Nosh Pit

For Your Weekend Consideration: St. Dames

The dinner house on MLK Way is at the top of the vegetarian game.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 04, 2011 at 11:03AM 0 Comments

Vegetarian yumminess at St. Dames. Photo: Lucas Anderson.

Seattle’s veg set has landed itself a new hot spot, it seems. In-house critic Kathryn Robinson recently ventured south to try St. Dames and returned with glowing words for the diet-disciplined dining spot.

“Dismiss the vivid little candlelit destination dinner house at your own peril,” Robinson cautions, “for it has swiftly soared to the top of the vegetarian heap in this town for its nuanced way with brunch and dinner comfort foods.”

Vegans and gluten-free folk: yay for you, a good chunk of the dishes can be made as such. For more on St. Dames, click click click.

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Tags: Vegetarian/Vegan Whatnot, Rainier Valley

New Digs for Toshio’s Teriyaki

Swankiest teriyaki joint in the Rainier Valley

Posted by: Kathryn Robinson on Jul 05, 2010 at 09:00AM 1 Comments

Just look at that glistening skin

Speaking of the five-day-old law now mandating compostable containers, cups, and plates in takeout joints—and I’m pretty sure we were speaking of that—one of the most beloved takeout joints in Seattle now has a glitzy new look.

Meet the new Toshio’s Teriyaki, the fancy angular glass building just south of I-90 on Rainier Avenue. Yeah, that Toshio’s Teriyaki, once a shack held up seemingly by its sticky rice and pinned-up Bible verses alone.

That’s all changed, thanks to the fancy new remodel that had its grand opening last week. No worries, everything else is the same—right down to the moist teriyaki chicken, skin-on as ever.

Well, except for the clamshell to-go containers. Compostable now of course.

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Tags: Rainier Valley, teriyaki, Toshio's Teriyaki, Takeout, Compostable Containers

Cajun Crawfish

What’s a nice spicy crawdad doing in a shopping center like this?

Posted by: Eric Scigliano on Jun 23, 2010 at 10:15AM 0 Comments

Almost ready for the bag.

First time you see it, you gotta blink: The Cajun Crawfish in King Plaza, the little Little Saigon by the Othello station where every other business and nearly every shopper seems to be Vietnamese? The eyes don’t deceive: This is the latest beachhead of a wave that’s rolling from the Gulf Coast to Vietnamese enclaves everywhere (including Crawfish King in the ID and the Crawfish Grill in Kent.)

It all started in the ’70s when thousands of refugees washed up in Lake Charles, Biloxi, and other Gulf ports. Many took up shrimping, a big deal in Vietnam as well. Shellfish, sausage, pepper, and garlic are a universal language; the immigrants took to Cajun cooking, then took it on the road.

The Cajun Crawfish hews to the formula: crawfish, shrimp, crab legs (snow or king), sea snails, clams, or a mix, served by the pound in a heavy plastic bag with steaming sauce (Cajun, butter, lemon-pepper, or a boom bang combination) and optional potatoes, andouille, and corn. No utensils, just plastic bibs, paper towels, and butcher paper covering the table. Wimps may request plastic forks or (more effective) chopsticks. Go with friends who can stand to see you lick your fingers. Or theirs. The Cajun sauce will drive you to it; order “hot” and you will get hot.

The Cajun Crawfish’s only sign of fusion is “boom bang fried rice,” a sort of rice bowl/jambalaya crossover with shrimp, sausage, onion, celery, and (!) pineapple, saturated with filé and sprinkled with nori. It works. Drawl “Asian” and “Cajun” slowly enough and they sound the same.

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Tags: Crawfish, Cajun, Louisiana, Vietnamese, Rainier Valley