Chow for Cheap: Best Bites Under $10
The tonkotsu, a pork broth with mushrooms, green onions, and al dente ramen noodles, at I.D. favorite Samurai Noodle. Here, most items on the menu range from $6.75 to $8.
Cod fish and chips paired with a house made tartar sauce. The crispy staple of Cap Hill late-night noshing costs $8 at Pike Street Fish Fry.
A bowl of red lentil soup, which costs $3.50 at Pike Place Market gem the Crumpet Shop. The wee spongy cakes (pictured here is one topped with tomato, English cheese, and pesto) are $1.55 to $4.75.
At Thai Tom , try the swimming rama: spinach and bean sprouts covered in chicken and what could be called the city’s best Thai peanut sauce. The cost: $7.45.
At Citizen in Queen Anne, crepes come either savory (like apple-smoked bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and basil drizzled in maple syrup) or sweet (strawberries, ricotta cheese, and honey sprinkled with sugar), and cost $7.25 to $7.95.
Roti (or ro tee, as it’s spelled at the new I.D. joint Thai Curry Simple ) is the Asian equivalent of a crepe—thin, floppy, flatbready. Thai Curry Simple’s milk-sugar variety costs $2. Other kinds from which to choose: cheese ($2.50), chocolate (ditto), chocolate and banana ($3), scrambled egg ($3.50)—all drizzled with copious amounts of condensed milk.
New banh mi stand Baguette doesn’t offer much in the way of atmosphere, but that’s okay, you’re here for the sandwiches, like the ginger-sauteed chicken. It’s stuffed with pickled daikon and carrots, jalapenos, a garlic pepper and soy sauces, cucumber, and cilantro and costs $4.
Mitt-sized tortillas made with corn or rice flour, pupusas maintain both the floppiness of a pancake and the tough chew of pita bread. They are perfectly round, and at Guanaco’s Tacos Pupuseria come stuffed with a pasty chicharrón (pork) or chicken and a variety of veggies: spinach, ayote (zucchini), jalapenos, refried beans. Here the pupusas cost $2.35 each and arrive with a side of sweet slaw.
Chungee’s Drink and Eat ‘s wonton soup sets you back $6.95. Pair it with General Tso’s chicken ($9.95) and a Chungee pancake ($4.95), and you’ve got a meal for two with leftovers likely.
During lunch at Kaname beef sukiyaki costs $8.95 (a vegetarian version is a dollar less).
