Does it make you want to buy one of these sandwiches? You can, at Pho Bac in Seattle, WA at several different locations! 415 7th Avenue South (Tom Douglas is know to come here for lunch!) or 1314 South Jackson Street (their original location) or 1240 South Jackson Street. Besides amazing Banh Mi, they seriously make the best pho in town, well beside my mother’s but that’s another post.  Definitely give them a try when you stop by in Seattle!

A recent breakfast at Saimin Says, that I highly recommend going if you love Hawaiian Food. It is a little bit out of the way, but definitely worth the drive because it is in Kent; but if you are going to IKEA that day, stop in for breakfast and power up for all the walking you will do later.

26218 Pacific Hwy S.
(between 260th St & 268th St)
Kent, WA 98032

If you come here order, make sure you order a side of Kalua pig and Cabbage. It was so flavorful and yummy, and don’t forget to order an extra side of Portuguese Sausage.  Oh and also go with a few people so that you can actually taste it other food, because I couldn’t decide what to order because everything looked so good.  In your group, make sure at least one person order this

and also this

The pancake is the Macadamia Nut Pancake (so fluffy, light and just sweet goodness) and the French toast is the Sweet Bread French Toast (omg so delicious, if you love the Hawaiian King Bread, which we all did!), and don’t forget to order the coconut syrup to go with these two dishes.

Other things we order the Loco Moco, Haleakala Sunrise, which comprise of two eggs, fried rice and Portuguese sausages, Fried Rice Omelet, Spam Musubi and a Rainbow Cake.  Everything was so good and homey.  It was a perfect breakfast for me that day. I had a taste of the Loco Moco and it was good.  I think it was the gravy that pull the whole hamburger patty, rice and fried egg together.  The fried rice in the omelet was a great consistency to go with the omelet, and a great tip that I learn from my Japanese friends from college is eat it with ketchup! Yup – ketchup.  Somehow the tangy and sweet ketchup just make the dish even better, the only bad note of the dish was the toast that was served with it.  It was a little bit too dry for me.

We also order the spam musubi which was great, because it came out freshly made and hot!  It was good, but I have to admit my older sister can better version of it.  She fries her spam first so it is extra crispy and then caramelized the sauce so it is sweet and sticky and so good to eat. To finish off our great meal, we all shared the rainbow cake.  Surprisedly it disappoint us, because it was so fun to look at and smelled so tropical and delicious.  It turned out to be a little bit bland.  I was really expecting the guava and the passion fruit to really pop out, but it didn’t.

Overall the food here was delicious and priced really well.  All the dishes we order was under $8 and the portion side was a good size.  We all walked away in a food coma but happy!  I can’t wait to go back and try their signature Saimin Noodle Bowl. Yum!

Noodle Boat Thai Restaurant

700 NW Gilman Blvd # E104b
Issaquah, WA 98027-5341
(425) 391-8096

Verdict: We enjoyed this little Thai family-run restaurant and would come back and try other dishes. A little hard to find but look for the UPS store and little nail shop and it’ll be right there on the right.

On Tuesday, the day when we got home after a 15-hour travel day from Tulsa, OK to Seattle, WA, we were exhausted and I couldn’t think about cooking dinner for us that evening. Luckily my friend, Evelyn suggested we go to Noodle Boat, a family-run Thai restaurant located in Issaquah.  She said that it is one of the best Thai restaurants on the eastside and a couple of my other friends had mentioned it was definitely a place to go if we wanted authentic Thai food. 

The first thing I order was the Thai Iced Coffee (the husband ordered a beer) and boy was it delicious. It was just the perfect balance of coffee, cream, sweetener, and spices.  I also thought the presentation was great too. I have never drank my Thai Iced Coffee out of a terra cotta container before, and it really kept my drink nice and cold throughout my meal. I would order this again.

We ended up ordering two dishes that was actually really good. The first was the Massaman curry with beef.  The waiter told us that this dish was little bit on the sweet side and by ordering it spicy it would balance the flavors out better.  We did as she suggested and she was right.  It was really good with sticky rice.  I usually don’t order the regular jasmine rice when I go to Thai or Cambodian restaurant but get their sticky rice that comes in a mini bamboo steamer.  Try it next time you go and really does make the food taste better and just hold the sauce better too.  The curry was filled with lots of different vegetables like broccoli, carrots, onions, pineapples, water chestnuts and peanuts. The pineapple and water chestnuts was unusual for me in this dish but it did not detract from it. Overall yummy and very saucy.

