Restaurants: June 2006 Archives

Update: After many fabulous years Mandalay has closed its doors as Janny and Erik move North to be closer to family. I'm in mourning for my curries.

Seattle area | Wallingford neighborhood | Map
Dinner only
http://mandalayspice.com/

My VeggieFoodie Rating: Fabulous

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. They do wonderful curries with complex spices from several Southeast Asian countries. My favorites on the current menu are the Malaysian Green Banana Curry, Thai Green Curry, and Szechwan Black Bean Stir Fry. If you happen to spot a Pineapple Panang, Taro Root, or Green Mango curry on the specials board, go for it.

In addition to the curries, there are some vegetable sides, appetizers, and daily soup which are veggie. Most of the items flagged on their menu as vegetarian are in fact vegan—just ask and you'll find the staff knowledgeable about the ingredients. If you manage to leave any room for dessert, try the Toasted Coconut Bananas or Thai Basil Cheesecake. Most of the curries keep very well as leftovers or takeout.

Tell them Ann says "Hi" ;-)

More reviews:
Yelp | Judy's Book | Citysearch | Seattle Weekly

Seattle area | Ballard neighborhood | Map
Dinner only | 21+
http://www.thebalmar.com/

My VeggieFoodie Rating: Excellent

I've now been to BalMar twice, and both times the food was excellent. Saturday night was a packed, younger crowd with lots of noise bouncing off the brick walls, but Thursday evening it was much more mellow and I had a leisurely meal and conversation with a friend.

They have a tasting-style menu with "Small Plates"—two make a good meal, perhaps with room left for bites of their decadent molten chocolate cake. The items in the Veggie section are all vegetarian, as well as a few under Etc.

More reviews:
Yelp | Judy's Book
Normally I'd also include CitySearch, but when I typed "Bal Mar" in their search engine it came back with "We assumed you meant Wal Mart, instead of bal mar." Yeah, right.

Technorati | Restaurant | Food and Drink | Vegan | Vegetarian

I've been to steakhouses which were veggie friendly and Italian restaurants which weren't. As a cook, foodie, and 15 year vegetarian, I'm a firm believer that accommodating vegetarians can be easily done by just about any restaurant. (I'd love to see every restaurant accommodate vegans too, but that's going to take more time.)

1. Knowledgeable staff
If I ask whether an item is vegetarian and the wait staff says "Um, yeah, sure it is" I start focusing on the green salads for dinner and never come back. If I ask and they answer "No, it has worscheshire sauce" I've found a new home. Vegetarians don't expect wait staff to have the ingredients memorized, but we do need the first reaction to be "I'll check with the chef" instead of a guess.