Billy Bob’s gives diners burger, barbecue alternative
February 23, 2010
What you’ll find at Billy Bob’s Burgers & BBQ is a great lunch hour or afternoon escape from the workday grind or a place on the weekend for sports action in the bar. Read more
Dig into the duck and dumplings at Macky’s Dim Sum
February 2, 2010
Put down the chopsticks, or maybe a fork, and ignore the stares from other diners, because the menu at Macky’s Dim Sum presents a hand-eye coordination challenge. Order the roasted duck — lacquered skin and moist meat presented in oh-so-neat rows — and utensils will be rendered useless. Read more
Dan Connolly to perform regularly at Zeeks Pizza
January 26, 2010
Dan Connolly performs a set at Zeeks Pizza in the Issaquah Highlands. By Kathleen R. Merrill
Issaquah residents have another place to hear live music in the city, and they’ll get an excellent performance from local musician Dan Connolly.
The talented guitarist is playing from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Zeeks Pizza, 2525 N.E. Park Drive.
Not only will those in attendance get to hear soulful renditions of Connolly’s tunes from his album “Running Under Water,” they’ll also get hand-clapping, foot-stomping fun in the form of Irish drinking songs.
Many people at Zeeks last week had heard Connolly’s album and were calling out requests for songs from it. Read more
Thai Ginger does justice to top-billed ingredient
January 12, 2010
When a restaurant includes a signature ingredient in the name above the door, the act amounts to a challenge to diners, almost as if the owners laid down a gauntlet. Try the namesake dish, the menu demands. We dare you.
Thai Ginger, where the potent root receives top billing, deploys the main ingredient in the Thai Ginger House Special — assorted vegetables and protein studded with matchsticks of the spicy-sweet tuber. Consider the dish a litmus test. Include too much ginger, and the flavor bludgeons other players into submission. Skimp on ginger, and fail to do justice to the title dish.
Thai Ginger delivers. The house special includes enough ginger to keep colds at bay all winter long without muscling the other components from the plate. Not too much, not too little. Just right, Goldilocks.
Other dishes deploy traditional Thai ingredients for tasty effect: basil in phad bai kaplau — onions, peppers and meat or seafood in a garlic sauce — and numerous other dishes, peanuts in many more and fiery chilies where necessary. Read more
Cucina! Cucina! is delicious-ina!
January 5, 2010
No matter where you are in this country, there is sure to be an Italian restaurant nearby. In Issaquah, Cucina! Cucina! Italian Café should be on your radar.
The restaurant — near Issaquah’s Regal Cinemas in Pickering Place — has been serving up tasty Italian food for years.
When you first walk through the door, you’re greeted with bright, high-energy colors and decorations. This gives diners a fun environment in which to eat their meals.
Most tables are near coat hangers as well, which come in tremendously handy on cold and often wet winter days.
The menu offers a little something for everyone — soups, salads, pastas, pizzas and even steaks. Soups and salads will likely cost you the least, while steaks are more than $20 a plate.
There are more than 30 full entrées from which to choose, so it may take you a few minutes to determine the right dish for you.
Order your drinks, your meal and maybe an appetizer, and you’re ready to go. As you sit and chat, you’ll probably notice that your tablecloth is made out of paper. So, if you happen to be dining with somebody horrendously boring — or just feel like turning your tablecloth into a piece of art — just ask your waiter for some crayons and let loose on the paper before you.
After a few games of hangman and tic-tac-toe, or a poor reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” on your tablecloth, your food will be out and ready for you to enjoy.
On this particular day, I ordered the linguini and meatballs, the lunch special of the day. The dish is typically $12.95, but when it’s the special, it’s less than $10.
My plate was a healthy dose of noodles doused with a scrumptious red sauce and topped with succulent meatballs and mushrooms. The best way to enjoy this dish is to chop up the meatballs and mushrooms and have a little bit of both in every bite. Doing this will allow you to experience the full, complex and delightful taste of the dish.
One of my friends ordered the chorizo & red pepper penne ($12.25), which he found to be quite tasty. He also noted the spices complemented the pasta very well.
My other friend ordered the chicken linguini with goat cheese ($12.95). He also enjoyed his meal, and said the goat cheese was tasty and creamy, with a hint of lemon.
Cucina! Cucina! Italian Café should always be on the list of options when considering Italian food. Delicious food, fun atmosphere and fun on your tablecloth: Sounds like a great meal to me!
Cucina! Cucina! Italian Café
1510 11th Ave. N.W.
391-3800
11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Appetizers — $3.25 to $14.35; soup/salad — $3.25 to $12.25; entrées — $9.75 to $26.95
Tim Pfarr: 392-6434, ext. 239, or newcas@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
Restaurant reviews are a regular feature of The Issaquah Press. Reviewers visit restaurants unannounced and pay in full for their meals.
Bring your appetite for teriyaki to Chopsticks
December 15, 2009
It might seem a bit of a drive for Issaquah residents to get to Chopsticks Teriyaki Wok in Preston. But the food was worth it on a recent Sunday, sandwiched in between shopping in Issaquah and Fall City. Read more
Margaritas, merriment abound at Agave Cocina & Tequilas
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Find authentic flavors at Similan Thai Cuisine
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Thai cuisine seeks to balance spicy, sour, sweet and salty, using whiffs of lemongrass and kaffir lime to pack the flavor of Southeast Asia into each bite. Similan Thai Cuisine, a new arrival at the just-opened Overlake Center, is skillful with the pillars of Thai cooking. Read more
Stan’s smokes the competition with authentic Kansas City barbecue
September 22, 2009
If there’s one spot in town you’re guaranteed to get messy with your meal, it’s Stan’s Bar-B-Q. Read more
Find a little piece of Italy at Issaquah’s Tutta Bella
August 18, 2009
Though Issaquah is more than 5,000 miles from Italy, you don’t have to travel that far to find your own slice of Italian heaven. Read more
