ASIAN

Ba Bar

If you weren’t already a fan of Eric Banh’s hip Vietnamese restaurant and craft-cocktail bar, the addition of a slushy cocktail machine last summer may have done the trick. Truly, there’s something for everyone on this menu: rotisserie chicken with lemongrass; interesting vermicelli bowls (including one with seared catfish); pho that goes beyond the traditional with additions like duck-leg confit. But what really makes this restaurant a cut above Seattle’s many Vietnamese places is Banh’s dedication to quality, sustainable, locally sourced ingredients. The brisket and oxtail in his pho herald from Painted Hills Farm, the tofu from Northwest Tofu, the eggs from Wilcox Farm. There are also the many delicious and fanciful appetizers, like fried frog legs and a broiled mackerel wrap, that can easily add up to a meal. See the ingredient he’s most excited about right now in Five Local Chefs, Five Unique Ingredients. 550 12th Ave., 328-2030, babarseattle.com NICOLE SPRINKLE

Bamboo Garden

The area’s finest Chinese food can be found on the Eastside, where you can sample spicy Szechuan fare. Bellevue’s Bamboo Garden is the best of the bunch. There’s a regular menu for the more timid, but I recommend the “Walk on the Wild Side” menu. Here you’ll find adventurous dishes like swimming fire fish, pork tongue slices, and sour & spicy jellyfish. My favorite is the spicy cauldron called “the other parts of the pig,” with pork intestines, pig-blood cubes, tofu chunks, basil, and pickled cabbage in a tangy broth. If things heat up too much, refreshing watermelon juice can come to the rescue. 202 106th Pl. N.E., Bellevue, 425-688-7991, bamboogardendining.com JAY FRIEDMAN

Boiling Point

Everyone can get what they want out of the Taiwanese hot-pot experience at Boiling Point, where diners choose their soups and add-ons for individually portioned hot pots. The many soup options, at varying price levels, include a spicy Korean kimchee and a curry fish-ball soup. The house-special soup is a hot-pot homage to stinky tofu, a fermented Taiwanese tofu that is also a popular side dish. The list of add-ons includes various proteins and seafood, plus assorted vegetables. While heating up is the prerogative here, special attention is given to the cool-down, with exotic slush drinks, milk teas, and snowflake shaved ice. 1075 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue, 425-455-8375; 610 Fifth Ave. S., Seattle, 737-8506. bpgroupusa.com TIFFANY RAN

Din Tai Fung

Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung brought xiao long bao (a delicate Chinese soup dumpling) to the masses, and this year expanded from its Bellevue location to another in the U District. It’s no wonder the xiao long bao has become so ubiquitous that knowing patrons need only refer to it as XLB. Most XLB aficionados opt for the pork and crab for traditional decadence, but look beyond the bamboo steamers and you’ll see that the sides, soups, noodles, and wontons deserve a fair shake. The house chicken noodle soup is deeply therapeutic, the pork-chop fried rice is filling and satisfying, and appetizers like the seaweed and bean curd in vinegar dressing and soy noodle salad contribute crisp and clean flavors to a rich meal. Note: The Bellevue location is the first in the Din Tai Fung chain to have a bar, so order a lychee martini to wash these baos down. 700 Bellevue Way N.E. #280, Bellevue, 425-698-1095; 2621 N.E. 46th St., Seattle, 525-0958, dintaifungusa.com TIFFANY RAN

Huong Binh

There may be more glamorous spots in Seattle for Vietnamese food, but this is my favorite. Located in a restaurant-filled strip mall in the Little Saigon section of Seattle’s International District, Huong Binh has a wide variety of noodle soups, rice plates, rice-flour crepes, and more at reasonable prices. The grilled pork is a signature item. Weekend specials include bun mang vit, the duck broth soup with rice noodles and bamboo—along with an overflowing plate of poached duck—that you’ll see on nearly every table. 1207 S. Jackson St., 720-4907 JAY FRIEDMAN

