The boiled dumplings at Little Ting’s Dumplings, both in Seattle and Bellevue, are juicy and delicious. Also available as pan-fried pot stickers, they come in many varieties, from pork and fennel to chive and scallop to sea cucumber and pork. There are even occasional specials, like sea urchin dumplings. Ordering them pan-fried adds an extra layer of crispy goodness.

Xi’an Noodles has been slinging some of the city’s best Chinese food since it opened on the Ave in the University District in 2016, with success bringing more recent expansions to downtown’s Westlake Center and Bellevue. Bowls of hand-pulled, wide biang-biang noodles are made from scratch every day. They’re delightfully springy, and the simplicity of hot chile oil showcases their texture best, though meat toppings like spicy cumin lamb are also available.

This pint-sized restaurant (with just a few tables inside) next to a laundromat in the University District serves some of the best Chinese food in the city. The focus here is on Northeastern Chinese dishes, like the braised pork ribs potatoes and green beans, but the menu also includes dishes from other parts of China, and the fried rice dishes here are consistently satisfying. Little Duck also serves particularly refreshing jellyfish salad with cucumber matchsticks.

Yongshen Guo raises his own Bresse breed chickens for at least 150 days (longer than average, for more flavor) at his farm in Arlington to serve at his restaurant, which he opened in 2021 under a new apartment complex in Redmond. Guo grew up in Inner Mongolia, and that region’s influence shows up in dishes not normally found at other Chinese restaurants. Try the chicken noodle soup to experience the flavor of properly matured chicken firsthand.

The Seattle area has a growing number of hot pot restaurants with endless choices of broths and add-ins. Buerjia is an exception, focusing mainly on the dish in its full name, Chinese sauerkraut fish (suan cai yu). Pickled mustard greens constitute the “sauerkraut” portion, with big bowls of hot-and-sour broth containing chunks of fish topped with chile peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. Diners decide the size of their fish orders as well as what else to put in the broth.

Sichuan is the Chinese regional cuisine represented best in Seattle, and Frying Fish is one of the best of the bunch. The Bellevue restaurant has a reputation for consistency, so it’s constantly packed with people eating chile-laden dishes like the chef’s specialty “FeiTang” platters with crab, carp head, frog, and even fish fresh from the on-site tanks. Assorted cold appetizers like the pig ear with chile oil along with spicy and sour dumplings are a great way to start the meal.

This small Taiwanese restaurant in the same strip mall as Asian Family Market in Bellevue is one of the best around the Seattle area, and the dishes are remarkably affordable. Lunch plates of lu rou fan (braised Taiwanese pork belly over rice) come with sides of perfectly executed chile pork ear, braised pork trotters, and all kinds of Taiwanese pickles. Monga Cafe also serves solid Taiwanese beef noodles and an excellent selection of boba tea drinks.

Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle is a chain with hundreds of locations in China and a few in the U.S., including in a strip mall in Bellevue’s Crossroads neighborhood. The restaurant finishes its signature dish, Crossing the Bridge Noodles, in 10 seconds. Thin-sliced meat, a braised chicken wing, veggies, and condiments come separately to be combined at the table, and the result is one of the best rice noodle soups in the Seattle area.

Chinatown-International District’s location of the Dim Sum King chain offers an affordable price for fast dim sum by the piece, from various baked buns and crispy treats like egg rolls and pot stickers to steamed shrimp or pork dumplings and chicken feet. Boxes of chow mein are also a bargain. On the sweet side, in addition to flaky egg tarts, check out the massive portions of sponge cake. Best of all, Dim Sum King opens at 7 a.m. and has a handy online ordering system.

Mike’s Noodle House may be the ultimate in Chinese comfort food. For a quick and inexpensive meal, it’s hard to beat this Chinatown-International District shop’s bowls of wontons, dumplings, and toothpick-thin noodles. The place gets especially crowded on weekends when diners start their day choosing from a wide variety of congee bowls (choices include preserved egg, rock cod, and pork liver) paired with a youtiao (savory Chinese cruller).

Har gow (shrimp dumplings), shumai, beef tripe, chicken feet, rice noodle rolls: These are the classic dim sum items, and you’ll find them done right at Chinatown-International District’s Jade Garden. You won’t be the only one. Wait times on weekend mornings can be long (dim sum is a popular breakfast food), so show up before the restaurant opens to ensure you get a seat.

Sizzling Pot King, a Hunan-inspired restaurant in the Chinatown-International District, uses pickled chiles in contrast to the dry chiles synonymous with the numerous Sichuan restaurants in the area. Mortar and pestle-pounded eggplant with bell pepper and century egg is a must-order, as are the dry pots — customizable with a wide variety of meats, vegetables, sauce flavors, and spice levels — that indeed sizzle upon arrival to your table. Smoky plum juice pairs nicely with the sour, salty, and spicy elements in the food.

The celebrated Sichuan chain from Southern California opened its first Seattle location in the Chinatown-International District in 2020, serving popular specialties such as toothpick lamb with cumin, mung bean jelly noodles drenched in chile sauce, and a cold spring onion chicken in pepper sauce. Diners will delight in the ma la (numbing and spicy) aftermath of the Sichuan peppercorn and chile-laden dishes; boiled beef in hot sauce offers a double whammy of chiles and chile paste, and mapo tofu aficionados should definitely give Chengdu Taste’s version a try.

It’s easy to overlook this sliver of a storefront in the Chinatown-International District, but the sight of hanging meats draws people in, and the flavors ensure return visits. The roasted duck has crackly skin, while poached free-range chicken comes with a bright ginger-scallion sauce. With an advance order, the restaurant will even set up a whole pig to go for your special occasion.

Mama’s Dough is perfect for soup dumpling lovers who want to try spots beyond large chains like Din Tai Fung. Mama’s frozen varieties can be ordered in bulk, but even the made-to-order ones hold up well for dining at home. You’ll find the restaurant in Kent’s Great Wall Shopping Mall, a serious hub for Chinese food that includes about a half dozen restaurants and a location of Chinese supermarket 99 Ranch Market.