch was also the third Chinese bakery after the Sun Bakery and the S&FB, both well rated. A Piece of Cake had lots to live up to.

A Piece of Cake Bakery & Cafe, Seattle
Address: 514 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Bakery
Average rating: 3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/14/2008 @ 11:50:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 0 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 29 minutes
Chopstix quality: Plastic Fork
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: China
Number of tables: 8
Number of occupied tables: 3 (37%)
Number of business lunch tables: 2 (66%)
Number of "local" tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Chicken Bun + Chicken Pie + Apple Pie - $1.35 + $1.75 + $1.75
Rating:

Geary's Review

APoCB&C has long been a favorite local source of birthday cakes and post lunch sweets. Until now, however, none of us had partaken of their savory fair. The options for lunch were limited. I went with the Chicken Bun and the Chicken Pie with an Apple Pie for desert. I was impressed by their bubble tea neon sign, so I also added in a Bubble Milk Tea.

The bun was fairly typical, sweet white bread on the outside and savory chicken on the inside, however, my bun was a bit light on the filling. Also, I'm not sure how they are customarily eaten (insight anyone?), but these were served at almost room temperature. I think I would have preferred warm buns (IYKWIM). The chicken pie was better, but it too really needed to be heated up to be fully enjoyed. Same goes for the apple pie. Bubble tea was good, but they offer only two flavors. I think they must have a relative that makes neon signs.

In summary, come for the cakes and tasty deserts; go somewhere else for lunch.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Chicken Pie + BBQ Pork Bun + Tiramisu - $1.75 + $1.75 + $3.00
Rating:

Emmett's Review

Cake for lunch. Mama would be proud. Fortunately though, "Piece of Cake" has a display full of savory baked goods that can make a square meal. I had a chicken pie, a BBQ Pork Hum Bow, and some Tiramisu.

The Chicken Pie was tasty, crumbly, and full of flavor. The BBQ Pork bun was kind of icky. The bun was cold and not too fresh tasting. The pork was grisly and didn't have a lot of flavor. For the savory baked goods, Sweet and Fresh bakery does a better job.

The slice of Tiramisu was the hightlight. It was very light, tasty, and not overly boozy or sweet. Unlike Michael, I'm not too big a fan of these cakes. For cake I prefer a little more density (I like cheesecake) and these fluffy fruit cakes leave me wanting. But the Tiramisu delivered. It was good.

Overall I wasn't too impressed with the lunch options. Come here for dessert only.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Hot Dog Bun + BBQ Pork Bun + Fresh Mango Cake - $1.35 + $1.25 + $2.75
Rating:

Adam's Review

This is a classic Chinatown destination: they're famous for their cakes with fruit filling. From a previous reconnaissance mission, we'd seen that they had Hum Bow... so we had to make a stop here.

Starting out, I ordered the Hot Dog Bun. It was literally a hum bow bun around a standard hot dog. The bun was luke-warm, and the hot dog was the same. Unless you're fan of hot dogs of questionable origin... don't order this.

I also ordered the BBQ Pork Bun. I've had enough BBQ Pork Buns that I know what they should taste like... and this one was sub-par. This was also colder than it should have been. I guess if APoCB&C had better heat lamps, I might have liked all of their warm food better.

For Dessert, I got the Cake with Fresh Mango filling. Overall, the whole cake has way less sugar than a standard cake. The frosting is delicious... but you can eat it, and it doesn't hurt my teeth. The cake itself was light and fluffy. The filling was the best part though. Actual chunks of fresh mango mixed with a light white filling. It is worth going out of your way to get a cake (or at least a piece) from this bakery. If I were rating the cake by itself, it'd be a 4 or possibly a 5.

Skip the warm food, but definitely get a dessert from here.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Chicken Pie + Bacon & Cheese Bun + BBQ Pork Bun - $1.75 + $1.35 + $1.35
Rating:

Al's Review

For lunch food: 3
For Dessert: 5

Luncher: Erin

Lunch: BBQ Pork Bun + Green Onion and Ham Roll + Egg Tart - $1.35 + $1.35 + $1.00
Rating:

Erin's Review

The Green Onion & Ham roll was a savory pastry made with the bun dough, and had a filling of mayo, green onion and ham in the middle. It was moist and oniony and very good. The egg tart, a favorite of mine was perfect. Although it was a crumbled crust, not a flaky crust, it was baked perfectly and the egg custard inside was done perfectly. The BBQ Pork bun was not as tasty, the pork inside seemed sort of old, and did not have a lot of bbq sauce or flavor. The cakes I forked in on were light and fluffy and fruity, as I expect a Chinese cake to be. The tiramisu was lame, but what did you expect me to say about that? Overall, I would come back for the savory pastry and the egg tarts.

