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.

Despite doing brisk business, it seems this Caribbean-themed restaurant is on the radar of only those in the neighborhood; otherwise, it's not nearly as celebrated as similar shops like Un Bien and Paseo. But the sandwich and plate selection here is much broader, and the flavors just as indulgent, with ingredients like braised pork, jerk chicken, yucca fries, and fried plantains.

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. It also serves particularly refreshing jellyfish salad with cucumber matchsticks. Open for indoor dining and takeout.

This restaurant in a strip mall in Bellevue’s Bel-Red neighborhood serves some of the best Sichuan food in the Seattle area, at much lower prices than most of its competitors. The mapo tofu (made with fermented black beans and chili fava bean paste) has unparalleled depth. The cold dishes, like cucumber salad and wood-ear salad, are refreshing and satisfying. And the restaurant also serves excellent renditions of American Chinese dishes like sweet and sour chicken — something that some of the other Sichuan restaurants in the area don’t offer.

Omega Ouzeri's bright white and blue space on Capitol Hill transports diners to the Greek isles, where fresh seafood lands on the plate with an array of fresh ingredients from a deeply flavorful playbook. Meals can be assembled family-style, from multiple shared plates, and it all goes down smoothly with sips of ouzo.

This Central District restaurant specializes in bold flavors wielded expertly in dishes like roast duck crispy rolls with sambal hoisin, papaya salad, caramelized pork fresh rolls with Hanoi fish sauce, curry vermicelli bowl, and the tingly ma la braised beef noodles. Nothing about this place feels particularly reckless, just plain dialed in — ditto the original cocktails.

Humble Pie, tucked off of Rainier Avenue, sports outdoor seating and an enticing selection of wood-fired pizza using local and organic ingredients like Beecher’s Cheese, Uli’s Sausage, and Washington apples. The pizzeria, constructed of two shipping containers and built following LEED standards, also grows some of its ingredients, draws power from solar panels, and raises chickens on-site. There’s also a great selection of local beer and wine.

Holding steady in Columbia City for 20 years, La Medusa's Sicilian cuisine is a neighborhood favorite yet doesn't get the attention it deserves. Beautiful from-scratch pastas and other southern Italian specialties make good use of local ingredients in a welcoming setting. Check out its latest addition, Persephone — a bar and southern Italian grocery — next door.

Amy’s Merkato in Hillman City offers an impressive selection of Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Mediterranean dishes, as well as a coffee bar and market. Standouts include the veggie combo, beef or lamb tibs, foul, and falafel plate.

Sisters Ana Castro and Aminta Elgin opened this beloved White Center institution in 1996, and ever since it’s been a destination for baked goods, cakes, and an impressive menu of traditional dishes like pupusas, sopas, and sandwiches. The bakery has a small market for Salvadorean goods, and plenty of seasonal specials.

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. Sanchez 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.