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Category: Asian Fusion [Edit]
Neighborhood: Phinney RidgeMon-Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Yummy! Finally someone who delivers Thai food!!! It was really good, not too greasy and HUGE portions! Only I was really hungry and it took an hour , but hey... I didn't have to go anywhere!
We ordered phad thai and curry chicken.
I can't wait to try more dishes from them!
Finding a good chinese take-out place can often be a difficult task. When you're moving to a new neighborhood, it's one of the first things you need to line up: just behind turning on the electricity and just ahead of updating your address for the junk mail. It also can be a challenge separating good from bad chinese/thai places: how do you tell the difference between a place called China Food and Thai ToGo?
So, along those lines Chef Liao's hits pretty much in the middle of the asian-themed restaurants. The menu includes a mix of both Thai and Chinese dishes, so you can cover both your Thai and Chinese food takeout needs with one place. It's like a takeout food supermarket!
There's also a small space for dining in: most recently I had the lunch special with cashew nut chicken, rice, egg roll, hot and sour soup and tea. The cashew chicken is reasonable, although fairly bland. There's not much of a sauce involved with this and it's a bit uninspired. Then again, it's not an inspired order on my part, so I should share part of the blame. The egg rolls and soup were fine and the tea is perfect for a rainy Northwest winter day. The best part? A total bill of just over $12 for two people.
And my fortune cookie summed it up best: "You will have a very pleasant experience." How prescient.
This place is great for local office lunch delivery. Timely and they don't mess up the order. The English is broken so be prepared to have your order formulated in very distinct quantities and menu #'s.
The pot stickers are amazing.
I've dined in a couple times for dinner. Its a family establishment so you'll probably be served by a high school student with braces who prefers their mobile device over personal service but I'm easy to please if I get what I ordered in a timely manner.
I like supporting working families.
Oh! And the music in the dining room is crazy cool. It definitely transports me out of my usual mood.
I've never actually eaten in the restaurant, but I've done delivery and takeout from Chef Liao and have yet to be disappointed. Well, they forgot the fortune cookies last night, but I really don't need the extra carbs anyway.
The food is flavorful and fresh. I've never detected any canned ingredients that should be fresh, and it's never greasy like many Chinese joints tend to be. And if you like spicy, they'll make it spicy. In fact, I'm enjoying some leftover Black Bean Chicken as I compose this review and my mouth is happily simmering in the burn of properly spiced (for me) Chinese food.
For the money, the portions are very substantial. You could order a single appetizer and entree and feed two typical people easily, or get an entree for yourself and you'll have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. For example, last night I got egg rolls, the black bean chicken, and steamed rice for only $13. That satisfied my dinner-sized appetite yesterday and more than adequately addressed my lunch needs today.
My only beef with Chef Liao is that you have to spend at least $18 to get free delivery. While you'll easily hit that with dinner for more than one person, it's very difficult to spend that much by yourself. Since my wife isn't into Chinese food, that means I have to make the trek to the restaurant for takeout most of the time. I've never inquired about a delivery charge for orders under $18 but in all honesty, if the minimum was $15 I'd probably spring for a more expensive appetizer or entree just to save myself the hassle.
I don't eat a lot of Chinese food these days but when I get the urge, even though there are much closer restaurants, Chef Liao is the no-brainer.
Chef Liao serves pretty standard take-out. I've yet to have anything that I've disliked, and I've yet to be amazed by anything as well. I was spoiled by Lee's Asian while living in West Seattle, so that may be why I'm not quite as enthused as some previous reviewers about food quality.
That being said, this is the only place near my house in Ballard from which I order take-out. I typically get the Kung-Pao chicken which can actually be made spicy enough for my discerning tastebuds (or lack thereof). If you're ordering pork or chicken-fried rice to accompany your dinner (as they don't come with any rice by default), you really only need one order to satisfy two people.
Pros: Inexpensive, good vegetarian options, variable spice level. It was fine for a quick casual bite before a concert, where the objective was to get food in and get going. The food was solid, fine, nothing greasy, more carrots in everything than I personally prefer but who knows? Maybe it's your thing.
Cons: Indifferent service, sticky tables, uncomfortable chairs, and a general dinginess. Our server got impatient with us when we asked for more water.
Overall, it's a reasonably okay neighborhood spot.
Chef Liao is not consistent. Sometimes, the food is quite edible. Other times, the food tastes as if it has sat in a freezer for too long. The only consistencies here are that they use MSG and that the meat almost always has chunks of bone and tendon attached. Very low-quality ingredients.
