**~~~ (2/5)

I went to Peking Chinese Restaurant for a quick lunch today. When I got to the restaurant, I was a little confused because Wheel had told us that we were going to a Korean place for some Korean noodles.

When I saw the menu, I was even more confused. There’s Korean writings and dishes everywhere. There’s also a section on the menu where it was only written in Korean and Traditional Chinese for these Korean dishes. And before our main dishes came, the waiter gave us Kimchi, and 2 other appetizer dishes that Korean restaurants always give you. Now I think know why Wheel called it a ‘Korean’ place.

I got the Fried Sauce Noodles (#23) in the non-English-friendly section of the menu, because Wheel recommended it. It was Korean hand made noodles with black Korean sauce. I was not impressed with it. It tasted bland. The portion was big, the noodles itself was alright, but it was bland for me. We were giving red pepper powder to eat with it, but it was still bland when I had it with the red pepper powder. I’ve had way better Fried Sauce Noodles at other restaurants.

The Kimchi and Korean appetizers they gave us was rather sad too. The kimchi was OK, but not authentic. The other 2 appetizers were yellow pickled daikon and raw onions with seaweed paste. There were a lot of yellow pickled daikon, if that made any difference at all.

This place do have OK review ratings on yelp. So, if I’m ever coming back to here, I’d stick to the Chinese dishes.

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Peking Chinese Restaurant
14150 NE 20th St Ste C
Bellevue, WA 98007
(425) 643-5030
bellevuepeking.com/

***½~ (3.5/5)

Going to the Cheesecake Factory is pretty much a guaranteed thing when I go downtown to the Seattle / Bellevue, Washington area. I must admit, though it is one of my favorite places to eat, they are pretty inconsistent, and I’ve had some good times and bad times, but never bad enough to never come back. They usually do something to make it up to me.

The Cheesecake Factory has a huge menu, something that I don’t normally like because it makes it so hard to choose sometimes. But I guess it also keeps me coming back for more.

I ordered a Raspberry Lemonade, Ricotta and Italian Sausage pizzette, the Chicken Bellagio, and the Pineapple Upsidedown Cheesecake which my friend had been looking for for a while, but is only there sometimes. Of course we started off with the bread and some butter. My drink came, and isn’t as good as I thought it would be. I think I like freckled lemonade better than this. It was a bit too sour for my liking. My little pizza came. It was ricotta, mozarella cheese, and some italian sausage here and there on a rectangled shaped pizza, maybe a flatbread? I really liked this pizza, and the ricotta made it really good and gooey. The italian sausage was good too, but a little to sparse. I wish there was more meat! But still I’d order it again, as I think it was only $5. Really good.

The chicken Bellagio was two pieces of chicken breaded and fried served on top of a bed of pesto spaghetti. On top of the chicken was prosciutto, and arugala. This dish was OK. The chicken had a nice crispy skin, and still moist. But the arugala on top was not dressed with anything, and the prosciutto was thicker than I like. I actually didn’t eat the prosciutto because it was tough to cut, I like it thinner. The chicken was good, and so was the pasta. Though, the bottom of my dish was covered in a lot of extra olive oil. I’m not sure if I would recommend this dish. I’m surprised I actually finished my plate. I usually don’t because the portions are really big.

For dessert I got the pineapple cheesecake which is a rare find. He said it was actually back for a limited time, so I had to try it because my friend said it was really good. And it was pretty good, but not the best cheesecake I’ve ever had. I split it with a few friends because I was way too full already, but needed to try the cheesecake. In the end I had an enjoyable time here. The waiter was attentive, and we had all had a good time, and the price isn’t too bad.

Cheesecake Factory
401 Bellevue Sq
Bellevue, WA 98004-5002

http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com

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*½~~~ (1.5/5)

Cucina! Cucina! is an Italian restaurant that kind of seems like a chain restaurant, but their website only shows the one location in Issaquah, Washington. There’s just something about the decor (and the food) of the restaurant that makes it seem like it would have multiple locations. I put this restaurant under Bellevue, because it’s about 15 minutes away, and I don’t want to make a new category for Issaquah.

