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Tag Archives: bellevue

Ginza Bellevue

04 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Restaurants, Seattle

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Tags

Asian Food, bellevue, Ginza, pumpkin fried rice, seattle, surf clam, Sushi

Innocent enough, right?

Innocent enough, right?

As an Eastside resident for the past few years, I have now been to Ginza several times. Just off Old Main in Bellevue, it’s a great place sushi and a few other random items, like Pumpkin Fried Rice!

delicious sushi! The foll on the right is FLAMING hot!

delicious sushi! The roll on the right is the Burning Bomber Roll and it is FLAMING hot!

The sushi is great, but it ain’t cheap. Jordan and I tend to go here when we are ready for a nice sushi date night (because, you know, I like to categorize our dates that specifically…???) but it is also a great place to bring family and friends for a fun evening.

Pumpkin Fried Rice, the dish Ginza is best known for.

Pumpkin Fried Rice, the dish Ginza is best known for.

The Pumpkin Fried Rice is what gets all of the amazing Yelp reviews, and it is seriously awesome. I thought this might be a seasonal dish…but I had it for the first time in the summer and it was still Amazing! I mean C’mon, it comes to you in an entire pumpkin! Continue reading →

I Love Sushi – Lake Bellevue

11 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Restaurants, Seattle

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bellevue, Crunchy, ginger, I Love Sushi, Lake Bellevue, Rainbow Roll, shrimp, soup, soy sauce, Sushi, Tuna, Wasabi

The Crunchy Roll from I Love Sushi at Lake Bellevue- shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, avocado,flying fish roe with tempura bits

I have now officially been to every location of I Love Sushi in the greater Seattle area. They are all a bit different, and I have to say the Lake Bellevue location is the best. It’s some of the freshest and most innovative sushi I’ve had, while still being classic and simple. I think I avoided going here for awhile because it is pretty pricey, but oh man, so worth it.

Surf Clam, Octopus, Tuna, and Eel.

The Crunchy Shrimp roll was basically the best shrimp tempura roll I have ever had. The standard sushi was fresh, the tuna smooth and buttery, the surf clam perfectly chewy…

The Jalapeno Bomber Roll and Rainbow Roll

The Jalapeno Bomber roll came with this basil-jalapeno sauce and it was unreal. I never would have thought to pair a pesto-like sauce with sushi…I seriously can’t wait to have it again.

The Ara Jiru Soup

There are many more unique dishes on the menu, like the Ara Jiru soup, which is a sort of Japanese style bouillabaisse. They also had a $75 tasting menu that sounded insanely delicious.

I plan on coming back here on a warm summer day, as the restaurant sits on stilts over Lake Bellevue. Also, better to park there in the daylight since there are signs everywhere saying, “DO NOT LEAVE VALUABLES IN THE CAR” “LOCK ALL DOORS” and there is a huge security camera inside that shows the parking lot. Very perplexing since Bellevue isn’t exactly Sketch-Central.  I am not sure what the deal is with Lake Bellevue either, it seems like a small man-made lake, but I am not sure as I couldn’t really find any info about it. How mysterious.

I Love Sushi Lake Bellevue
23 Lake Bellevue Dr  Bellevue, WA 98005
(425) 455-9090

Din Tai Fung

19 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by BakedNorthwest in Restaurants

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Tags

asian, bellevue, braised beef, chain restaurants, din tai fung, dumplings, ginger, green beans, pork, rice cake, seattle, soups, spareribs, spicy, vinegar

The small dumplings with soup (served Sunday mornings only)

Its become a semi-tradition: Sunday = Din Tai FUNday. This place is incredible. We usually only go on Sunday mornings right when they open because it’s so hard to get a table during normal lunch and dinner hours (no reservations). I have no idea why Bellevue was chosen as the next place for this a-mazing chain (the only other U.S. location is in L.A.) but I’m not complaining!

The spareribs appetizer - supposed to be served cold, but ask for it hot!

If you’re in the Bellevue/Seattle area, I highly recommend hitting up Din Tai Fung if you want to try some out of this world dumplings, noodles, and other unique accompaniments.

The spicy braised beef soup

One thing I’ve found about Din Tai Fung is you have to know what to order. When I first came here, I tried the pork and crab dumplings – definitely not the best thing on the menu. I also ordered the pork buns thinking they would be similar to Hum Bao but they ended up being buns with a giant pork meatball in the center – also not my thing. I was a little disappointed, but I can’t tell you how glad I was when I gave this place a second chance and discovered the best of the menu (all pictured here).

Steamed mushroom/tofu/veggie buns (a current special) and garlic green beans

Pictured below is one of the best dishes ever. The rice cake noodle (choice of shrimp, pork, chicken, veggie…we got the pork today). Looks weird, sounds weird, but taste like nothing else on this earth…at least to me. Chewy, soft noodle-y discs that I tend to pour probably too much vinegar over.

The Shanghai Rice Cake with Pork

Did I mention they give you tiny little bowls of sliced ginger that you have the choice of pouring soy sauce or vinegar over? I go with the vinegar, I’m convinced I’m a fanatic of it since I completely ignore the soy sauce. (You can see the tiny bowl of it in the bottom of the below picture).

A glimpse of our Sunday morning feast, aka Din Tai FUNday.

There’s a lot more where this came from, and since I go here so often, there may have to be a “part II” post. I know I’m not the only one who loves Din Tai Fung, so if you haven’t been, go RIGHT now, seriously. Or wait until Sunday morning at 10:00AM, the best way to brunch in my mind.

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