GroupThink

Sichaunese is okay with me

The International District's Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant makes your mouth burn with love

By Janna Chan

Last weekend it occurred to me that I have never tried Vietnamese food. Of course I've dabbled in the occasional bowl of Phó and nibbled on a spring roll or two, but I have never sat down in a Vietnamese restaurant and just had at it. I am happy to say that nothing has changed since last weekend. I still haven't tried Vietnamese food.

My friends and I made a valiant effort in Seattle's paltry International District (aka, not even cool enough to be a real Chinatown), and cruised down Jackson Street with Vietnamese delicacies in mind. After parking in the lot that seemed the most busy we sauntered in front of two restaurants that seemed to be Vietnamese. Restaurant number one was pretty empty and this did not appeal to our elitist, must-have-the-best-first-time-Vietnamese-food-experience Spidey senses. Onto restaurant number two. Behold the Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant (1048 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98052; 206.720.1690). Okay, fine, Sichuanese food is from China, not Vietnam, but we only realized what the name of the restaurant was after we had sat down and accepted our tea and water service. I hate when people (i.e. me) sit down at a joint and after looking at the menu just gets up and leaves (especially after the water has been served). Luckily for the three of us (two white guys and a breathtaking young Chinese woman child) this was the restaurant I had been searching for. This was the home of affordable Shabu Shabu.

For those of you out of the loop, Shabu Shabu (aka, live action hotpot) is when a gigantic bowl of soup (half spicy/half not spicy for the low tolerance pussys out there) is placed on a gas burner on your table and various raw foods accompany it. Armed with three ladles and wooden chopsticks, diners plunge paper thin slices of raw pork, beef (lamb is an additional $10), tofu, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and rice noodles into the soup and voile!--You're enjoying Shabu Shabu. BTW, this restaurant also serves you a hefty bowl full of peanut sauce along with your hotpot and after some tenuous dipping we decided that you're probably supposed to just mix some sauce into your soup. Yum!

At this point I need to mention how difficult my Seattle search has been for Shabu Shabu. I grew up eating this meal and it’s one of those childhood comfort experiences that can’t be replaced by a bowl of ramen.

After about 20 minutes in the restaurant, it occurred to me that this is the new cool in the I.D. The place is small, about the size of your parent's bedroom, and only has about 7 or 8 tables. Around dinner time families, students, young hip folk and miscellaneous Sherpas are lined-up out the door waiting for some grub and a lot of people opt to sit European-style at the tables of other diners to expedite their meals. We dropped by on a Sunday night and we tried the Shabu Shabu for three ($10/person) and an order of fried dumplings ($4.50)—(It said “20” on the menu meaning 20 dumplings/order but we didn't really take it seriously. There are, for real, 20/order of the most delicious fried morsels you've ever had. It came with an authentic (I've been to Beijing, so I’m an expert) vinegar/soy dipping sauce and our waitress didn't even charge us for the order because it came late in our meal.)

Here's some info I "borrowed" from the Seattle Times on the restaurants details:

Cuisine: Chinese
Asian/Pan-Asian

Price: $

Hours: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily

Meals: Lunch
Dinner

Reservations: Not available

Alcohol: Beer

Smoking: No smoking

Payment forms accepted:
All major credit cards

Parking: Free parking, Paid parking, Street parking

Disabled access: No obstacles to access

Related info: Free parking in strip mall parking lot.

Posted by MissPicklez at September 23, 2004 10:37 AM