Lunch #52: Wing Wah B.B.Q.

We were thwarted by a "closed on Tuesday" sign on our last attempt, so today the MSG150 crew headed out again for Wing Wah Barbecue. We arrived to find a fairly typical meat-in-window joint with a big yellow sign and, of course, meat hanging in the window. We entered with carnivorous anticipation, except for Rob who just entered.

Wing Wah B.B.Q., Seattle
Address: 668 S Weller St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: BBQ
Average rating: 3.2 chopsticks
Lunch date: 5/9/2008 @ 12:30:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 12 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 45 minutes
Chopstix quality: Cheap Plastic
Do they use MSG?: Only in chicken powder
Where is the owner/chef from?: South China
Number of tables: 6
Number of occupied tables: 3 (50%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (33%)
Number of "local" tables: 3 (100%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Family Style Dishes

• Roast Duck
• BBQ Pork
• Ma-Po Tofu (sans pork)
• 2 x Sticky Rice
• Fish Fillet with Vegetable
• Non-veggie Soup for 4
• Spicy Green Beans

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Family Style - $10.00
Rating:

Geary's Review

We were greeted warmly upon entering the small restaurant and seated at a large table (the only large table) tucked between the kitchen and the meat chopping area up front. After reaching over and turning off* the poorly tuned clock radio, c. 1982, it was a pleasant spot. As we eyed the menu the waitress/meat-chopper suggested that we order family style so we could all get tastes. We chose a large selection of both meated and non-meated items. We spied two large bowls of leaf-wrapped sticky rice on the counter, so we threw in one of each for tastes.

The starter was a hot pork broth in a bowl from the Hong Kong Restaurant. The broth was simple, but very rich. The food arrived soon after the soup. The BBQ duck was great (as it most always is) but the pork was a bit dry. I always prefer the duck anyway. The green beans were a bit limp, but flavorful. The Ma-Po tofu was fine, but nothing special. The fish was great. It had a nice tangy, garlicky sauce and fresh, crisp dark-leafed bok choy. The two selections of sticky rice were described as one with peanuts and one with beans. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. They were both mushy and bland. However, it struck me how amazingly similar to tamales these were. Both consist of a small amount of meat at the core surrounded by the predominant local starch (rice or corn) and then conveniently wrapped for portability. I suspect they evolved in their respective cultures in a similar manner. Anyhoo, these hadn't evolved** quite enough for our tastes and went mostly uneaten.

Wing Wah is not one of the best spots we've been, but it has some gems and uses nice fresh ingredients. That plus the very friendly service gets four chopsticks from me.

* I turned it back on before we left.
** It's likely, however, that we are the ones who hadn't done the evolving.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Family Style - $10.00
Rating:

Emmett's Review

This little block has a pretty diverse set of food, as we found out by completing our fifth and final restaurant - Wing Wah. For starters, there's 663 - with high quality meats, good all-around food. Sandie's, probably closed now, serving authentic Taiwanese dishes. J Sushi, where you get your raw seafood fix. A & B, where you go if you just hate yourself. Now Wing Wah, which surprised with some good BBQ meats, comfortable relaxed atmosphere.

This place seems frozen in time. The clock radio next to our table was the old style, where the numbers rotated on an axle. There was a TV from 1968 or something. The lady recommended we split some dishes and go family style. I'm always game for that. We got some pork, duck, seafood, some green beans, tofu for Rob, and sticky rice.

The soup was good, the pork was kind of bland - not as good as Ocean City nor particularly fatty or fresh. The duck was tasty, on par with other meat-in-window duck. The fish was kind of nice, deep fried with some bok choy. The rice was a little bit of a disappointment.

As far as meats go, this place was good, but not quite on par with 663 across the street.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Family Style - $10.00
Rating:

Adam's Review

Ahh... my favorite kind of restaurant, meat in window. Our server pushed us to do an ad-hoc family style lunch... and we obliged.

We've got several Roast Duck lovers on this excursion... so we order half of a duck. Delicious as always. We ordered BBQ pork. Delicious as always, and wasn't too salty. They also served the BBQ pork with some spicy mustard. The fish fillet with vegetables was good. Basically everything we had was good. Unfortunately we had the Vegetarian Rob, so we had to have more non-meat than I would have liked. We lived, though.

A solid Chinese BBQ joint with good service.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Family Style - $10.00
Rating:

Rob's Review

Decisions, decisions. Wing Wah had its pluses and minuses. Friendly service, and they were very accommodating for fussy eaters like me. The string bean dish was quite good, and I usually don't like string beans. The Ma-Po Tofu was middling to average. The Fish Fillet with Vegetable was mixed: the fish itself (saba) was very good, but I'm getting pretty tired of the "[blank] with vegetable" dish that comes out with the singular vegetable being bok choy. So, I'd like to rate Wing Wah a 3.5, but I can't because that would make Adam whine more than usual. If we'd eaten here after A & B I would probably round up to a 4, but after Sandie's I think I'm going to round down. So it goes.

