After a lost lease forced the Lee family to close their legacy teriyaki restaurant in Bothell, they reopened in a larger strip mall across the street with a new name and expanded menu. Now they’re also serving the kinds of Korean and Brazilian-influenced dishes the matriarch Lee would make at home — and can you ever go wrong with what mom’s cooking? True to form, it’s a menu full of understated but absolute stars: The kalbi here is exemplary, deeply savory from its soy and patiently caramelized onion marinade, and the basic-sounding “shredded pork” is so tender and juicy-rich with rendered fat and a just-right hint of citrus that it seems like it should have an honorific or something to indicate its excellence. (Shredded pork, Esq?) 

This Phinney Ridge bar and restaurant serves over 300 gins (the biggest gin list in the country, it claims), a long list of house cocktails, and a shockingly good menu of New American bites. The steak frites here with a couple of appetizers and cocktails always hits the spot for a date-night meal. For something on the more affordable side, stop in at happy hour for the fried chicken sandwich (on a Sea Wolf bun) or the burger, which comes with white cheddar and pork belly.

There are two ways to get in: walk through Ravenna’s Third Place Books to Cafe Arta and head downstairs, or find the large wooden door in an alcove off of 20th Avenue and 65th Street. Either way, entering yhe Pub feels like unearthing a well-kept secret. This basement bar is a cozy, hobbit-like den lined with rough-hewn wood from an old tree. A diverse 18-draft selection and assortment of cans readily suit every beer preference, while a small but well-curated wine and cider lineup fulfill other tastes. While as homey as the atmosphere, the Mediterranean-inspired menu elevates pub food expectations with a falafel burger, avgolemono soup, and arguably the tastiest souvlaki sandwiches in the city. =

Kabul’s location on 45th Street makes it easy to notice on the way to I-5 and then forget about in the ensuing mind-numbing traffic. But this intrepid spot has been serving as Seattle’s only Afghan restaurant for over 30 years, with a concise menu of Afghanistan’s quintessential dishes. Ashak is a standout; scallion and cilantro-filled pasta dumplings are topped with rich turmeric-coriander minced beef and generously crisscrossed with bright tomato and mint-yogurt sauces. There are also a variety of enticingly aromatic stews, each served with kabuli aalaw, a saffron rice pilaf dish studded with carrots and raisins. All entrees are available in vegetarian form. 

The unifying theme of this map-jumping soul food/Creole/Chamorro joint is “chef Rodel Borromeo’s favorite foods.” It’s an irreverent approach in an era where ultra narrow menu focus is the prevailing expectation, and it absolutely works. There are too many standouts to name ‘em all: a roasted adobo pork sandwich, jalapeno-cheddar hush puppies that easily rank as Seattle’s best, decadent gumbo boosted with brisket and house-made bacon, fried chicken that can throw elbows through this city’s crowded poultryscape, we could go on. And heads up: It’s not even on the menu, but there is often lumpia available. 

Bellevue’s Dosa House is packed late into the night with people speaking Hindi and eating affordable, satisfying dosas and other vegetarian Indian snacks, but the restaurant is largely unknown outside of the Eastside. Most of the dosas, which all come with some sides, are only around $11. The potato-filled masala dosa is a good choice, as is the schezwan dosa, an Indo-Chinese fusion dish filled with what tastes like spicy chow mein.

This Uptown Mexican restaurant receives shockingly little recognition considering the breadth and consistent quality of its menu. The red pozole here is deeply satisfying with big, juicy, tender pieces of pork, and the green ceviche is balanced and generously portioned. Go on a weekday lunch, and you’ll have the restaurant almost all to yourself.

There are a lot of places around Pike Place serving market-sourced, French-inflected Pacific Northwest cuisine worth trying, but when we want to go someplace comfortable the V.I. is always a good bet. You can get all the usual suspects — mussels, chowder, fish and chips, local beer on tap — at wallet-friendly prices. A block away from the market itself, it feels like a refuge from tourist destinations and a retreat into history. It’s been around for 120 years and should be around for at least another 120.

A quick glance at this stall in the Uwajimaya food court might make you think it’s a taco stand, but at Los Costeños, the sandwiches are the point. Owner Francisco Mendoza previously worked at Un Bien, and his big sandos are made with the same crazy-flavorful roast mojo pork, but he packs these things with meat like it’s a contest, and they’re a few bucks cheaper as well. You can also add ham and Swiss to the pork sandwich, if he didn’t put enough pork on there for you. The seafood sandwiches — especially the garlic cod or garlic scallop with green olive tapenade — are standouts too. They’re all a giant mess, so if you don’t feel like wearing your sandwich, make sure to grab a table and about a dozen napkins.

There’s a lot to love about Ciudad. We love that it’s open daily for both lunch and dinner, and we love the tremendous flavors that the charcoal grill imparts on both meat and vegetables. We love that you can order items like hanger steak, pork collar, shawarma-spiced shrimp, and mixed vegetables by the quarter-pound. Supplement your grilled items with small plates, flatbread, and a variety of sauces (think chimichurri, harissa, mojo rojo and the like) that reflect the influence that Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Greece, and the entire Mediterranean region have on the restaurant. Add in creative cocktails and colorful flourishes in the dining room, and you’ll be making excuses to go to Georgetown (one of Seattle’s most underrated neighborhoods).