Mawadda Cafe If at Mawadda Cafe it sometimes feels as if the process that ends with your desired meal being delivered to your table moves at a glacial pace, it's because everything on the menu, from the chicken shawarma to the lamb kabob, is cooked to order. That detail, along with Mawadda's location in a Hillman City strip mall, make it a less-than-ideal lunch destination for anyone but the city's most dedicated foodies. But the falafel sandwich alone is worth the journey: Coupled with the house tzatziki sauce, the crispy exterior dissolves on the tongue into a fine garlic-tinged mash. Trying to get the mustachioed owner Rami to divulge the secret ingredient is a fool's errand, but he'll smile in acknowledgment every time you make an attempt. VERNAL COLEMAN 4433 S. Graham St., 760-0911,mawaddacafe.com. $ HILLMAN CITY
Mecca Cafe Restaurants can spend a lot of time and money trying to cobble up the kind of authenticity the Mecca has achieved without trying. Sorry, that can't be rushed; in its eighth decade, the place, with its leatherette booths and vintage comics, ads, and menus on the wall, is still so archetypal it could be an installation in the Smithsonian: "The American Diner, 1920–60." The menu is pure comfort, from serious hashbrowns-and-bacon breakfasts to wand-mixed malts, open-face sandwiches (roast beef or turkey piled on egg bread, an ice-cream scoop of mashed potatoes, a ladleful of gravy), chicken strips, chili, and iceberg-lettuce salads. I mean, they still offer cold cereal in individual-serving boxes. And do you know how hard it is to find orange pop in a restaurant nowadays? GAVIN BORCHERT 526 Queen Anne Ave. N., 285-9728. $ QUEEN ANNE
Kevin P. Casey
Betty: perfect for a low-stress, high-end meal.
Steven Miller
Branzino “comes off like a handsome older man.”
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"Here in Seattle, we've got it all. We've got the talent. We've got the product in spades. Revolutionary spirit? In some neighborhoods in this town, you can't chuck a rock without hitting some white-jacket with grill scars on his arms and a new restaurant opening in a former gas station or converted Airstream trailer."
Read Seattle Weekly food critic Jason Sheehan's intro to "Our Favorite Restaurants 2010" here.
A - B
All Purpose Pizza - Anchovies & Olives - Bakeman's - Bakery Nouveau - Betty
B - C
Bistro Turkuaz - Branzino - Buddha Ruksa - Café Flora - Café Juanita - Café Paloma
C - C
Café Presse - Canlis - Carmelita - Cascina Spinasse - Casper's - A Taste of the South - Chen's Village - Chinoise Café
C- E
Continental Restaurant and Patry Shop - The Counter - The Cutting Board - Delancey - Easy Street Cafe - Elliott Bay Cafe
E - G
El Mestizo - Emmer & Rye - Fort St. George - Georgetown Liquor Company - Green Leaf - Guanaco's Tacos Pupuseria
H - I
Hana - Harvest Vine - Hector's Restaurant - Hidmo - Hi Spot - I Love New York Deli - In the Bowl
I - K
Island Soul - The Italian Spaghetti House - Jones Origianl Barbeque and Catering - Joule - Kau Kau Barbeque - Kingfish
K - M
Kisaku - K.I.S.S. Cafe and Wine Bar - La Rustica - Lunchbox Laboratory - Maneki
M - M
Mawadda Cafe - Mecca Cafe - Mee Sum Pastry - Mistral Kitchen - Monsoon
N - P
New Saigon Deli - Ocho - Okinawa Teriyaki - Ototo - Pair - Palace Kitchen
P - P
Pam's Kitchen - Paseo - The People's Pub - Pete's Egg Nest - Pike Street Fish Fry - Plum Bistro
P - R
Poppy - Portage Bay Cafe - The Pub at Piper's Creek - Purple Dot Cafe - Rose Petals Restaurant - Red Bowls
S - S
Saba - Salumi - Serious Pie - Shultzy's Sausage - Skillet - Slim's Last Chance
S - T
Spring Hill - Spur Gastropub - Steelhead Diner - Tamarind Tree - Tammy's Deli
T - T
Taqueria La Venadita - Thaiger Room - Thai Tom - The Tin Table - Toulouse Petit
T - V
Tubs Gourmet Subs - Turkish Delight - Twilight Exit - Union - Volterra - Voula's Offshore Cafe
W - Z
Watertown Coffee - Wild Ginger - Zippy's
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Mee Sum Pastry It's quitting time at Pike Place Market. All the flower sellers are packing away their daisies. The fish guys are slumping around looking exhausted after 10 hours spent posing for tourist snapshots. Even the buskers are packing up their clapped-out acoustic guitars and calling it a day. But down on the street, Mee Sum Pastry is still doing fast business, working through a line that began to form in the morning and really never shrank all day. People are coming for sticks full of barbecued pork and pineapple handed across the top of the glass cases; for sesame balls filled with sweet red beans and bags of fortune cookies. But the smart ones have eyes for just one thing: the barbecued pork humbow—hands down the best thing on Mee Sum's short menu, and the one thing that has made this place famous. Imagine a softball filled with pork and you'll have some idea what the humbow is: an orb of light, slightly sweet bread, fresh from the big deck ovens in the back of the Pike Place shop, stuffed with a big portion of barbecued pig. It's like a char siu bao, only bigger and better and easier to eat walking. And the best thing? One of them is almost a meal, and it comes in at $2.50 on the nose. JASON SHEEHAN 1526 Pike Place, 682-6780. $ PIKE PLACE MARKET
Mistral Kitchen It sometimes seems as though William Belickis disappointed just about everyone in town when he closed Belltown's original Mistral back in 2008. But he's come back strong with Mistral Kitchen—a stranger, less formal, and more worldly take on modernist haute cuisine featuring some of the best, most approachable high-end grub in the city. The unusual warmth and conviviality of the space on a busy night belies the brushed steel and industrial fixtures, and the menu presents its own juxtapositions—bowls of Manila clams and sausage in broth alongside artistic crudos, and simple plates like short rib over escarole that, if you ask, the staff will proudly explain took 48 hours to prepare. It's a bit pricey if you go nuts and order half the menu, but if you're looking for somewhere to indulge a little, right now the very cool Mistral Kitchen is one of the hottest rooms in town. JASON SHEEHAN 2020 Westlake Ave., 623-1922,mistral-kitchen.com. $$$ DOWNTOWN
Monsoon With a new Eastside satellite operation and an uncertain future in their original, 11-year-old Capitol Hill space, siblings Sophie and Eric Banh seem undaunted by change. Monsoon remains a crisp, tidy place to dine: The hybrid Vietnamese cuisine is never too fussy, nor does it try to cram too many ingredients or flavors into one dish. The vibe is clean and minimalist, like the room. Enduring favorites on the menu include a caramelized Idaho catfish, an Asian pear salad, and prawns in yellow curry. Portions aren't huge, which encourages you to order more dishes; and a surprisingly deep wine list—try the '99 Etude cabernet—can do some damage to your wallet. The weekend brunch menu shows the Francophone influence on Southeast Asia: Belgian waffles and French toast coexist nicely with banh xeo crepes and bok choy. Plan to wait if you don't have a reservation. On sunny weekend mornings, it takes some luck to get a seat on the small patio. With the building slated for demolition—to make way for a condo—in the undetermined future, Monsoon should be appreciated while it lasts. BRIAN MILLER 615 19th Ave. E., 325-2111. (Also 10245 Main St., Bellevue, 425-635-1112.)monsoonrestaurants.com. $$ CAPITOL HILL
