Seattle Met magazine’s February issue focuses on “Best Asian Restaurants,” a category well represented in Wallingford.
These are the cuisines in which Wallingford restaurants were deemed among the best. Should you ever wish to leave Wallingford’s boundaries, read about Seattle’s other best Asian restaurants on the Seattle Met site.
Joule
Their menu is a cosmopolitan globetrotter, but Joule chef-owners Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi infuse the food with signature Korean flavors—deep, dark, and dank as a Wallingford basement, with spicy pings of chili pepper running interference against funk overload.Who’s here The whole dang neighborhood likes to cheer up inside this noisy, butter-hued cafe. Make a reservation.
Don’t miss The kooky kimchi remixes—pear, shiitake, kohlrabi—and the BBQ board where a grilled version of the fermented cabbage serves as crunchy vegetal counterpoint to sweet chili sausage and silken short ribs.
Pssst Yang and Chirchi are now having fun with their food in Fremont, too: Pan-Asian street food joint Revel opened on North 36th Street this December.
Joule, 1913 N 45th St, Wallingford, 206-632-1913; joulerestaurant.com
Satay
The story behind this brand new place is as good as the satay: Two college buddies backpack through Southeast Asia and develop an addiction to Malaysian street food. With the help of a Malay auntie, they recreate the scene—bright red walls graffitied with local lingo—and their favorite dishes, all under $10: curry puffs, roti canai, red curry, and the best satay in Seattle—crispy and juicy with homemade peanut sauce.Who’s here Expats and scruffy backpackers reliving their days spent sucking down satay and Singha beer in a Kuala Lumpur alley.
Don’t miss The curry puffs—both the owners’ top pick and ours.
Pssst There are only a handful of tables, so consider grabbing takeout or getting a stool at the counter.
Satay, 1711 N 45th St, Wallingford, 206-547-0597; satayseattle.com
Kisaku
Warm and sweet as the inside of a yam, Kisaku offers the deep skill of sushi craftsman Ryuichi Nakano along with the sort of neighborhood hospitality that welcomes toddlers to the sushi bar. With shy grace Nakano-san presents an unusual diversity of seasonal delicacies—cod sperm sacs, green sea urchin—along with more usual suspects, then under-charges for them.Who’s here Must be neighbors, because street parking in this Tangletown tangle is near nonexistent.
Don’t miss Sitting at the bar to enjoy Nakano-san’s selection in the form of chef’s choice omakase. Non–sushi eaters should order the mackerel in syrupy miso sauce, a revelation.
Pssst Nakano-san (@kisakusushi) tweets his daily fresh sheet!
Kisaku, 2101 N 55th St, Ste 100, Wallingford, 206-545-9050; kisaku.com/kisaku
Phad Thai (see sidebar)
The ornate Thai facade on 45th in Wallingford houses May Restaurant and Lounge, an inconsistent Thai restaurant with two mitigating claims to fame: a gently lovely filigreed-teak interior, and a phad Thai presentation to leave for dead every other pretender in town. Servers bring the noodles to your table wrapped in banana leaves, along with condiment dishes of sugar, peanuts, and chilies so you can season to your taste, then scatter the whole with a flourish of banana blossoms. Aside from being the prettiest rendition of the most ubiquitous Asian dish in Seattle, we’ll call it the tastiest, alive with all the right tarts and savories and sours and not a hint of that cloying ketchuppy tang we’ve come to expect.
May Restaurant and Lounge, 1612 N 45th St, Wallingford, 206-675-0037; maythaiseattle.com