The second dish we order was the “Volcano Gold Hen”.  This was the dish that Evelyn suggest we order and we were glad we did, luckily we nab the last hen of the day.  The best part about this dish is they actually finished the dish at your table. The waiter pours a small sauce of oil over the Cornish hen and then set it on fire.  It was really fun to see the hen burst into flames. This bird was succulent and moist and yet the outside was crispy.  We really enjoyed eating this dish.  The sauce was sweet and salty and the contrast between the crispy skin and the moist hen breast was delicious. The husband really enjoyed the crispy outside, especially the little wings.  They were fried to a crisp and you could actually eat them whole, bones and all.

The service was good.  We were greeted promptly at the door and seated right away…but keep in mind this was a Tuesday night and we got there 30 minute before closing.  Even this late, the restaurant was half full and we were not the last to leave.  I can’t wait to come back and try my favorite noodle dish, Pad See-Lew with fried tofu and the larb gai.  I’m also curious to see how their Thai Iced Tea will taste like and will it be as good as the coffee one.

Thanks Evelyn for the recommendation.  We really enjoyed it and can’t wait to go back and try the other dishes there.  Also fyi – the family is going to leave for vacation from March 15 to end of May and the restaurant will be closed during that time.

• All Things Pass
• by Lao Tze
• All things pass
• A sunrise does not last all morning
• A cloudburst does not last all day
• All things pass
• Nor a sunset all night
• What always changes?
• Earth…sky…thunder…mountain…wind…fire…lake…
• These change
• And if these do not last
• Do man’s visions last?
• Do man’s illusions?
• Take things as they come
• All things pass

His son, Robert, spoke these words at his father’s memorial on Saturday, October 31, 2009. It was a very moving service filled with many wonderful, funny and heartfelt stories about Chao Yu Wu.  I learn much about my husband’s side of the family, their kindness, humor and love.  I wish they lived closer so we can get to know them better but some of the families live in Germany, Singapore and other faraway places.

While we were at the cemetery, one of the aunties asked us if we knew the difference or why some of the headstones had red or white writing on them, and she told us marriage couples will buy pre-lots together and if one of the partners passed away, they will put both of their names on the headstone.  The deceased’s name and information is painted in white and the person still alive will be shown in red, but once that person passed away then they will switch to white.

At the end of day we went to a really good Shanghai restaurant in Richmond, called Shanghai River Restaurant.  We had about 22 people in our party and ordered way too much food but it was all delicious and I definitely recommend this place.

Our first course was the cold dish appetizer, starting on the bottom left, consisting of all jelly fish, braised fried tofu with peanuts and black fungus mushrooms, tofu skin rolls filled with spinach, julienned celery and scallion salad with tofu stripes and in the center rice wine poached chicken.  It was all very tasty.

Second course was one of the better shrimp dishes I had from a Chinese restaurant. 

Next came, the wonton soup with tender chunks of pork and baby bok choy which were very simple but satisfying

Our fourth course Xiao Long Bao or soup dumplings.  Shanghai River is known for these delicious dumplings.  These particular variety is small and for me two bite size, husband one bite.  I love how the dumpling skin was just perfect ratio between the meat, soup and skin. Definitely order this when you come. We had the pork, but I heard the crab one is much better.

Here is the team of people making those yummy fresh dumplings all night long.

Next came the traditional fried crabs which were finger licking good for our fifth course

Sixth dish was the Smoked Peking Duck with buns.  The duck was delicious perfectly seasoned, tender and juicy.

A whole braised napa cabbage.  I was really surprised how good this dish.  I was skeptical at first but look at it! It does not look that appetizing, does it? It turned out to be flavorful and tender.  It was a shame by the last course I was completely stuffed but I continue eating because the food was so good.

The next dish was probably the scariest looking dish ever!  Don’t you think?

Here’s a better angle.  My uncle said this is a squirrel fish because of its tail.  I have to admit beside it being scary, the fish was really good.  The fish was fried to perfection.  The fish was not overcooked but tender and flaky and the sweet and sour sauce was like none I have tasted before. It really looked disturbing because it looked like they just open a can of cocktail fruit and added ketchup but surprisedly it was really tasty.

Then came the noodle dish, which after all the good food, was just okay

Just when I thought we were done, they finally brought over the last dish, black sesame paste balls in an egg white drop sweet soup, which were so-so, unfortunately Chinese restaurants are not known for their dessert dishes.

Overall, the food here was very good and the restaurant was continuously packed all night while we were there and we were there for almost four hours that night, just eating. 

So if you are in the Richmond/Vancouver BC area, I definitely recommend this place and don’t forget to order the fresh fried doughnuts!

• Shanghai River Restaurant
• 7831 Westminster Hwy
  Richmond, BC V6X 4J4, Canada
  (604) 233-8885