Samburna is one of the Seattle area’s best options for Indian food, and is rare in focusing on well-executed South Indian cuisine. The owners of the restaurant grew up in Tamil Nadu, on the Southern tip of the Indian Subcontinent, where dosa is a staple, and the restaurant serves several excellent versions, including one that’s over three feet in length; all dosas are served with sambar and a variety of chutneys. The goat curry is also a must-try, and madras coffee with a milk-based dessert makes a nice end to the meal. Order Samburna to go, or enjoy a meal with quick service in the dining room.

Pinehurst’s charming Jewish-style deli and bakery is the versatile comfort food spot every neighborhood needs. Owner Josh Grunig, formerly of Grand Central Bakery, offers a bounty of baked goods, including whole cakes, sourdough loaves, croissants, and challah, as well as some of the best bagels in Seattle. There’s a covered patio, surrounded by planters, where diners can eat what Grunig calls his “big, ridiculous sandwiches,” piles of house-smoked pastrami and corned beef between slices of rye bread or bagel halves, or sip on matzo ball soup. The smoked meat, and other Jewish deli staples like whitefish and chopped liver, are available by the pound, and the shop’s delivery service covers most of the Seattle area. 

Tian Fu’s locations in Northgate and Bellevue are constantly filled with large parties speaking Mandarin and sharing plates of some of the Seattle area’s best Sichuan cuisine. Servers dash around tables serving large portions of regional classics, like boiled fish in chili and peppercorn sauce and toothpick lamb. The mapo tofu coats the tongue with chili oil and makes it buzz with Sichuan peppercorn while the twice-cooked pork belly and string beans offer a jolt of umami from fermented beans and vegetables.

This Ballard restaurant’s food, with influences from owner Rajah Gargour’s Lebanese background, is a vegetarian’s dream. The small plates of lentils ground with roasted garlic, house labneh, and sweet pears in savory tahini always impress, and the dining room — separated into two areas connected by large archways in the white wall — reopened a few months ago. Patrons should check Instagram for seasonal items that keep the menu vibrant.

From a farmers market favorite to a permanent tamale window near Green Lake, this popular Mexican spot from founders Osbaldo Hernandez and Dennis Ramey (with Hernandez’s parents helping to run the operation) serves some of the most satisfying tamales in Seattle. The salsa roja pork and the salsa verde chicken versions are not to be missed, but the shop also serves vegan and vegetarian options, including tamales filled with sweet potato and mole and salsa roja and jackfruit. Everything is served pickled onions and carrots and best washed down with the house-made agua de horchata. Diners can also bring home bags of frozen tamales to steam at home.

Star chef Mutsuko Soma makes soba from scratch every day at this Fremont destination, which was chosen as one of  Eater’s Best New Restaurant in America in 2018. Soma serves traditional soba shop dishes like seiro soba (cold with dipping sauce) and super-crunchy tempura but also more creative dishes like soba with oysters and gochujang broth and oreo tempura served with mini toasted marshmallows. Make a full night of it by sampling some sake and snacks at next door sibling bar Hannyatou before heading over to Kamonegi for dinner.

After building a strong following as a pop-up inside Fremont’s Pomerol, the contemporary Indian tasting menu specialist Meesha became a full-fledged restaurant in 2020. Among some of the can’t-miss dishes from chef Preeti Agarwal are rarah keema pao with expertly prepared ground lamb, the fried Amritsari fish, and the paneer in tomato sauce with black cardamom. Takeout is still an option, but the lively dining room and patio are also open for business.

James Beard Award-nominated chef Rachel Yang and partner Seif Chirchi offer simple but refined dishes at their Korean-influenced Fremont restaurant, including a smoked mackerel kedgeree and a famed kalbi short rib over grilled kimchi. Expect inventive dishes too, like smoked tofu or beef tartare with Asian pear and pine nuts. With an inviting, open space and easy-going service, Joule offers a special night out sans pretension. Sit at the bar and watch chefs plating dishes, and sip on one of Joule’s creative cocktails, like the lapsang souchong tequila drink with lime and Thai chili agave. 

In March 2020, the Canlis family — who owns the 71-year-old Queen Anne icon — posted on its website that “fine dining is not what Seattle needs right now.” Since then, the restaurant wasn’t afraid to try out a host of different looks, including a burger drive-thru, but has now returned to full indoor service with new executive chef Aisha Ibrahim at the helm. The past year of creative menu shifts and a super-seasonal approach from Ibrahim inspired by Japanese kaiseki cooking has re-energized a classic. The current four course menu offers options like poached and chilled mussels with kohlrabi, striploin with green onion and celeriac, and grilled sablefish with matsutake mushrooms.

