Onigiri at BibimBap [Joomuk-bap]

BibimBap is in the spot formerly occupied by Bento Kudasai. The place has changed owners, names etc. several times in the past year or two. I used to be called Grab N Bowl, which I never went to because it was called Grab N Bowl. BibimBap is apparently new enough that nobody has interneted it yet. I'm not going to be the one. At least not today.

Anyway, I thought I'd stop in for a light breakfast. Onigiri breakfast.

spicy tuna, fried anchovy, crab meat

Yes, that's an anchovy's head. Fried Anchovy joomuk-bap. crab meat joomuk-bap spicy tuna joomuk-bap

This being a Korean place, I think it's probably more properly called joomukbob or joomuk-bap. And, indeed, these are not the triangles of rice with stuff in the middle that I was expecting.

Not that I'm complaining. These things were good.

Well, the crab and the spicy tuna were fantastic. The fried anchovy was just a bit much.

Because it was a giant ball of fried anchovies.

A. Giant. ball of fried anchovies.

Heads and all. Now, I like weird preserved fish things as much as the next man. But no. Don't think I'm having it again.

Other stuff, yeah. I'll go back for the other stuff.

Bento Kudasai

I haven't been to Japan, so I can't speak to the authenticity of Bento Kudasai. But authenticity doesn't matter when lunch is on the line; it's on value for money that we judge places on around here. 'Course, perceived authenticity is a factor in the formula, so maybe it does matter. Well, either way, Bento Kudasai has it. So lets get to it.

nigirizushi bento

The most important question is, is it good? Yes it is. They say they make pretty much everything themselves, including the kimchi (which, omg, kimchi! you know i'm going back again and again). It shows; the quality is really high. Though, to be honest, the vegetarian boxes have tasted better to me than the fishy ones. The vegetable boxes are full of subtle flavors and textures. I think the fish is pretty low on the sashimi quality scale though.

zOMG! Kimchi!

But then it would be, he segued, because the price is right. Lunch for under $10, come on down. Well, unless you're me and fail to resist the mini box full of kimchi. But I usually manage to get away for $11. A box and kimchi is a pretty ideal portion for me. I did a full box and udon once; man, was I stuffed.

case full of bentos

Other notes: CG seriously digs the gyōza; I think whenever he suggests Bento K, he's got the gyōza on his mind. It's pretty small, just a bench with about 4 stools. The lady that runs the front is really friendly.

In conclusion, get on down the street and get you some bento.

[where: 95 Marion St, Seattle, WA 98104]

Piroshki on 3rd

Piroshki's are fun. I think it's technically illegal to go to the market without stopping in at Piroshki Piroshki. But are they lunch or just a snack? At Piroshki on 3rd, I think you have to order carefully if you want a full meal sized meal for a reasonable price. I spent 10 bucks and was still hungry.

piroshki on 3rd

I got the smoked turkey breast and cheese piroshki with a large borscht on the side, with sour cream. It was very tasty. Especially the borscht. The piroshki was just sort of, there. Not that one expects piroshkis to explode with flavor, like some Russian pastry version of flavor blasted goldfish. It was tasty though, and shaped like a turkey leg. You've got to love food that's shaped like it's main ingredient. No, seriously, it's another one of those unwritten piroshki laws.

Turkey Shaped Turkey Piroshki (and borscht)

The thing is, a piroshki is kind of small, compared to, say, a sandwich. But it still runs at about $4.50. And the borscht was about the same. Maybe it was just a hungry day, but it didn't seem like much food for the price.

There are a ton of things to try though. Which tempts me to go back.

Sweets look very sweet

Savories look very savory

Overall, I'm glad it's right across the street from work.

[where: 710 3rd avenue, Seattle, WA 98104]

Happy Teriyaki

There are two things you go to Happy Teriyaki for: quantity and speed. Also, it's cheap.

To be honest, I have a rather unflattering nickname for the place. I stand by it, but as I do actually like the place, I won't actually spell it out. Suffice it to say, it rhymes with "Happy Teriyaki" and starts with "Cr".

Spicy Chicken

It may seem strange that I disparage the place with stupid names, but still claim to like it. Or maybe not. You probably expect this type of thing by now. Any place that packs a large styrofoam container (though maybe not for long, what will happen in january? ooOOoo!) for less than $8 is bound to find itself in my good graces some days.

