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In my previous Bellevue Dim Sum posts, I've mentioned Noble Court on more than one occasion. Why? Well, it was one of the first Chinese restaurants in Bellevue that served Dim Sum. Oh how times have changed, where there are better choices nearby and in Seattle itself. But how can we know the present and the future if we don't know the past? Yes, a visit to Noble Court was in order. On the day of our departure, we hit it up early on a Sunday morning, which ensured us a table without the wait. And as such, the push carts descended on our table like a moth to a flame. My kids were wondering why our table was full of food so quickly (as they have grown accustomed to ordering food rather than push carts).
We started with the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves) as the kids were demanding it. This was okay with slightly dry rice with a good amount of ground pork filling. It could've stood for a bit more seasoning though. We got another kiddie favourite in the Wu Gok (Fried Taro Dumplings). Again, this was okay as the exterior was crispy and not too greasy while the layer of mashed taro was the right thickness and smooth. The filling was essentially the same as the lo mei gai, which meant it was dry and a bit bland. Okay, if you are familiar with Dim Sum, the one dish that can define a restaurant is the Shrimp Dumpling or Haw Gow. Well, if this was the defining moment of our meal, then our meal was as good as the Lindsay Lohan's career. These dumplings were terrible. The shrimp filling was mushy and not very appealing. 
Furthermore, there was a general lack of flavour while the dumpling skin was doughy. One of the worst versions I've had in a long time (and this is taking into account we were in Bellevue).
Fortunately, the Sui Mai (another standard of any Dim Sum service) was better. It was mostly comprised of pork with some small bits of shrimp and shiitake mushroom. There was a bounce texture while the flavours were mostly sweet. On the topic of Dim Sum standards, the discussion must include the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll as well (or some variation). This particular one was thick, yet soft (possibly too soft) at the same time. Once again, the shrimp (much like the haw gow) was limp and mushy with no snap. It was on the bland side as well. Naturally, Dim Sum would not be complete without an order of offal, so I got the Bible Tripe. It was pretty standard with a good gingery, green onion hit while the tripe itself was pleasantly chewy. There was on gaminess which meant it was rinsed properly.
Moving along, we had the Black Bean Spareribs, which had a relatively good bounce texture. It was on the chewier side, but okay nonetheless. In terms of flavour, it was porky with little else (even though we could clearly see the black bean). One dish we could've really done without (in addition to the crappy haw gow) was the BBQ Pork Buns. There was nothing particularly wrong with the bun itself as it was soft and fluffy, but the filling was terrible. It was quite sour and off-putting. We realize that the filling can taste a bit tart sometimes, but this tasted like it had gone bad. We didn't end up eating much of it at all.
Nearing the end, we decided to try their Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee. It was rather smooth and semi-thick, however, it looked like it had been put through a food processor. Therefore the texture was a little weird. Furthermore, there was a general lack of flavour, which was partially due to the lack of ingredients. For dessert, we went for the Egg Tarts which were quite good. The pastry was flaky and light while the filling was semi-sweet. This helped erase the bad taste in our mouths from the sub-par dishes we had prior. Not sure how they can really compete with better joints such as Top Gun and Joi's nearby...
The Good:
- Decent variety
- Large dining room
The Bad:
- Overall sub-par Dim Sum
- Not enough servers
*Location is permanently closed*
Having ate a late lunch including a pit stop at Full Tilt for ice cream, we were not exactly hungry for dinner. So we went shopping instead... to the delight of our kids. Not. If you ever want to hear whining and complaining, just take a couple of tired kids to Wal-Mart. I dare you. After that, we were in search of late night eats in Bellevue. That brought us to Sushi Maru. Similar to Sushi Land, they employ a conveyor belt of food categorized by colored plates which determine the pricing. I must admit, this is a novel and fun way of eating. The kids were sure impressed, watching the food go round and round. They couldn't keep their hands off the chocolate-covered strawberries and cake. Yah, we finally did give in at the end...
One of the first plates we grabbed was the Rainbow Roll. Naturally, we weren't expecting much out of a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, but the roll was okay. The rice was kinda dry and lacking in flavour, but the fish was actually decent, as with the avocado. Next up was a Grilled Red Snapper which was actually quite good. The fish had a nice exterior crust while the inside was flaky and moist. Majestically plated, we had no idea what it was, but my best guess would be the Las Vegas Roll. Essentially a Cali roll with cooked salmon on top with a mayonnaise dressing and tobiko. This was not bad, considering it was only $3.65.
