La Carta de Oaxaca (wahaka) is a great Mexican restaurant with good quality eats from the Oaxaca region of Mexico. The atmosphere is very charming with photographs and regional displays on the wall and the staff is friendly. Sitting at the counter is a great experience since you get to see your food being made.

Needless to say, the carne asada taco here is great! Some would say the best in Seattle. But what really makes this place special is the Mole which I hear is a Oaxaca specialty. It’s not for everyone, but the dish is definitely unique as it’s prepared with chocolate as one of the main ingredients.

So next time you’re in Ballard and you’re craving great Mexican food, try this joint.

A very charming atmosphere and great seasonal Northwest-French fusion menu make Chez Shea a top-notch eatery. The food is definitely not cheap but if you’re looking for a special occasion or just want to splurge on great food, this is the place.The fixed price menu is great to get a taste of everything and portions are tweaked perfectly for each dish. I never got tired of any particular dish and felt very full at the end of the meal.

Foodies that love a good French restaurant with that Northwest flair should definitely check this place out.

Firm noodles (adjustable) and great broth make this place a must-try for any Ramen lover. Really those two factors can make or break a ramen place in my eyes. A few years ago, I really thought there was no good Ramen in Seattle and one had to trek about 2 1/2 hours (plus border wait time) to Vancouver for good quality ramen. But Samurai Noodles has changed this and so far takes the cake for best Ramen in Seattle.

Because of it’s proximity to the stadiums, this makes a great pre-game stop (Mariners or Seahawks) for those that don’t necessarily like to load up on game-day sausages.

Applying my yardstick for all Thai places (Phad Thai), this place measures up. The noodles are the right consistency and the sauce is not overly wet.

Also try the fried bananas. It’s a great dessert for anyone that doesn’t mind collecting some cholesterol points.

Ok, I know I said that Shiro’s is the best sushi in Seattle but that was before I really re-acquainted myself with Nishino.

I know this sounds obvious but good sushi really depends on two things: 1. Good cut of a fresh piece of fish 2. Sushi rice consistency and taste

In my opinion, Nishino masterfully meets the highest standard for both of these requirements. The cut for each piece of sushi is delicate and leaves you wanting more.

I had the 25-for-25 menu with some additional pieces of nigiri sushi. The added pieces were necessary as the 25-for-25 items are usually not enough to fill your normal hunger level. The nigiri is costly ($5-7 per 2 piece order) but well worth the money.

When Capri Italian Market on Bellevue Way closed it’s doors due to lack of business, Bellevue lost a great Italian specialty shop that carried great imported cured ham from Parma, Italy. Even though some people may disagree, it was truly a great loss for the neighborhood.

The birth of a relatively new establishment in Old Bellevue (Main Street bet. Bellevue Way and 100th Ave NE) called Porcella Urban Market filled a much needed gap that Capri left behind.

Porcella is part market and part eatery that carries a great selection of wine as well as Italian cured meats, sweets (e.g. cannolis), and prepared gourmet goodies to take home (e.g. duck confit). I walked to this Old Bellevue establishment on a Sunday afternoon and immediately noticed the charming European deli atmosphere and window-side tables that have a view of the developing Bellevue skyline with relaxed old town Bellevue-lites strolling by.

The eatery features a menu of gourmet soups, salads, specialty plates and baguette sandwiches. I tried the Prosciutto di Parma baguette sandwich and was surprised it came with a side of Truffled Gaufrette chips. The gourmet sandwich packed authentic imported prosciutto and an unconventional fried egg in the middle which was perfect since I had not eaten breakfast. I washed down the great tasting meal with a carafe of water and left a satisfied customer. My only regret is that I did not get to try their cannolis with a cappucino. Perhaps next time.

All in all, Porcella is a tad on the expensive side but it brings to Bellevue a unique urban market of fine gourmet foods difficult to find anywhere in Seattle and is a great way to enjoy Old Bellevue. Give it a try.

I never thought I would say this about Cedars but I don’t know if I’m ever going there again. Cedars is easily the best tasting Indian food in the Seattle area. Of this I have no argument.

I once frequented this restaurant that offers bottomless chai and a great Madras Chili Masala. My tea cup was never empty and the menu featured many solid selections like the Butter Chicken and the best Chicken Tandoori I’ve ever had (not dry like many other places). Cedars also offers very good Mediterranean food as well.