Jamjuree

Beyond having the most fun restaurant name in Seattle, Jamjuree also has some of the most flavorful Thai curry the city has to offer. Never watery or mealy, its massaman and yellow curries are thick, sweet, and soul-rejuvenating in the same way Mom’s chicken soup is. 509 15th Ave. E., 323-4255, jamjuree.com KELTON SEARS

Joule

It’s probably safe to say that if you haven’t been to Joule yet, you’ve been living under a rock. It’s been voted best restaurant (or some version thereof) by just about every national food publication or food award. Its particular brand of Korean/French fusion and its sexy interior have won over diners, and the kitchen has served as a training ground for many an aspiring Seattle chef. Their beef is some of the best you’ll have—whether in burger form, short ribs, tartare, or steak—and their variety of rice and noodle dishes are impressive, served with things like pickled mustard greens and salted pollack confit. In fact, it’s the unusual, delicious sides and condiments that really make the food shine here: walnut pesto, smoky yogurt, fish caramel pickles, spicy cod roe aioli, grilled kimchi, hot bacon vinaigrette. Cocktails too, get unusual treatments, with add-ons like lapsang souchong tea and Asian pear. Ditto for desserts, like a fig upside-down cake with blue cheese whip and Chinese sausage crumble, or their signature Joule Box (my favorite): pearl tapioca with ruby grapefruit brulee and coconut. It tastes as good as it looks. 3506 Stone Way N., 632-5685, joulerestaurant.com NICOLE SPRINKLE

Revel

If you like Joule (above), it’s a safe bet you’re also a fan of its sister restaurant, Revel, also in Fremont. Like Joule, its focus is Korean fusion, minus the French part. Instead, you’ll find heartier, rustic offerings, like a pork belly and kimchi pancake or a short-rib rice bowl with daikon and mustard greens. Dumplings here are a far cry from what you’d ever find in the ID, with fillings like potato and leek, Gruyere, and truffle cream (OK, maybe there is some French influence here). On a recent visit, I enjoyed their young jackfruit curry with black lentil, mint chutney, and kale. The room, like Joule’s, is sleek, with pop art that changes regularly. On my birthday, we sat under a colorful painting of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. And, also like Joule, it’s always packed, so get there early or call ahead. 403 N. 36th St., 547-2040, revelseattle.com NICOLE SPRINKLE

Little Uncle

Kudos to Little Uncle for reinventing the ubiquitous, sleek yet staid, typical Thai restaurant. In the basement of a building in Pioneer Square, it’s actually a place you want to hang out. With comfy couches and bar seating, it has a decidedly cool, underground (both literally and figuratively) vibe. Add to that food that goes beyond staple dishes like pad Thai (though their vegetarian, gluten-free pad Thai is pretty damn good), and you’ll be forever ruined for mediocre Thai. There are daily specials—also novel for a Thai restaurant—but you can’t go wrong with their spiced braised beef rice-noodle soup with Chinese celery, fried garlic, and chili vinegar (it’s tangy and spicy in a perfect ratio, and I’ve made pilgrimages there by foot on the most miserably rainy days) or their poached free-range chicken with garlic and chicken fat rice, winter-melon broth, and spicy soy ginger sauce. Or fill up on a starter like curried rockfish fritters or griddled rice cakes with garlic chives. Here you’ll rarely find yourself reaching for sriracha sauce to bring flavor. The dishes come fully packed with it. Now if only someone would do the same for Chinese food . . . 88 Yesler Way, 223-8529; 1509 E. Madison St., 329-1503,

littleuncleseattle.com NICOLE SPRINKLE

Marination Ma Kai

Fans of the Marination food truck and brick-­and-­mortar “station” on Capitol Hill were thrilled when a second fixed location opened on Alki Beach in late 2012. The menu includes Marination’s signature Korean-­Hawaiian-­influenced tacos, filled with such fare as kalbi beef, ginger miso chicken, and spicy pork. The Alki location’s expanded menu both delves deeper into fusion cuisine—­­including fish and chips with kimchi tartar­­—and offers pure Hawaiian treats, like what island natives call “shave ice.” Best yet, you can enjoy this fare on Marination’s spacious patio overlooking the water, making it one of the city’s few informal, family­-friendly eateries with killer views. The water taxi from downtown takes you right there. 1660 Harbor Ave. S.W., 328-TACO, marinationmobile.com/ma­-kai NINA SHAPIRO