Luncher: Jeff

Lunch: BBQ Pork Bun + Chicken Pie + Apple Tart - $1.35 + $1.75 + $1.75
Rating:

Jeff's Review

For starters... I just love Bakeries. While I wouldn't normally consider a bakery as a top lunch option, the bakeries I've been to on this lunch quest have been great. Unlike some bakeries, this place was a nice size and even had plenty of room for us to sit and enjoy our meal. This alone makes it more likely for me to return.

My lunch today was fresh, warm and wonderful. The pork bun was excellent. The bread was exceptionally tasty. The chicken pie exceeded my expectations. The apple tart was average for bakery deserts - which actually surprised me.

While the choices are certainly limited in a bakery, if you're in the mood for these buns - this stop is an excellent option which I'd gladly recommend.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Chicken Bun + Sweet Corn & Ham Bun - $1.35 + $1.35
Rating:

Michael's Review

I have to give this one a 5. I've been eating here for several years now so my opinion was already set before we sat down to eat. Hint: Get my birthday cake here and nowhere else.

Seriously. These cakes are the best. Big win: they don't use obscene amounts of sugar or fat. The frosting is actually edible and tasty. They have various chocolate cakes and they are great. But what you really want are the fruity cakes. Fresh mango, peach, or strawberry. Fruit tarts. Fresh tasty goodness.

Add to that bubble tea, various almond cookies, walnut cookies, and a whole case full of tasty treats and you have a winner.

The other lunch stuff was about what you would expect: fresh pork and chicken hom bows, chicken pies, 'ham and sweet corn', and hot dog buns. Its all good. Order three or four. Except the hot dog buns. Only a total n00b would order the hot dog buns.

Also not to be missed: the two dollar bag of day old goodies. This bag is packed full of all the tasty stuff you were afraid to order. Coconut buns? Garlic buns? Red bean paste? You'll enjoy it all.

Why 5 stars? Because when I turn 40 I want three things: a shiny new convertible sports car, an obnoxiously hot blond in the passenger seat, and lunch at this bakery.

A Piece of Cake Bakery & Cafe Photos

A Piece of Cake


Buns and pastries


Breads, Buns, Cookies, to go


Do not squeeze the bread too hard


Cakes


More cakes


Three bun lunch


Two buns and a pie


Canned Tea


Two buns


Buns, Buns, Buns


Hot Dog Bun


A piece of cake


A piece of Tiramisu


Neon sign (outside)


Neon sign (inside)


Neon bubble tea


Neon coffee babe


Historic Chinese Gate

Lunch #18: Fu-Lin Chinese Restaurant

Today the MSG150 team found our way to the base of the soon to be unveiled Historic Chinatown Gate which is still covered in scaffolding. We have been keeping an eye on Blue & Pink, the only(?) Korean restaurant in the DLZ, which has been closed for the last couple of months. We hope that it is just temporary, maybe due to the imposition of the construction just outside its door. But there is no note, so chance are slim for a return. If anyone has more info, please let us know. We will circle back if it reopens. The Stone Bowl Bi Bim Bop was an MSG150 fav. However, since it was still closed today, we passed by to find the Fu-Lin Chinese Restaurant.

Fu-Lin Chinese Restaurant, Seattle
Address: 512 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Taiwanese, Japanese
Average rating: 3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/10/2008 @ 12:05:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 5 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 10 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 54 minutes
Chopstix quality: Nice plastic
Do they use MSG?: Yes, but not in Ramen
Where is the owner/chef from?: Hong Kong owner who lived in Japan. Wife is Taiwanese.
Number of tables: 17
Number of occupied tables: 7 (41%)
Number of business lunch tables: 5 (71%)
Number of "local" tables: 0 (0%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Scallops with Spicy and Sour Garlic Sauce - $5.95
Rating:

Geary's Review

Fu-Lin is a nicely decorated restaurant with a mix of Japanese and Chinese decor. The staff was very friendly, especially after we pulled out the camera and notepad. It has a nice big lunch menu with lots of Chinese Bento Boxes (yes) and Ramen options. I chose one of the the Bentos. How could I not?

The food arrived quickly and had a reasonable price to portion ration. The Hot & Sour soup starter was average. My bento entrée, Scallops with Hot & Sour Garlic Sauce, was tasty. The scallops were tender and the veggies were crunchy and tangy (not very hot though). They failed to dress my salad so I didn't much care for the dry lettuce and tomatoes. The little potato filled pastries were tasty, but I imagine they would have been better warm.