This may or may not be my last post for the original DLZ -- I'm going on vacation for a bit. It's too bad that I'll be missing Hing Loon and Tropics and Shanghai Garden (I'd probably give them all 4 chopsticks), but not quite bad enough for me to cancel my trip. If my fellow lunchers lunch slowly enough, I may be back in time for the last stop, Fort St. George, for better or for worse. At least they have a full bar.

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Family Style - $10.00
Rating:

Wing Wah B.B.Q. Photos

Wing Wah Barbecue


Wing Wah Specials Menu


Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf


Broth (in stolen bowl)


BBQ Duck


BBQ Pork


Fish with Vegetable


Spicy Green Beans


Sticky Rice out of Lotus Leaf


Ma-Po Tofu

Lunch #48: 663 Bistro

The MSG150 crew was seven lunchers strong today as we headed back past the intersection of Weller and Maynard to find our next spot in the Heart of the DLZ. Just next door to Ho Ho is the simply named 663 Bistro (at 663 Weller). Program note: Semi-vegetarian Rob is back with us after an extended battle with the flu. Welcome back Rob!

663 Bistro, Seattle
Address: 663 S Weller St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Congee, Chinese: Noodles, Chinese: Cantonese, Chinese: BBQ
Average rating: 4.3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 4/18/2008 @ 12:17:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 8 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 53 minutes
Chopstix quality: Really Nice Plastic
Do they use MSG?: Yes
Where is the owner/chef from?: Canton
Number of tables: 18
Number of occupied tables: 11 (61%)
Number of business lunch tables: 2 (18%)
Number of "local" tables: 9 (81%)
Healthcode Score: 20
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Noodles in Soup with BBQ Pork and Wontons - $5.95
Rating:

Emmett's Review

The first time I came here, Geary and I tag-teamed an entire duck. For some reason we thought we could put it away ourselves. But they brought this humongous piece of fowl against which we had no chance. It was delicious, I looked forward to our return.

663 is another bright Cantonese spot with an extensive menu covering soups, noodles, congee, etc. We had a good crew, affording us the opportunity to try a few different things. I wanted to do soup, cause I had such a good experience at Ocean City II with their soup. I ordered the Noodles in Soup with BBQ Pork and Wontons.

They offered three different types of noodles - Cantonese noodles, wide rice Noodles, and thin rice noodles. I opted for the Cantonese, which are the standard. Their soup was fantastic, and the pork was as savory as Ocean City II. It held up well to Mike's Noodle House. I also got to sample some of Rob's Curried Fish Fillet, which was fantastic, and the other assorted Beef and Noodle dishes.

Everything was solid. I'll return.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: XO Sauce Pan-Fried Noodles with Sliced Fish + Pea Vine Greens - $7.95 + $9.95
Rating:

Geary's Review

663 Bistro has a medium-sized dining area that is clean with appealing, but muted, decor. Even though it isn't much of a name, it is unusual for a Chinese restaurant to have a name that doesn't immediately identify it as Chinese. And it puts them in the same neighborhood as Travis Shred and his neighbor, The Beast. 663 has a sizable menu and no specific lunch specials (YAY!). The menu selections include noodles, soups, congee, BBQ meats, and various other southern Chinese favorites. I was in the mood for noodles so went with the XO Sauce Pan-Fried Noodles with Sliced Fish. I noticed our waitress delivering a plate of greens to a neighboring table, so threw in an order for some Pea Vine Greens of our own.

Rob's fish arrived first and was a clear winner. He was kind and shared bites. The curry was thick and flavorful. The fish was fresh, moist, and flaky. My XO Noodles were also great. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. It was similar to beef chow fun, except with fish. The fish wasn't deep fried, like Rob's curry. It was just stir-fried in with the noodles, onions, and sprouts. The sprouts and onions gave it a nice crunch and the XO sauce added a tangy flavor. Yum! The Pea Vine Greens were cooked perfectly and were a welcome companion to the heavily noodled main course. The fish balls, however, were a bit too fishy for my taste.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Noodles in Soup with Roast Duck and BBQ Pork - $5.95
Rating:

Adam's Review

The menu for 663 Bistro was pretty damn huge... so I was having a hard time deciding what to get. I thought the 663 was because of their address, but it turns out it's the number of items on their menu... <groan>. I saw some Meat in the Window, so I knew I wanted to get something with that. I opted for the Noodle Soup with Roast Pork and Roast Duck.

I didn't actually get roast pork in my soup, there was a bit of a miscommunication, and I got the Honey BBQ Pork. This little mishap ended up being quite a little pig-tastic blessing. The Honey BBQ Pork is sweet and salty (as opposed to just salty like BBQ pork from some other MIWs), and lent a nice flavor to the soup that it was in. The roast duck was good, but I wish there had been more.

I was going to give this place a solid 4-chopsticks review, until I tasted the Curry Fish Fillet on Rice. The curry sauce was very flavorful and creamy. The bowl that contained the curry was nearly overflowing with fish... they crammed-in at least 2 servings of fish. This is one of the best lunches I've ever tasted, and I'm heading back to this place to specifically get this dish! It was so good, I didn't even mind that the Vegetarian Rob ordered it.

