Julie's Garden

Pioneer Square is overrun with Thai, Phở and Teriyaki places. It leaves little room for Chinese (of course, that could be said for Seattle in general). But it's not to say P-square is devoid of Chinese; it does have Julie's Garden.

It's odd; it's just a couple blocks from the office, but nobody at work had heard of it. I admit, my awareness is recent too. It's just across the street from Phở & Bubble Tea Express, and next to Cafe Paloma. How did I not see it? Well, it's certainly not ostentatious.

Julie's Garden

Now, down to the food. I've only been once, obviously since I just found it. It seems pretty americanized. I had the special, which I chose in the interest of speed (a trick which worked, btw). It was General Tso's Chicken, which is about as Chinese as I am, ie. 0%. Personally, Amero-Chinese doesn't bother me, but it is important to manage expectations. It's basically it's own category. I think I'll add a label.

The Special

The Special was actually more than just the sweet, breaded chicken. The egg roll, hot and sour soup, and the rice; all for $7 and tax. You might not be surprised to hear that it's not the best food ever. But it was decent, solid fare.

I will make one complaint. I asked for 5 stars. That's 5. Five more than none. But it wasn't spicy at all. Granted, my capsicum tolerance is higher than your average bear, but I should have felt something. The cloyingly sweet sauce seemed to drown out the spice altogether.

Not very hot, kinda sour

The soup was pretty tasty. Again, not the best ever, but corn-starchily soupy (by which I mean, sort of thick with a nice mouth feel). There was definitely some sour going on. Again, the absence of spice reared it's bland head.

Conclusion: Yet another decent, cheap place for lunch in Pioneer Square. It's on the repeat-visit list.

[where:81 Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98104]