2012-02-26 Snacks @ Henry's Taiwan Plus 老谷台菜

522 South King Street, Seattle, WA

206-682-0389

As we're driving away from Uwajimaya, I spotted this Taiwanese restaurant.  Buddha Boy quickly pulled over and asked if I wanted to try it.  Hey, why not, it cannot be worse the Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant 東來食府...I think.

It was approximately 3ish in the afternoon and even with it's "OPEN" sign on, I politely asked if the restaurant was still open, thinking that they might have an afternoon break.  Well, the idiotic owner (while sitting at a table chatting with his friend) responded, in Chinese, "如果沒開那我坐在這裡幹嗎?" ("Of course, if not, why would I be sitting here?")  Yes...cocky and snobby huh?

The first item that caught my attention was ba-wan, or Meatball 肉圓.  The menu stated it's "served with a savory sweet and spicy sauce"...in reality, the sauce was bland, watery and lacked spiciness.  Imagine a mix of plum sauce and ketchup then diluted with water, lots of water.  The softer-than-usual dough lacked texture...sad.  The filling had ample amounts of bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms and pork.  The filling was satisfying, but everything else was disappointing. 

Next was the Pork Pottage 肉羹, or rou-geng.  The meat tasted...funky...as it was starting to change.  While the bowl had ample ingredients of shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots, napa cabbage, green onions and cilantro, but the soup itself was bland...disappointing.

Their Three-Cup Chicken 三杯雞 was the drier version of this dish.  The chicken was a bit dry but the overall dish tasted okay, as long as you don't see it as a three-cup chicken.  The accompanied bowl of microwaved rice was crusty and dry.

What were we thinking?  Taiwanese food in Seattle?  Why did I even bother getting my hopes up?  Both Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant 東來食府 and Henry's Taiwan Plus 老谷台菜 are below par in our books.  Never mind about comparing them to what you get in Taiwan, these two restaurants could not even compare to 604's BBT restaurants...sad, very sad.