Great prices. Great food. One of the International District Gems.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Curry Fish Fillet on Rice - $6.50
Rating:

Rob's Review

I'd been to 663 Bistro once before well over a year ago (and I sat at the same table in almost the same seat), and the dish I had was fairly unremarkable (what Joey got, but sans beef). This time, however, I went with the curry fish fillet, in no small part to Joey telling me, "The curry is pretty good here," and I must say that I won today's lunch lottery (they even served me first!). The curry is actually pretty great -- creamy, flavorful, with a decent kick (didn't need any extra hot sauce) -- generously poured over an ample amount of breaded, tender, and moist flounder, onions, bell peppers, and potatoes. One of the best curries I've had in quite a while, in fact. The pea vines in garlic sauce was a great side dish to the curry -- the garlic sauce was nice and light (a smidge too salty on first taste, but fine on subsequent ones). So, there are great things here at the 663, but you have to choose wisely. Today was my first msg150 lunch in three weeks (I was out sick with a horrible, horrible flu and what have you), and it felt so good to be back that I didn't even mind Adam's feeble attempts at humor.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Tossed Noodles with BBQ Pork and Roast Duck - $6.25
Rating:

Michael's Review

I had the opportunity to sample most of the dishes on the table and with the exception of Joey's RMV everything was far above average. My noodles with duck and pork, Rob's curry, and Geary's pan fried noodles were all spectacular.

This isn't your usual boring lunch fare with breaded chicken covered in sugar. Fresh noodles, tasty broth, juicy barbeque, and the most awesome pea vines in garlic sauce make this bistro a big improvement over the usual 'lunch special'.

If you consider that this feast cost maybe 10 bucks including tax and tip you will have to agree that this is one of the best lunch spots we've found in the ID.

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Noodles in Soup with BBQ Pork and Wide Rice Noodles - $4.95
Rating:

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Beef and Fresh Vegetables on Rice - $5.75
Rating:

663 Bistro Photos

663 Bistro


Menu


Curry Fish Fillet on Rice


XO Sauce Pan-Fried Noodles with Sliced Fish + Pea Vine Greens


Tossed Noodles with BBQ Pork and Roast Duck


Noodles in Soup with Roast Duck and BBQ Pork


Noodles in Soup with BBQ Pork and Wide Rice Noodles


Pea Vine Greens


Beef and Fresh Vegetables on Rice


Noodles in Soup with BBQ Pork and Wontons


Curried Fish Balls

Lunch #32: Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order

Snuggled betwixt the Steam-table Chinese food and the register of Chef Kenzo's not-so-good Japanese food lies a little nugget of UFC deliciousness. The Cooked-to-Order counter offers Udon, Donburi, and Meat-in-Window (MIW)... all of which looked delicious. Chef Kenzo was looking like a chump next to the ladies running this counter.

Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order, Seattle
Address: 600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: BBQ, Japanese: Noodles
Average rating: 3 chopsticks
Lunch date: 3/3/2008 @ 12:10:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 1 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 10 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 33 minutes
Chopstix quality: Smoothed Wood
Do they use MSG?: ?
Where is the owner/chef from?: ?
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: Emmett

Lunch: Duck Combo Plate - $8.50
Rating:

Emmett's Review

This place was a whole five feet from our last visit. We're making progress, I think. This place looked intriguing - lots of good stuff on the menu - duck, pork, soba, donburi. This has potential, I can feel it.

I went for the Duck Combo. It comes with 1/2 of a hanging duck, some orange duck sauce, some brown duck sauce, rice, and veggies. The duck was good - hot, tasty, and delcious. Though there was 1/2 a duck, there were lots of bones. I had a good time working on it, and there was enough to share. The rice was overcooked and mushy, and the veggies were average. Definitely a great choice for a quick fix of duck.

To accompany this duck, I chose Pocari Sweat. Nothing like the salty sweet sweat of a Pocari to wash down the duck. It's nice, like American sport drinks but less sweet.

I was giddy to head back to the store. There's all kinds of good shit you can buy at Uwajimaya. It mostly makes the trip worth it. Mostly. For this trip I went for some Xylish Hyper Cool gum. The first ingredient is Maltitol. The second ingredient was Salt. Salt. It was quite refreshing, in a kick you in the face sort of way, but it mellows out quickly and has a nice menthol taste.

Oh yeah, and if anyone can make sense of this crazy "Web Accessory" I found on the Xylish web site, please let me know.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Oyako Donburi - $5.75
Rating:

Geary's Review

If you don't look carefully, you might even miss this place. The BBQ meats are fairly obvious, but there is much more to this middle station of the Uwajimaya Deli. Sandwiched between the prepared foods and Chef Kenzo on the east and the often crowded steam table on the west, the counter known as "Cooked to Order" has three distinct menus. There's the Chinese BBQ meats served in various lunch combinations, the "Cooked to Order" section of Sukiyaki and various forms of Donburi, and 14 different Noodle Bowls of Udon, Saba, and Ramen noodles.

I took a short right down the middle and went with the Oyako (chicken) Donburi, a classic Japanese dish with chicken, onions, and egg simmered together and then served over rice. And, as I waited, it was in fact cooked to order.

