2 Star

Pokérrito Poke Bowl

August 30, 2019

Pokérrito is an acceptable poke restaurant. Think of it as an Asian fast food restaurant. The counter has the staff side and the customer side. Trading money for a bowl of poke is your only interaction. After the trade, you can either take your food to go or enjoy it at the space provided. The dining area seating is limited and modernly uninviting, so don’t stay here for too long. For $12.50, I got a bowl of poke that is high-average but not above average. I’d say it’s equivalent to A&W, so $9.50 – $12 for a combo should be fair. Not recommended if you enjoy no-stress ordering experience. I did not enjoy the ordering ritual at Pokérrito. I noticed most of the Poké places operated by Korean will limit the number of sides you can ask for with your bowl. Pokérrito limits the number of side dish to 2. They also institute extra cost for certain popular sides such as avocado. This was my first time at Pokérrito so I only noticed the extra cost item when I picked them. When the server asked me “this cost 50 cents extra, is that okay?” What was I supposed to say? It is understandable to charge extra for wild salmon, but these petty charges on the sides just feel a cheap shot. I agreed on the extra charge and left paid with a bad aftertaste in my mouth. It would be appreciated if I can have a more relaxing ordering experience.

Chase Tea, John 4:14

August 28, 2019

On the outside of the original milk tea, I see a failed attempt to mimic the trendy brown sugar pearl milk tea. The exterior streaks are crude for marbling. The milk tea tastes quite watery. There is not much taste for either tea or milk. The pearls have acceptable chewiness. Some pearls are stuck together but separate with a light shake. I was disappointed that they used taro powder instead of the fresh stuff. In my defense, the taro milk tea’s location on the menu was a little misleading. It was below Earl Grey Milk Tea, and above Fresh Milk Tea. I didn’t think they would use “Earl Grey” powder or “Fresh” powder, so I assumed “Taro” is also not powder. To be honest, it’s probably my own fault for the assumption.

The Viet Noodle Guy

August 26, 2019

I was wrong about The Viet Noodle Guy. They are not a trendy Vietnamese restaurant. It’s just your typical pho restaurant in a new building that charge you higher price. The poor service is definitely a downside that hit this restaurant hard. After all, why would I pay to be treated like I did if the food did not even attract me that much? For $20 per person, The Viet Noodle Guy is way too costly for what they have to offer. Not recommended.

Hokkaido Butter

August 20, 2019

Hokkaido Butter is really not in the leagues of other famous pre-packaged frozen desserts. The $9.99 package contain 4 ice cream cones inside, so they are $2.50 each. That is pretty expensive. I believe the careless temperature control during transportation ruined my first bite and the waffle texture. I cannot recommend something that is expensive and has low quality.

Yuan’s Chuan Chuan Xiang Hot Pot, Skewers in Hot Pot

August 3, 2019

We ordered some skewers. They were $10 per 10, so $1 per skewer. When I bite into it, the meat doesn’t break off easily. I think they were using the leftover part of the cow. The textures are not consistent. There are bits of pockets of meat among the webs of something really difficult to chew. I was not impressed.

Din Tai Fung Xiao Long Bao

August 2, 2019

It is Din Tai Fung culture to serve pot stickers upside down to showcase the crispy bottom crust. The extravagant thin crisp crust hide the pot stickers underneath. When you eat them, you estimate where pot stickers are and break the crust accordingly. It provides excitement to eating an ordinary dish. Unfortunately for the Din Tai Fung in Seattle, I broke the bottom crust and knew this is not the right stuff. The crust should have been light, fluffy and crispy. This crust was soggy. I could not break it off easily because the top layer of the bottom crust was still wet. This is not cooked properly. The Shrimp and Kurotuba Pork Pot Stickers pot stickers should be soft and juicy to the bite. The real Din Tai Fung’s potstickers should have a bounce and give me a satisfying feeling when biting into them. However, the texture of the pot stickers can only be best described as “wimpy”. I don’t care if it’s Kurotuba Pork or whatever the pork they use. I cannot taste the difference. If you want to use prestige ingredients, customers should be able to differentiate it in the taste. Also something of note, shrimp does not have much texture.

Bing and Noodle World

July 31, 2019

Look at this picture and tell me how thick you think the soup is. Bing and Noodle World’s signature hulu noodle looks like vomit in a bowl. There is a lot of starch added to the soup. All the toppings are chopped to the point that I cannot recognize what they are. The noodles are overcooked, kind of matching the texture of the soup. I honestly cannot tell if I am eating the soup or the noodle. The thick soup does a good job at retaining heat. This bowl of noodle burned my mouth multiple times. Perhaps it’s a good bowl of noodle during Winter, but I did not enjoy it during my visit.
Bing and Noodle World specialize in stuffed pancake, which is the first word of their name “Bing”. You would think they should be very confident in their stuffed pancake to call themselves as such.
To be complete honest, the stuffed pancake is not bad. They have thin and sturdy crust. The filling thickness are easily 3-5 times thicker than the crust. Perhaps it’s the filling I ordered, there is a strong moldy smell to my stuffed pancake. I don’t know what to make of it, but I won’t be ordering this dish again. You are welcome to go and try the moldy pancake.

Happy Tree House BBQ Skewers

July 25, 2019

It is quite ironic to name the restaurant “Happy Tree”. I’d be pretty pissed if I were the trees. Happy Tree House BBQ make very good lamb skewers. Unfortunately, everything else is pure trash. The interior of the space is very noisy, you cannot hear what your friends are saying. The service is not very good, all the staff wants to do is get you to finish so they can serve the next round of customers. Even with these issues, I still see a lot of customers lining up. I cannot justify the $46 per person price point. Not recommended due to high price, bad food, bad atmosphere, and bad service.

Icy Bar, Razor Sharp Icy

July 15, 2019

There is a type of Cantonese restaurants where they serve all kinds of cuisine. First, you see congee, noodle, and BBQ duck meal, the typical Cantonese food, nothing out of the ordinary. Then you start to see the New Zealand rack of lamb and New York sirloin steak with lobster tail. Next page you see Japanese sushi, ramen and curry rice. If you got curious and ordered the sushi, you’ll find out what Chinese infused sushi taste like. Or a bowl of Chiense noodle soup with miso added that is being called “ramen”. Icy Bar dessert shop is like that kind of patchwork restaurants in the dessert world

2 Star

Pokérrito Poke Bowl

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Chase Tea, John 4:14

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The Viet Noodle Guy

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Hokkaido Butter

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Yuan’s Chuan Chuan Xiang Hot Pot, Skewers in Hot Pot

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Din Tai Fung Xiao Long Bao

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Bing and Noodle World

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Happy Tree House BBQ Skewers

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Icy Bar, Razor Sharp Icy

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