It's not terrible, but there's no reason to dine here when such a better (and more deserving) establishment is just a few miles away (Twins Garden Restaurant, on 99 - which is deservedly 'gourmet', for a similar price).
Sorry, Chef Liao. You're going to have to step it up to win me back.
Chef Liao's is, to date, the only decent Chinese food I've eaten in Seattle. Granted, I've only… Read more »
It's been a while since I ate here, but I'd always liked them in the past, so when Saturday afternoon found me with a hangry feelin' in mah belly, I ordered some food from Chef Liao.
I had some Phad Thai since I skipped it last time I ordered out, plus it is always a good gauge of "asian" food. It turns out that CL requires that you order a minimum of $18 worth of food, so we bumped our meal sizes up from lunch to dinner. Still it came out to only $17, but they still agreed to deliver it (and well they should, we were only about 7 blocks away the time - but no, I wasn't able to go get it!)
The dinner size is huge - so huge that I stuffed myself, and still ate only half of it! The other half was lunch another day, so it was well worth the price. While this wasn't the best Phad Thai I've ever had, it was far from the worst! I actually found it to be quite good. It was well on the spicy side of two stars, which was just fine with me, since I don't think it stepped over the line into 3.
Plenty of ground peanut on top, and a big wedge of line on the side, what more could you ask for?
I have not yet found a good all-around Chinese restaurant in Seattle until now. Some places like Szechuan Noodle Bowl & Mike's in Chinatown, are good for noodles, but I haven't found a place that's good for regular food until found Chef Liao's.
My four star review is based on the lack of substitutes in this category, not because this place is on the same level as restaurants in Hong Kong or Vancouver.
We came here on a rainy Saturday night, after balking at the crowd at Red Mill. I'm normally wary of pan-Asian places since they tend to do injustice to every cuisine, but we were hungry and not in the mood to wait. The menu was really extensive with Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai dishes. We decided to stick with the Chinese section since the restaurant's run by Chinese people.
We were basically their only table for awhile (guess they do a lot of take-out/delivery business) but they were still pretty slow with taking our order. We decided on curry fried rice with chicken and the salt & pepper tofu. The portions were massive! The curry fried rice was really good, flavourful, al dente, and full of tender chicken, peas, and pineapple. Though I was slightly skeptical when I saw how pale the fried tofu was, I was pleasantly surprised to find it crispy, salty, and peppery - just as it should be.
We managed to finish everything, left stuffed and happy, and not too much poorer. We'll definitely be back!
Best Three Dishes IMO
3. Pad Thai
2. Spicy Thai Cashew Nut
1. Spicy Szechuan Soup
Chef Liao's is a place I like to go that is close to home and cheap. The food is decent, and the pot… Read more »
This is a local secret I think. I don't normally like Chinese food, but this is the bee knees. Salt and Pepper Tofu is where it is at. Little slices of jalapeno and basil with a light breading on the tofu. So good. You can't come here and not get the pot stickers. It's almost not fair to call them pot stickers since they are in a whole other league of quality and flavor explosion.
If you don't know, now ya now
Well, we've since moved to Edmonds and we really miss getting delivery from this place! Kevin, the jovial delivery guy, Kelly, who answers the phone, and the rest of the family who run the place have become like good neighbors! Chef Liao even celebrated the birth of our son with gifts and cards from the family. Amazing! This place rocks!
Yes, you can eat at Chef Liao, the restaurant. But this is THE BEST DELIVERY PLACE in all the land… Read more »
Yum! a really good find. I am not sure why we stopped here in the first place a couple years ago but I am happy we did. I have tried quite a few things on their menu but my all time favorite was the Yummy Yam Fish. When it came out I was a bit disappointed because the Yams were not nice fresh chunks but instead the fries they use for their appetizer but after I dug in I was not disappointed. The fish was so tender and the sauce is amazing.
I also really liked their honey walnut prawns, I thought they might be too sweet but that was not the case, it was perfect.
Entrees are big enough to share, I could never finish one myself. Sometimes when I want a light meal I just order a couple appetizers. I have not found a bad appetizer yet.
I think my husband and I are the only ones that dine at the counter by the kitchen, they always make room for us there when they see us come in and everyone is really nice.
We ordered take out once and the Chef himself delivered food to our door!
