December 30, 2008
Northwest Tofu Inc., located in a warehouse-looking building on Jackson St., specializes in the production of, not surprisingly, tofu. It’s quite a bit away from the rest of Chinatown, and it’s not open for dinner, closing near 5pm if I remember correctly. But make some time in your schedule to stop in, because it’s well worth it. NW Tofu Inc. doesn’t simply serve tofu dishes. The small restaurant/factory serves up all sorts of classic Chinese morning streetfood cuisines, including dim sum, congee, and big hearty bowls of soy milk.
And while all these delicious foods may come from the same base ingredient, eating here is definitely not a one-note experience. Imagine it being more like a judge at the Iron Chef Soy Battle. Soy milk can be sweet or salty (the salty is rather exceptional), tofu can be firm, soft, fried, braised, etc. It only makes sense that people so devoted to the creation of tofu curds would know how to cook them. No sauce, seasoning or spice is used to hinder the taste of tofu, only to enhance its freshness and texture.
The non-soy offerings were also pretty good. Dumplings were warm and soft, filled with an appropriate amount of stuffing and meat. The Chinese donuts were crisp, though I think they’re made off site at another bakery. All this is cheap too, with three dishes plus some soy milk coming in at about ten dollars a person.
The timing may be unfriendly to those of you with day jobs, but if you find yourself in the CD hungry for some lunch, NW Tofu should be at the top of your list.
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Brunch, Chinese, Dim Sum, Seattle | Tagged: Central District, Lunch, NW Tofu Inc., Tofu | 
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Posted by hojodimsum
September 9, 2008
I’ve walked by this place over 100 times but never had the urge to stop in and eat. The Coastal Kitchen does pretty well, especially on Sunday mornings, where lines out the door and people desperately searching for parking is a common occurrence. The restaurant is part of the Chow Foods series of establishments, featuring a rotating global menu as well as a decor that’s somewhat uniquely Seattle.
The region of the day was Venezuela. I do not know much about Venezuela or its cuisine. It sounds coastal. This is a Coastal Kitchen, so I hope it’s coastal.
There is a section on the menu reserved specifically for Venezuelan dishes, with the rest of the menu being the classic morning fare that you would find in most brunch-focused restaurants. Eggs, toast, pancakes, meats, all the good things that make mornings worth waking up for. Wanting to expand my horizons a bit (at least as far as a diner on Capitol hill can take me i suppose), I picked a scramble laden with regional peppers, Dungeness crab and shrimp. Sounded like a winning deal.
The scramble was light and fluffy, very little grease or gristle which was nice. Not an enormous amount of crab/shrimp but it was ample for the $12 price tag. However, I wish it had a little more seasoning. Usually, reaching for the pepper/salt is just fine for a morning meal. But I felt underwhelmed at not only the overall flavor, but my options for adjusting the dish. Salt wasn’t enough.
I also ordered a side of bacon to go with, but unlike the ethnic liberties taken with my main dish, there really is no excuse for under-salted bacon.
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Brunch, Seattle | Tagged: Brunch, captiol hill, Coastal Kitchen | 
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Posted by hojodimsum
