Landmark: Uwajimaya Village, Seattle

Uwajimaya Village is a large, modern Asian grocery store plus a food court, and mini-mall in the heart of Seattle's China Town International District. (It's really more the shoulder than the heart.) Uwajimaya is a small regional chain with two other stores, one in Bellevue and one in Beaverton, Oregon, but Seattle is the flagship. It is billed as a "Village" because not only does it supply all of the staples of life, but it is all built under two to five stories of condominiums/apartments.

The selection at Uwajimaya leans to the Japanese side of the continent with every imaginable type of Hello Kitty branded food. In addition to the Hello Kitty pizza rolls, they have an amazing selection of seafood, vegetables, and other local & imported Asian foods. Their live fish, crab, and oyster displays are the largest I have ever seen.

As we ate our way through the 10 restaurants in the food court, we took time each visit to wander the aisles of the grocery store looking for interesting snacks. My favorite sections are the seafood, the hot sauces, and the snack foods. Oh, and also the vegetables and the candy. There's some neat stuff in the frozen foods section too. If you're in the area, be sure to leave some time to stop by and wander the aisles. It's a nice way to take a little Asian journey with out getting to far from home.

Uwajimaya Food Court

As you may know our mission at MSG150 is to eat lunch at all of the restaurants in Seattle's International District. Last week we ate at the last of the ten lunch spots in Uwajimaya's Food Court and just for you, we have summarized them all below:

Samurai Noodle

Cuisine: Japanese
Average Chopstick Rating: 3.6
MSG150 Lunch #16: Samurai Noodle

Shilla Korean BBQ

Cuisine: Korean: BBQ
Average Chopstick Rating: 3.6
MSG150 Lunch #34: Shilla Korean BBQ

Aloha Plates

Cuisine: Hawaiian: BBQ
Average Chopstick Rating: 3.3
MSG150 Lunch #35: Aloha Plates

Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order

Cuisine: Chinese: BBQ, Japanese: Noodles
Average Chopstick Rating: 3
MSG150 Lunch #32: Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order

Uwajimaya - Steam Table

Cuisine: Chinese
Average Chopstick Rating: 2.8
MSG150 Lunch #33: Uwajimaya - Steam Table

Saigon Bistro

Cuisine: Vietnamese
Average Chopstick Rating: 2.7
MSG150 Lunch #36: Saigon Bistro

Thai Place

Cuisine: Thai
Average Chopstick Rating: 2.6
MSG150 Lunch #38: Thai Place

Noodle Zen

Cuisine: Japanese, Thai, Noodles
Average Chopstick Rating: 2.4
MSG150 Lunch #37: Noodle Zen

Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo

Cuisine: Japanese
Average Chopstick Rating: 2.1
MSG150 Lunch #31: Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo

Herfy's Burgers, #9

Cuisine: American: Burgers
Average Chopstick Rating: 2
MSG150 Lunch #17: Herfy's Burgers, #9

Uwajimaya Photos

Uwajimaya Village front entrance


Uwajimaya Village NW entrance


Uwajimaya Food Court (UFC)


Uwajimaya Listings


UFC


Honeymoon Tea


Yummy House Bakery


Veggies


Veggies


Greens


Teapots


Seafood Counter


Crabs & Oysters


Tilapia


Sake


Hot Sauces


Kimchi, etc.


Samurai Noodle


Shilla Korean BBQ


Aloha Plates


Uwajimaya - Cooked To Order


Uwajimaya - Steam Table


Saigon Bistro


Thai Place


Noodle Zen


Uwajimaya - Chef Kenzo


Herfy's Burgers, #9

3/25/08 - fixed typos

Landmark: Historic Chinatown Gate

A group of ID business folks formed the Historic Chinatown Gate Foundation with the goal of building a Chinatown Gate for Seattle's International District. Construction started in 2006 and was finalized last week. The unveiling was Saturday as part of the Chinese New Years celebration. According to the PI, the archway cost $500,000 to build and the HCGF has set aside $50,000 a year for maintenance (graffiti and bird crap removal).

The MSG150 crew has passed under and around the gate for the last year during its construction. It's good to see some rejuvenation in the area. However, it's a shame that such a fantastic structure is surrounded by vice and decay. Maybe the gate will encourage the building owners on either side to step it up a bit. The city might be encourage to fill a few pot holes as well. Maybe they're maintaining one section of street undisturbed since it was built by the original Chinatown settlers. I hope there weren't any twisted dragon dancer ankles during the celebrations on Saturday.

Historic Chinatown Gate in the News

• Seattle PI - http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/346306_gate07.html
• NY Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/us/06seattle.html
• NW Asian Weekly - http://www.nwasianweekly.com/20062918/chinatown20062918.htm

Historic Chinatown Gate Photos

Historic Chinatown Gage with Scaffolding


HCG with Scaffolding removed


The pot holes really accentuate the beauty of the new gate


HCG preparing for unveiling


Adding Feet


Official Looking Inspection


HCG Man-lift Action

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

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