I am a business minded person and public speaker and I am amazed at how great mimi's customer…read moreservice is and I love how informational she is with the menu also not to mention how great that food was I am definitely coming back!!

Our family of four visited Rainier Restaurant during our Seattle trip and enjoyed several of their…read morespecialties. The beef ong choy salad had a delicious balance of sweet, sour, and savory flavors, while the sautéed venison with curry and spices was tender and flavorful. The baby clams with crispy rice crackers were savory, spicy, and fun to eat. The crab and fish maw soup was also flavorful, although slightly salty for our preference. The restaurant has an older, cozy atmosphere, and the service was excellent: quick, friendly, and efficient. Overall, we had a wonderful dining experience and would definitely recommend Rainier Restaurant. We look forward to returning!

Long overdue... this is my favorite pho restaurant ... I recommend the short rib pho if you never…read morehad it. The pho here is consistent. So even the baseline is always good and if not good then it's great... I wanted to add this review because I finally got to the point where I've enjoyed so many time that it deserves the devotion Its provided to me.... Pho dac biet or combo without tripe is the new go to if you want a solid bowl with out the extreme level of protein!

the first and still fantastic fresh tasting, broth is full…read moreflavored, not too salty service ok ambiance ok neighborhood is super sketchy, but with the risk

I always come here when it's rainy out or I'm feeling under the weather for a bowl of pho…read more Hands-down still one of the best pho places in town, I'll go out of my way to drive to Crown Hill to eat here or order takeout. It's still a solid spot for me even two years after I first tried it. I normally get the regular pho tai with a cup of jasmine tea (which is only $2)! Service is exceptionally fast and was sat immediately - the staff are very kind. I did not take a picture of it but I ordered a vermicelli bowl with grilled pork and shrimp fresh rolls to go after my visit. They were both very flavorful and I recommend anything off their menu - it's delicious and worth the effort to dine in but not the right place if you want to chit chat and dilly dally. There's plenty of parking outside in the strip mall which shares a lot with QFC. Seating is limited and there are often wait times around peak meal hours, recommend going 1-2hrs off those times to have a better chance at getting sat sooner! 10/10 recommend

If the price was lower, I would probably give it a star. But negative experience started…read moreimmediately after entering. We were figuring out where we going to put a high chair at our table. And the waitress that was seating us seemed annoyed for some reason. Not sure if she meant it or not towards us. But my whole family noticed and found it odd. Waitress who took our order and served our food was fine though! Onto the food, I would definitely say that this is geared towards a different crowd (IYKYK). Wasn't bad, but was not worth the price point IMO. We got the pho sa te, pho Ha Noi, beef salad, pho dac biet, and mango smoothie. In all of our Pho dishes. Our noodles were clumpy and overcooked. Meat was chewy and stringy. Beef salad was extremely sweet. Meat was stringy, chewy, and hard to chew (same as our Pho). Mango smoothie was great! Fresh fruit and consistency was nice and velvety. All in all ok food and ok service. Most likely will not be coming back

Xóm is a modernized Vietnamese restaurant located in Chophouse Row in the Capitol Hill area of…read moreSeattle. Our group of six spontaneously decided to grab dinner at Xóm since it was my birthday weekend! There was a bit of a wait to be seated since we didn't have a reservation, but luckily, we were seated within 30 minutes. We ordered the Xóm Wings (crispy whole chicken wing in garlic butter fish sauce reduction) to share as a group. These were delicious! The crispiness and fish sauce together was excellent. It had me drooling. For my entree, I decided on the Bún Thịt Nướng (choice of chicken or pork, vermicelli, lettuce and herbs, cucumber, picked daikon and carrot, purple cabbage, friend peanut and oiled green onion, and nước chấm). I opted for the pork option because that is always my protein preference with Bún Thịt Nướng. It's always a good sign with Bún Thịt Nướng is served with an eggroll without an extra charge, so loved that! Three of us decided on ordering some of their cocktails, which were fun! We had a great experience at Xóm and I would definitely recommend coming here!

My sister and I stopped in here for dinner on a Tuesday…read more Their menu is Vietnamese with a variety of hearty, creative items. We ordered the: Spring Rolls ($12) - fine Ban Xeo ($18) - big Crepe-like dish, really good, though I was surprised at the scant amount of protein inside Bo Ne ($25) - such a rich dish - I loved using the baguette to sop up the over-easy eggs and pate I suppose the items are on the expensive side for Vietnamese food, but it does feel plated and more high quality than your average pho shop. The ambience inside is earthy, tropical, and beautiful. The staff are nice and the food was prepared promptly.

