International Seattle
Seattle’s Chinatown
words by > Catherine Arnold
East Meets West
* Get a taste of Seattle’s International District.
Some Chinatowns no longer feel lived-in. If their streets bustle at all, it is mainly with tourists, not residents or immigrant shoppers. Seattle’s International District— a name for the area of mostly Asian businesses that includes Chinatown—lives and thrives. Not only that, but it’s a terrific place to see old streets that slope toward a view of Puget Sound and the Union Station clock tower, eat a lovely meal or shop in a grocery with a great selection of fish, tofu and kitschy toys.
The Chinese who settled in the district in the late 1800s were followed by Japanese and Filipinos. Unfortunately, very little remains of Nihonmachi, or Japantown, which was hard hit by the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. But the Japanese-American-owned super-grocery Uwajimaya (206-624-6248, www.uwajimaya.com), the area’s shopping jewel, is the flagship of a Northwest chain started in 1928 in Tacoma.
More than just a grocery, Uwajimaya’s 66,000 square feet of floor space is filled with exciting eats. The food court has Chinese, Vietnamese and other international foods—and a large origami swan in the entrance hall. In the grocery’s deli, find sushi marked down each evening, trays of pickled treats commonly eaten in Japan and plenty of non-Japanese foods, such as falafel, baklava and Filipino breads. Be sure not to miss the Asian candy aisle, sake and Chinese rice wine selection and huge seafood cases.
If you’re in a food haze, regain your bearings at the Wing Luke Asian Museum (206-623-5124, www.wingluke.org). The museum, with an elegant Chinese-style lacquered front, is located in storefronts on an ordinary block, so that it blends in with the shopping-scape.
It is named for Wing Luke, who in 1962 became the first Asian-American elected to public office in the Northwest, as a Seattle city councilman. An ongoing exhibit, Camp Harmony, replicates a Japanese-American internment camp; interactive materials tell the story of the area’s settlement, which began when some Chinese immigrants pooled their money to buy two buildings in the district.
Once you have built up your appetite, it’s back to checking out the area’s fantastic food offerings. The Vietnamese restaurant Green Leaf (206-340-1388) is a small, well-appointed place for attractive dishes made of fresh ingredients, such as bahn xeo: an egg pancake with which to wrap up lettuce, basil and other herbs, then dip in a sweet fish sauce; bowls heaped with noodles and grilled pork, topped with artistic bits of carrot, radish and herbs; or a papaya and prawn salad. One of the area’s most lauded Chinese restaurants is Seven Stars Pepper Szechuan (206-568-6446). Try the pickled vegetable pork soup and prawns with pickled pepper sauce.
After your meal, head to Mon Hei Chinese Bakery (206-624-4156), a great place to pick up goodies like sesame seed pastries stuffed with red bean paste, barbecue pork buns and chicken pies, or to drink tea among elderly men passing time together.
Among the district’s several locations for bubble (or boba) tea, Oasis Tea Zone (206-447-8098) is particularly fun. Along with tall glasses of tea and tapioca bubbles with a gummy bear consistency (sipped through wide straws), Oasis sells flavored shaved ice, condensed milk teas and pureed fruit drinks, such as taro and honeydew. Open till 2am on weekends, the space has high chairs and tables, a pool table and board games like Taboo.
A good spot to reflect on all the day’s delicious finds is Panama Hotel Tea & Coffee House (206-515-4000)—stylish digs built as Japanese working men’s lodgings nearly a hundred years ago. The teahouse features a clear panel in the floor, showing the basement where many Japanese-Americans stored their belongings during internment. Today, it’s a well-lit space offering Asian and Indian teas, panini, espresso and free wireless internet.
More than just a place to fill your belly and shopping bags full of food, Seattle’s International District is a vibrant neighborhood, where locals happily share their culture with visitors, and it should be on the itinerary of anyone passing through the Emerald City.