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Jeff "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow" G.'s Profile

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Gourmet Noodle Bowl

Categories: Chinese, Taiwanese, Indonesian
Neighborhood: International District

Update - 1/12/2012 1 Check-in Here

Still good with one of the best hot pots around. The women who work there are all incredibly friendly and helpful and the food is always scrupulously fresh. Their handmade noodles are absolutely fantastic.

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12/30/2009
This is one of my new "happy places". It's not just another formica, stains on the table, sticky soy sauce container noodle joint. The earth tone colors are soothing, the smell of bubbling broth hitting me as the door opens instantly lowers my blood pressure. And the two young women who seem to always be working the floor are always friendly and fast. The other table are always packed with groups of teens or families cheerily slurping away.

Their hot pot is really one of the best ones I've had in Seattle(sorry Shilla and Bush Garden) with lots of fresh meat and veggies. I like that they'll split the bowl so you can get both the hot and regular broths. The noodle bowls are also excellent. The broth in the House Special has a deep, clean flavor without a lot of grease and fat. The Duck Noodle Bowl with big pieces of duck on the side is also great. Be warned that the spicy dishes are truly spicy which I like, but I've had friends who couldn't get through a bowl.

It's a really friendly, warm and happy spot and one that's especially comforting in the deep dark reaches of a Seattle winter.
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4822 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 937-6264

Pho Than Brothers

Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: West Seattle

1/12/2012

I've lived in West Seattle for 3 years and I've steadfastly avoided this place mainly because I truly hate the branch on Broadway where I've had uniformly rude service. But it was cold today and I wanted some Pho but didn't want to drive anywhere.

The service here isn't exactly rude but it's extremely indifferent. If you're lucky you'll get a hello and someone pointing to a table. On the other hand the Pho must come out in record time, I think it was literally like 5 minutes from the time I ordered to the time it came steaming to my table. The broth is good, the meatballs were a little overdone and the noodles were fairly gummy.

I guess this branch is a tad better than the Broadway one but I really don't like the less than friendly treatment. I really don't get why there are so many branches of this mediocre place.

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9640 16th Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98106
(206) 588-2713

Uncle Mike's Superlicious BBQ

Categories: Barbeque, Soul Food
Neighborhood: White Center

12/22/2011

I'm going to let you in on a secret. Some of the very best food in Seattle is in White Center. Just a short tour gives you Full Tilt Ice Cream, The Salvadoran Bakery, The Corn Stand,Zippy's burgers, and Proletariat Pizza.Add Uncle Mikes to the list. Just walking in the door and smelling the smoke makes you swoon.

I had what may be the best pulled pork sandwich I've ever had. Sweet, perfectly textured pork, sweet hot sauce but not so hot you can't taste it. I added cole slaw on top, and it was like a freaking symphony in my mouth. The greens and beans were also good.

Make sure to check the board in addition to the menu because they have all kinds of delicious secret surprises like fried okra and smother pork chops. I don't want to hear one more person complaining about no good BBQ in Seattle. If they do, they clearly haven't been here!

Listed in: White Center: Seattle's secret…

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4750 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 935-8888

Bang Bar Thai Restaurant and Lounge

Categories: Thai, Lounges, Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: West Seattle

12/22/2011

No use trying to come up with something clever; this place sucks. We ordered our drinks at happy hour and I could see no one was making our drinks. Two separate appetizers came and still no drinks. Here was the problem; the bartender was flirting with a cute liquor saleswoman so the waitress had to make the drinks. Trouble is she was busy milking the table of elderly (and potentially spendy) women for tips. And when we did get the specialty martinis they were nothing but ice.

Round two. When we got our third appetizer we ordered two more. We waited for maybe 20 minutes and nothing came. I could see the chef actually come out and take a break. I told my dining partner I was pretty sure they'd screwed up. When another waitress came out we reminded her that we had some more food coming. She smiled and said it should be any minute, but I could see her check the computer, look confused and then ask our original waitress what we ordered. Two miinutes later the original waitress came over to give us more water and when I asked where our two other dishes were she had the gall to give me a patronizing"any minute", rather than admit she'd forgotten to put it into the computer.

All of that's fine if the food is good. But everything tasted like the sauce had the same mix of fish sauce and sugar.. The Duck on the duck noodles was nothing but fat, five spice and fish sauce. The noodles were a gloopy mess.

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Mamo St & Kamehameha Ave
Hilo, HI 96720

Ratana's

Category: Farmers Market

11/13/2011 First to Review

This little unassuming booth adjacent to the market has hands down the best papaya salad I have ever had; and I've had many my friend. On a blazing hot morning the fiery dressing and crunch of the salad really hit the spot. The spring roll and sticky rice are also delicious. I want them to open a franchise here in Seattle. It would be the shining star of food trucks!

