hapa bento

Way back in January our regular group of friends gathered  for a post work day, “ramen and relaxation” session.  Saba Man wasn’t able to attend at that occasion so I treated him to lunch a few days later.

Boom Noodle has two locations, Bellevue and Seattle.  We went to the latter which is located at the top of Capitol Hill in downtown Seattle.  It’s a cool, hip,  and trendy place where these all-white “maneki-neko” (beckoning cats) greeted us as we entered so I just  had  to reply, “O hai” in my best Lolspeak!  They do look like they’re waving hello and  I couldn’t resist.

This sleek modern looking restaurant is what I would consider “Asian fusion”.   I describe the food  as  ”a  little of each Asian culture mixed with American interpretation” .  It’s not authentic of any specific culture nor is it  disrespectful either. 

Their menu offers a variety of well known…almost mainstream Asian-type foods, such as ramen, stir-fry, and curry.  Their recipe ideas and combinations are interesting, “sesame ramen noodle salad”, “broiled miso rice cakes”,   and the dishes are served in lovely arrangements that are neither too large or too small and I appreciate that they offer a variety vegetarian choices.

In fact, with  the leftovers of Saba Man’s entree,  I made a  Chicken Katsu and Curry bento for his snack the next day.  He described  this dish as “perfectly crunchy and flavorful”  and if we hadn’t already  filled up on appetizers  there wouldn’t of been a panko crumb left on the plate . 

We ordered two different “small plates” … one of which was Salt and Pepper Tofu.  This arrived piping hot and  topped with slivers of  jalepenos with green onions.  Next to the stack of fried tofu cubes was  a  sensual mound of white pepper and salt crystals.  When the tofu was  finished I continued the experience by dipping my finger tip into the salt and pepper then tapping the tip of my tongue. 

The second appetizer is my favorite… edamame purée served with grilled eggplant and zucchini with warm sweet potato chips for  scraping every last morsel  off  the plate.   

I ordered the vegetarian pho but wished I had selected the shiitake soba which I ate on my first visit instead.   The pho wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great and I found myself adding more hot sauce  and hoisin for flavor.

I didn’t have my camera  for a photo of the shiitake soba so unfortunately it’s missing from this article and it’s too bad because it really was a standout.   Gee… I guess I’ll have to visit them again to get that snapshot and I while I’m there I should take  more photos of the yummy edamame purée  too!

Boom Noodle-Capitol Hill

1121 E Pike St.

Seattle, WA 98122

206-701-9130

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