It is a nice place, but nothing really stood out for me. As Michael said, I would be willing to give them a second chance, but I did not feel like I had a four chopstick meal today.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Tonkotsu Seafood Ramen - $7.95
Rating:

Emmett's Review

Fu-Lin is another place with good service and decent food. We were seated at the large table in the back, with functioning Lazy Susan. Our order was taken quickly, and the waitress happily answered many of our questions. They have a Ramen menu, and a standard menu that appears to be typical Chinese American fare (General Tso's and the what not). Eager to compare the Ramen here with Samurai Noodle Ramen, I ordered the Tonkatsu with Seafood.

The broth this time was less fatty and just as flavorful. I prefer it to Samurai's death broth. The seafood wasn't anything special - cuts of Octopus, discs of some unknown white fish, and some small cuts of overcooked Salmon. In spite of the average fish, the soup was flavorful, piping hot, and enjoyable.

They have some interesting other Ramen menu items - like Miso with Corn and Seaweed. I'll definitely be back to try their other options.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Chicken with Spicy and Sour Garlic Sauce - $5.75
Rating:

Adam's Review

This is a hasty review... because I'm leaving for Whistler in 5 minutes. My food was definitely standard... nothing special. You don't need to avoid this place... but you don't need to make a special trip either.

Also, we didn't get any fortune cookies. That made me sad.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Miso Seafood Ramen + Pot Stickers - $7.95 + $2.95
Rating:

Michael's Review

I see potential. I'd give it another try.

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Tonkotsu Charsiu - $5.95
Rating:

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Eggplant with Spicy and Sour Garlic Sauce - $5.75
Rating:

Fu-Lin Chinese Restaurant Photos

Fu-Lin Chinese Restaurant


Lunch Specials Menu


Yet more Lunch Specials


Ramen Menu


Ye Olde Hot and Sour Soup


Egg Flower Soup


Chicken with Spicy and Sour Garlic Sauce


Scallops with Spicy and Sour Garlic Sauce


Tonkotsu Seafood Ramen


Eggplant with Spicy and Sour Garlic Sauce


Tonkotsu Charsiu


Miso Seafood Ramen


Pot Stickers


Pot Stickers - flipped

Lunch #17: Herfy's Burgers, #9

Another big group today: 8 lunchers strong. We fought a small battle against the Uwajimaya Food Court; the remainder of the war will be bravely completed later. Burgers aren't the normal fare on our magical journey, so we were looking forward to this departure from the norm.

Herfy's Burgers, #9, Seattle
Address: 604 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: American: Burgers
Average rating: 2 chopsticks
Lunch date: 1/8/2008 @ 12:25:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 5 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 24 minutes
Chopstix quality: N/A
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: Unknown
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!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Spicy Chicken Breast Meal - $7.85
Rating:

Adam's Review

This is another one of those unfortunate restaurants that we're required to go to. Its a hamburger joint in a sea of delicious asian food. I'm going to be brief with this.

Since it's the new year, I decided that it might be a good idea to order something at least a little bit more healthy than normal, so I ordered the chicken sandwich. This was the least flavorful food I've ever had. AND it was way more expensive than it should be.

Bad food. High prices. Don't feel guilty to walk by this place

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Spicy Chicken Breast Meal - $7.80
Rating:

Emmett's Review

After the artery clogging of Samurai Noodle, I decided to go for something a little healthy - chicken. Herfy's is an interesting chain since they sell more than just burgers. They have this gnarly looking Kielbasa on their menu, fried Oysters, and their Fremont branch says they have Teriyaki. As much as I wanted a burger (there aren't many in Chinatown) I settled on the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Fries, and a Diet Pepsi.

The spicy chicken sandwich was pretty basic, but tasty. It had a spicy sauce on it like Tabasco that had a little zip to it. The fries were fresh and hot, and reminded me of High School. The most horrendous aspect of it was the price - practically eight dollars for what I could get at McD's for $5-6.

If I'm craving a burger or chicken sandwich in the ID, I'd probably head up to Collins Pub instead. For a few bucks more, you get a real burger, and a nice beer selection. But in a hurry, I'd do Herfy's again.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Cheeseburger Meal - $4.99
Rating:

Geary's Review

The menu is large for a small hamburger stand with everything from the standards to Salmon Burgers and Kielbasa Sausage Sandwiches. I figured I'd throw them a low ball and go with the classic Cheeseburger Meal.

On the first bite I was not entirely dissatisfied, but it went downhill from there. After the initial mouthsplosion of soft bun, tangy mustard, and crispy lettuce the reality of the chewy, bland Costco burger patty sunk in pretty quickly. If I were buying a burger from the stand next to the little league field to support the equipment fund, I'd tolerate a crappy burger, primarily because the only other option would be a crappier hot dog. But that's not the case here. There are lots of better options.

