neilroseman

Fair warning: my brother & sister-in-law owns this cafe (actually, there are now two locations — one on 4th Street just north of South Street, the other on 2nd Street at Christian) so I am a bit biased.

But, living in Seattle I get to see a lot of cafes, and few approach the culture, feel, and of course quality that Java has. In addition to great coffee drinks, PJC has really good food, including some Middle Eastern specialties. The open-faced Labneh sandwiches and lentil soup are worth the trip even if you don’t drink coffee.

the location and atmosphere are great. the wifi is free. go — and tell jerry and alia that neil sent you.

In general, Seattle Pizza is lousy. This is a well-established fact, at least to residents transplanted from pizza-rich zones. However, a few good places do exist: the pizza at Cafe Lago, Mio Posto in Mt Baker, Via Tribunali on Capitol Hill and Tutta Bella in Columbia City (and elsewhere).

Tribunali has slightly better pizza i think, but is cramped and not very good with the kid. Tutta Bella has very good thin crust Neopolitan pizza, good gelato, and a good list of reasonably-priced wines. The pizza Prosciutto e Rucola (Italian Ham and Arugula) is a particular favorite.

Sit downstairs by the pizza ovens if you can — the second floor gets quite noisy and there isn’t as much fun stuff to see.

Called the State Banquet restaurant because the menu includes dishes served at those events. My hosts told me that it was Chou En-lai’s favorite. Lovely private booth/rooms. Had some great food here. The Lion’s Head (Chou’s favorite dish) was great. Other recommended dishes include the “Field Snails” and the Duck Toungues. I was recommended a clear squid egg soup which was ok, but is though to be quite special.

defintely a dining highlight in Beijing.