Perhaps because downtown often smells of saltwater breezes, or because every nationally televised sports game here opens with a scene of salmon soaring through the air, Seattle enjoys a much-deserved reputation for seafood. But, in the words of Derek Zoolander, we do other stuff good, too. Visitors should also get a whiff of our pho and see the speed of our oyster shuckers. High costs and a smaller, more homogenous population than cities like New York and Los Angeles mute Seattle’s potential as a restaurant powerhouse, but there are a few genres in which Seattle’s restaurants rival the country’s best.

Ethiopian/Eritrean

If there’s one thing Ethiopia and Seattle share a love of, it’s coffee. Thankfully, there are plenty more: the big colorful platters of vegetarian food served all over town, the buttery buckwheat porridge genfo at Enat, and kitfo made from spiced raw beef, butchered in-house at Ahadu.

Vietnamese

Though warm broth and beefy noodles of pho are practically a necessity to get through PNW winters, some days call for bún riêu cua—crab soup—instead, or possibly the spicy, porky bún bò Huê. If variety is the spice of life, Seattle’s Vietnamese food is the surprise jalapeño hiding deep in your banh mi, with everything from the quick and cheap delis dotting the city to creative modern Vietnamese food by the second-generation restaurateurs at PST and Ramie.

Filipino

The hottest fried chicken takeout, the hardest-to-get tasting-menu table, a James Beard America’s Classic market stall, and an upscale casual spot from one of the most in-demand chefs in Seattle—that’s just a partial list of the city’s most notable Filipino restaurants. And the way Seattle’s community of Filipino chefs supports each other means we’re seeing only the tip of the iceberg so far.

Omakase

When Seattleites want to celebrate with something spendy, they go for sushi—in part because some of the city’s most exciting food comes in omakase form. The chef’s-choice style of menu allows for nimble use of whatever’s best in the moment, and Seattle’s cadre of phenomenal sushi masters ensure they do right by niche products such as firefly squid, spot prawns, and white king salmon.

Oyster bars

The Walrus and the Carpenter opened the eyes of national critics when it started shucking in Ballard, but shell-worshipping bivalve bars have long been a part of Seattle’s DNA, in old-school form at Shuckers, going from (aqua)farm-to-table at Taylor, and inspiring a road trip to Hama Hama.