I stumbled on to something good, on this cold night. I ordered a 1/2 pot of hot and sour soup. it was very good and with just a bit more vinegar it would have been really delicious. I was more than impressed with the honey walnut prawns. My god, they were huge, must been a 16/20 per pound count, and there were about nine or ten on my plate. The food was very well prepared and I was very impressed. 11/18 Tonight, I decided to try Chef Liao again... Potstickers and curried Prawns... Doesn't that sound good! It was! I'm impressed with the quality of the ingredients, and their preparation. The only shortcoming...I like my food spicy hot. At Chef Liao, they heat it up with chili flakes, lots and lots of chili flakes. Personally, I prefer that they use chili oil or whole chilis... Still the Prawns were were really delicious!
The food was okay, and the portion sizes are huge. They use a lot of fresh veggies, which is great.
however, they use tons of corn starch to make everything have a thick and slimy sauce.
And I cannot get a clear answer from the people working there on whether the tofu/veggie dishes are actually vegetarian or not...that alone will keep me from ordering again.
i'll tack another 4-star review on this one just incase you have yet to realize that when 90% of the reviews are 4star reviews, that the joint is probably a 4star joint.
I've eaten here a few times, and have really enjoyed it each time. Good take-out, large portions, and super flavorful. So far, my personal favorite is the black bean chicken chow fun. don't eat it if you're trying to watch your weight though. oof. veer away from the thai dishes...the chinese ones are far superior.
This is our favorite take out. They have Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai dishes, so everyone can find something they like. A little pad thai, a little chow foon, a little tofu spinach soup... and I love their Vietnamese lemongrass tofu and rice noodle salad bowl.
Their employees and delivery people are always, always very nice. And we just noticed on our last delivery that they have switched from styrofoam containers to a combination of biodegradable and recyclable boxes. Excellent work! Mr Betsey S also thinks they have a new chef and he approves big time. The spiciness has gone up with this new chef, so you may have to adjust your usual star level.
Chef Liao is probably the ONLY place in Seattle (or probably even Washington state) that is more than happy to make General Tso using naked chicken (no breading/covering). I *LOVE* General Tso but everybody breads their chicken and when it's served with the sauce, it gets too soggy. When I first stopped by Chef Liao and inquired about their General Tso, I was bummed that it was breaded, but they said they could make it without.
They instantly became my favorite chinese restaurant.
Their Crab rangoons is quite excellent as well.
Excellent customer service (The chefs knows us by sight) and you can sit right up at the counter and watch them cook which is always a fun bonus.
Very good chinese. I think it's the best in N. Seattle. I love the honey walnut prawns, the green beans, and the potstickers. Friendly service & good value for the portion size.
I've never seen or heard a rat in their building and I've been in numerous times, but I'm pretty sure the health department would shut them down if they did have rats.
Anyway. They always make me laugh when I go in, "you want two half star spicy!" they remember, I like that. Food is served up fast and hot. Lunch special prices are cheap. I'm not a fan of any sort of Asian food, Chinese, Sushi, Thai, Pho, none of it, but this is a good cold, rainy weather treat on occasion for me.Not overly greasy, which can happen at different establishments. I don't get cravings for their stuff, but it's not bad either.
Oh..
I was disappointed.
I believe they're only good at Chinese food, NOT Thai food.
I'm very expert at Thai food (yes I'm addicted to it!!!)
and their phad thai was just...enough to make me disappointed.
I've lived in Seattle over 10 years and never satisfied with any Chinese restaurants. I had Chef Liao's Grilled beef with garlic noodle, General Tao's chicken, and Shrimp broccoli and impressed with their Grilled beef dish. I'm bookmarking this restaurant on my iphone and will order for delivery again.
The lightest, fluffiest non-greasiest fried rice I have EVER had ANYwhere, delectable eggplant with black bean sauce, yam fries with an exotic yogurty dip, and enough leftovers to feed us for days. Big portions, fresh, fun and awesome. No need to go to Vancouver for great Chinese anymore. And such a good value for the money.
Well whatevah! Asian fusion or call it Pan-Asian, just make sure it's fresh, hot and tasty. Oh you do that? Well then why am I bitching about nuthin at all!
Very excellent Honey Walnut Prawns here, as was the Orange beef with it's light crispiness. The Mongolian Beef was very tender and the child LOVED it! Hmmm she's never had seconds of my Mongolian Beef. Oh right, I don't cook that! I skipped the tofu pad thai as I'm not a fan of pad thai in general (gasp! shock! oh shaddup) but everyone else had generous helpings and finished them, again the child ate all her noodles but left the rather large triangle of fried tofu to languish in neglect on her plate as she asked for more Mongolian Beef. I love my meat-eating child.