The reason I doubt that I’m ever going back is because on my last visit, as I made my way to the restroom, I passed by the kitchen and saw five or six cockroaches crawling out from underneath a picture that hung on the wall. My personal experiences with roaches in college have made it very unlikely that I’ll ever return there and calls to question the cleanliness of the kitchen. I feel bad for this review because I don’t want to ruin this fine establishment for everyone but I feel it’s necessary to give a true account of my experiences.

Perhaps they have fumigated the place since I last visited or perhaps I will go to the India House which is owned by the same family and has an identical menu (without the mediterranean stuff).

I’ve lived in the building upstairs from this restaurant for two years and I have yet to eat there since I moved… until today. Now I know why.

Flo is a Japanese fusion place that tries to provide fresh and unique dishes for Bellevue-lites. After some careful tasting, Flo comes up a bit short on the creative side and some items on the menu should be avoided. I ordered the spicy calamari thinking it was going to be a more modern take on the broiled squid izakaya style dish but instead I got something that had been stirfried with carrots, onions and broccoli. It tasted like something you would get at a teriyaki place in a food court. Other dishes like the grilled chicken breast and vegetable tempura are overly plain to be featured on a fusion menu. Sushi rolls are generous in portion size but lack the attention to detail that a more traditional Japanese restaurant would provide. The standard spicy tuna roll here is large but I couldn’t shake the unrefined taste of flat tabasco flavor that are typical of bad rolls.

Even though there are items to avoid at Flo, there are some redeeming qualities. The atmosphere and the nigiri sushi here are actually pretty good. The atmosphere is a serene zen-like theme with soft lighting. The nigiri sushi here costs an average of six dollars for 2 pieces, cheaper than most premium Seattle places. In the winters, they ship great Toro (fatty tuna) from the east coast that deserves to be tried at least once. I recommend the Toro, Hamachi, Amaebi, and Mirugai (Giant Clam or Geoduck). They were all very fresh. The sushi cut is generous and rice is done pretty well. Be prepared to shell out the cash, however, as Flo was a pioneer in the high-price Downtown Bellevue foodscape that exists today.

The former owner of Seven Star Pepper Cheng Biao Yang finally decided to seize the Chinese food market opportunity on the East Side of Seattle by opening a decently authentic Szechuan restaurant in Bellevue.

The food is very spicy but flavorful and authentic enough to satisfy the Microsoft Chinese crowd that frequent the restaurant. One of the marks of a good Szechuan restaurant is their use of the ‘ma’ pepper to construct the spicy flavor. Szechuan Chef is one of the few restaurants in Seattle that seems to do this pretty well. The decor is a tad overboard with an outdoor Chinese village courtyard feel but it’s clean and comfortable which is already a leg up on many other Chinese restaurants in the area.

My personal must-try’s include Mixed beef cold appetizer (Fu(1) Qi(1) Fei(4) Pian(4)) and personal favorite Fish in Spicy Gravy (Shui(3) Zhu(3) Yu(2)). Also try the cumin lamb and stirfry kidney (Huo(3) Bao(4) Yao(1) Hua(1)). The hotpot here is a good way to go for those cold and rainy Seattle winters but go with the half-spicy-half-regular soup. Your stomach will thank you in the morning.

When I first arrived in Seattle about five years ago, I was convinced there’s no good Italian food in this town. Having lived in Boston and New York, authentic Italian food wasn’t very hard to find.

After some careful searching, it seems that good Italian food is available in Seattle if just a little bit more spread out. Without a central area like Boston’s North End, New York’s Little Italy or SF’s North Beach, Seattle still has places like Firenze which is unique in being in the relatively cheap-but-authentic category (some other good places include Il Bistro and Assaggio but are much more expensive).

You can always tell a good Italian place by the character and consistency of their pasta. I know it sounds too simplistic but it’s true and Firenze does pasta right.

Firenze borrows it’s name from the city of Florence. The atmosphere is pretty warm and the service is friendly. The price is very reasonable and there are enough authentic dishes to satisfy any Italian food enthusiast. Do not miss the various sorbets they have for dessert. The sorbet is served in the shell of the actual fruit that carries the flavor. Give it a try.