Yesterday I tried a place that I hadn't been to before called
Cutting Board, which is located in Georgetown. I have been meaning to try this place since I first heard about it a couple of years ago, but I never made it there until yesterday. I have to say, I regret not trying it sooner! They have a very extensive menu, with many of the items original. When I saw that they served yakisoba, I knew that I had to order it. I had not been successful in finding good, authentic yakisoba in Seattle until now. Yes, there are plenty of teriyaki places that serve "yakisoba," but typically the dishes at teriyaki places do not capture the distinct flavor that authentic yakisoba is supposed to have.
Yakisoba is probably derived from Chinese influence and in particular chow mein, per Wikipedia. That being said, it does not taste like chow mein at all, at least in my humble opinion.
The restaurant offered several options of yakisoba, and I chose the seafood option, which came with scallops, shrimp, and calamari. The seafood was cooked to absolute perfection. It is very easy to overcook small scallops and calamari, but it was tender as could be without being undercooked. It is probably the best sauteed calamari I have had in years. They gave about as many shrimp as you would expect (not that many), but they were more than generous with both the calamari and the scallops. The flavor of the dish was perfect, and although it felt like a lot of food, it did not sit too heavy in my stomach. I asked for some sauce on the side as it has been years since I have had true homemade yakisoba sauce and I have missed it dearly. It was amazing.
My girlfriend was with me and she ordered the chicken katsu curry. The curry is hands down the best I have had in Seattle, and the chicken katsu was very juicy and tender.
I cannot recommend this place more highly. I will be going back as often as possible.When I first found this place I was surprised that could stay in business, as it is in an industrial district that does not seem to be all that accessible; a place where you would expect to find lunch foods such as Philly cheese-steaks and the like, rather than authentic Japanese food. Good food cannot stay hidden though I suppose, and I hope that this place remains open for a very long time.
My husband and I love, love, love yakisoba! And so we are going to check this place out, after reading your review. Yum :) Oddly enough, I am in Philly and today I had a veg. version of a Philly cheese steak. It was a bit of disappointment, but I should have known better ;)
ReplyDeleteThis was a very good endorsement of this restaurant. After reading it I was completely sold, and extremely hungry! I agree it's hard to find some good yakisoba. In my humble opinion, I think it all has to do with the noodles. Sometimes they just seem like fried top ramen quality noodles - but when it's good, it seems like they're hand made and boiled or steamed to perfection. I'm definitely going to go check out the cutting board.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Yakisoba! I really do agree that it is hard to find "good" dishes in Seattle so I definitely will give this restaurant a try. I applaud you on your discription on how the seafood was cooked because you sold me into trying it because I usually don't order seafood dishes!
ReplyDeletei'm so glad you posted this. I have been to many restaurants around the seattle area that serve less than par yakisoba. I can not say that i am a connessioeur of the yakisoba, but i do like it quite a bit when it's done right. I think the problem is one, the noodles are often the wrong noodles at these places, and two, most of them seem to use the same sauce that is bought at costco that you can throw on some noodles at home. I go out to get taste other than what i can find at costco. I have been quite dissappointed when i have ordered this dish in the past, i will have to go and try this place out.
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