Pho Tai - Kirkland, WA

Rice noodle bowl with grilled pork and egg roll

For this Memorial Day weekend, we were out in the Seattle area and then driving across to Vancouver, Canada. We stopped by downtown Kirkland for a visit to a store that sells essentials oil. And since it was lunch time, we just walked around to check out the area.

Downtown Kirkland is a small cute area with cute little stores. Coming from SF Bay Area, this downtown reminds me of downtown Saratoga. The main street of the downtown area is Lake Street which pretty much was the closest street to the waterfront area of the Lake Washington.

As we were walking the downtown area trying to decide what we should have for lunch, we came across this restaurant which does pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) and teriyaki (Japanese way of cooking using soy sauce and mirin). What an interesting combination so we decided to give it a try.

The menu was actually quite extensive. The appetizers had a varieties of options like fried calamari, fried mozzarella stick and a more typical Vietnamese appetizers like spring roll and egg  roll. In the end we settled with a chicken pho and a rice noodle bowl with egg roll and grilled pork.



While waiting for the orders to come, we looked out to see the construction that was going on. Once it is completed, that street there will be more pedestrian friendly. And before we knew it, our orders arrived. The rice noodle bowl was huge with lots of chopped romaine lettuce and strips of cucumber on top. Two pieces of egg roll on one side and a generous amount of grilled pork on the other side with some slices of onion. The drizzling sauce was provided on an extra dish on the side. I drizzled some of the sauce on the bowl and mixed it well.

chicken pho with green generous amount of green onion

The noodle soup had a darker broth which isn't typical of chicken pho. Chicken pho is normally made with chicken broth with onion and cilantro so the broth would be clear. But this one tasted more like beef broth with star anise. The chicken meat was on the dry side. We weren't too surprise actually since it's not easy to find a good chicken pho even in the San Jose area which has a bigger Vietnamese community.

All in all it was a satisfying lunch. We got back to our car and continued our trip north. Kirkland downtown is a nice place to stop by for quick lunch. It isn't too far from highway, just take exit 18 on Hwy 405 north.

Pho Tai Kirkland
147 Park Ln
Kirkland, WA 98033
425 576 5407