Seattle, WA
Everything TikTok Restaurant Reviewer Keith Lee Ate in Seattle
TikTok food critic Keith Lee, who taste tests dishes from family-run restaurants around the country while sitting in his car, stunned his nearly 17 million followers in the last week with a video from Seattle that his followers alleged included him unknowingly eating a piece of sushi with a “worm” in it from Fob Sushi Bar in Seattle. The restaurant was his first and highest-rated stop in the city until all hell broke loose on the internet.
Lee did eat several other places while he was in town, however. Here’s where and what he thought of them.
King’s Barbeque House
518 6th Avenue S, Seattle
The ducks hanging in this window of this Chinatown spot caught the attention of Lee and his family, so they stopped to buy one and filmed the process of its preparation for takeout — including the head. “I’m not going to eat this, I just thought it was interesting,” Lee says. Cool, cool, cool.
He proclaimed it seasoned to perfection, said it tasted like a duck but not gamey or exotic, and just seasoned meat — which… seems normal? Loved the rice and proclaimed the skin the home of all the flavor. Ultimately, he gave it a 9.5 out of 10 and said he likes Seattle.
Pike Place Market
This stand outside Pike Place, where shoppers buy a cup or try as many different drinks as they like, caught Lee’s eye on a rainy day. His first sip was of the buttered rum cider, which he judged to be “real sour” and “real good.” That and lavender cider got 7s, and his highest rating went to the cinnamon spice cider at an 8. Lee bought everyone else waiting in line cider and attempted to leave one of his trademark large tips for the staff but noted on the video in a caption, “[T]ipping isn’t a thing in Seattle so it took some time to explain what we were doing.” In the end, Lee purchased 60 large cups and asked the vendors to keep anything left over from people who wanted a smaller size.
3114 NE 125th Street, Seattle
A fan of this restaurant emailed Lee to ask him to visit, saying it struggled during COVID and was still trying to get back on its feet. His family purchased doro wat, beef tibs, oatena, injera, and samboosa. Lee found the presentation of the beef tibs in a to-go container lacking because the grease was leaking, and although the beef was tough, the flavor was “deep” and “spicy.” Several family members rated it and opinions were varied. The samboosa was not to his liking, with too many lentils, and was “very mushy.” Its rating was a 1. He compares the doro wat to barbecue or braised chicken (it is stewed and covered in spices, so… yes) and gives it a 7.9. Why not an 8? The world will never know.
Lee and his family left the restaurant with $1,000 to pay for anyone who came in to eat after them, which is admittedly very cool.
A Seattle teriyaki chicken taste-test
Various locations
Lee decided to get teriyaki chicken from several places and taste-test them against each other. What could go wrong?
Chickens from the top five most recommended places, including Toshio’s Teriyaki, Rainier Teriyaki, Nikko Teriyaki, Toshi’s Teriyaki in Bellevue, and Ichi Bento. Spoiler alert: Ichi Bento and Toshi’s tied, but Ichi would have won if they had rinsed the rice so it was less starchy, per Lee.
504 5th Avenue South, Suite 107A, Seattle
The Filipino food at Hood Famous received raves, though Lee seemed to struggle to accurately describe the dishes. He ordered multiple dishes, from savory mains to desserts. In describing them, the word ube was used a lot, and although it was an ingredient in some of the dishes, he meant umami a few times. But honestly, who knows?
Social media is absolutely flooded with the images, video and words showing a vibrant city and region full of the joys of our soccer heritage. The supposedly dying city of Seattle put on an exceptional show for the world’s game and once again is convincing USMNT players to consider the Sounders for their next stop.
None of that happens with a suburban stadium in Renton. None of it.
The championship banners in Lumen? They’d be gone, reducing the symbols of local soccer excellence from the TV feed.
All those packed local bars with their Sounders scarves, posters and kits? Gone.
This isn’t a hypothetical. Plenty of MLS teams are in metro areas hosting the World Cup. The other US MLS teams aren’t getting this kind of love. LA hosted a bigger US win, but that match experience was not an advertisement for the Galaxy or LAFC.
When Santa Clara hosts the Round of 32 match you are not going to hear a word about the 50-year-old San Jose Earthquakes. If the US advances to the semis in Arlington you won’t hear a peep about FC Dallas. If they make the final in East Rutherford the Red Bulls will be a footnote.
