Just wanted to drop a quick report on my favorite vegetarian-friendly Seattle Teriyaki, Rainier Teriyaki (also affectionately called "Grand Opening Teriyaki" due to the extended display of their opening banner), across from the old Chubby and Tubby on Rainier Ave:
First: They are now using COMPOSTABLE take out containers!! YAY!!!!!!!
Second: They recently obliged my request to make my tofu unfried, and it was really really good.
Third: They are so danged nice in there. The young man at the counter seems to have a friend in every customer and seems to remember details about just about everybody.
These guys are awesome!
(See original review here)
Showing posts with label Teriyaki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teriyaki. Show all posts
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
Beni Hoshi
Beni Hoshi, which used to be a Yasukos, has tempted me from the west entrance to the West Seattle bridge for years and years with the promise of "West Seattle's Best Teriyaki."
I finally stopped and ordered some food to go. They didn't have tofu teriyaki, but they did have tofu yakisoba, so I ordered that.
Food smelled great on the way home, and I was excited to open up the tightly tied plastic bag to reveal my meal. Like at almost every Teriyaki restaurant, the folks at Beni Hoshi take care to double knot the plastic bag that surrounds the Styrofoam carry out container before handing it over the counter, to prevent you (I'm assuming) from adding extra sauce before leaving.
Got home, opened it up, had a bite, and was disappointed. The tofu had the very obvious spongy texture from being frozen, and spooged oil when pressed. The noodles were gloppy, and the vegetables were few. There was a pile of white rice along side the noodles that could have benefited from some of the forbidden sauce.
While it is nice to know that this place has a tofu option, I wouldn't choose to eat it again unless circumstances were really dire.
Beni Hoshi
Seattle, WA 98126
I finally stopped and ordered some food to go. They didn't have tofu teriyaki, but they did have tofu yakisoba, so I ordered that.
Food smelled great on the way home, and I was excited to open up the tightly tied plastic bag to reveal my meal. Like at almost every Teriyaki restaurant, the folks at Beni Hoshi take care to double knot the plastic bag that surrounds the Styrofoam carry out container before handing it over the counter, to prevent you (I'm assuming) from adding extra sauce before leaving.
Got home, opened it up, had a bite, and was disappointed. The tofu had the very obvious spongy texture from being frozen, and spooged oil when pressed. The noodles were gloppy, and the vegetables were few. There was a pile of white rice along side the noodles that could have benefited from some of the forbidden sauce.
While it is nice to know that this place has a tofu option, I wouldn't choose to eat it again unless circumstances were really dire.Beni Hoshi
(206) 932-3395
4402 35th Ave SWSeattle, WA 98126
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Rainier Teriyaki
I was thrilled when I saw that a teriyaki joint was going in to the newly remodeled Emerald City market building across from the old (gone now) Chubby and Tubby on Rainier Ave, and that they had tofu dishes on the menu.
Not just yakisoba and stirfrys (which they do have) but also a good old tofu teriyaki bowl in the nature of chicken or beef.
I ordered a bowl (I think it was about $5.00... plus an additional $0.50 for "spicy") and it was almost everything I had hoped: a bowl of sticky rice layered in char grilled vegis (carrots, broccoli, cabbage), then a pile of lightly fried tofu covered in a not-too-sweet sauce.
It was fresh and hot and the quantity was incredibly filling. My dining mate ate the teriyaki chicken breast and it was a beautiful thing... a big neatly stacked pile of thin white meat slices with real grill marks and sauce drizzled on top. His came with a salad and rice.
They specialize in really charbroiling the meats (and the vegis), which makes everything especially tasty.
I have since returned and made a special request that caused the cooks to laugh but that they were able to oblige: Mongolian Beef but with tofu instead. It was pretty good, but heavy on sauce and light on any kind of vegetables. The quantity was huge, and after filling up at the restaurant I brought my leftovers home and made a second huge meal by sautéing the rest of the saucy tofu with broccoli.
The inside of the restaurant is really pleasant... clean, new, fancy colored paint job and photography on the walls, nice touches like faux marble table tops instead of simple plastic, etc.
Everybody who works there seems incredibly nice, and the over all experience is a positive one for me.
My two complaints are:
1. They deep fry the tofu instead of grilling it, which is a bummer for me because I don't like the extra grease and the grill makes everything more delicious. I think that next time I go in, I will see if they could grill it instead. They seem friendly and able to adapt to requests.
2. They use a watered down mayonnaise style salad dressing on the salad that accompanies the teriyaki, as opposed to a more rice vinegary dressing. This is just a matter of my personal preference.