Vietnamese siblings Trinh and Thai Nguyen— who came to the U.S. as refugees — explore the food of their childhood at this excellent modern Bainbridge Island restaurant. Southeast Asian flavors meet locally farmed and foraged ingredients in dishes like its pho, served with dry-aged ribeye or mushrooms, while small plates like the shrimp and pork wontons swimming in pools of chili and truffle oil and the tempura soft shell crab with tamarind ponzu offer moments of decadence. The wood-floored dining room is decorated with a 10-foot-wide painting of a catfish that oversees diners who take ferries from all over the Seattle area for the Nguyens’ cooking.

Kedai Makan offers some of the only Malaysian food in the Seattle area, and the small, turquoise-walled dining room in Capitol Hill is packed late into the evening with diners scooping curry with roti and sharing piles of fried chicken with pineapple sambal. Owner Kevin Burzell was entranced by the funk and spice in Malaysian cooking when he traveled to Southeast Asia; he opened a takeout window in 2013, then opened the current space in 2015, staying true to the strength of those flavors. Cut the spice with cocktails made with Southeast Asian ingredients, like the lime-leaf gin and tonic or a bourbon drink made with green tea and pandan limeade. Reservations aren’t accepted, and a wait should be expected.

Chef-owner Trey Lamont crafts Jamaican dishes and other Caribbean-influenced fare at this colorful Belltown restaurant and bar, where reggae is always playing. The namesake jerk chicken has a sneaky kick, while the remoulade sauce on the fried white fish is a star on its own — and the portions are always generous. Don’t sleep on the many potent rum cocktails on the menu, like the Carribean Sunset (chilled with a rum and pineapple ice cube), which enhance the party vibes.

Expertly-made Laotian dishes shine at this Capitol Hill counter service restaurant from three chefs, Sydney Clark, Khampaeng Panyathong, and Jenessa Sneva, with strong Seattle dining pedigrees. Items such as thom khem and chicken laap utilize produce from local farms and a whole-animal approach to butchery, and the Lao pork sausage, fragrant with lemongrass and lime leaf, is not to be missed. Meanwhile, the smash burger made with pork jowl bacon and jaew tomato sauce may be the best patty in the city.

Capitol Hill’s vegan restaurant from celebrated chef Makini Howell is as versatile as it is magnificent. Some of the biggest hits include the “chicken” fried seitan burger, a mac and cheese spin called Mac and Yease (made with alternative milk), and black truffle sweet potato gnocchi with pesto and vegan sausage. Takeout orders go through Toast, delivery is available via Caviar and Doordash, and there’s now onsite dining.

Chef Kristi Brown — who runs the successful catering operation That Brown Girl Cooks — calls the food at her nationally praised Central District restaurant “Seattle soul.” Brown’s memories of shopping at Chinatown-International District markets results in banh mi-po’ boy hybrids and a dish made with Washington clams, mussels, and Laotian sausage in a coconut milk “roux.” But Brown’s cooking shines in her more traditional Southern dishes, like the pork neck bone stew, with smoky meat simmered in umami-packed broth with lima beans. After Communion made a couple of national best restaurant lists in 2021 (and nabbed an Eater Award), it’s been hard to get a seat at the dining room in the renovated historic Liberty Bank Building (the renovation, completed in 2019, is meant to support Black property ownership in Seattle’s historically Black neighborhood). Make reservations weeks ahead, or show up right when the restaurant opens on a weekday to dine in.

Diners have long flocked to the upscale Pike Place restaurant to watch master sushi chef Shiro Kashiba at work, with seats at the bar among the most coveted. Its meticulous attention to detail remains a big draw, as does chef Kashiba, who is credited for bringing edomae-style sushi to Seattle and has opened some of the city’s best-respected sushi restaurants, including the self-titled Shiro’s Sushi Restaurant in Belltown. First-timers should choose the omakase option and embrace each seasonal offering, although Kashiba’s popular black cod off the a la carte menu is also stellar.

Pioneer Square’s Indian food destination restaurant serves soups, biryani, and curries from a variety of regions, and happily caters to pescatarians and vegetarians with items like paneer-stuffed bell pepper with spicy tomato sauce. Owners Oliver and Gita Bangera have always made sure the takeout service is as robust as the dine-in experience — although seeing the gregarious Oliver in person usually adds a spark to the meal.

Seattle’s oldest sushi restaurant has been open since 1904, surviving the incarceration of its owners during WWII. Maneki remains as resilient as ever: Since the pandemic started, the Japantown restaurant has offered online takeout orders for its large menu of sushi rolls, udon noodles and Japanese comfort food. Indulge in the beef sukiyaki or unagi donburi, or make a takeout meal out of snacks, like the spicy cod karaage, potato croquettes and onigiri (rice balls).

