Conscious Choice Seattle: Delicious Accidents

August 2005 | Local Food

Delicious Accidents

Point toward the Central District and you never know what gems beckon your appetite.

By Nora West

A specific destination is not always necessary when visiting the Central District, as I discovered recently. I wrote about Moonlight Restaurant last month, and another stop on one of my forays to the area was a complete accident. I happened upon Tamarind Tree Provincial Vietnamese restaurant, parked my car, which was no easy task, and wandered inside for lunch.

This gem of a place is nestled in a corner of a shopping plaza/strip mall next to a bustling Vietnamese market. There is a little outside café area reminiscent of something you would picture on the streets of Saigon, backing up to a pleasant wall fountain.

The interior, as you step in the door, takes you immediately away from the bustle of the too-busy, tightly-packed parking lot you just struggled through. The walls are tangerine and the lighting is subdued. The tables are tasteful, although ours was a bit too close to our neighbors. The room is inviting. A welcome relief of calm washed over me.

I happened upon this place, even though it has been open six months. Much to my pleasant surprise, at 1:45 p.m. on a weekday, the dining room was filled and doing a brisk business. Not only was it filled, but with lots of Vietnamese patrons. I would call that a good omen and it was.

The menu had considerable heft, boasting more tempting choices than one has the ability to try. We struggled along, perusing our way through appetizers, satays, salads, specialty dishes, steamed rice paper dishes, noodle dishes, noodle soups, rice dishes. We ordered spring rolls ($3.50), which, though traditional, I can almost never resist. They were exemplary. Very nice lettuce wrapped in rice paper with fresh herbs and shrimp and a crispy component that tasted like, possibly, fried wonton strips interspersed in the spring roll. The order is ample and served with a delightful peanut sauce—not at all cloying.

My dining companion order grilled lemongrass chicken ($5.95), which was boneless and skinless and perfectly cooked. The accompanying coleslaw was fresh and tangy.

Also ordered was a combo platter ($9.95) that I would forego next time, not because it was bad, but in deference to many more interesting choices. It came with grilled skewers of pork and chicken, plus a heavy-handed egg roll just a bit too decadently fried for my liking. Same goes for the grilled shrimp on sugar cane.

My next trip I will be eyeing the lemongrass or a green papaya dish served with jicama, roasted nuts and vegetarian dressing.

There are at least 10 variations of pho, both meat and meatless, and almost the same number of specialty noodle soups. The pho choices display Tamarind Tree’s authenticity: The pho special has tendon, tripe, rare and well-done beef. There’s also beefball, chicken, fried tofu, rare beef, well-done beef, rare beef with tendon, well-done beef with tendon, well done beef with tripe, rare beef and tripe, and plain (just the rice noodle soup without the meat). The various bowls are $4 to $6 depending on size and type.

The satay selections include a beef/lemongrass/bacon option, plus prawns, pork, pork meatballs and chicken (all $3.95 apiece). Vegetarians can go for eggplant, shiitake mushroom or lemongrass tofu satays for $2.50 each.

The three entries listed under specialty dishes were all ordered at nearby tables. The steamed baguette is topped with sautéed jicama and ground beef topped with roasted peanuts ($6.25). A turmeric coconut rice cake comes with shrimp ($6.25) while the Co Ngu crispy shrimp is a combination of deep fried sweet potato and shrimp ($6.25).

An array of unusual sodas is served. I rarely, if ever, drink soda. But tried and really enjoyed the refreshing tamarind soda ($2). I surprised myself.

The sweet and salty lime soda ($2) sounded better than it tasted to me, mostly because it was more sweet than salty. My dining companion found it refreshing.

After a lovely late lunch at Tamarind Tree, having staved off hunger well through the dinner hour with little harm done to my wallet, I said to myself, “Now why don’t I get to this area more often?”

Nora West is Evergreen Monthly’s dining critic. She lives and eats with pleasure in the Puget Sound area.

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