The donburi was good, but a bit bland. I've had more flavorful donburi, but generally it's an issue I have with many casual Japanese dishes. It's usually quickly solved with the liberal addition of some chili sauce (typically of non-Japanese origin like Sriracha), but all I saw available at the Cooked to Order counter was some Japanese red pepper powder, which never seems to do the trick. I considered sneaking across the food court and snagging some sauce from the Vietnamese place, but I ended up eating it as is. There was lots of food and it made a satisfying lunch.

Update: I learned the following day that the steam table next door has Sriracha.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: BBQ Pork and Roast Pork Combo Plate - $6.25
Rating:

Adam's Review

This is Uwajimaya Food Court's (UFC's) "cooked to order" counter, but it's also their meat-in-window (MIW) counter. I'm a sucker for MIW, so I went for the BBQ Pork and Roast Pork Lunch Combo.

A more appropriate name for the Roast Pork probably would have been: "Roast Pork Fat with Skin." And get ready for this... it was delicious. I knew that I was going to have to run 10 miles after work just to burn the calories off (nevermind the impact it made on my arteries), but I couldn't stop eating the delicious morsels of blubbery goodness.

The BBQ Pork was good, and not too salty. The roasted meat tasted fresh, so I surmised that it was roasted in-house. Emmett confirmed the in-house roasting with the man behind the meat window.

The food here is typical MIW... nothing fancy. I felt really sad for my heart after eating this, so I have to drop my score down for this little place.

When in the UFC, this is not a bad option.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Fried Bean Curd Udon - $5.45
Rating:

Rob's Review

Not much to say about this little corner of the UFC. I had the fried bean curd udon, and while the broth and the noodles were fine, the fried bean curd was unpleasantly sweet. Some people may like sweet things in their soup, but I don't. As I slurped up the udon, I kept thinking to myself that a few steps away was Samurai Noodle with exponentially better noodle soup. Ah well. I also did not realize that complimentary bottles of Sriracha are available down by the Steam Table cash registers, and a few squirts of that would have been a nice addition to the broth.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Beef Sukiyaki - $5.95
Rating:

Michael's Review

I never would have thought to try this place if it wasn't for the MSG 150. It's a tiny little window hidden behind some trash cans. And yet it is so awesome.

I've been craving more Beef Sukiyaki every day since we at there. I want more Beef Sukiyaki right now.

So the Beef Sukiyaki was really good. That's all I'm saying.

Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order Photos

Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order


BBQ Items


Menu


Microwave


Manapua - Hawaiian Buns


BBQ Duck


Oyako (Chicken) Donburi


BBQ Duck Combo Plate


BBQ Pork & Roast Pork Combo Plate


Fried Bean Curd Udon


Beef Sukiyaki


Manapua


Pocari Sweat


Green Tea Wheat Crackers


Chocolate Ice Cream Pops


Xylish Hyper Cool Gum


Choco Baby


CC Lemon


Taiwan Coffee Wafers

03/10/07 - Fixed typos.
03/10/07 - Fixed photo of Emmett's lunch.

Lunch #29: Harbor City

Seven of us braved the unfamiliar, threatening fireball in the sky and set out today for our next MSG150 adventure. Having scouted out Harbor City BBQ & Seafood Restaurant last week after the mixed results of Fortuna we had some hint of what we were facing, another meat-in-window joint with dirty windows. We drug the ailing JohnAt along on his first MSG150 experience assuring him that Harbor City would certainly have a nice soup that would cure his ills.

Harbor City, Seattle
Address: 707 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Cantonese, Chinese: BBQ
Average rating: 3.7 chopsticks
Lunch date: 2/19/2008 @ 12:00:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 20 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 50 minutes
Chopstix quality: Nice Plastic
Do they use MSG?: A little bit, but you can order your food sans MSG.
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: 1 (33%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Roasted (BBQ) Duck Lunch Box - $6.50
Fortune: #1: There is prospect of a thrilling time ahead for you. #2: You will dine in an exotic restaurant.
Rating:

Geary's Review

Although Harbor City looks a lot like Fortuna from the street, on the inside it is quite different. For starters, it is on a single level and is much more spacious feeling. The cafeteria like dining area is sparse on character but very clean. However, like Fortuna, there were only two other tables seated when we entered. These places must survive on their dinner business.

In addition to the regular menu there was a MiW lunch box menu over the counter, a lunch specials menu on a white board on the wall in the dining area, and a dinner specials chalk board on the opposite wall. Fearing the worst, but recognizing my obligation, I ordered the Roast (BBQ) Duck Lunch Box to make a completely fair comparison to the two chopstick lunch box from Fortuna.

The Lunch Boxes arrived first and it was obvious from the start that Harbor City had Fortuna beat, even with the $2 extra cost. The generous portion of BBQ duck was laid out on hot steamed rice with a side of freshly steamed bok choy. The Lunch Box came with a couple of accompanying sauces: a dark brown, rich sauce that tasted like liquid BBQ duck and a sweet dipping sauce. The duck was delicious, although I think Asia BBQ may have them beat on the duck alone. As a whole meal, however, Harbor City wins that paring. The brown sauce was amazing and with the additions of their house special hot sauce the lunch box was a definite four chopstick lunch.