But when the world’s game comes to Seattle the Sounders are the conversation, because this team is in the heart of a city and region that loves it.
Ripping the Sounders away from these types of moments for revenue control while eliminating the free marketing to players and fans is laughable. Renton’s Legacy Square is doing a wonderful job for thousands of visitors a week. It is not Seattle. Nor is Southcenter’s shows in Tukwila.
Moments like Friday, the future Women’s World Cup matches and maybe even a US Round of 16 with hundreds of thousands of people experiencing Seattle’s soccer culture are only possible while soccer is a major tenant in a downtown stadium.
It’s why Don Garber praises the Sounders, and hardly ever mentions the flood of owners who built tiny houses in the burbs. “MLS isn’t what it is without the Sounders.”
The Sounders aren’t what they are without Lumen Field in Seattle. Full stop.
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Catching up on Sounder at Heart
Here’s what you missed on the site this week.
World Cup
Next Seattle match: Wednesday, June 24 between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar.
Sounders
Next match: July 16 hosting Portland Timbers during rivalry week.
Reign
Next match: July 4 at North Carolina
Defiance
Next match: June 21 vs Real Monarchs.
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Looking back at the news
Everything else you need to know
World Cup
NWSL and women’s soccer
Puget Sound and other stuff
Ranger Suarez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Friday night.
Suarez (3-3) struck out five and walked three in 6 2/3 innings. His no-hit bid ended with Josh Naylor’s one-out double in the seventh.
The 30-year-old lefty earned his first win since April 27 against Toronto.
Caleb Durbin put the Red Sox ahead with a second-inning solo homer, his fifth of the year. Durbin had his second three-hit game this season, with his first coming against Tampa Bay on June 10.
Ceddanne Rafaela scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Marcelo Mayer drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single.
Carlos Narváez added a sacrifice fly before Seattle finally escaped the inning on a diving catch by Dominic Canzone in right field.
Suarez issued a two-out walk that loaded the bases in the seventh on his final pitch of the night, but Justin Slaten ended the threat by striking out pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford to preserve a 5-0 lead.
Mayer added one more insurance run with a ninth-inning RBI double. The Mariners got on the board thanks to Julio Rodríguez’s two-run homer in the ninth.
Seattle starter Bryce Miller (3-1) struck out seven in five innings. He allowed three hits and one run.
Luis Castillo, who has started in all but three of his 258 career appearances, gave up five runs in four innings of relief as the Mariners revived their “piggyback” rotation.
Up next
Red Sox LHP Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) starts opposite Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28) on Saturday night.
Seattle, WA
Seattle fans pack waterfront hours early as USA defeats Australia, advances in World Cup
SEATTLE — Soccer fans descended on Seattle’s waterfront well before kickoff Friday, staking out their spots early to watch a highly anticipated World Cup matchup at Seattle Stadium between the United States and Australia. That patience paid off as Team USA won the match and now advances to the knockout round.
The atmosphere at Pier 62 was electric from the start, with fans lining up for prime viewing positions, whether down on the water’s edge or taking in the sweeping scene from the waterfront overlook above.
“I mean, look at all these people that are here hours beforehand to celebrate this incredible game,” said Paul Hanson, who was rooting for Team USA. “The hairs are going up on the arm.”
The energy was a draw in itself.
“The energy is amazing, everyone’s in a great mood, it’s just a lot of fun to be down here,” Maggie McNeil said.
Not everyone in the crowd was wearing red, white, and blue.
Lizzie Manning hails from Melbourne, Australia, and is now living in the Pacific Northwest.
Manning told KOMO News she hasn’t been back home in nearly a decade, but taking in the U.S.A-Australia match with the waterfront crowd gave her a taste of it.
“Whenever I see another Australian I’m like, ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, oy oy oy,’” she said. “I feel so close to home. I need a meat pie, life’s good.”
“I’ve met so many people who are visiting from other countries,” Seattle resident Maddie Chaplain said. “I sat next to a couple yesterday who was eating dumplings for the first time from Argentina, that was so awesome.”
With Team USA advancing, fans like Aaron Olson say they’ll be back for more.
“USA’s gonna win it,” Olson said. “I will come down here every game. This is spectacular.”
The World Cup watch parties continue on Pier 62 throughout the tournament. They are free and open to the public with online registration, but capacity is limited.
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