I went to Cucina! Cucina! when the MePlusFood team went to the states last weekend. I never really got to research the restaurant, because it was a last minute decision. Everywhere else that sounded good wouldn’t take reservations for our big party of 15 in such a short time. So we had to drive all the way to Issaquah, which I’ve actually never heard of. The website also doesn’t have their menu posted.

All I really have to say about this restaurant is that the food is as far from authentic Italian pasta as you can get. The taste was very bland, and not even up to par with Olive Garden. The pasta I got seemed like a pasta that you would get from an Western chain restaurant like  Boston Pizza or Red Robin. It wasn’t very good. I ordered the Wild Mushroom Tetrazine, which was just Penne with a cream sauce and some vegetables (button mushrooms, portabello mushrooms, tomatoes, and peas). It was mediocre and didn’t have much flavour. No strong flavours at all. I also got to try some of the Spinach and Arthicoke dip, but it had a really meaty taste for some reason. Don’t know what’s happening there…

My friend also ordered the Lobster Ravioli and she said the pasta was undercooked and a bit hard for her liking. Another friend ordered the Pollo Marsala, and said that it came out dry.

Also, although the manager was great, the waitress seemed to be a little slow… When paying (there were about 15 of us) she wanted to take the credit cards one by one. Swipe one credit card, come back and then get the next one. With 15 people that would take forever. We decided to put the amounts on the back of the receipt with the last 4 digits and give her all the cards at once, so she just needs to match.

Anyways, I’m pretty sure I won’t be back. It’s all the way in Issaquah, and the pasta is something I can just go get at my local Boston Pizza, or Red Robin. $26 for my mediocre pasta and a huge Blue Moon beer definitely isn’t worth the money.

Cucina! Cucina!
1510 11th Ave NW
Issaquah, WA

Phone: 425-391-3800
http://www.cucinacucina.com

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****½ (4.5/5)

Today I went to Facing East Taiwanese in Bellevue, Washington for lunch. This place is fantastic.

I was there with the entire MePlusFood team, and our feast included:
Taiwanese burgers, Salt and peppery chicken, Beef noodles, Fry Oyster, shrimp pancakes, pork pottage, Sticky rice sausages, Stew pork on rice, and Seafood udon

I purposely ordered these items (except for the udon) for the team because these were amongst the most traditional Taiwanese dishes. These were also the dishes that will help me determine the restaurant’s authenticity. To my very surprise, they were all really good! Also to my relief, everyone else really enjoyed the food too. The food looked and tasted 95% like the ones you would find in Taiwan. So good, so fantastic.

For dessert we ordered the Citrus fruit tea, and a hot Pumpkin tapioca. I really recommend the citrus fruit tea, it was sweet and has chunks of oranges and apples in it. It was a very nice drink to end the meal. The pumpkin tapioca to me was OK, it didn’t really taste like a dessert to me, but the others enjoyed it.

The staff was friendly and our waiter was pretty awesome. He took our orders without writing anything down, and we probably took 10mins to order everything + allergy warnings in both English and Mandarin. He didn’t make any mistakes. Very impressive. Ambiance wise, I appreciate that they used long stool chairs and wood tables (old school Taiwanese dining furniture), that reminded me of my grandparents’ home in Taiwan. The restaurant was clean, and the rest room passed the test too.

I would definitely come back to this restaurant. Having its location in Bellevue, it beats all the Taiwanese restaurants in Vancouver by a mile. No joke. It’s no wonder this place is ALWAYS full with line ups outside. We got there as they just opened today, and the restaurant filled up within 15 minutes! The pricing was reasonable, for $12 dollars per person, we all had a really satisfying and fantastic meal.

Tip: Best time to go is when they just open at 11:30AM everyday. You will be guaranteed with seats right away.

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Facing East Taiwanese
1075 Bellevue Way NE
B-2
Bellevue, WA 98009
(425) 688-2986