Overall: 5 stars Fun…read morebrunch joint which is a literal boat built to utilize a triangular plot of land. This place uniquely has an interesting set of Filipino options for brunch, which adds to the diversity of options in Seattle! Waffle and Sago - The most exciting item on their brunch menu with so much going on, with two flavors of waffle, and a warm bowl of coconut sago. I love that the waffle flavors prominently come through and just soaks up the broth to give it that additional tropical complexity. Food: +1 Presentation: E Price: +1 Atmosphere: +1 Service: E Menu: +1 Insta/Yelp/Beli: @amei_eats Insta/TikTok: @ameizing.race

Went with some friends for the first time and what a memorable experience. The food was delicious…read moreand the cocktail was a new experience. My cocktail was a pho broth washed shot of Jameson and it came with a pho broth chaser. Hope I got that right but I almost don't wanna drink Jameson any other way now. The parking lot was packed but there's a paid parking lot around corner so no problem. It looked packed but I think a lot of people were at the larger pho Bac sup shop (which is associated w The Boat, but The Boat had plenty of seating at 6:30 on a Sunday night. I think what I appreciated most was the service- we had a person who seated us and answered questions about the menu- my partner has some preferences and shared them with the first server but then the second server came by and already knew what my partner had shared with the first server. That's real dedication. Definitely coming back.

i have gone to tamarind tree countless times in the past and haven't been there in at least a year…read moreor more. we went for lunch and i was used to it being packed with people who work on pill hill or the i.d. but surprisingly, it was quite empty with only a handful of tables occupied. is that due to the razed building in front of where tamarind tree is located or the precarious/sketchy nature of the main corner of little saigon at 12th and jackson? either way there we're noticeably less people eating during prime lunch hours. the food was exactly the same quality and presentation i remembered. it came out relatively quickly and tasted good. i visited the bathroom at the end of our meal and this was where the noticeable difference was: it just looks run down and shoddy. it was clean but definitely not maintained well over the years. in general, tamarind tree used to be such a popular place to eat. it will still be a place i'll go but my overall impression is that it isn't what it used to be; it's seen better days.

Came with a friend to try some Vietnamese dishes that are a bit more challenging to find in NYC and…read moreit hit the spot! It's a bit pricey for the portions, but overall we enjoyed our meal and I really liked trying dishes beyond the typical spring roll/pho/rice place. Here's what we ordered: - Baby clams with rice cracker: Generous portion of clams, paired nicely with the crunchy cracker. - Braised fish pot: Make sure you eat this with rice as it can be a bit on the salty side, but super flavorful. - Tamarind tree soup: A great combination of sweet and sour with lots of veggies. Wish there was more protein. It's located in a bit of a sketchy mall, but it's one of the nicer restaurants located within the mall. The food took a longer than we were expecting, service was a bit more short, but overall it's a nicer sit-down Vietnamese restaurant in the area!

Lotus Pond Vietnamese Cuisine is one of those places that does not look impressive from the…read moreoutside, but the food is amazing. It has that hole-in-the-wall feel off Aurora, but honestly, this is some of the best Vietnamese food I have ever had. I am Vietnamese myself, and I have been looking for months, really years, for a Vietnamese restaurant in the Seattle area that actually feels worth coming back to. A lot of places have been average, or they have dishes like bún riêu or bún bò Huế on the menu but do not really do them well. Lotus Pond does. I tried the bún riêu and the bò né with steak and sizzling eggs, and both were delicious. My friend got the seafood pho and loved it too. Everything tasted like someone actually cared about the food, and I really appreciated seeing menu items that you usually have to search far and wide for, or go somewhere like Orange County or Houston to find done properly. The only downside is that it is definitely on the expensive side, but I will absolutely be coming back. The outside may not be flashy, but the food is seriously worth it.

This place was briefly blowing up my IG feeds in small intervals, so I had it on my list sometime…read moreearly last year. Fast forward a year later to a Sunday at 12:30pm and I finally made the long drive here without going through Aurora Ave since my GPS randomly decided to give my road rage some grace. This place has plenty parking around the perimeter, so it was easy settling in. Only confusion was finding the entrance to this place, but when I did I was actually surprised where I was stepping into. Inside is laid back and cool with plenty of seating for groups of various sizes. There's tables and booths, and I got booth seating for myself when I walked in. There's a TV playing sports nearby where I was, and Vietnamese pop music was playing in the background too. Menu consists of regular foods in most Vietnamese restaurants, though their provincial noodle soups and banh mi sandwiches caught my eye. They even have bún măng vịt (duck and bamboo shoot noodle soup), my favorite that I gotta try next time I come here! From my IG feeds and as a starting point, I got their bánh mì thịt heo nướng (grilled pork Vietnamese sandwich), which comes with all the works of a regular banh mi sandwich, though I was kinda surprised how brightly orange the grilled pork was. Regardless, it was tasty and the meat was juicy. The pork pate added a nice savory touch to the sandwich, and no other condiment was in excess that it took away taste from the flavorful grilled pork. Staff was very kind throughout, and refilled my water every now and then. It was also nice chatting with one of them about our day and other recommendations from the menu. There's so much to have on their menu so I need to make the drive here again to have more of their stuff!