Noodle Boat

In a town of 10,000 Thai restaurants (or so it seems), the best is actually a short drive away in Issaquah. Three reasons: the many unique dishes; the great prices, with most dishes about $10 or less; and Noodle Boat doesn’t dumb down the spice levels. Pay special attention to the third, as Noodle Boat closes six weeks each winter for a family (working) vacation in Thailand to make chili paste for the restaurant. Start with mieng kum: roasted coconut, peanuts, red onion, Thai chili, ginger, lime, palm-sugar sauce, and dried shrimp that you wrap in a cha-pu leaf. The explosion of flavors previews a menu full of fantastic food. 700 N.W. Gilman Blvd., Issaquah, 425-391-8096, noodleboat.com JAY FRIEDMAN

Northwest Tofu

Seattle has what few other diverse cities do—a place offering freshly made tofu. Lucky for us, Northwest Tofu also runs as a daytime restaurant, where Chinese families and knowing regulars plan ahead to get in for a weekend brunch of fresh soy milk and crullers, green-onion pancakes, and steamed buns. Here one can discover tofu’s many forms and textures, including chewy soy noodles, a silky tofu fa (a savory flan), and the light and crisp salt-and-pepper tofu. Northwest Tofu’s soy milk, fried tofu, and marinated tofu are made on-site and available for takeout. They also provide wholesale orders to local restaurants, so if you’ve had great tofu elsewhere, you might want to pay credit where it’s due. 1913 S. Jackson St., 328-8320 TIFFANY RAN

Poppy

With its many delightful condiments and flavors, Indian food was made for tapas—and Seattle diners are lucky that Poppy on Capitol Hill figured that out. The chic yet playfully modern interior may trick you into thinking this is just another sophisticated Pacific Northwest restaurant, but the menu quickly disproves that. The thalis are what it’s best known for: basically a platter of six or so different appetizer-size dishes that together form a meal for two (with maybe a starter or two thrown in for good measure, like the irresistible eggplant fries with sea salt and honey). The thalis, which change regularly, are typically defined by a protein, ramped up with veggies, starches, salads, and naan. For $27, expect something like yogurt and white-poppy-seed chicken with fried onions and raisins; smoked eggplant and lentil soup with coconut yogurt; celery, satsuma, and black-bean salad; vanilla parsnips with black pepper; black rice with yams and scallion; carrot and beet-green pickles; and nigella-poppy naan. Come summer, ask for a seat in the back garden, and you’ll be surrounded by the lovely herbs and vegetables the restaurant grows. 622 Broadway E., 324-1108, poppyseattle.com NICOLE SPRINKLE

Uway Malatang

A popular Chinese model of hot pot, priced per pound, finds its way to Seattle with Uway Malatang. In this somewhat hidden spot in the International District’s Pacific Rim Center, diners can choose from assorted toppings like pork blood, tofu, seasonal greens, sliced beef and lamb, ramen noodles, and more for a Sichuanese dry pot or a bone-soup hot pot. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch chef Cheng Biao Yang hand-pulling noodles in the kitchen, and take that as a sign to venture beyond hot pot. These noodles are the showstopper, outstanding in their intentionally rustic nature and gratifying chew. Another notable option, the hand-shaven noodles, are also made in-house. 900 S. Jackson St., Suite 212, 467-0600, uwayrestaurant.com TIFFANY RAN