The General Tao's chicken was yummy but a bit more "candy" coating then I like on any meat I eat so as it cooled it was as unedible.
Initally the service was ... obtrusive for lack of a better word. We ordered the egg drop soup which came in a huge tureen so everyone had a bowl, which the server divvies out at the table. But when they brought everything to the table, the server said "excuse me" to me in such a way as to only mean "move". I scooted my chair over so she could stand close to the table. This annoyed me tremendously but no one else at the table seemed to notice. I then noticed that our server was indeed a mere slip of a girl, probably 14 with her black nail polish peeling and her hair hanging in her face. Family member? Most likely so I let it go because she was attentive, got our order right, and smiled often.
Plus they deliver! Woohoo!
The food is decent but what's really great is they deliver (for FREE with a $15 minimum) and I'm all about being lazy after a long day at the office. It's Asian fusion so don't expect anything to be particularly wonderful but everything is good enough and nothing I've order has ever been bad.
If you're wondering about the actual restaurant, you should read another review because this place and me are all about delivery.
How much do I love you? So much so that I'm listing the menu right here online for you so you can order any time you like without making the hostess on the other end of the phone list out every single item available on their menu.
http://theflees.com/ci...
http://theflees.com/ci...
Also, I'm pretty sure she'd just hang up on you if you didn't know exactly what you were about to order. Thank me later.
Used to go here with friends from work when I had a route in the area; great lunch menu and prices. The staff is friendly and the chefs serve up very generous portions. A favorite of mine was their phad thai as well as their potstickers; their hot and sour soup is good as well... this list could go on and on.
Never had a bad meal, always left full and happy, also always surprised at how little everything cost. Very good food if you're on a budget and even if you're not!
We started ordering here b/c it's literally a hop, skip, and a jump from our house. We just wanted local chinese food and Chef Liao was there: DONE!
But it ended up being really good and we order from there every time we're feeling the asian bug!
I have to say it's kinda pricey as far as asian delivery, but what isn't expensive now days? Seems like food prices are just going up up up!
We've also asked for a menu with our food everytime we've ordered (we just order our generic favorites and assume that every place has the same crap) and they never remember to bring one... great attention to detail, huh?
Nah, not trying to give this place a thumbs down at all. It's good delivery.
*Inventive dishes, created from high-quality fresh ingredients using classic techniques. Nicely presented at very reasonable price$. You can also get skilled versions of the usual "Chinese restaurant" stand-bys.
*Try the Yummy Yam Fish or Honey Walnut Prawns or any of the chef's other specialties. The pot stickers are terrific.
*Clean, comfortable, unpretentious, slightly-kitschy setting.
*Snag one of several stools at the counter that looks into the open kitchen. Chef Liao is a genially talkative host- it's interesting to chat about his delight in his cuisine while watching him prepare it.
Great pan-Asian, delivered. The grilled beef & garlic noodle is great for carnivores who don't mind people eating off their plates. Pot stickers good as promised. Delivered. Oh yes, dee-livered. In my neighborhood!
We've never eaten in. Curiously, we've never been given a menu with our order either.
I have never dined in the restaurant, but I have been ordering food for delivery from Chef Liao since it first opened and they mailed me a menu. They are programmed in my cell phone. Daughter answers the phone, mom and dad are hard at work in the kitchen, and son makes the deliveries. I have never waited longer than thirty minutes for my meal.
The menu is somewhat hit-and-miss. For example, the Phad Thai is dismal, and any dish with shellfish is not very good. BUT! You cannot go wrong with the beef and garlic noodle, and the crispy walnut prawns.
The beef with garlic noodle comes with two long and large strips of beef that have been marinated and tenderized to perfection. The meat is so moist and flavorful. Toss the container of garlic sauce over the noodles, and you will be in heaven. The meal is enough for two.
The crispy walnut prawns are perfect - crispy, slathered in that sweet mayo, and surrounded by crunchy and carmelized walnuts. It is a VERY rich meal that should be mixed with another dish.
Both of those items are from the speciality section of the menu, and I recommend that you stick to the speciality offerings.
I haven't tried the potstickers, but given the reviews here I'll add them to my next delivery!
This is my favorite take out place. The lunch special is awesome; I usually get phad thai lunch special and it comes with an egg role, a scoop of rice, a bowl of soup and of course phad thai for 5 dollars~ most of time i just save rice for dinner because phad thai itself is already too much for me. But the best menu here is spicy lemon chicken. YUMMY! The employees are really nice and friendly.