Also today I got twin fortunes in my cookie, a first for the MSG150. They were fraternal, thanks for asking. I wonder what the actual rate of twins is in fortune cookies. Maybe the folks up the street at the Tsue Chong fortune cookie factory would know. For the MSG150, so far, it's 1 out of 218 cookies.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Roast Pork with Rice Lunch Box - $5.75
Fortune: You will excel in something in which another failed.
Rating:

Adam's Review

They may look similar, but Fortuna and Harbor City share nothing but a common wall. Whatever I ordered this time, I was damned-well going to make sure it included some of the meeting hanging in the front window (which was my mistake at Fortuna Cafe)

I ordered the Roast (BBQ) Pork... because I knew Geary would order the roast duck (he's so predictable). Geary and I were served quite promptly, in about 5 minutes; the rest of the suckers had to wait upwards of 20 mins. What is the morale of the story? Order the food that is already cooked (and hanging in the window).

The Roast Pork was delicious. The main word that comes to mind is: succulent. It was juicy and flavorful. It was a little salty, but I chalk the use of salt up to an attempt to strengthen my heart. The pork by itself was already delicious, but the nice people at Harbor City decided that they needed to bring us some sauces too. We had 5 different sauces to try from: 2 hot sauces, and 3 tangy sauces. The darker of the hot sauces was awesome. The tomato-ier of the hot sauces is skippable.

If you're in the market for Asian BBQ, and want to try somewhere other than Kau Kau... definitely give this place a try.

Nice atmosphere. Very courteous service. Above average food.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Spicy Twice Cooked Pork with Rice - $5.95
Fortune: You will excel in something in which another failed.
Rating:

Emmett's Review

Another day, another hole in the wall. Harbor City looked very discreet on the outside, but you walk in and it was quite nice on the inside. There is a framed letter from the health department on the counter, basically congratulating the establishment for their cleanliness and professionalism. A good omen! The restaurant was clean, a bit dark, but with nice art on the walls. We took a big round table in the back, which was already set for us. The waitress seemed excited to see us, and was very welcoming and inviting.

On opposite walls they advertised two boards of specials - one pricey, indicating they were more special perhaps? The opposite board was clearly labeled 'lunch specials'. I went with the Spicy Twice Cooked Pork with Rice. It sounded interesting, and twice cooked! Couldn't be bad.

The food came, and the presentation was fanastic - a big steaming plate of pork and veggies, stir fried, along with a big bowl of rice all to myself. I tore into it - it was good. Spicy, salty, fatty, and good. Though tasty, the cuts of pork were super fatty - I was certain they came from the Pork Belly. It was basically a greasy plate of bacon stir fried with veggies. Now I'm all for bacon, but they added too much grease and salt, which got in the way of the flavor of the pork. I tried a bit of Michael's cod, which was tasty, and some of Geary's duck, which was fatty and good, but not fantastic.

The service was awesome, food was slightly above average.

Luncher: Jeff

Lunch: Roast Duck Stir-fry with Rice Stick Noodle - $5.95
Fortune: Your popularity will increase.
Rating:

Jeff's Review

I’d like to give Harbor City a higher rating. However, I have to review based on what I had for lunch, not what others had. I had a Roast Duck stir-fry lunch special. Several other people had roast duck dishes which looked a lot better than mine. It wasn’t that my dish was bad… it was just bland. The portion size was fine. It was fresh and hot. This price was fair. Serve was good. In comparison to some other plates at our table I had less meat, but I can even let that slide. I was simply disappointed in the lack of robust flavor. I tried Michaels fish – excellent. I tried Emmett’s Pork – excellent. I tried some of the sauces on the table – excellent. My own stir-fry plate… average.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Steamed Black Cod with Black Bean Sauce - $5.95
Fortune: You will make someone's heart grow fonder.
Rating:

Michael's Review

So I broke the rules. The MSG150 is supposed to be about ordering 'typical lunch fair'. I had to break the rule when I saw that the specials board had Cod with Black Bean Sauce. So what if it cost three times as much as anything my fellow lunchers was ordering? That just means that my lunch was three times better than every one else. Ha!

Luncher: JohnAt

Lunch: Wonton Noodle Soup - $4.00
Rating:

JohnAt's Review

It's not got the reputation nor the swank confines of its around-the-corner neighbor, Sea Garden, but the BBQ cum Cantonese restaurant does have its charms. I had the remnants of the flu, which called for soup. Ordering by the trusted method of pointing at a man eating soup with noodles at the table beside us, I gulped down a hearty bowl of won ton noodle soup with a healthy portion of shrimp won tons, bok choy, green onions in what seemed to be a homemade beefbone stock and fresh tasting shrimp. It was delicious and just what the doctor ordered. The server, who also was a part owner of the establishment, was just as charming as the food. When I finished the soup, she offered me a second portion free of charge. Considering the size the first, I was not up to the challenge and politely declined. After seeing what several of my friends ate from the dinner menu -- the twice cooked pork and the BBQ duck, I would definitely recommend a return visit. Four Chopsticks.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: Spicy Twice Cooked Pork with Rice - $5.95
Fortune: You will be approached with an interesting proposition.
Rating:

Al's Review

Salty, fatty, and spicy: too much of a good thing is even better.