Moving along (literally as the food was actually moving along!), we had a Fried Roll of some sort. I really couldn't decipher what it was because it didn't match any of the photos in the menu. It was kinda ugly and disfigured. It ate much like it looked being dry and hard, rather than crunchy and soft. Something of an oddity was the Popcorn Chicken. Resembling more like deformed chicken nuggets or small chicken strips, these were super crunchy and curiously topped with ranch dressing. The white meat was relatively moist inside. Weird, but I give them props for making them from scratch. As a side note, they used it for their Orange Chicken too (yah, don't laugh...).
We also tried some Nigiri Sushi and it was acceptable. Yes it had the same dry flavourless rice, but the fish was okay. For the kiddies, we got a plate of Fried Rice and it was surprisingly decent. It was seasoned just enough and it experienced good wok heat. Sadly, with all the options moving about, the kids were eying the Chocolate Mousse Cake the whole time. We finally gave in to the pre-made slice. Hey, it was fine considering it cost only $2.65. Okay, for those who are Japanese food aficionados, I'm sure you are reading this in horror right now. However, Sushi Maru serves their target market (which is not you) for a reasonable price.
The Good:
- Lots of choice
- Reasonably-priced
- Novelty factor
The Bad:
- Pretty average
- Pretty busy which means hard to flag someone down (they're friendly though)
I remember a time when I could stroll up to the arcade and play games like Dig Dug, Galaga, Pac Man and the sort. Well, there are certainly a number of game emulators out there and little gadgets that turn your iPad into a mini-arcade game. But what if one could walk into a store and play the games in their full glory at 25 cents? Also, what if there was house-made ice cream as well as fresh waffle cones? Sounds too good to be true right? Well, welcome to Full Tilt - where fresh ice cream and old school arcade meet. Oh, throw in some comics and Magic cards too...
After our lunch at Luna Park, we decided to hit up Full Tilt on the suggestion of Scout and Lola. For me, it was all about the waffle cone since the smell was intoxicating. I decided to fill that cone with a scoop of Salted Caramel. I found it to be rich and creamy with very little air whipped in. There was a definite hit of salt that really amped up the sweetness. As for the waffle cone, it was crunchy and sweet. Scout ended up with the Raspberry Sorbet (so as my daughter) and it was light and just sweet enough. It wasn't icy.
Lastly, Lola had something a bit off the beaten path being the Horchata ice cream. If you haven't heard of this before, it is a Mexican drink consisting of rice milk and cinnamon. I found this one to be light on the cinnamon, but good nonetheless as it shared the same qualities as the one I had. Overall, it was a fun experience as it brought back some good memories in terms of the ol' skool video games and Magic too (ack... can't believe I admitted to that!).
The Good:
- Lotsa ol' skool games for a quarter
- Decent house-made ice cream
- Reasonably-priced
The Bad:
- Limited flavours (which would mean freshness though)
- Limited seating
I'm a huge history buff, especially when it comes to the World Wars. So imagine my disappointment when we had to leave the Museum of Flight (last year) just as we were entering the displays on WWI and WWII. You see, the kiddies were hungry and we had already spent over 3 hours at the museum. Determined to visit it again, we made our way to there this time around and headed straight to the part I wanted to see. We met up with our friends Lola and Scout who had free passes. Score! Afterwards, after another 3 hours, the kids were ready to leave once again. We ended up heading to Luna Park Cafe, which sits on the site of a former amusement park. Hence, the decor in the cafe has all sorts of memorabilia. In essence, the place is a diner complete with a long counter and jukebox. As such, I got into the diner mood by ordering a Creamsicle Shake. As clearly shown in the picture, the shake was melting over the sides while a nearly full tin essentially doubled-up the order. It was creamy, not crazy sweet and yes, very creamsicle-ish. I liked how it was thick, yet at the same time, easy to process through a straw at the same time.
For my main, I had the Gut Bomb, which sounded really large in theory, but ended up to be a decent-sized burger with ham, cheese and a fried egg. Nothing particularly amazing nor disappointing with it - a capable burger that filled my tummy. The ham was moist while the patty was dry and slightly chewy. The bottom half of the bun was a bit wet as well. The side of fries looked amply fried and starch-coated, thus being really crispy. Viv went for Jackie's Favorite which was a turkey melt with green chilies. The turkey was dry while the green chilies added a nice tartness and slight kick. It was kissed by the flat-top with a nearly burnt (but not) exterior which added crunch and butteriness. She had it with a side of Clam Chowder which was super rich with a heavy dosage of bacon. Hence, there was no shortage of salty-smoky flavour to go with the creaminess and clammy broth. This was good, but a cup was all one could take.
Scout had The Grinder which resembled a Philly cheese steak, but not. It was pretty good with lots of ingredients prepared on a flat top, but what was the star of the plate was the thick crunchy onion rings. I generally like the breaded version more, but this one was coated pretty thick and was super crunchy - hence very good. Lola went for the 1/2 Veggie Sandwich with a side of Chili. The grilled veggies were vibrant with a slight char. Despite the high moisture content, the bread did get wet which was a pleasant surprise. The chili had a good kick although it was predominantly beans.
