Chinese Restaurants in Tacoma

Lumping all Chinese food into one category is like defining gumbo and cheesesteak both under the label of “American Food.” Sure, they’re all foods from America, but New Orleans’ Creole cuisine is a whole different animal from Philadelphia’s famous sandwich (with Whiz, please). Very few of China’s famous regional cuisines are represented in Seattle’s restaurant scene, but there’s enough to give a whirlwind tour to someone who’s only ever known the Americanized, General Tso’s style of “Chinese” food. Sichuanese: Spiced Sichuanese cuisine is known for its heavy use of a pair of peppers: the spicy-hot red pepper and the numbing Sichuan peppercorn. Spiced uses them in perfect balance in classic Sichuanese dishes such as dan dan mein (sesame-dressed noodles with meat), as well as in its extensive selection of cold appetizers, which one can order an array of by pointing at what looks good in the case up front. Options range from potato strands to pig ear. Cantonese: Sea Garden Cantonese food hails from the province of Guangdong, which, like Washington State, has an extensive shoreline. Sea Garden takes the subtle cooking of this Chinese region and marries it beautifully to fresh Northwest seafood, resulting in Dungeness crab in black bean sauce, salt-and-pepper spot prawn, and pan-fried geoduck. Shanghaiese: Din Tai Fung Purists will argue that Din Tai Fung is, in fact, a Taiwanese restaurant. It’s true that the international chain got its start in Taipei, but the specialty that made it famous, xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, is distinctly Shanghaiese. The thin-skinned dumplings, filled with rich, hot broth and a small meatball, are time-consuming and difficult to make, but the chain trains employees to make the 18-pleat delicacies by the hundred, and there’s nowhere else in town to try a good version. Taiwanese: Henry’s Taiwan Plus Henry’s version of Taiwanese food is not the most authentic—he came to Taiwanese cooking later in life—but it is the most faithful, delicious incorporation of the cuisine. His background in French fine-dining brings deliberate flavor and precise execution to traditional dishes and flavors. The three-cup chicken is a great introduction to the island’s cuisine, while more daring eaters should be unafraid to try the garlic chitterlings or oyster omelet. Northern: Dalian House Named for a peninsula in the Northern corner of China, equidistant from Beijing and Korea, Dalian House serves the warming, comforting dishes of a cold land. Pickled napa cabbage stew with pork goes perfectly with plump boiled dumplings. Familiar dishes like the famous Sichuan dish of twice-cooked pork are just as good as the more obscure options—such as the Beijing yogurt, offered on the beverage menu.

Chinese hot pot is one of the world’s most curative foods. Perhaps not by any scientific measure, but those who have experienced the bug-squashing spice, congestion-clearing steamy broth, and soul-comforting swish of meat through soup, they know. A hot pot meal begins with a tureen of bubbling liquid coming to the table. Most places offer a variety of flavors—with plain traditional and spicy Sichuan being the most common—from which a table selects one or two. Then, depending on the restaurant, servers will either ask for preferences or simply bring a parade of all-you-can-eat meats, noodles, seafood, and vegetables. Diners can simply swish the food through the broth (as with thinly-sliced meats) or leave it to soak in the broth (recommended for heartier green vegetables and offal). As fall cold season comes to town, here’s a list of a few great places to cure any ills. Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot Nobody likes to recommend a chain restaurant, but this is an outlet of a well-known, well-respected Chinese hot pot restaurant, and it has an order-by-item menu with all the standard items, as well as a few that might seem weird—frozen sponge tofu, anyone?—but work amazingly in hot pot. It’s a great place for first timers to the dish: servers and menus help explain how to eat it, and booths offer a little privacy, so no need to worry about looking silly. Gourmet Noodle Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bowl is an easy option for upscale, high-quality hot pot. Portions are smaller because meats are more nicely sliced and marbled, but it’s all-you-can-eat, so patience and a waitress are all that’s needed to make the portions larger. The initial selection is fairly small—just the basics—but there is a menu of good, if expensive, add-ons. Sichuanese Cuisine On rainy nights, most of central Seattle seems to be crammed into this tiny treasure of a restaurant. Those in the know will have the tell-tale burner on the table, dipping into the bowl of broth. The dipping selection is small at Sichuanese Cuisine, but it’s a reasonably-priced, all-you-can-eat option and the motherly Chinese women bustling around to bring more meat are as comforting as the Sichuan peppercorn-infused broth. And when asked nicely, they’ll bring out the “thick noodles,” which, alone, are worth having to park in the city’s tiniest, most aggravating parking lot, located in front of the restaurant. Hong Kong Bistro Late night hot pot cravings, be gone! This cavernous, plain Chinatown spot not only serves up a huge variety of oddities and organ meats (this is advanced level hot pot eating), but does so until the wee hours of the morning. The menu comes on a checklist, where diners can check off pork livers or tofu puffs, fish balls or what’s listed as sausage. Don’t be fooled: there’s no fancy charcuterie or bratwurst here—that’s a run of the mill hot dog. All the usual suspects are on offer, but everything