And it's not bad, for what it is. And it's fast. Everything's ready when you get there. The rice is already in the container. You tell them container size and choice of meat and it's assembled almost as you finish talking. When the line is out the door it still only takes 5 to 10 minutes to get through. When you're big hurry and you've a big hunger, you can't really beat it.

I should mention, if you get tofu or fish (breaded) they fry it up fresh. It takes longer, but it's good. Nice and crispy.

[where: 823 3rd Ave Seattle, WA 98104]

bakeman's

Ah, Bakeman's. What can you say? A real, honest cafeteria, that's famous for it's turkey sandwich. And rightly so. In fact, I'm hard pressed to order anything else.

So, lets see what we've got here.

Now that's a lunch

A big old sammich, soup, and a pickle and a half. It was, what, $8.50 after tax. It's served with a "you better ask right or we'll let you know" sort of attitude. Which makes me nervous, and I always ask wrong. It's a, thing, I do.

Turkey Sandwich

But it's worth it. I mean, check that sammich. It's as good as it looks. I get it with mixed meat, that is half dark half white, but you have your choice.

So, what about the other stuff? Their food is of a certain quality. It seems manufactured, but on closer inspection I do believe they make everything themselves. The salad seems to come from a bag, but up close the carrots show themselves to be hand cut. The turkey soup seems like campbell's, but again, I'm 90% sure they make it themselves.

my soup is turkey noodle

So, that's about it. Pure cafeteria food at it's best. The only thing I have left for you is a blurry blurry picture of the inside of my sandwich.

oooh, cranberry sauce

Yes, that's cranberry sauce. It's twenty five cents extra. Entirely worth it. It's like a harvest festival in here.

[where: 122 Cherry St, Seattle, WA, 98104]

Rolls n Sushi

Still playing catch-up after a busy week, I have another slightly out of the esculents price range place for you, Rolls n Sushi. It's in the marion food court downtown (the same place as yo berry).

It's reportedly not the best sushi in the area, with nearby Imo being the winner. I don't know that I agree, but I've only been to Imo when I'm drunk, so who knows. RnS is certainly faster.

Rolls n Sushi

It's pretty good for lunch, but a little pricy. The above set me back $13. It's a lot of food though. Unlike my recent visit to cafe paloma, this sushi left me stuffed silly. I chose to get two rolls; I was pretty hungry. On a normal day I could probably get by for about $10.

spicy salmon

The spicy salmon was actually spicy. I was surprised, in a good way. It's refreshing to ask for spicy and then get it. Seattle is a pretty mild town.

boston roll

The boston roll was pretty good too. But, being relatively cheap sushi, the salmon wasn't super flavorful, so the crab almost over powered it. Still, there's other stuff that might be better balanced. The Mexican and the Hawiian sound good.

[where:823 3rd Ave. #101, Seattle, WA, 98104]

rice-n-roll

We've talked before about my second favorite parking garage restaurant. Rice-n-roll is the #1 favorite. Best place! Parking garage food doesn't get much better.

Salmon teriyaki bento lunch. a bunch of stuff for ~$8

It's got my two favorite things: cheap and tasty. And healthy. Which is three things, but who's counting? You can order individual rolls and stuff, but I usually go for the bento. You get to choose one of three or four main dishes and one of three or four sushi rolls. They all come with edamame and miso soup.

The salmon is an extra buck. You can get a bento for about seven dollars. I will not complain. See, this is me being happy about that.

Spicy Tuna roll. it's not top notch, but I think tasty

Full disclosure time. Not everybody likes it. There's at least one person in the office who claims to have had a bad experience. Resulting stomach trouble was implied. I, myself, have had no problems.

I have to admit, it's questionable if RnR should be considered parking garage food or not. The building that houses it is an office building, not a dedicated parking structure. But if you look closely, the only entrance is in the parking garage. I think it counts.

That entrance was designed for cars, not people

[where: 214 Madison St, Seattle, WA 98104]

Pike Place Chinese Cuisine

Pike Place market is crazy busy on weekends, and I hate crowds. It's a good thing Pike Place Chinese Cuisine is there to provide a refuge for the misanthropes. And also quite passable Chinese food. And pretty fantastic views. I mean, check this out. Nice right?

That's a view that I enjoy, um, viewing

And it really is, often, much quieter than the surrounding market. Except when it's not. But when it is... Oh, when it is!

And the food's pretty good too. Seattle has very little Chinese food that even counts as decent, especially outside of the ID. I really like the hot and sour soup, so I'll show you a picture of that.

