Favorite
Among the strip malls of MLK Way, a small Asian grocery store takes its name from the capital of Laos and serves dishes from the small nation whose flavors traverse its border with northeastern Thailand. Customers survey pictures of papaya salad and noodle soup that line the front window before ordering at the counter; most bypass the handful of tables Read more...
Favorite
Homey Lao dishes built this vestibule-size restaurant in Chinatown–International District a following, but now the sign out front proclaims it a “Thai kitchen.” Under subsequent family owners, the menu shifted toward more prevalent curries, salads, and noodle dishes, balanced with vivid exceptions like sai oua sausage. But back in her tiny kitchen, chef Thanaporn Luijan takes such care with the details, Read more...
Favorite
There are hot pot restaurants outfitted with huge tables where you bring the whole crew. Then there are the hot pot places better suited for a smaller group or a duo, where the happy hour is solid and the menu pleasantly varied. Morfire is the latter. The concrete-neutral room on 12th Avenue serves the boiling hot soup dish Thai style: Read more...
Favorite
A rainbow of plastic baskets imported from Thailand—in quantities large enough to puzzle customs officials—hang from the cavernous Belltown ceiling, a reflection of the vibrancy happening on a huge menu. Partners Ott Jaicharoensook and Sangduen Auesiriwong, whose extended families both run restaurants around town, calibrated Thai street food staples (and some bar snack approximations) for the neighborhood’s lunch by day, drink Read more...
Favorite
Tucked away on a quiet South Lake Union street is a vegan Thai haven that, well, doesn’t taste vegan. That might be a product of Thai food’s inherent tendency towards plants and away from dairy, but Kati reminds us of an important truth—vegetables can be profoundly decadent. Like broccoli, stir fried and doused in garlic lime sauce, oyster mushrooms that Read more...
Favorite
At the entrance to Madison Valley stands a restaurant casual enough for takeout, but the street food–centered menu and windowed dining room are worthy of an actual night out: Round sausages burst with garlic, a larb (aka salad) of crispy mushrooms dusted in rice powder is so bright and savory it’s almost oysterlike, while a trio of chicken drumsticks (and Read more...
Favorite
Pestle Rock was the best Thai restaurant in Ballard. Until its owners opened a megacasual Southeast Asian noodle bar next door, where so much happens inside each fortifying bowl, like the guay tiow khaek, a seafood soup with fat, square noodles in a rich coconut curry broth that snaps with chili oil. If the build-your-own-adventure combinations seem daunting, head straight Read more...
Favorite
Really it’s just your typical Pike/Pine coffee shop turned bar that specializes in hip-hop and khao mun gai. Inside the nightspot known as Sugar Hill, Guitar Srisuthiamorn does an exemplary version of Thailand’s signature chicken-and-rice street food dish. One that packs real flavor—even before you add the sauce’s zing. The vinyl collection lining the walls inspires the soundtrack; petite platters Read more...
Favorite
A gleaming Capitol Hill dining room with 14-foot ceilings and custom rustic-industrial decor proclaims Isan’s pungent, growing presence on Seattle’s food landscape. Chef-owner Yuie Wiborg is particularly adept with the menu’s piquant grilled meats, like the sliced kor moo yang pork collar. Even neophytes quickly learn to wield hunks of sticky rice like a dipping utensil, and the jerky is Read more...
Favorite
At this nondescript Thai restaurant, turn to the menu’s back page for some of the best, boldest Lao food in town, including khao soy and the crispy rice salad known as khao nam tod—it’s texture and flavor for days. Read more...