Harbor City Photos

Harbor City


Meat in Window


Harbor City Lunch Menu


Roast Pork Lunch Box


Roast Duck Lunch Box


Won Ton Noodle Soup


Spicy Twice Cooked Pork w/ Rice


Roast Duck Stir Fry w/ Rice Stick Noodle


Cod with Black Bean Sauce


Fraternal Twins

Lunch #28: Fortuna Cafe

A new MSG150 record today, 11 lunchers, and two were newbies. Welcome Lydia and Jason. We also crossed over to the south side of King and left the well trodden "Miracle Mile" section of our path. We moved into unknown territory today with lunch at Fortuna Cafe. Recon trips had identified it as a meat-in-window Chinese BBQ, but little else was know.

Fortuna Cafe, Seattle
Address: 771 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: Cantonese, Chinese: BBQ
Average rating: 2.8 chopsticks
Lunch date: 2/14/2008 @ 12:05:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 6 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 20 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 65 minutes
Chopstix quality: Cheap Plastic
Do they use MSG?: Yes
Where is the owner/chef from?: Hong Kong
Number of tables: 11
Number of occupied tables: 4 (36%)
Number of business lunch tables: 1 (25%)
Number of "local" tables: 3 (75%)
Healthcode Score: 0
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: BBQ Duck Lunch Box - $4.50
Rating:

Geary's Review

Fortuna Cafe looks pretty typical from the outside, steamed up window with various BBQ'ed meats hanging on one side and a window full of menus and news clippings on the other, however, the inside is unlike anyplace we have been yet. There is a second floor dining room with a balcony that overlooks the entrance and a large chandelier. If there had been wall full of whisky behind the bar instead of BBQ meats and if the round tables near the bar had guys in cowboy hat instead of old Chinese couples, it would have been exactly like a western saloon.

Since there were 11 of us the owner suggested we eat upstairs. Even before we ordered, she showed up at our table with two huge bowls of what she described as Black Eyed Bean soup and served everyone a bowl. The soup consisted of mostly just an opaque tan broth with a few black eyed peas and the occasional mushroom bit. Despite the lack of content, the broth had a simple but rich chicken stock flavor. If was the best part of the meal.

The lunch menu contains a handful of Chinese American standards but they also offer a few lunch sized soups and BBQ Lunch Boxes. I went with the BBQ Duck Lunch Box. As is typical with these small places, the food arrived one at a time, but this place took longer than normal. It doesn't appear that they get very big lunch crowds and are not very equipped to handed them. It's a good thing another group didn't show up while we were there. Luckily for me my lunch arrived near the front of the pack. It consisted of some steamed rice with a brown sauce, a few steamed baby boc choy, and chopped BBQ duck. It all arrived cold. Even the rice and duck were cold! The sauce on the rice had a nice flavor, but it was cold. The boc choy was a over steamed and a bit too wilty for my taste. It was also cold. My serving of duck was cold and even bonier than normal. It would have all be passable if it had been at least lukewarm, but, as I mentioned earlier, it was cold.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: BBQ Duck Sui Kau Noodle Soup - $5.50
Rating:

Emmett's Review

I like rolling deep with my homeboys. Especially to a place called Fortuna. Our crew assembled in the upstairs of a cafe and after an uncomfortable silence where all we could hear was the cleaving of meat, the server/operator/owner came up to take our order.

There were several lunch options, but I was feeling soup. For a little background, I woke up with a little upset tummy after filling up on 24 ounce beers at some Ballard dive and a late night run of Jack in the Box egg rolls. So my stomach, which when presented with the option of Meat in Window, was like "hell no you clown - gimme some soup!" Soup it was. I ordered the BBQ Duck and Sui Kau Noodle Soup.

The broth was tasty, and had little yellow noodles like Mike's. The Sui Kau were flavorful, but not quite as large as Mike's and there were only two of them. The duck was an added treat - it had a really juicy flavor, and was quite good. It fell apart in the soup so I could eat little duck pieces and sip the sweet duck flavor as they marinated in my bowl.

The servers were great, I like the atmosphere. And the other food definitely looked tempting. I'll be back.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Hot Braised Chicken Lunch Special - $4.50
Rating:

Adam's Review

Out to the far corner of the DLZ we went again. I think today's lunch may have been a record-breaker: 11 lunchers. Thats hot

I actually had pretty high hopes for Fortuna. I love the MIW (Meat-in-Window) joints and was looking forward to some good ol' asian BBQ. I ordered the Hot Braised Chicken lunch special thinking it would be from one of the chickens deliciously hanging in the front window... I was wrong. I got chunks of chicken in a spicy gravy, and a plate of white rice. Unfortunately, I didn't really think the sauce on the chicken was good... so that kind of ruined the meal.

The hot sauce looked promising, but ended up being too salty for consumption.

The food is inexpensive. Its also cheap and too salty. Skip at will.