The Pham family’s Pho Bac “boat” restaurant was a pioneer in the Vietnamese dining scene — and the more modern Pho Bac Sup Shop continues its legacy with aplomb in Little Saigon. Tender beef falls off massive beef ribs on its internet-famous pho or on the spicy bun bo hue. Pair the fragrant bowls of broth with cocktails made with passionfruit and mango or herbaceous drinks made with Thai basil and Vietnamese coriander. Finish the meal with Viet coffee and ube cheesecake.

After a two-year hiatus, this beloved Cambodian restaurant from the Ung family got a revival in 2020 at a slick new location in Little Saigon. The menu is pared down, but longtime staples, including the honey-black pepper chicken wings, mee katang (wide rice noodles in gravy), and beef lok lac (marinated steak cubes), are still on point. Don’t leave without trying the restaurant’s signature dish, a rice noodle soup with fish cakes and balls, ground pork, prawns and calamari. The clean new digs are perfect for settling in for a leisurely comfort meal.

Since opening in early 2020, Beacon Hill’s innovative Filipinx restaurant from star chef Melissa Miranda has developed a dynamic menu with items such as succulent short rib kare kare, smoked oysters, and mussels cooked with moringa. The homey space makes diners feel like they’re eating in a beloved family member’s living room. Miranda also launched a community kitchen, which serves free meals every Monday and Tuesday, and a program to teach children Filipinx recipes. 

Acclaimed chef Mike Easton turned the historic Alki Homestead into a classic Seattle dining experience, with his intricate pastas and hearty entrees, like the coveted seared ribeye. Easton also recently added Roman-style pizza to the menu and aims to make the restaurant more accessible with a new “aperitivo hour” that doesn’t require reservations. But the main dinner service continues to be one of the more sought-after tickets in town.

Marination co-owners Kamala Saxton and Roz Edison created a hit in this Columbia City Korean-Hawaiian restaurant housed in a former auto repair shop. The spam sliders and loco moco always hit the spot, and the malasadas, served plain or filled with mango or coconut cream, are among Seattle’s best desserts. Lines are typically long on weekends to secure a table, but with a large patio, there’s a festival-like atmosphere that makes the time pass quickly.

In 2021, Hillman City’s nationally acclaimed Filipino American fine dining restaurant restarted its intimate tasting menu dinners, known for their ingenuity, storytelling, and passion. Husband-and-wife team Aaron Verzosa and Amber Manuguid create inventive dishes that weave the narrative of their personal journeys growing up in the area and that of Filipino immigrants to the Pacific Northwest, combining a meal and a compelling history lesson in each 9-to-12-course sitting. The 12-seat restaurant is fully reserved through the end of March, but there’s a waitlist on the website.

Run by husband and wife duo Delish Lemma and Amy Abera, both hailing from Addis Ababa, Delish Ethiopian Cuisine features recipes passed down from Abera’s mother and grandmother. A relative newcomer to the vibrant Hillman City Ethiopian restaurant scene, Delish has a comfortable, classic atmosphere with a bar area. Try the veggie combo, which includes 10 vegan selections (most veggie combos offer about five), or the beef tibs, slices of beef pan-fried in garlic, butter, onion and spices. Delish also offers a coffee ceremony with three rounds of coffee, served with popcorn or a sweet bread, and incense.

This enormously popular food truck in White Center (with two locations in the neighborhood and one in North Seattle) has been a steady presence for years that gives a lot of bang for the buck. Plates pile up with carne asada, adobada, and lengua versions, and a special request for extra grilled mini-onions and spicy Serrano peppers is key. There’s also a small covered patio next to the truck that provides a comfortable place to dig in while the plates are piping hot.

After five years as a food truck, El Cabrito became a brick-and mortar-restaurant in Burien’s Ambaum Boulevard in 2019. Chef-owner Leticia Sánchez started making moles with her grandmother in Oaxaca when she was five years old, and the years of experience show in the expertly balanced mole coloradito that pools around her pork enchiladas, and in dishes like the molotes (fried masa dumplings filled with potato and chorizo), drowned in smoky morita pepper and avocado salsas, all served on brightly hued ceramics. Sànchez also serves weekly specials like rockfish ceviche, and banana-leaf green mole tamales are available during the winter. There’s a few indoor seats at El Cabrito and a few tables on a covered patio behind the restaurant.

Vashon Island’s celebrated Thai restaurant is so good that many Seattleites make the trek over by ferry just to sample the food. Chef-owner May Chaleoy serves up entrees with bright flavors like fried whole fried trout alongside mango salad flecked with mint and cashews as well as satisfying appetizers like grilled pork skewers marinated in yellow curry. She also offers versions of ubiquitous Thai dishes with elegant twists, like pad thai served with turnips and banana blossom or tom yum soup with oyster mushrooms. For now, service is take-out only.