A bit off the beaten path but well worth the trek, Mi Bella Honduras is absolutely up to its elbows in that South American vibe. The restaurant specializes in beleadas, a Honduran spin on the quesadilla or pupusa, but the real magic is in the entrees like the oxtail or fried chicken.

Saif Shihab, the owner of Gyros House, makes a mean sandwich. It’s jamming with cheese, fresh veggies, smooth, creamy tzatziki sauce, and your choice of artfully prepared falafel or meat, fresh off the spit. Every meal at Gyros is as warm and interesting as the man preparing it.

Tucked into the food court of the H Mart, this place will not disappoint your sweet tooth. In that bustling marketplace, milk bread, green tea doughnuts, and red bean pastries will stop you dead in your tracks, like you were caught in the eye of a tasty hurricane. Complex flavors, baked fresh daily.

Koharu’s head sushi chef has been doing sushi since 1968 — and it shows. All the sauces and vinegars are prepared in house, by hand, and the fish is fresh and noisy with flavor. Hot towels before the meal, stunned silence during.

If you can stay stressed out at Pac Island Grill, consult your physician. The island music piping through the speakers and the tropical plants spattered across the inside are like atmospheric sedatives. If that wasn’t enough, Pac Island Grill is also slanging inventive island entrees like mochi chicken and desserts like haupia pie. Chill function: engaged.

This place is alive with the sounds of sizzling joy from the moment it opens until the moment it closes. The dol sot bibimbap, a rice and veggie dish served in a hot stone bowl that crisps the rice on the bottom, is hearty and perfect. The tofu soup, which comes out at a rolling boil, is like sterno for your soul.

Pictures of the fish tacos in this place should've been loaded into the Galileo space probe as a warning to alien interceptors that Earth doesn’t mess around. They'd balk at fresh and expertly prepared ingredients, puzzle over secret sauces, and tremble in fear at an ability to fit all that goodness on a tortilla. The tacos aren't the only stars here either. Go try it, quickly, before the alien overlords come to smite this planet for its hubris.

This place was making Korean fried chicken before it was hip, and as soon as you strip all the meat off one of those bad boys, you’ll see why everybody started biting Cockatoo’s style and yet nobody can quite hit the mark. Cockatoo’s is classic cool, with fresh, sweet soju, fried eggs cooked at your table, and popcorn while you wait.

A body in the throes of a Pacific Northwest winter reacts to noodle soup like it’s Epinephrine, and Pho Kim has got just the jolt your system needs. Come for the pho, stay for the Vietnamese iced coffee, then stay longer because you’re too full and wired to drive home.

Mi Chalateca specializes in golden, doughy pupusas, crispy, delicious yucca, and other such Salvadoran mainstays. It’s also a casual place to watch a soccer game and feel like part of an extended family, which is just as good.

Stepping through the front door of Pimienta, tucked into its little strip mall across from a Chevron station, accomplishes nothing short of teleportation. The street outside falls away to the smooth bossa nova and the warm interior of this expertly run Latin American restaurant. The food is prepared with nuance and love and the cocktails are refreshing without pulling punches.