Sushi Sakai Suchi and Saki Bar

 Sushi Saki serves many things.... especially sushi.
They had quite a selection and make beautiful "party boats" too!

Please see their menu, here.

This is a family owned restaurant.... with lots of room... and options for seating.  It is located at the intersection of Bowdish and Sprague... in Spokane Valley at 11520 East Sprague Ave.

It is also pretty authentic.

Here is our tea and miso soup!  It was, "Oh sooooo good!"

While I have tasted sushi. and I like many of the flavors, it's not my favorite things o the menu. 
We selected the tempura vegetables.. which IS one of my favorites!

and we were in the mood for Korean...


We ordered Bolgogi!  Pork and Chicken.  Here are the condiments that were served with it:

One can be happy when you can enjoy it the next day also!

They offer catering, and private rooms and rates for  private parties.  They are also listed on the Urbanspoon "gluten free friendly" restaurant list if that is of interest to you. too.

Avacado Buffet

This restaurant has closed or changed names.
       *****************************

There is yet another new restaurant in Spokane, as of May 2011 anyhow.  It's called, the Avocado Buffet.  Geo noticed it while driving by and he took note of this sign:




It reads, "Chinese, Japanese, Korean Cuisine."


Needless to say, a few days later we had to give this place a try. 

It is kinda tucked away in this shopping center, 328 North Sullivan Road.








Inside, it is very attractive; I liked it.  I especially liked the higher tables. 

We were there after eight, but they stay open till nine, and I must say, they did a good job of making sure the food was available till closing time.  There were food items that I liked better than others, but over all I thought it was great restaurant... if you like Asian buffet.


Selections I remember were:
sushi, shrimp in butter sauce, barbecue spare ribs, egg roll, curry chicken, sweet and sour chicken or poured on them,) chow mein, pork bulgoki, teriyaki chicken, and there was more;  I just do not remember all the items I saw.  They also had a salad bar and desserts.

I am not sure if the menu changes throughout the week or not, but there were some nice options.



If you eat here, I recommend that you skip the American style plates and go for the Japanese styled ones.  They are great!




Pictured here is:  (clock-wise) 
Hot and Sour Soup,
Cucumber Kimchee
Garlic Green Beans (my favorite)
Curry Chicken, (Yum!)
Deep Fried Chicken pieces, for dipping in
         Sweet and Sour Sauce
 and an array of various melons
                           ...from the salad bar.

As I mentioned, I especially liked the special Japanese style plates with sections to put your food in.  They are a very nice way to serve and eat your food. 

Geo had the spicy seafood soup.  He began with just a taste and had "seconds."  Here is the "firsts."  It was definitely spicy and definitely seafoody.  It even has little squiddies in it.


Not for the novice spicy food eater..... if you know what I mean.  For the adventurous novice, the Hot and Sour soup was great.

They had great iced tea too... several flavor choices.... not Coca Cola flavored tea though.





Me?
Green beans and kimchee cukes, please.  Yum!

While we still have our favorite buffet (and Asian) places to eat in town, we are glad there is a wide variety of buffet style restaurants in Spokane, and we welcome another one.   No doubt, our favorite buffets are ones with an Asian flair!

Ha Ha's Grill House

Well, Just when you think you have tried them all, one more comes along.... Tonight it was Ha Ha's in Hillyard. 

We had driven past before, to which I made a mental note, but like some nnotes in the mind, it got piled up and tucked away into an obscure spot... that is, until we drove past again another night recently.  I figuratively dug out the old note, wondering why we had not been here yet, and I secured the idea in a place it would not be forgotten.  Sure enough the opportunity came up and we were off... to Ha' Ha's Grill, a Korean Grill at that!

Ha Ha's is a little spot off of Market Street at 2710 E. Garland.   It is run by the Ha family...  a mother and son team, hence the name.  Beside's the food, they tell me, is al organic, fresh and will make one happy!

I loved the atmosphere and enjoyed listening to the jazz that played while we ate, as well as looking at the album covers that decorate the walls.  It was just fun.  Besides that, it's a very friendly kind of place.  we were greeted and made to feel right at home... and our attendant was very happy to help us with any questions we had about Korean food.  Though we already knew we liked Korean foods, I thought this was great.


 Our dinner began with a serving of goya, (there were four) complete with dipping sauce.  There were some of the best I ever had.  We were not expecting them, even though they were a part of the dinner, so they were a special treat.  Next came  more Korean type of appetizers....






 We were served seaweed salad, and eggplant dish and some kin chee.

 Then came our Tofu Soup and Dwagi Bulgoki... served moderately spicy... with hot Serrano peppers.

We liked our dining experience.  The restaurant is clean, the people are friendly and honorable and the food is great.  One customer who was in the restaurant that evening discussed with the waitress how some of the flavors were unique.  I would agree, for example, the Serrano peppers were unique to us.  However, we liked it and ate it all.  This man did too, and said he would be back.