Luncher: Doug

Lunch: Bacon Sour Dough - $5.99 + $1.97
Rating:

Doug's Review

Sourdough bacon chzburger + paper thin Costco-style burger patty was disappointing. Medium vanilla shake was average, similar to a McDonalds’ shake.

Luncher: Erica

Lunch: Grilled Chicken Sandwich + Criss-Cut Fries - $8.60
Rating:

Erica's Review

When I heard that Herfy’s was today’s lunch destination, I hesitated. I had made a prior visit, during which I consumed about one-eighth of a banana milkshake before discarding of it. Given my enormous love of milkshakes coupled with my inability to stop consuming any partially eaten food, this fact is notable. However, I didn’t recall any other objectionable selections, and there was a large crowd, so I opted for the social interaction. Besides, it is pretty hard to get a Banana milkshake right (if you aren’t actually using bananas).

While on the line, I contemplated my order. I was excited about the wide variety of French Fry selections features on the menu, even if I didn’t really know how to distinguish one option from the other. I took a wild shot that “Criss-cut” might refer to a waffle fry. I attempted to confirm this with the cashier, but she looked at me in total confusion and gave me some sort of reflexive answer that the “criss-cut” fry was “criss-cut.”

I wanted to eat something that I wouldn’t cause me to immediately gain an entire pound, but that also wasn’t completely devoid of fast-food fun. To this end, my meal was a good choice. I removed half of my bun as well as the cheese – which always created a delightful sight for your coworkers to enjoy. Was the chicken on my sandwich processed and reconstituted with food additives? Perhaps. Did my fountain soda have a slight funny flavor to it? Most certainly. But the “Criss-cut” fries were delicious, and the rest of my meal felt like it met Erica’s healthiness criteria (which are not in conjunction with any real health criteria, mind you, and which is rarely met by myself) of a high protein count with a low calorie count.

Hence, I am torn. Most of the food was just okay, and it was expensive. Herfy’s doesn’t really offer any charm to offset the high price. However, I do feel like the passable chicken sandwich sans half the bun and cheese is a sort of fun option for someone like me who is 5’1” and wants to avoid consumer her daily caloric intake at lunch every day.

Luncher: Erin

Lunch: Mushroom Burger + Root Beer Float - $4.29 + $2.19
Rating:

Erin's Review

I had a mushroom burger ($4.29) and a root beer float ($2.19). The burger was a mediocre frozen patty, with some canned mushrooms and a slice of over-processed white cheese. All condiments, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard were included. The burger was below average quality and overcooked, especially for the price. I’ve had better burgers for half that. The root beer float had a little bit of mushy ice cream in it, again, hardly enough to justify the price. I like Dick’s root beer floats better because the ice cream is generous and frozen hard. I’ll avoid this place in the future, unless I was desperate for a burger and happened to be shopping at Uwajimya. Overall the quality of the food did not justify the prices charged.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Salmon Burger + Fries - $4.99 + $1.49
Rating:

Rob's Review

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh with the 1 chopstick rating (I was debating 1 v. 2 for a while), but, frankly, anyone who likes Herfy's won't bother with reviews, and anyone who enjoys reviews won't be eating at Herfy's. So I went with the 1. Upon perusing their menu, at first I was a bit optimistic -- plenty of options for me: garden burger, boca burger, four different fish burgers, various fish 'n chips. I decided to try and avoid the big bowl of grease and ordered the salmon burger. Garden and boca burgers are pretty much the same everywhere, unless the garden burger is made in-house, which I highly doubted was the case here. So, the salmon burger basically ended up being a salmon 'n chips but without the chips. Two relatively small deep-fried pieces of salmon stuck between a bun and slathered with mayo, boring lettuce, filler tomato slice, and a slice of melted american cheese. It didn't taste horrible, I'll admit, but I felt kind of queasy for an hour or so afterwards. In fact, writing this little review a day later is making my stomach feel funny. The fries were sub-par, as well. I would've thought the least they could do would be produce good fries, but they weren't nearly as crisp as I like and had no attempt at flavor. Maybe their fancier curly and criss-cut fries are better, but I'll never know because I'll never go back.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Double Bacon Sour Dough + Curly Fries - $5.99 + $1.99
Rating:

Al's Review

If it were cheaper, it'd be a three

Herfy's Burgers, #9 Photos

Herfy's Burgers #9


Herfy's from the Food Court


Menu - Right Side


Menu - Left Side


BTW, no Refill


Spicy Chicken Burger


Bacon Sour Dough


Double Sour Dough + Curly Fries


A look inside the Spicy Chicken Burger


Cheeseburger Meal (lemonade)


"Enjoying" a Cheeseburger


Criss-Cut Fries