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Digg itWhether it means sipping a latte made from Japanese green tea, slurping a bowl of Cambodian noodle soup or shopping for a book on the history of Vietnam, a trip to Seattle's Chinatown International District is a little like hopscotching around Asia on foot.
Other cities have their Japantowns, Chinatowns and Koreatowns. In Seattle, however, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, African Americans, Vietnamese and other ethnic groups settled together and built one neighborhood.
In its compact streets east of Pioneer Square, countries that are miles away from each other in real life are next-door neighbors.
Forget airplanes, 18-hour time changes and 14-hour flights. Board a southbound bus in the downtown bus tunnel. Get off at the Chinatown International District station (it's a free ride) and you're in Asia... well, not quite yet.
When you emerge, you'll find yourself in the midst of the new Union Station office complex, a development that along with nearby Uwajimaya Village has put a changed face on this part of the ID.
If you're not a frequent visitor to the neighborhood, take a minute to wander. Three cafes surround sleek glass, steel and brick office buildings and a pedestrian plaza dotted with outdoor sculptures, gardens and fountains.
From a window seat at Tully's Coffee, this looks like Chicago or New York. But walk across the street to Uwajimaya, a massive retail complex built by the Moriguchi family who were among the first Japanese immigrants to set up shop in the ID after World War II. Now you've set foot firmly in the East.
An education in Asian cuisine
The new Uwajimaya store opened in November of 2000 at 600 Fifth Ave. S. and takes up a full block. Under one roof is a food court with stalls selling Filipino favorites, Vietnamese delicacies and Hong Kong-style pastries; a seafood section with tanks filled with live geoducks and sea cucumbers, a case filled with dozens of containers of Korean Kim Chee and a "snack deli'' lined with bags of dried squid, cuttlefish and containers of salted plums and juice ginger.
In one corner is the city's largest collection of sake ; in another, a section dedicated to non-alcoholic drinks — iced coffees, energy boosters with names like "Shark'' and "Super Lion'' and juices made from crushed pear, grass jelly and wax gourds.
For an instant education in Asian cuisine, visit the produce section. Notice the written explanations for roots, fruits and vegetables that may be unfamiliar to some Western palates.
Or read the back of a package of a treat such as mochi bars (millet jelly, sugar, wheat flour, rice, bean paste, honey, kelp powder), then compare it with the ingredients in a packet of American-made Jell-O on a shelf across the aisle.
Spending an hour or two here is a good introduction to the ID. But sooner or later, you'll want to wander outside where there are no loudspeakers calling "Naomi to customer service, please,'' and the sights and smells of Asia aren't always as easily explained to the unfamiliar.
Almost any street will do, but the best is probably South King Street.
Stop in at New An Dong, a Chinese herb store and grocery at 205 S. King, where red and gold boxes of ginseng tea line the shelves, and plastic buckets are filled with dried mushrooms and sheets of bean curd. Then treat yourself to a pastry at Mon Hei (Ten Thousand Happiness) Bakery, 669 S. King. A Chinese-American friend of mine recommends the "cocktail buns,'' doughy, hot-dog shaped treats filled with coconut paste, a bargain at 80 cents each.
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The $2.50 "worry free'' colored fish in the jar in the window are plastic, but inside the narrow shop are wall-to-wall tanks filled with tropical fish ranging from 25-cent goldfish to a $115 dragon fish.
Liem, from Borneo, has had his business in the alley since 1979 and gets most of his fish from Asian countries. He's dropped many of the birds, mice and other pets he carried years ago, but still stocks albino frogs, green iguanas and geckos.
For a walking-tour brochure that points out historic sites, businesses, outdoor sculptures and parks in the neighborhood, stop in at the Wing Luke Asian Museum, 407 Seventh Ave. S.
Take a half-hour to tour the museum for an overview of the ID's culture, history and art and a special exhibit tracing the roots of Seattle's Asian garment workers.
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This is the time to call on a friend who knows the area to point you in the right direction. On my own, I would never have discovered tiny Koraku, a Japanese restaurant with three tables and a few stools at 419 Sixth Ave. S. But my friend Elaine Ko knows it well. She's been coming here for more than 20 years for homecooked lunches like her mother used to make.
We sat at the counter and looked over the menu listing 10 dishes, none more than $5.25. Elaine ate what she always does — Beef Sugar Peas. I settled on Fish-Mackerel, a piece of fried mackerel served on a tray with bowls of rice, pickled cabbage and seaweed and a bowl of miso soup.
A meal like this begs to be walked off, a good reason to take a short hike to Little Saigon, a Vietnamese area several blocks east on South Jackson between 10th and 12th Avenues South.
Cut off from the rest of the ID by Interstate 5, the area is worth seeking out for its sandwich shops and the Viet Wah Supermarket at 1032 S. Jackson.
Unlike in Uwajimaya, those unfamiliar with the market's offerings are pretty much on their own here to figure out what things are. But to me, this feels more like being in Asia.
Large sacks of rice are piled near the entrance, and there's a good selection of herbs, teas and temple offerings.
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Afternoon tea is the way I like to end a trip to the ID, and there are many choices.
Try the Ambrosia Cafe at 619 S. King for pearl tea, the trendy beverage-of-choice in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Sweet syrups in flavors such as coconut, peach and mango are blended with black or green tea, milk, and dark, marble-sized tapioca balls made to be sucked through fat straws.
Old building into elegant teahouse
For ambience, I like the new Panama Hotel Tea & Coffee at 607 Main St. in the old Panama Hotel near the Danny Woo Garden at 620 Main.
Owner Jan Johnson spent the past four years restoring the 92-year-old building into an elegant teahouse and museum dedicated to remembering Seattle's Japanese immigrants.
I dropped in for a sweet Maccha latte made with Japanese green tea and ended up kneeling on the floor and my nose pressed against a glass window and a view of the basement. Visible are old jackets, books, chairs and suitcases that were packed and stored by the Panama's immigrant customers as they were ordered off to internment during World War II.
If you go to Chinatown
Seattle's Chinatown International District is roughly bounded by South Washington Street on the north, South Dearborn on the south, Fifth Avenue on the west and Interstate 5 on the east, with Little Saigon extending beyond that area to the east along South Jackson between 10th and 12th Avenues South.
Getting there: Parking is tight. Public transportation is your best option. From downtown, take any southbound bus in the bus tunnel and get off at the International District Station. You can also board southbound coaches 7, 14 and 36 along Third Avenue and get off at Jackson and Maynard. From the Seattle waterfront, board a southbound Jackson Street trolley car at any stop.
When to go: Sunday is the liveliest day and also the busiest. Many shops are open seven days a week or close one day during the week.
Information: Stop by the Wing Luke Asian Museum, 407 Seventh Ave. S., for a walking-tour brochure and map, or see the Web at www.wingluke.org.
Disabled access: The Chinatown International District is an old area and those in wheelchairs might have a hard time negotiating some of the shops and restaurants. The best advice is to call ahead. Uwajimaya and the Wing Luke Asian Museum have wheelchair access.
Carol Pucci can be reached at 206-464-3701 or cpucci@seattletimes.com.
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
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