Looking for Chai Taiwanese Kitchen

Located in an unassuming Lynnwood strip mall, Looking for Chai is one of the best restaurants I've sampled so far.

The interior is minimalist and upscale. Predominantly black tables and walls absorb light cast from the windows to the parking lot exterior, but the white accents keep it from being too dark. Each table is set with both forks and chopsticks.

The menu was comprehensive without being overwhelming, and integrated traditional Taiwanese foods like bitter melon and hot-pot soups (delivered still boiling, on individual kerosene burners).

We ordered an appetizer of tofu with seaweed and soy-sauce eggs ($5.95).

Looking for Chai is known for their drinks. Dozens of teas, milk teas and other drinks (hot or cold) were presented in the menu and on a giant black-wall board. People inside held mugs of various beverages. So my kids and I decided to order a few. Our chocolate-cookie milk tea was slightly bitter but gorgeous to look at. We ordered it cold, but I think I'd order it hot next time. 

The teas described on the menu as "hand shaken" look somewhat like a big pint mug of beer -- but these are green teas. Here, a green tea with dried plum ($3.75). Sour-bitter-sweet, all at once. The whole table fought over drinking it. 

The lunch menu included this crispy chicken with special spicy sauce. For $2 more, our server said we could make it a meal with two sides and rice. In this case, the sides were corn and eggs and tomatoes. I think I'd skip the sides next time unless the sides were spectacular. Although everything tasted fine, the chicken was more than enough for two to split.

Kids (and immature adults) will get a kick out of the bathroom signs, which are sorta awesome.

Looking for Chai Taiwanese Kitchen

Address:  22511 WA-99 #100, Edmonds, WA 98026 
Phone: (425) 672-0880 
Website: http://steve11977.wix.com/lookingforchai 

Hours: 
Sunday 11:30 AM – 10:00 PM 
Monday 12:00 – 10:30 PM 
Tuesday 12:00 – 10:30 PM 
Wednesday 12:00 – 10:30 PM 
Thursday 12:00 – 10:30 PM 
Friday 11:30 AM – 11:30 PM
Saturday 11:30 AM – 11:30 PM 

Ten Pou Bubble Tea

I've had Taiwanese food before at Facing East in Bellevue, which is incredible. Unusual dishes, great presentation, absolutely delicious. Always a wait for East is East, too. 

So when I read that Ten Pou Bubble Tea was Taiwanese-owned, and right on Aurora -- albeit tucked inside an Oak Tree plaza grocery store -- I thought it might be similar. 

So the decor leaves something to be desired, sure. Cafeteria-style seating, a small TV blaring a Michael Jackson special, and not too many customers at noon on a weekday. 

After ordering at the counter, you take a seat and food is brought to the table. We sat in a room that also held various, random ... things. Stacked tables, mismatched chairs, office chairs, coats, silk flowers in vases, ready-to-recycle folded cardboard,  a teapot that kept boiling and bubbling in the corner, and a sign that said "Visibly Fresh."

Perhaps someone's doing KonMari method or they're preparing for a interior makeover. This is a charitable explanation, as it looks more like clutter. But it's clean clutter. You know what I mean? 

The Chinese broccoli was my favorite dish. Very crunchy and flavorful.

I also liked the duck part of the above noodle-soup equation. Ducks are my favorite bird to eat. However, the meat was still very much attached to the bones. A friend once told me that in their home cuisine, the poultry is cut "with no respect to the original anatomy of the animal." Which can be either messy as hell to eat or a choking hazard. One or the other.

So I ate the duck with my hands, which may or may not have grossed out my dining companion. I come from a people who eat a lot of things with their hands. Even if there is soup all over those things. Better than gravy, I guess. 

These were steamed buns. They were filled with meat. I forgot to notice what kind of meat. They were OK. 

I'm glad I didn't notice these fellows until after lunch. The doleful, accusatory eye would've made me think twice about my order. 

I don't know if I'd go back to Ten Pou. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't amazing either. Or maybe I ordered the wrong things, or my expectations were too high for a place located inside a grocery store. Mostly, I want to return to Facing East, even if it means a drive across a toll bridge.  

Ten Pou Bubble Tea
Address: 10008 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133
Phone:(206) 234-6408
Hours: Monday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
            Tuesday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
            Wednesday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
            Thursday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
            Friday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
            Saturday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
            Sunday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Pop Pop Thai Street Food

Tucked away inside a strip mall, a tiny Thai restaurant is dishing up great meals.  

 At first, I thought the name sounded sort of like Pok Pok, the famous Portland Thai food restaurant which I know for blazing-hot street food and drinking vinegar. Pok Pok's food is delicious but makes me cry every time. But the food at Pop Pop is a bit more approachable, at least giving diners a choice between hot or not. 

The menu isn't the Tolstoy-like book found at many Thai restaurants. Instead, under 30 or so items available. Pick from papaya salads (original, fresh prawn or salted crab), curries, basil-flecked green beans and noodle dishes. Most selections give you a choice of chicken, pork, prawns, tofu, and sometimes beef. Daily specials are written out on a blackboard above the cash register. 

The interior is dark, with wood-plank walls and wooden tables and seating. A large fish tank at the far end of the restaurant contains unusual looking fish, including a bizarre, hinged-jaw ribbonlike relation to the arapaima, which I've seen in aquariums. They can grow as large as the fish tank. Maybe bigger. I'd like to state for the record that I really hope this happens. Because. 

Cool Thai postcards also decorate bulletin-board areas. 

My children love Pad Thai. Pop Pop's Pad Thai is flavored with tamarind, giving it a sweet tang. 

"Red pork" is all over the menu, which our waiter explained meant barbecue pork. The anise-flavored Roasted Red Pork dish was served in a gingered gravy. Gravy is such an unpleasant word for a delicious sort of thing. The little dipping bowl of "chili sauce" was sweet-tangy-spicy and contained jalapenos. It wasn't hot but was flavorful. 

My favorite dish was the Thai Style Omelet, which was reclining on a bed of perfectly-cooked rice, topped with cilantro. If visiting Pop Pop on Aurora with a toddler or younger kid, this would be the *perfect* item to order. My only complaint was that while the texture was great, it could've used a bit more flavor or kick. So I dipped the omelet pieces in the mystery sauce. 

When we came in, at around five, about half of the dozen or so tables were filled. By the time we left, every seat was taken and a line was forming to pick up to-go food. We didn't order dessert, even though durian ice cream is on the menu and I was tempted to offer it to my kids who'd never tried durian before. Because I'm a nice mom like that. 

We brought home leftovers. I ate my omelet with sweet chili sauce for breakfast. It was perfect, and Pop Pop is now on our short list of favorite Hwy 99 restaurants. 

Pop Pop Thai Street Food
13242 Aurora Ave N #104, Seattle, WA 98133
Phone:(206) 695-2858

Pop Pop Hours:

Monday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday	12:00 – 9:00 pm
Sunday	12:00 – 8:00 pm