Luncher: Wayne

Lunch: BBQ Pork Fried Rice - $5.75
Rating:

Wayne's Review

It was a tough choice, but I moved off the lunch special menu and chose the BBQ pork fried rice, Always a favorite of mine. I was rewarded with some of the best fried rice I've ever had. The pork was tasty, and the pieces were small. Just how I like them. I'd like to come back and order this dish again.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Hot Braised Chicken Lunch Special - $4.50
Rating:

Michael's Review

Fortuna is a bit of an old run down dive. It was obvious that they weren't geared up to have a dozen of us show up for lunch all at once. And yet they pulled it off.

We wandered upstairs and shoved a couple of tables together. It was nice that we had that section to ourselves. Need a quiet place for a lunch meeting? This could be it.

We started off with two giant bowls of a black eyed bean in pork broth soup. This was a refreshing change from the usual rather boring fair that most of the local places serve. I'm tired of the typical boring hot and sour or egg drop soup. Fortuna's soup was simple, tasty, and different. Bonus points for this.

The understaffed kitchen did a fair job of cranking out the dishes one after the other and they delivered each as it was finished. If you are expecting all the food to arrive at once it's time to get over it.

Most of us ordered standard lunch menu fair. I asked for the Hot Braised Chicken - and received a large plate of rice and chicken cooked in a spicy sauce. The chicken was well cooked and the sauce was just spicy enough. I found the quality of my food to be above average compared to other low cost 'lunch special' fair. And for $4.50 its a great deal.

While this isn't a fine dinning experience it was a pretty great and very cheap place to eat lunch.

Luncher: Rob

Lunch: Soft Tofu Lunch Special - $4.50
Rating:

Rob's Review

I almost didn't go to Fortuna because everyone was referring to it as a MiW place. At the last minute, however, I read an online review that suggested Fortuna served more than just chopped up meat, and so I decided to give it a try. As it turned out, the lunch specials menu had an option for me: Braised tofu or soft tofu. The regular menu had another couple of options, as well. I ended up going with the (soft) lunch special. The soup that comes with lunch wasn't veggie, so I passed on that, but it was different from all the other Chinese lunch soups I've seen -- black-eyed peas and pork. The main dish was fine. Soft tofu, steamed bok choy, a non-congealing and non-bland brown sauce, and white rice. The hot sauce gave it a nice kick. Not bad, not bad at all. A solid three, in my book.

Luncher: Jason

Lunch: Mongolian Beef Lunch Special - $4.50
Rating:

Jason's Review

Good Fortuna was not mine to be had this Valentine’s Thursday in February. Our lunch at Fortuna, a meat-window Chinese restaurant with the requisite open door mop closet in the upstairs dining area, left much to be desired. Granted, this was my first experience joining the MSG150, so perhaps my taste buds have not been dumbed-down enough yet to fully appreciate the distinctly non-descript taste of the black-eyed bean soup (served half into bowls and half directly onto the tabletop) but my Mongolian beef left little room for interpretation. For those who realize the need for protein but prefer the texture of rubber bands, this dish is a must-have. For anyone else, veer away. The mystery meat itself was camouflaged with thick sauce and vegetables were nowhere to be found in the brown mound heaped on top of a big pile of white rice. On the other hand, it was a lot of food for a mere $4.50, the company was charming and the wait staff created an entertaining atmosphere by bringing one item up the stairs at a time and not offering us water until we were pretty much finished with lunch. The dark wood paneling made me nostalgic for the home I grew up in (which has since been condemned.) All in all, I look forward to a bit more variety in future MSG150 lunches.

Luncher: Al

Lunch: BBQ Pork Lunch Box - $4.50
Rating:

Al's Review

Meat in window; lead in stomach.

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Wonton BBQ Duck Noodle Soup - $5.50
Rating:

Luncher: Jared

Lunch: Sweet & Sour Pork Lunch Special - $4.50
Rating:

Luncher: Lydia

Lunch: Sweet & Sour Pork Lunch Special - $4.50
Rating:

Fortuna Cafe Photos

Fortuna Cafe


Fortuna Lunch Specials Menu


Serving Black Eyed Bean Soup


Hot Sauce


Balcony & Chandelier


View from Above


Cold BBQ Duck Lunch Box


BBQ Pork Lunch Box


BBQ Duck Sui Kau Noodle Soup


Wonton BBQ Duck Noodle Soup


BBQ Pork Fried Rice


Soft Tofu Lunch Special


Sweet & Sour Pork Lunch Special


Dueling Spicy Chicken Lunch Specials


Mongolian Beef


Overhead shot 1


Overhead shot 2

Lunch #11: Asia Bar-B-Que

The core MSG150 crew was joined today by three other lunchers as we headed out for an unknown Asian BBQ restaurant we had passed numerous times but had paid little mind. We arrived at the aptly named Asia Bar-B-Que after a short cold walk up Jackson, admired the meat hanging in the window, and then headed in.