Yummy! I was impressed that delivery potstickers and orange beef could be so good; usually those things are best fresh off the heat, but these traveled very well.
Their spiciness ratings are the way I like it too - 4 stars brings the heat, and 5 stars makes my scalp sweat. (That's a good thing! I hate it when a "5-star" order comes out just kinda spicy.)
Will definitely be ordering again and again and again.
For people who don't have a menu - their website http://www.chefliao.com has a copy of their delivery/takeout menu on it.
Chef Liao Asian Fusion Cuisine is delicious. Americanized Asian food, in particular Chinese food, can make you shit funny because of all the MSG and grease. Chef Liao is a master. This food is top notch. If they use MSG, it doesn't cause me any duress and the grease factor is low. Everything I've ordered has been kick-ass. Honey walnut prawns, mo shu vegetables, vegetarian chow mein, vegetarian hot and sour soup (they made it veggie for us -- good cooks and nice, to boot), Yakisoba with tofu, egg rolls -- all have been excellent, and even the yam fries with Chinese five spice (maybe?) dipping sauce were tasty. Plus, they deliver. I was so god damn hungover the other day I thought I could feel my liver pressing against my ribcage. The idea of pizza made me vurp a little in mouth and the thought of any more Thai food mad me want to weep. I knew I couldn't leave the house, so I decided to try this bad mamma jamma, and I'm glad I did.
When it comes to Asian food, I am pretty much a Thai food girl, but Chef Liao is reminding me how much I like Chinese food. I've lived down the hill from this place for a couple of years now and was always skeptical of its quality because I never see anyone in the restaurant, that was until I was informed that this place does a huge take-out/delivery business. So my husband and I decided to pop in one afternoon while on a walk through the hood. Not only was the food great, but the price was right too (they definitely don't skimp on the food either). Black Bean chicken and veggie egg rolls are the faves, oh and the fact that they deliver for a $15 minimum makes this one of our favorite take out joints.
by asian fusion, you mean really bad (or americanized) chinese food. There's too much cornstarch in their sauces. If you're going to try something here, try something that isn't Chinese based. The only thing I got that was 'ok' was thai inspired pad see yew (I think that was it). It wasn't very flavorful, and I had to 'doctor' it at home to make it better.
I've only eaten here once, and I had a really good dumpling noodle soup. The noodles were thin and cooked to a pleasant, firm consistency. The broth was light, with a delicate but rich flavor. And the dumplings, well, they were quite tasty as well. I keep meaning to come back here, I live within a half-mile, but there are so many other places that already have already earned my unyielding lunch spot loyalty. I am sure to return someday soon.
I've been to a number of Chinese restaurants in Seattle, but this is the only one I've been compelled to return to. They have the perfect orange chicken and the perfect fried rice. I haven't tried much else, but I intend to. The portions are generous and the prices are low. The dining area is small but attractive.
This is my favorite restaurant to have food delivered from, hands down the best. Quality is always top notch, and consistent across the entire menu. I'm so hooked on these guys I order at least twice a week -in fact, everybody at our house orders from them! OK not the guy in the basement, he likes pizza, but the rest of us swear by Chef Liao!
I heard the pot stickers were great and stopped by one day for a to-go order. Very friendly, bright atmosphere. The pot stickers were fantastic.
On a cold rainy night this place was our savior. Ever been in one of those moods where nothing sounds good? We were and the only thing we could settle on was Chef Liao. Our greeting venturing in the door, at the relatively empty restaurant, was the feeling of heat being pumped on us the second we walked in. Cute and cozy. The owner's daughter (teenager) was pleasant with her suggestions upon ordering and mentioning that her dad was the chef so she "liked everything". The crispy won-tons were a treat and the Mongolian beef was the best I have tasted lately- very spicy and heat laden. My first attempt at mu shu was excellent but sweet- I liked that the dish had a variety of vegetables. I cut the sweet by adding won-ton sauce- sounds wrong but it worked. We pounded the tea and devoured the meal- lots to take home too. I am glad that I was lured by Seattle Magazine's recommendation and reviews plastered to the restaurant window. Stars for quality food (that doesn't remind me of ever chain Asian food place) and a menu with variations and chef created items, stars for heat in the freezing cold, and stars for service. I have found my local take out joint!
Neighborhood: Phinney Ridge
Category: Chinese
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