It's actually spicy!

I'm not going to tell you that PPCC is in any way authentic Chinese food. But it is authentic American-Chinese food. It's really it's own genre (but I'm not bothering with extra tags, so neagh).

Nothing says 'Chinese food' like 'curry'. err...

All the food has that great corn-starch thickness that one has come to expect from American-Chinese food. It's all a bunch of bits next to a pile of rice. But despite the surface similarities, everything really does have a distinct, tasty flavor.

Garlic and chicken make a good combo

It's really small, and right downstairs from the fish place on the right (where the flowers and bric-a-brac starts, you know the place). They also have takeout, but I don't really know why you'd go and not look out the window.

Cool window, but I'd like a table.

[where: 1533 Pike Pl, Seattle, WA 98101]

parking garage teriyaki

One of the things I love about downtown Seattle is its way of putting restaurants in really weird places. Down random alleys is child's play. I'm talking, like, the basement of a labor union (technically, that's belltown). Underneath a bank of america. Or my favorite, upstairs in a parking garage.

Community Grocery & Deli is one isle of a convenience store, about six little tables left over from a western movie set, and a kitchen. It's called a deli, but they serve teriyaki. The doors open, from inside some random parking garage, directly on some stairs, which in turn lead right up in to the middle of everything. There are no windows. At the counter is a little old asian dude that doesn't speak any english. It's fantastic.

The food is good for a parking garage. What sort of surprised me is that 'good for a parking garage' is a little above average for Seattle teriyaki places. I don't go out of my way for it, but when I'm in the area I love to stop in. It's my second favorite parking garage restaurant.

[where: 1102 5th Ave, Seattle, Washington, 98101]
or [where: 415 Seneca St, Seattle, WA ]
[map] [outside.in]

Mai Phim Thai Restaurant

Mai Phim has it all: blaring Taiwanese pop, waitresses that sound like anime characters, and most importantly, good food. It's an unassuming little place near the market.

Exterior

It's menu is typical of Thai restaurants. Swimming Rama, Phad Thai, Pad Kee Mao, curries, etc. I had the Panang curry with chicken. I asked for spicy, and it was just right. It made my lips burn, but the flavors still shone through.

Panang Chicken Curry

My lunch companion had soup. The Tom Kah Kai with coconut milk and mushrooms. I got to try some, and it was very tasty as well.

Tom Kah Kai

It is a bit of a hole in the wall. Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Interior

Oh, remember the Thai Pop music? I took a video, just for you.

And so we come to the conclusion. Was it good? Definitely. Was it reasonably priced? See for yourself.

17 something. That's awesome for two people

Update
I was listing the wrong location. The place pictured above is the one on Pike. The one on Columbia is good too though.

[where: 213 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101] [map]
Other location: [outside.in] [where: 94 Columbia St, Seattle, WA 98104] [map]

Ivar's

Have I not talked about Ivar's? Bad food blogger! Ivar's is great summer food. The kind that feels like vacation. Probably because you're literally in a mob of tourists for the duration of the ordering and purchasing process.

It's just fish and chips. And clam chowder. And other kinds of fried fish.

Salmon and chips

It's a little pricey. For bits of salmon (3 pictured, oops), chips, and a drink came to $12.50. This puts it outside the everyday lunch range maybe. But on a fantastic day like today, I'll make an exception.

Order of Salmon and chips

The one on the waterfront is right by the fire boats. The seagulls come and demand their tribute. I didn't get a great shot of a chip catch, but here's an expectant luncher.

Seagull catching chips

Some gulls scream at you for food. Jerks. This one asked nicely.

[where: 1001 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98104] [map]

Red Bowls

My new favorite lunch spot. I almost wish my job didn't feed us so often, because then I could have more Red Bowls. The place is fantastic.

It's Japanese/Korean fusion, or something. I don't know. I do know that it's a great place to get a unfried fish dish for lunch when you're in downtown/pioneer square. It's also a great place to get an uncooked fish dish. One of my favorite things is the Spicy (raw) Salmon Bowl. Don't worry, they have cooked fish, foul and mammals as well.

Spicy Salmon Bowl raw salmon in spicy sauce and assorted veg over rice.

I'm also a huge fan of udon, which they have in abundance. And it's good.

Udon Perfect for a cold winter day.

The place is tiny, but the proprietors are really friendly and helpful. Service is fast. I can't wait until I'm free for lunch again.