Brightly lit, with mod see-through chairs, cheery yellow walls and murals of birds, blossoms and butterflies, Dong Thap is like a cute bubble-tea cafe. But owners Nick Bui and Khanhvan (K.V.) Tran are serious about their food. Their eatery is named for a Vietnamese province known for rice production, and the couple makes all their noodles on-site in an arduous four-day process of soaking, grinding, waiting and extruding. In the pure-tasting broths, the noodles are soft and slippery, yet slightly chewy.
Pro tip: If you're ambitious, try the Pho Super Bowl Challenge: Four liters of broth. Four pounds of noodles. Four pounds of meat. A 90-minute time limit. Anyone who bests the challenge is immortalized on the restaurant’s wall-mounted flat-screen and receives $100. The price of failure: $40.
Renee Erickson’s charming spot serves handmade doughnuts and coffee from hard-to-find roasters. Pastry chef Clare Gordon makes the doughnuts with fresh eggs from La Ferme des Anes chickens, then fills them with seasonal jams, jellies, curds, custards and creams. Expect classic flavors like vanilla custard or berries and cream, as well as new favorites like peanut butter and jelly, roasted lemon curd, apple butter, and chocolate marshmallow. The menu is constantly changing. Look for unusual twists, like Huckleberry Cream and Pluot Jam. Pro tip: Sparkling wine available if you feel like celebrating.
The Beach at Bude is a stunning 16-room boutique Victorian hotel, but when you step through into the bar area, it becomes so much more. A popular spot frequented by locals and holidaymakers, the bar serves a wide selection of classic cocktails, often with unique twists like the Cornish Mojito, made with mint, lime, cider and a shot of cider brandy. Cocktails are best enjoyed on the expansive terrace, with uninterrupted views of Summerleaze beach. A bar menu is available, serving locally-sourced classics such as Cornish mussels in an ale sauce and an 8 oz. Moorland sirloin steak. For a more formal dinner, the adjacent restaurant is presided over by head chef Joe Simmonds, who trained under Sam Moody at the Michelin-starred Priory in Bath. Dishes such as the Pan-Roasted Stone Bass with Cornish crab rosti, braised, poached and grilled leeks, dehydrated tomatoes and sauce vierge celebrate the bounteous location.
Tucked in the cozy neighborhood of Loyal Heights, dining at Café Munir is like breaking bread at home with family or close friends. Chef/owner Rajah Gargour serves Lebanese cuisine that encourages sharing among dinner companions. There are a slew of mezzes to choose from, including the Hummus bi Lahm ou Snobar, their classic tahini with sizzling lamb sprinkled with pine nuts, pictured. Or you might fancy the Salatat Khiar, with cucumbers, yogurt, roasted chili, herbs and garlic. Their whisky selection is something to behold, with more than 100 different whiskies. Unsure what to order? Go on Sunday and try the chef’s choice menu. It’s an excellent introduction to Middle Eastern cuisine.
Owned and operated by Linnea Gallo and her Italian-born husband, Massimo, their 25-seat neighborhood café serves breakfast and lunch along with handcrafted coffee drinks, house-made pastries, tea, fresh squeezed juices, local and imported beer and wine, mimosas and more. While their theme is kitschy minimalism, the food is anything but, mostly the result of Massimo's upbringing in Italy. A menu standout is the eggs “in carrozza.” Prepared in an individual cast iron skillet, the egg bake features eggs Benedict with prosciutto and scamorza cheese in hollandaise on a house-made English muffin.
A carnivore’s delight in Pike Place Market, Radiator Whiskey’s grand, arched windows, barrels, crates and burly, burnished wood suit the pre-Prohibition era the eatery evokes. And it would be a crime if you overlooked the house specialty by co-chefs Tyler Palagi and Charlie Garrison. After being brined for several days, the pig head is smoked for 10 hours, turning the skin a ruddy brown while the pink flesh of cheek and jowl underneath, blanketed in luscious fat, becomes sweet, slightly smoky and soft. Served on a massive platter, the rich meat is ringed with slices of tongue, pepper-crusted tenderloin, fried ear, griddled potato bread, whole-grain mustard, herbed aioli and Mama Lil’s pickled peppers. A sumptuous spread, the pig’s head is intended for two to three, four or more.
Pro tip: Call ahead. Availability is limited.
Tucked into the Chophouse Row building on Capitol Hill in Seattle, the ice cream’s custard base is made at the farm on Vashon Island with Jersey cream and milk, organic cane sugar and fresh, pastured eggs. Churned and flavored at the store kitchen, the flavors also come from the farm: lemon verbena, Tristar strawberries, rose geranium, Triple Crown blackberries, bay laurel and Sun Gold tomato jam, among others. Ice cream is available in cones, sandwiches and pints to go. The shop also sells cheeses from Kurtwood Farms and other local creameries.
Pho may have taken over as Seattle’s cheap eat du jour, but the city will never forget its teriyaki sauce-stained history. Established in 1989, this locally acclaimed quick-service teriyaki house is popular with the University of Washington crowd. Specializing in flame-grilled chicken teriyaki, hand-trimmed chicken thighs are marinated and grilled to perfection, then drizzled with a sweet, tangy teriyaki sauce and generously accompanied by soft rice and crunchy iceberg salad.
Finally, the oyster bar Seattle deserves. The Taylor family has been farming and harvesting some of the Pacific Northwest’s best oysters and shellfish for more than 30 years. For a tide-to-table experience in a casual environment, check out their just-shucked oysters, served on the half-shell with lemon and champagne mignonette; freshly steamed clam and mussels; geoduck sashimi and local Dungeness crab cracked ready to eat. Also check out their artisan beers, ciders, and a rotating wine list.
Owner Hiep Ngo is a Vietnamese-American chef who lived for several years in Louisiana. To bring a taste of the south to the Northwest, he opened Crawfish House in February 2011. Customers can begin their meals with such typical Southern starters as fried pickles, fried gizzards, fried rice or catfish, then top it off with the “boils” — seafood sold by the pound. The choices are crawfish, which comes with sausage and corn, Dungeness crab, snow crab legs, king crab legs, clams or shrimp. But really, it’s all about the crayfish. The seafood comes with a choice of sauce, including Ngo’s special house creation. Crawfish House’s super-spicy seafood boil swims in hot chili oil. Patrons pick the spice level, ranging from “chillin,” to “can’t feel my mouth.”