As for the kiddies, my son had the *yawn* Grilled Cheese. Does he ever want anything else? Anyways, it was made with real cheddar and toasted a golden brown. However, there shredded cheese in the middle was not completely melted. My daughter had the Kid's Burger and it was plenty big for her. She wasn't particularly impressed with the chewiness of the patty though. As you can see, the food here ain't gonna pioneer any culinary revolution. It's a diner after all! So if expectations are reasonable, Luna Park Cafe is a neat place to grab a meal.
The Good:
- Cool retro, eclectic digs
- Wonderful service
- Good milkshakes
The Bad:
- Food is so-so
- Long lineups (good for them)
- Lack of parking
A few years ago, we visited a place called I Love Sushi and it turned out to be far better than we expected. With a name like "I Love Sushi", it just didn't scream out authenticity, let alone great food. Therefore, we were thinking much the same with "I Love Pho". Yah, not the most original name, but I guess a cut above the regular numbering system of Pho <insert number here>. Although I really do think What the Pho? and Pho Shizzle to be absolutely fantastic names. The real reason we were looking for Pho in Bellevue was mostly for the kiddies. For some reason or another, they would much prefer some noodles over a cheeseburger.
One thing that has become a recent revelation for them is Fried Chicken Wings, so we got an order to start. These were pretty large and fried up crispy. Inside, the meat was moist and juicy. For the kiddies, they shared an order of the Saigon Noodles. Personally, it looked more like something you'd find at a Mongolian grill than anything else. Yet, it was decent with predominantly sweet flavour. The noodles were toothsome while the chicken was tender and veggies crunchy. For ourselves, we had the Beef Yellow Curry which was very mild despite asking for spicy. Furthermore, the sauce was thin and mostly sweet. As for the beef, it was certainly tender, but far too overprocessed with baking soda. This was a fairly large portion that came with an insufficient amount of rice.
Of course we couldn't forget about a bowl of Pho Dac Biet (since the place is named I Love Pho). Again, the dominant flavour was of sweetness (they like their sugar here) while the broth as a whole was rather light, but clean. The meats were sliced thin and tender. An acceptable bowl of Pho. Well, I Love Pho did the job (especially since we were heading to Factoria which was across the street), but we were more akin to "I had acceptable Pho" than anything else.
The Good:
- Acceptable eats
- Decently friendly people
- Wide selection of other dishes
The Bad:
- Wide selection of other dishes
- Everything was a bit too sweet
As per our annual Spring Break tradition, we made the trek down to Seattle for some shopping, eating and picking up stuff from GPS. GPS? Yes, Goose's Parcel Service. Come again? You see, Goose lives in Bellevue and he has been nice enough all these years to be the receiver of various items that I've purchased on the internet. This time around, even before setting foot into one store, we had over $2800.00 worth of goods to be picked up. Yes, he does have house and contents insurance... Before anything else, our first thing to do was eat lunch upon our arrival. The place - Honey Hole Sandwiches.
We started the kids off on the Club Tasty consisting of thick-sliced bacon, Zoe's Black Forest ham, in- house roasted turkey, sharp cheddar, lettuce and tomato on a demi baguette. This was a neatly constructed sammie with quality ingredients. Nothing complex about it, but well made nonetheless. We found the bread to be a bit on the chewier side which made everything slide out with each bite. For myself, I had the Buford T Justice which was really a pulled-pork sammie with pepper jack cheese and coleslaw on the same baguette. The pork was moist and saucy with a sweet rich BBQ sauce. The coleslaw was crunchy while not overly wet. The dense baguette worked really well here holding up to the ingredients.
I added a Cream of Mushroom soup as my side and it was more Earthy than creamy. Definitely a whole lot of mushrooms went into this soup which was mild other than the inherent flavour. Viv opted for the Waverider consisting of turkey, pesto, smoked gouda, red onion, hot peppers and aioli. This was our favourite of the bunch as the smoked gouda was prominent while the pesto added a nice herby component. Really good mix of flavours and lotsa turkey. Oh yah, the fries were pretty good as well. So as simple sandwiches can be, Honey Hole successfully makes them more interesting at a reasonable price.
The Good:
- Large sandwiches at a reasonable price
- Interesting combos
- Made with care
The Bad:
- Place is really busy with limited and tight seating
Over 4 years ago, I once visited a joint on Scott Road called Jellie D's. Seeing how it named after a donut, I expected their wares to be good. How wrong I was. They made donuts as well as the Spice Girls can sing. Well, apparently, they were just sold and the new owners were not really all that interested with donuts. I believe they were sold again and the donuts were removed from the menu altogether. Yes, kinda confusing when the place was still named Jellie D's. However, I looked past the name and decided to give their $3.00 breakfast a shot. Okay, it wasn't mind-blowing, but a really good deal nonetheless. Finally, they've changed their name to Gordy's where cheap and freshly made is their calling card.
