Forks and chopsticks holstered, in compliance with the law, we tucked into Bellevue’s luxe InterContinental Seattle Bellevue Hotel in order to reconnoiter Bellevue’s culinary scene. (They have a pillow menu there from which we amply partook. Our favorite was a high thread-count side-sleeper the size of an orca.)
If you seek to shimmy up a noodle to heaven’s vault, it must be lithesome and sturdy. Like everyone else, we have been on a lifelong quest to find this noodle. (Standard pasta can’t begin to withstand the dynamic forces.) Eureka, we found it at Taste of Xi’an nestled within the Asian Family Market Bellevue Food Court. It is a hand-pulled Biang Biang noodle that’s long, thick, wide, chewy, sturdy, al dente, glazed in a thrilling sauce of chili oil, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, scallion and small irregular chunks of pork (which we ordered double-portion). We unholstered and went at it. They also sell Sugar Garlic, a fresh, sugar-soaked garlic bulb, which we purchased but were too cowardly to try.
At Jiang Nan Bellevue we ate Peking Duck, their specialty. Preparing a Peking Duck is like preparing a child for college. There are countless details critical for success. Their duck—inflated to separate skin from meat, lacquered, dried, artfully roasted—was surely college bound. Their translucent wrappers were supremely elastic. Their smoked pork neck—a delightful cut, barely known here—came in an elegant cigar-style box, billowing fragrant smoke. Their Lychee Martini was so delicious, we’re dubious it was legal.
Peruvian La Mar Cocina Peruana Bellevue serves the sea’s freshest denizens. Most dishes contain choclo corn (indistinguishable from hominy), and potato (imported from Peru). We ate several ceviches, one with octopus, squid, shrimp—marinated in tiger’s milk, the Peruvian mother sauce of lime juice, chilis, cilantro, garlic, ginger—wisped with herbs. Our favorite dish was Plancheza La Mar—perfectly seared octopus, shrimp, halibut, potatoes in a Peruvian bbq sauce, dabbed with iridescent chimichurri. Naturally, we drank foamy Pisco Sours, lime superconductors…