Over all, I think this place is great, and I am really excited to have them in the neighborhood and want to support them and help them stay in business. Worth giving them a try... you will definitely get a good value for your money, and the elusive tofu teriyaki is in existence here!
(Please see update to review here!)
Not just yakisoba and stirfrys (which they do have) but also a good old tofu teriyaki bowl in the nature of chicken or beef.
I ordered a bowl (I think it was about $5.00... plus an additional $0.50 for "spicy") and it was almost everything I had hoped: a bowl of sticky rice layered in char grilled vegis (carrots, broccoli, cabbage), then a pile of lightly fried tofu covered in a not-too-sweet sauce.
It was fresh and hot and the quantity was incredibly filling. My dining mate ate the teriyaki chicken breast and it was a beautiful thing... a big neatly stacked pile of thin white meat slices with real grill marks and sauce drizzled on top. His came with a salad and rice.They specialize in really charbroiling the meats (and the vegis), which makes everything especially tasty.
I have since returned and made a special request that caused the cooks to laugh but that they were able to oblige: Mongolian Beef but with tofu instead. It was pretty good, but heavy on sauce and light on any kind of vegetables. The quantity was huge, and after filling up at the restaurant I brought my leftovers home and made a second huge meal by sautéing the rest of the saucy tofu with broccoli.
The inside of the restaurant is really pleasant... clean, new, fancy colored paint job and photography on the walls, nice touches like faux marble table tops instead of simple plastic, etc.
Everybody who works there seems incredibly nice, and the over all experience is a positive one for me.
My two complaints are:
1. They deep fry the tofu instead of grilling it, which is a bummer for me because I don't like the extra grease and the grill makes everything more delicious. I think that next time I go in, I will see if they could grill it instead. They seem friendly and able to adapt to requests.
2. They use a watered down mayonnaise style salad dressing on the salad that accompanies the teriyaki, as opposed to a more rice vinegary dressing. This is just a matter of my personal preference.
Over all, I think this place is great, and I am really excited to have them in the neighborhood and want to support them and help them stay in business. Worth giving them a try... you will definitely get a good value for your money, and the elusive tofu teriyaki is in existence here!
(Please see update to review here!)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Teriyaki Bowl
I know that as a vegetarian, I am lucky to be able to walk into just about any Teriyaki restaurant in Seattle and be able to procure some sort of Tofu dish (not so in much of the USA, as I've recently learned), yet still, most of the time the dish is not exactly Teriyaki. There is plenty of yakisba and various stirfrys, but sometimes I can't help but envy the charred meat and rice dinners of my friends.
This is where Teriyaki Bowl really shines... they do a tofu equivalent of their Teriyaki chicken breast... two generous piles of plump sticky rice adorned in carefully layered out slabs of grilled fresh tofu drizzled in not-too-sweet teriyaki sauce. I have had mixed results in the grilling, sometimes the tofu is just barely golden, other times it has the same sort of intensity of appetizing grill marks that grace it's meat counterpart. Either way, it is always hot and soft and so delightfully not-fried.
A small ice-burg salad accompanies the meal and it is refreshingly dressed in a soy sauce/rice vinegar type dressing (vs. the watered down mayonnaise type).
If you dine in (the restaurant is small and mostly filled with people sitting down waiting for their to-go orders, from my experience), you have the option of shaking some very delicious looking mixed red pepper onto your meal (a jar at every table). I use it every time I'm there, and while it doesn't seem to effect the heat or flavor of anything, it sure looks good on that plate of white rice and tofu.
I really like this place for those unusual but intense times when I'm craving the simple Teriyaki special: rice and "meat" and a little ice burg salad.
This is where Teriyaki Bowl really shines... they do a tofu equivalent of their Teriyaki chicken breast... two generous piles of plump sticky rice adorned in carefully layered out slabs of grilled fresh tofu drizzled in not-too-sweet teriyaki sauce. I have had mixed results in the grilling, sometimes the tofu is just barely golden, other times it has the same sort of intensity of appetizing grill marks that grace it's meat counterpart. Either way, it is always hot and soft and so delightfully not-fried.
A small ice-burg salad accompanies the meal and it is refreshingly dressed in a soy sauce/rice vinegar type dressing (vs. the watered down mayonnaise type).
If you dine in (the restaurant is small and mostly filled with people sitting down waiting for their to-go orders, from my experience), you have the option of shaking some very delicious looking mixed red pepper onto your meal (a jar at every table). I use it every time I'm there, and while it doesn't seem to effect the heat or flavor of anything, it sure looks good on that plate of white rice and tofu.
I really like this place for those unusual but intense times when I'm craving the simple Teriyaki special: rice and "meat" and a little ice burg salad.
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