I've been back quite a few times, so consider this a recap of sorts rather than an individual post. So what does $3.00 get you? Their All Day Breakfast Combo consisting of 2 eggs, meat (bacon, sausage or ham), hashbrowns and toast. As you can see in the picture, it's a respectable plate of food. Kinda makes the one at Bon's look messy. You could upgrade the breakfast with more meat and cheese atop your eggs for a couple of bucks more. The options are quite extensive. Moreover, by looking at the bacon, it was not burnt while being crispy. I've also given their Corned Beef Hash a try and let's just say it's best to stick to the breakfast combo. The shredded hash browns and the deli-corned beef just doesn't cut it despite the low price.
Of course I have also tried their $5.49 1/4 Burger Combo which is also made in-house including the fries. The beef patty can be a bit loose and crumbly, but it is freshly made. The toasted roll along with the crisp lettuce and tomato make this a respectable burger. The fresh cut fries could be crispier, but they do the job. As you can see, the food ain't gonna win any awards, but for the price, it is more than serviceable complete with free smiles (sounds kinda familiar eh?).
The Good:
- Cheap
- Decent eats
- Friendly owner
The Bad:
- Place could use a reno of sorts
- Stick to the basics
Posts
In my previous Bellevue Dim Sum posts, I've mentioned Noble Court on more than one occasion. Why? Well, it was one of the first Chinese restaurants in Bellevue that served Dim Sum. Oh how times have changed, where there are better choices nearby and in Seattle itself. But how can we know the present and the future if we don't know the past? Yes, a visit to Noble Court was in order. On the day of our departure, we hit it up early on a Sunday morning, which ensured us a table without the wait. And as such, the push carts descended on our table like a moth to a flame. My kids were wondering why our table was full of food so quickly (as they have grown accustomed to ordering food rather than push carts).
We started with the Lo Mei Gai (Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves) as the kids were demanding it. This was okay with slightly dry rice with a good amount of ground pork filling. It could've stood for a bit more seasoning though. We got another kiddie favourite in the Wu Gok (Fried Taro Dumplings). Again, this was okay as the exterior was crispy and not too greasy while the layer of mashed taro was the right thickness and smooth. The filling was essentially the same as the lo mei gai, which meant it was dry and a bit bland. Okay, if you are familiar with Dim Sum, the one dish that can define a restaurant is the Shrimp Dumpling or Haw Gow. Well, if this was the defining moment of our meal, then our meal was as good as the Lindsay Lohan's career. These dumplings were terrible. The shrimp filling was mushy and not very appealing. 
Furthermore, there was a general lack of flavour while the dumpling skin was doughy. One of the worst versions I've had in a long time (and this is taking into account we were in Bellevue).
Fortunately, the Sui Mai (another standard of any Dim Sum service) was better. It was mostly comprised of pork with some small bits of shrimp and shiitake mushroom. There was a bounce texture while the flavours were mostly sweet. On the topic of Dim Sum standards, the discussion must include the Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll as well (or some variation). This particular one was thick, yet soft (possibly too soft) at the same time. Once again, the shrimp (much like the haw gow) was limp and mushy with no snap. It was on the bland side as well. Naturally, Dim Sum would not be complete without an order of offal, so I got the Bible Tripe. It was pretty standard with a good gingery, green onion hit while the tripe itself was pleasantly chewy. There was on gaminess which meant it was rinsed properly.
Moving along, we had the Black Bean Spareribs, which had a relatively good bounce texture. It was on the chewier side, but okay nonetheless. In terms of flavour, it was porky with little else (even though we could clearly see the black bean). One dish we could've really done without (in addition to the crappy haw gow) was the BBQ Pork Buns. There was nothing particularly wrong with the bun itself as it was soft and fluffy, but the filling was terrible. It was quite sour and off-putting. We realize that the filling can taste a bit tart sometimes, but this tasted like it had gone bad. We didn't end up eating much of it at all.
Nearing the end, we decided to try their Preserved Egg & Salted Pork Congee. It was rather smooth and semi-thick, however, it looked like it had been put through a food processor. Therefore the texture was a little weird. Furthermore, there was a general lack of flavour, which was partially due to the lack of ingredients. For dessert, we went for the Egg Tarts which were quite good. The pastry was flaky and light while the filling was semi-sweet. This helped erase the bad taste in our mouths from the sub-par dishes we had prior. Not sure how they can really compete with better joints such as Top Gun and Joi's nearby...
