International District Finds – World Pizza and Mike’s Noodle

Every time I passed by World Pizza I was already full from dim sum lunch at Jade Garden.

Not this time!

Armed with my empty stomach, I was quickly drawn to the store with its fantastic pizza aroma.

Store was small, with a counter selling pizza by the slice.

There was also a seating area with tables for consuming pizzas in-house.

Upon checking out what laid under the glass counter top, I was strangely attracted to this pizza that had brilliant bright green chunks on it!

Turned out, it was wasabi marinated pineapple chunks!

The pizza also had pickled sweet peppers on it and it was definitely one of the very interesting pizza eating experience.

I got “spiciness” attack from all directions:  the fairly spicy attack on the tongue by the sweet pickled peppers and the nose attack from the wasabi.

Every bite was sweet, pungent and vinegary at the same time.

The wasabi also gave a very grassy flavor to the pizza.

The second slice I got was the potato roasted garlic pizza.

I loved this vegetarian pizza with very tender potatoes and sweet roasted garlic.

Flavored with lots of black pepper and lovely dried herbs of mainly thyme, it was very delicious.

The pizza crust was very dense, not bready nor fluffy — felt like it was made with whole wheat — very hearty and rustic.

Good amount of cheese that was slightly browned which I loved and accompanied with sweet tomato sauce, the pizzas were a very enjoyable lunch!

I visited Mike’s noodle when I had craving for Cantonese style wontons and could not conveniently be in Vancouver BC.

This tiny store did very brisk business.

They had the best wontons and also Cantonese style dumplings in the Greater Seattle area.

I usually ordered the wontons with rice noodle as unfortuantely their egg noodle was no Michigan’s.

They were still very good but just not as bouncy.

The rice noodle were always cooked to perfection.

The wontons were pretty big with thin wrapping and small crunchy shrimps plus nicely marinated, peppery, tender pork with a little fat.

The soup, however, seemed to have changed from what I recalled.

It used to have more of the authentic fish flavor in the soup;  now it only had a hint of fish and was too salty.

The day when I was there for lunch, I ventured out to try their squid balls but was disappointed — flavor was decent but very soft texture without the bouncy chew or crunchiness of really good fish or squid balls.

Mike’s noodle’s congee, or rice porridge, was also one of the better ones in the Seattle area.

Not too runny nor too thick, it was creamy with very simple flavors.

I liked the fish congee with tender fish fillet and ginger; and the version with creamy thousand-year old eggs and well salted pork.

Mike’s noodle was my go-to spot for wontons and congee here at home.

What are your Top 5 at Din Tai Fung?

 

 

Din Tai Fung — I could always count on getting a great meal there.

We did not go often because it was quite expensive to get full.

I went to Din Tai Fung for 5 specific items on their menu that I craved:

1) organic chicken soup

2) spicy vegetables and pork wonton

3) noodle with sesame sauce

4) pork soup dumplings

5) sweet and sour spare ribs

The cold cucumbers and taro dumplings were also exceptional.

The organic chicken soup was the most pure concentrated chicken soup one could ever had.

It was simply stewed with chicken pieces, ginger and green onion.

Delicate, intense and rich chicken flavor, one could taste its fat and last ounce of juice; and at the same time, simple, clear and unassuming — I just loved it.

The very first time I had the chicken soup in Taiwan Din Tai Fung, I drank 3 or 4 bowls of it.

I only stopped because I realized the bill was stacking up with one single item quickly; certainly not because I did not want more!

The vegetables and pork wonton with spicy sauce was my next favorite.

The wonton wrapping was decent with nice, soft yet crunchy fillings from the tender pork and fresh vegetables.

The star was the spicy sauce — it was garlicky and addictive.

The hot sauce was so good that they actually sold the hot sauce by the bottle as well.

The sesame noodle’s sauce was smooth, delicious and with hint of roasted peanuts; the noodle was tender and cooked just right.

I loved mixing the spicy sauce from the wonton to zest up the sesame noodle.

Of course, the meal was not complete without having their famous soup dumplings.

Granted, the Din Tai Fung in Bellevue was not Taiwan Din Tai Fung, it did serve the best soup dumpling in our area.

Thin and elastic wrapping, the small dumpling packed a great amount of soup which more often than not, burnt my palate and my tongue because I just could not resist the piping fresh, off the steamer dumplings.

The pork filling was always juicy and well-flavored with ginger.

I love the black vinegar ginger dipping sauce for the dumplings as the tartness of the vinegar accentuated the delicate soup of the dumplings.

I usually skipped the soy sauce as I felt that the dumplings were perfectly salted and the soy sauce would mask their excellent flavors.

I was obsessed with the cold sweet and sour spare ribs.

The bite-size spare ribs were coated with the fantastic sauce that was exactly tangy enough and sweet enough to be coveted at maximum.

I would be very happy to  eat a whole bowl of rice just with the rib sauce!

Finally for dessert — taro dumpling.

We usually get one steamer with 2 flavors: taro and red bean, since DH liked red bean.

Personally I found the quiet and subtle taro flavor soothing and delicious; the occasional small chunks of taro gave a bite and a surprise to the filling which was thoroughly enjoyable.

We had taken to go to Din Tai Fung at odd times to avoid waiting in line; sitting at the bar was also a great option for us.