We must have been here ~ 30 times. The University Village location is also great…read more The food is amazing. They really have elevated Saigon street food. The Crab noodles (& ask for an order of their chilly oil to go with it), the Garlic butter prawns - i do think that one needs a better name, the highlight is the sweet and tangy, spicy tamarind dip, and the Chinese donut, which is unlike any donut you would have had. Some of my favorites - the Com Ga Hoy An, Crispy Pork Belly. Cocktails are great - Asian inspired, spicy, tangy. The service has always been friendly and great. Great for a casual lunch and dinner. They're open till late in the night. Often our place to go for dinner after a show.

I still love the food at the original Ba Bar 10 years after my first review. When I need a super…read moretasty, comfort meal to make me feel good, I order the Bun Cha Ca La Vong, the rice vermicelli with Washington Rockfish. It is one of my favorite restaurant dishes in Seattle and it hits every single time. It includes fried rockfish with tumeric, fresh dill, green onions, fried shallots, an Imperial Roll (yes!), fresh mint, basil, lettuce, cucumber, pickled vegetables on a bed of rice vermicelli. *Chef's kiss!* This Ba Bar has A/C (a beautiful thing in Seattle), free and paid street parking nearby, and a nice, low lights vibe. Service the last three times I went was good--friendly and efficient. They also have an excellent happy hour if you drink and like wings and such. If I lived closer, I'd probably go there all the time, but I don't, so I go whenever I'm in the Capitol Hill/First Hill area around lunch or dinner time. The only thing I don't like is they charge for takeout boxes. I think last time I ordered a pretty big order for myself and friends, I was charged 3%. Not cool. But that's the only beef I have with Ba Bar. NOTE: The pics below are from my review 10 years ago. Sorry I don't have any recent pics. Alas, they no longer offer the catfish or the beautiful, layered cronut. Tears.

We walked in for happy hour and walked out with a happy belly…read more The vibe is pretty casual with moody lighting and retro photos on the wall. We sat near the patio for fresh air and better acoustics so it wasn't hard to hear each other talk. Food wise, we did half dozen oysters with house hot sauce (yum!), hollow bread, shrimp toast, chicken bite and mini donuts, duck egg custards, and fish and chips. Dessert was coffee and pomelo entremet (fancy). I will definitely do shrimp toast again and try some other dishes next time. Drinks are pretty but not super memorable. I enjoyed the service that's warm attentive but not over bearing. Overall lovely date night spots and solid happy hour food menu.

Honestly this has been one of our favorite dinner date experiences in Seattle this year!…read more Food blew our mind! Especially the appetizers! We loved the hollow bread, clams, and the egg! The noodles were tasty but we felt didn't quite fit the flavor palate. The pork was honestly a bit on the salty side. We ended our night with their scallion cake which was tasty! Service was friendly and wonderful to start but we noticed by the end of the night they kind of forgot about us and it took quite a while to order dessert and get our check to leave. That was a tiny bummer for the overall experience but we really love this spot and will continue to recommend it! Especially for the appetizers!

My mom has been wanting to come back here for a longg time so we finally went after visiting the…read moretemple around the corner. It was her second time but my first. I can't say it was anything super special but it was definitely worth a try. Food & drink: (4/5) There are for sure certain items that they excel at and some that need some work. We got the banh uot tower with heo quay, banh khot, banh mi chao, and com tam. I see the appeal of the eye catching banh uot tower, but unfortunately I felt like it was very mediocre. I felt like the portion of veggie and meat wasn't enough for all the rice rolls, plus the actual heo quay was dry with barely any crispy skin. I think they also forgot to give us the heo quay because we had to ask for it much after the banh uot came out. I would skip this next time. I would also skip the banh khot as it was on the softer, chewier side when my personal preference is light and crispy. Those who do like it soft will definitely enjoy it though. As for flavor, it had an extremely prominent coconut taste- it usually isn't so strong in banh khot so I wasn't so fond of this. My family did really enjoy the com tam and banh mi chao. I only had one bite of each, but I would get these items again. Their drinks on the other hand, were delightful. I got the tamarind black tea and my step dad got the lychee green tea. Both were super refreshing and even addicting. I think they tend to do sweet items better, including their rice crispy treats that they sell on the front counter. Service: (4/5) The service here didn't really stand out much but I didn't pay much mind to it. They were very nice but there was a sense of disorganization, mostly due to us not being acknowledged when we first walked in and having some of our food forgotten about.

I've been wanting to try this place for a while now, so I was a little let down, which was…read moreunfortunate because I was really looking forward to it. I ordered the stir-fry egg noodles, which were very good, but not worth the price. I also ordered the Pandan Vietnamese coffee, which was excellent. I definitely recommend that. Something I didn't enjoy was the service. There really wasn't much service at all. We walked in and were pointed to a table with menus, but there were no utensils or water. We had to struggle to get the staff's attention whenever we needed something for the table, so that's definitely a one-star experience for me. Fortunately, the ambiance was great. It's a very nicely decorated place, so I guess they have that going for them. Will I be coming back? For the coffee, yes. For the food, no. For the service, absolutely not. Anyway, I'm glad I tried it.