On the menu is a nice selection of Korean foods and American sandwiches, so it is good for both lunch and dinner.  One friend of mine commented that it is a "fusion" kind of place.   This must mean that it is the best of both worlds.

Baek Chun Sushiyama

Well, we have found another terrific restaurant... Baek Chun Sushiyama located  at 13032 W 14th Ave in Airway Heights.  It is hard to believe we have driven right by this one many times and never thought to give it a try, that is until tonight.  I am not sure what lead us here... probably the Korean food advertisement, but I am sure glad we found this place.

If you have never been here, and if you love oriental foods, this is the place for you!  It is the place for me, that is for sure.  It's a really pretty little place, decorated so nicely and it serves really great food.

Baek Chun Sushiyama specializes in both Japanese and Korean food, I have since learned that they have a special reputation for sushi.  We felt very welcomed and well cared for during our meal too.

In addition to a restaurant, the owners run an oriental food store that shares the same building.  The store is filled to the brim with all kinds of foodstuff that you might want to have handy if you enjoy Japanese or Korean foods at home.  I loved browsing up and down the isles looking at all the interesting things.

Geo ordered Korean, and I ordered Japanese.  He had the Kim Chee Soup and I had a Bento with Teriaki and Tempura. 

Here you see his soup with all the Korean trimmings--- These we delicious.  The Kiim chee was awesome. 

Here is my Teryaki Chicken Bento---

The Bento came with all sorts of yummy tempura, some side salads and California Roll.  (a.k.a. sushi)  To my surprise the sushi had fish eggs on top.  These kinda looked like orange sprinkles.  I ate them.

Wow, I have never eaten caviar before... fish eggs either....  I wish I could rant and rave but they were so small they were almost unnoticeable... except I had to go and ask what it was on my sushi.

"Fish Eggs"

They were not so bad.  Geo loves caviar, and often has tried to get me to eat them.  HE did not even have to try, I just ate them, he helped a little because we shared.

I am so glad to have discovered this little place.  It iw well worth the drive to Airway Heights to check out all the little restaurant that they have hidden over there.  This one is a little gem....  a little bit like those sparkling fish egg sprinkles, you might say;  definitely "a keeper".... and one we will visit again... and again!

We will be back... soon!

House of Seoul

The first time I had Korean food was at House of Seoul in 1993. The restaurant had been open for three or four years then, so ias you can see, it has been around quite a while. It has been through a couple of ownerships over it's lifetime, but the food has always been good when I have eaten here and tonight was no exception. House of Seoul Korean Restaurant is located at 12713 W 14th Ave, in Airway Heights.

We made our way through the fog tonight, all the way to Airway Heights, and were really happy to find that the restaurant was still here and open.  Just thinking about Korean food all the way there was rather fun.  For several years we had a bit of a Kim Chee addiction going on... and while we no longer have Kim Chee in the house regularly like we used too, we always look forward to what they serve in places like House of Seoul.

The place has been muralized since I have been here.  On the wall is a painted waterfall and a mural of a Korean Bridal scene.  It is very colorful and very beautiful to look at... I kinda liked it.  This is the Picture of the groom.

For an appetizer, we ordered Kim Bop.  We had never ordered that before.   This is rice and vergetables rolled up in a seaweed wrap.  It was served with a seasoned soy sauce.  After eating half of this we decided to wait for the rest of our food.  It was a lovely appetizer.

Our meal came and the first thing brought to us was the appetizers.
This is a delightful array of flavors and I the items change from time to time.  I really do not know what these were called officially... but it was things like kim chee, pickled radish strings, fish cakes, lotus root, some kind of spout salad and candied black beans.  Depending on where you go and what is being served, the items vary.  We have gotten things like anchovies or little shrimpy things...  You just never really know, but they are often fun to try and tasty!  

 Here is what the lotus root looks like.  It tasted crunchy and sweet.  I think that it was candied lotus root.

This is Geo's soup.  It is called Mixed Seafood Soup and it was full of Fish, Mussels, Tofu, Shrimp, Squid and Crab and was served with a bowl of rice. It comes to the table still cooling, boiling and bubbling like crazy.  Geo, loves it.  I think that it is because he loves the ocean. He called it a walk on the beach.... I think of it more like snorkleing.... and bringing up treasures from below.  After dinner we walked out into the fog and he said he felt like we were on the coast.  I think it was because he had eaten all that fish.



 I tried something new tonight.  Mostly because I wanted something cooked in a hot pot.  My order was called, Dol Sot Bi Bim Bop.  (Fun to say.  Tell your kids your are having that for dinner!)
The description on the menu  said, meat, egg and vegetables in a hot stone pot.  You can see the egg there on the top.... underneath it all is rice, cooked to a slight crisp on the bottom.

As I was looking curiously at my dish, wondering what all was in there and how to eat it, our waitress came and offered to mix it up for me, saying that is how it is usually eaten... and we put hot sauce on it too.   She also told me that it is a popular Korean dish but one that not only Koreans like.  I liked it and I ate it... but I would probably not order it again. My all time favorite is bulgoki.