Asia Bar-B-Que, Seattle
Address: 655 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104
Cuisine: Chinese: BBQ, Vietnamese
Average rating: 3.2 chopsticks
Lunch date: 12/11/2007 @ 11:50:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 2 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 45 minutes
Chopstix quality: Sliverful Wood
Do they use MSG?: Yes, only a little.
Where is the owner/chef from?: Vietnamese born of Chinese ancestry
Number of tables: 4
Number of occupied tables: 1 (25%)
Number of business lunch tables: 0 (0%)
Number of "local" tables: 1 (100%)
Healthcode Score: 30
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Mixed Pork Bahn Mi, BBQ Duck - $2.75 + $3.00
Rating:

Geary's Review

Asia Bar-B-Que has a variety of BBQ and roasted meats plus some other standards. The typical lunch fare seems to be the "Lunch Box" which is huge and includes fried rice, chow mein, a standard Chinese dish, and a BBQ'ed meat choice. On spotting the sides and other dishes available in the warming trays, I opted for a BBQ'ed only lunch. Because of their Vietnamese roots, they also offer traditional Bahn Mi sandwiches which I have a soft spot for.

They offer two flavors of Bahn Mi, the BBQ pork and the roasted pork. I choose a combination of the two. The meat was delicious but the sandwich was sparse on the other typical Bahn Mi fixings. The roasted pork, while maybe a bit fatty for some, was amazing. The meat was tender and flavorful and the skin had a very satisfying crunch. The BBQ pork was also tender, but a bit salty. I couldn't resist, so I also ordered a small side of BBQ duck and rice. The duck was also very good and also a little salty.

If you stick with the BBQ here you won't go wrong.

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Steamed Rice, BBQ Pork, Duck - $5.65
Rating:

Emmett's Review

After Maxang, Asia Barbeque was a special treat! The space is open, the barbequed duck and pork hangs in the window for all to see. The owner-operators are friendly and polite. I'm wondering how long the meat will hang there before being used for something else? Will we get fed week old meat? The adventure begins.

I ordered last this time, letting my brave cohorts order first. They grab the choice down from the hook, bring out this giant cleaver, and cleave the meat into little pieces, and serve it over your choice of white rice, fried rice, or chow mein. After yesterday's disappointing fried rice, I went with steamed, and got the BBQ Pork and Duck. It was tasty. The pork was flavorful, had a nice spice too it. The duck itself was cold, but fatty and good. I would have preferred if they warmed it up a bit.

For meat and rice, this place is not a bad option. I would consider coming here again to get a meat fix.

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Chow Mein, Kung Pao Chicken, BBQ Pork - $6.00
Rating:

Adam's Review

What I found coolest about this place: the guy that was cutting my BBQ pork chunks was using (what seemed like) a novelty-sized meat cleaver dangerously close to his cleavable fingertips.

This place is light-years better than Maxang, and I'm glad we have that place "in the books" and that we'll never have to go back. Although, I feel kind of bad even mentioning these two restaurants in the same blog post.

The food:

• Chow mein: Standard. I had the lady behind the deli-counter pour some of their BBQ sauce onto my noodles (the lunch was served in the awesomely-insulating styrofoam to-go box). This may have been a mistake because the BBQ sauce ended up being very salty.
• Kung Pao Chicken: Standard. Although it seemed to be missing the tale-tell spicy red peppers (you know, the ones that make you hiccup if you eat one).
• BBQ Pork: This should be one of this places specialties. This is definitely a meat-straunt: there are roasted fowl and other meats hanging in the window of this joint. Anyways, the BBQ Pork was definitely good, but saltier than normal. Other than the saltiness, I'm going to venture and say: This is the best BBQ pork I've ever had

Decent prices. Friendly owner. Delicious BBQ pork. Standard Chinese.

Luncher: Michael

Lunch: Fried Rice, BBQ Duck, Vegies - $6.00
Rating:

Michael's Review

Street Food. Stalls, shacks, and taco trucks. They are no where to be found in Seattle. Is it the rain? Really cheap rent? Or just our thinly disguised overly conservative up tight attitudes? I bet it's those organic food crunching hippy liberal zoning people that are keeping us from our god given right to good BBQ.

Until the revolution when we can line them up against the wall we have places like Asia Bar-B-Que. God bless the glory that is sodium and nitrate infused pink barbequed pig flesh. It makes me hungry just thinking about it.

When you want your meat-on-a-stick and you don't feel like dealing with the hassle of waiters, menus, and waiting for your food you find a place like this. Point at a carcass in the window, watch as they chop it up, and apply the greasy goodness directly to your arteries. Fuck a bunch of sitting around and wasting time. This is the bleak grimy city and I'm fighting a two front war with my intestines and my heart. More greasy duck please.

Luncher: Joey

Lunch: Chow Mein, Steamed Rice, BBQ Pork, Roast Duck - $6.00
Rating:

Luncher: Torrey

Lunch: Chow Mein, Pork in Black Bean Sauce, BBQ Pork - $6.00
Rating:

Asia Bar-B-Que Photos

Asia Bar-B-Que


BBQ Offerings


Menu


Food


Chopping Block


Live Action Chopping Block


BBQ Pork Lunch Box


BBQ Pork & Kung Pao Chicken Lunch Box


BBQ Duck Lunch Box


Mixed Pork Bahn Mi


BBP Duck & BBQ Pork on Rice


Small BBQ Duck on Rice


BBQ Duck Lunch Box with Vegies