Racha Queen Anne: Did it go downhill, or do I have rose-colored memories?
Omaha and I stopped by the Racha Noodels and Thai Cuisine at Queen Anne, which used to be one of our favorite restaurants when I worked in that neighborhood. It's still fine, but I think our tastes have changed.
Omaha noticed immediately that very few of the patrons were of Asian cast, which is always a warning: if a restaurant describes its ethnicity, but its patronage does not, reconsider eating there. Racha seems to cater to the upper-middle-class whites who live in Queen Anne, and not to, well, people who grew up eating Thai food.
That would explain the clash-of-cultures "New York Steak Curry" mash-up I had. Great steak doesn't need that much extra flavoring; it's supposed to be an experience on its own. This steak was pretty good, but it was disappearing under the massamun curry flavoring. There wasn't a whole lot of vegetable with it, either, which annoyed me.
Omaha reported that her yellow curry with chicken was fine, but otherwise unremarkable. Conversations from the tables around us indicated that the resataurant was full of people going either to the Seattle Men's Chorus event at the opera house, or to the Arthur Miller play "All My Sons," showing in the theater next door.
Omaha noticed immediately that very few of the patrons were of Asian cast, which is always a warning: if a restaurant describes its ethnicity, but its patronage does not, reconsider eating there. Racha seems to cater to the upper-middle-class whites who live in Queen Anne, and not to, well, people who grew up eating Thai food.
That would explain the clash-of-cultures "New York Steak Curry" mash-up I had. Great steak doesn't need that much extra flavoring; it's supposed to be an experience on its own. This steak was pretty good, but it was disappearing under the massamun curry flavoring. There wasn't a whole lot of vegetable with it, either, which annoyed me.
Omaha reported that her yellow curry with chicken was fine, but otherwise unremarkable. Conversations from the tables around us indicated that the resataurant was full of people going either to the Seattle Men's Chorus event at the opera house, or to the Arthur Miller play "All My Sons," showing in the theater next door.