Full disclosure — we read about this restaurant in Seattle Eater and we were really excited to visit. Great ambiance and very nice staff. The low score is solely based on the food. The baby beets a salad with silken tofu was acidic and hardly had any beers, and the chutney was stringy. Additionally, menu said it was $15 but inaccurate on bill, charged $16. The sautéed yu choy was bland and flavorless. The pumpkin curry was thick and lacks identity. The ginger rice lacked the complexity as described by the server. Finally, the crispy chicken was bland and dry. I drank copious amounts of water to help hydrate it.
The food was good, but I’ve had better for one third the price.We ordered pumpkin curry. It was already super expensive, but it was the first Asian restaurant I’ve been to that the makes you order rice separately. It was okay. Pork ribs were good, and the mocktail we ordered was decent, but you can see the quantity in the $14 non alcoholic drink that even a 10 year old would think is too less.All in all, considering the ratings and accolades, I’m sure others had better experiences l, but I for sure am not going back.
We had the cumin ribs, chili prawns, crispy duck roll and the rock fish with vermicelli. The cumin ribs were fantastic but the other menus were a bit disappointing. The crispy duck roll wasn’t very crispy and would have been better if it wasn’t so salty. The prawns were okay but 5 small prawns for $17 seemed overpriced. The rock fish was interesting and cooked well, but just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Delicious food and unique cocktails. Not cheap but certainly worth the price for a special meal out. We ordered 2 small plates and 1 large plate for two people and it was enough food. Certainly could have eaten more though. With a cocktail each as well, the meal cost $70 per person after tip.
I had dinner here last night. Service and cocktails were great. The duck spring rolls are absolutely crave-able. I might go back next time for cocktails and the duck rolls alone. I also loved the goat curry main course. Two of my dishes were misses, in my opinion. I love salt but the squash and Yuba salad was way too salty, even for my liking. I also thought the dumplings with mushrooms and crab was Underwhelming. The dumplings were heavy and starchy. I expected a lot more of this dish, especially with the $28 price tag.
Amazing food and great waitstaff. This place was packed on a Saturday night. It offers shareable plates and since we were a party of 4, we ordered a variety of dishes. It was so good that we all thought next time we would not share :). Standout dishes: Sticky Rice Dumplings with Dungeness crab, chanterelles, chives, taro, brown butter-mushroom broth and the Tumeric Rockfish marinated in turmeric and galangal, rice vermicelli, fresh dill, cilantro, mint and peanuts. The chicken was very good, but a bit difficult to cut into pieces to pass around, but we managed. Excellent.
We visited on a Wed night, and didn't have reservations but they had a couple seats at the bar open so we didn't have any wait. Bartender was very friendly and appropriately attentive. We ordered the duck spring rolls, calamari salad, chili cumin pork ribs, and vanilla duck egg custard. The spring rolls were stuffed with very flavorful shredded duck meat and some glass noodles, and the shell had a crispy egg roll wrapper wrapped with rice paper, so yummy! The calamari salad had tons of calamari so worth it in that sense but the dressing was just ok, nothing special. The pork ribs were so so tender, the meat was falling off the bone. And the dry rub was very tasty, not too overwhelming spicy or spice-y. But I think the best thing we ate was the vanilla duck egg custard, though I do have a sweet tooth. It had small bits of pineapple throughout that really freshened it up, and the pastry thing on top was just wow. I like the crispy texture it added to the dessert and it didn't get soggy or anything (though we ate it up pretty quick). Would definitely come back to try some more dishes and get the egg custard again haha.
Get a cocktail from Foreign National next door before your reservation (you don’t need to rush to finish it since you can walk it over!). Service was excellent and every dish we had was delicious. The crab/mushroom dumplings were one of the best flavor combinations we’ve ever had. Also loved the goat curry and ahi crudo.
We had a group of 6 and appreciated the family style dining. The kitchen accommodated larger portions. Highly recommend the duck fresh rolls and goat curry
Small but sumptuous menu. Had rock fish, pumpkin curry and mushroom rolls. Each item was unique. Really good service.