Rainier BBQ: Viet Food

It's winter break, and I'm enjoying some down time with the fam and friends. Since I be in a town all day, in the S-E-A, you'll be hearing a lot about my adventures through the rainy city.

Today I found myself at a spot called Rainier BBQ, right off the Othello Light Rail stop. My cousin recommended this spot to me so I knew it would have to be alright, but I guess it has a bit of hype on the interwebs...Anthony Bourdain? I've been told he has a thing for pho. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself. And remember, when showcasing food, the soft porn music makes the difference. Always.

Here's the exterior. Yes, I was standing in the rain just to take this picture. You're welcome.

After a small flight of stairs you'll enter the actual restaurant. There are two seating areas, this one, and another right around the corner.

Well before I begin, there's some good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad. I don't know if it's just a NY thing, but every restaurant I've been to has a health grade. I haven't see any on the windows of Seattle restaurants so I thought nothing of it. Not sure if it was just a fluke, but I'm 100% positive I saw a small COCKROACH scuttle on a wall near us. I would have given them the benefit of the doubt if it was night, but it wasn't...which spells infestation in my mind. That being said, the food was pretty dope, and I would definitely re-try this place if I knew what sort health grade they had.

I ordered a pho, but the menu had some pretty exotic meats, like cobra, quail, and some other things that you wouldn't find at most restaurants. It was a rainy day, so pho trumps all else. The broth wasn't as hot as I would have liked it, but it was still quite tasty. They gave me A LOT of meat which is a definite plus. I ordered pho with just beef tendon, and at least a quarter of the bowl was beef tendon. It was great. Some places like to skimp and give you a few slices here and there.

Of course I had the Hoisin sauce, and Sriracha on deck. You already know.

They've been having some Yelp deals recently, where if you check in on your mobile device you can get a free Mango Pudding. The mango pudding was pretty tasty, I liked how they have it in a pool of cocunut milk (somewhat diluted coconut milk). The tapioca however, sort of weirded me out. The texture was like salmon roe, except sweet. When you bite into it, it sort of pops with some juice inside. I dunno, I couldn't get past the texture, the flavor was okay I guess.

All in all it was a decent place, and it was definitely affordable, but most pho places are. I really wish I didn't see that roach, because I would have liked to come back and try some of their more adventurous dishes.  It looks like their grade is still pending, so monitor this in the meantime I guess?  Public Health Info

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