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1521 10th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 624-6600

The Elliott Bay Book Company

Category: Bookstores
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill

Update - 11/13/2011

I'm not sure what is about this location that leaves me cold. Maybe part of it is that now that I have a kindle I do so much of my book buying online I'm just not a browser like I used to be. But I think it's more about the location. Yea, it's in a cool older building. .

Yes, they have lot's of great books but there's just something missing Maybe it's the dark cornesr of the old store, or the creaky floorboards. All I know is that if I was bored on a weekend I'd go spend an hour or two at the old location even if it meant I had to spend twenty minutes parking. Here, even with ample parking around the area, I probably don't get here more than once every few months.

Listed in: The CD and Beyond, Feed your brain

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1/6/2006
I like Elliot Bay. It's a good sized bookstore and I can usually find something interesting. But ever since it was bought and "revamped" a few years back it's lacked a little something. I've never been able to put my finger on it, but it just seems a little less special than it used to. I do like the addition of the used books, but the overall invdntory doesn't seem quite as far reaching as it used to. Also, the staff often seem grouchy. there are a few staffers who go out of there way to find and recommend books, but several seem overworked or just plain bored.

They do still have great guests and lectures.
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1412 Harvard Ave
Seattle, WA 98122

Marination Station

Categories: Korean, Hawaiian
Neighborhoods: Capitol Hill, First Hill

11/13/2011

I've been known to stand in 100 degree or driving in rain when the truck makes it's weekly Saturday visit in West Seattle. But I recently turned 50 and now that I'm officially old(I just got my AARP card) I prefer to eat in comfort. So I made the drive to the Station.

Make no mistake, if you get here when their crowded you're probably going to sit outside anyway. Since I'm a senior citizen now I eat early so I got their at 11:30 and found a seat. I could eat a bucket full of the spam sliders and probably a trough of the kalua pork sliders. The kimchi rice is also fantastic.

Love the truck adore the store.

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1730 Kamehameha Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 935-8711

Ken's House of Pancakes

Categories: Diners, American (Traditional), Hawaiian

10/23/2011 1 Check-in Here

At least 266 people have already written about Ken's here so there's not much I can really add. It's a great local diner with my favorite kind of waitress; you know, the kind that have their hair in beehives and call you "hon". The food is diner food and very very good. It's a place/experience that shouldn't be missed.

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15-2969 Pahoa Village Rd
Pahoa, HI 96778
(808) 965-5600

Kaleo's

Category: Hawaiian

10/23/2011

The first time you see Pahoa it looks kind of like a town full of smugglers or pirates or something. It's kind of a busted up western town with aging buildings, uneven sidewalks and lots of down on their luck looking people. At least that's how it looks at a first glance. So when people kept saying over and over again that Kaleos was a "really good restaurant" I thought that probably meant "good for a town like this".

So we finally went one night and "wow", we had an awesome meal and a great time. The cocktails were generous and tasty(not something out of a bottled mix). There were so many great things on the menu. My wife had and Ahi wrap that was delicious. I had the chicken coconut curry which is seriously one of the best curries I've ever had and grew up in San Francisco and live in Seattle.

It was so good we went back on a Saturday for lunch. There was literally one waitress working the busy room. But she was friendly, fast and very efficient. She made the cocktails, bused the table and for all I know was doing the cooking too. I had the burger with local beef which is seriously maybe the best burger I have ever had, juicy, huge and very filling. I've caught myself thinking about this burger while I'm eating other burgers now.

We were staying close by, but this place is absolutely worth the drive from pretty much anywhere on the Hilo side of the island. Fanfreakingtastic!

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790 Leilani St.
Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 989-9962

Poke to your taste

Category: Seafood Markets

10/23/2011 1 Check-in Here

By the time my plane has touched down in Hawaii there are a few things I'm craving like a maniac, Sai Min, Shave Ice, many rum based drinks, and poke. I stopped at the Hilo Safeway to get some poke on the wayto our remote rental in Kapoho. Unfortunately the poke had been previously frozen and was totally mushy and kind of nauseating.

By the end of our first full day we'd taken care of the rum, the shave ice and the Sai Min but couldn't tick poke off my list yet because it had been so gross. And then I saw it, the dumpy looking place sitting just off the highway with the Poke to Your taste sign. My wife was skeptical, she figured it had to be a dump. The looks of it when we walked in didn't do anything to change that. But then the owner with the big gap tooth grin came out and started chatting with us. He was friendly, funny and a nice guy. He talked about Seattle and the Mariners and Ichiro. He told me he was a red sox fan and I gave him my condolences(they'd just lost their chance at the playoffs).

He was so friendly we ended up buying one of each of the 4 kinds of poke in the shelf. Including the plain kind which we loaded up with onions, shoyu and a few other things. We also bought some Ahi jerky which I'm pretty sure I have a serious addiction to now.

We got back to our rental(which by the way, had an awesome lava lagoon right in the front yard). We sat around the lagoon, drinking rum drinks and feasting on Poke. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

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