Facing East

At the risk of sounding like Janice in "Friends" -- Oh. My. God.

Yes, it is that good. It is that authentic. It is that much worth it to cross the 520 and seek the obscure location of the Facing East Taiwanese restaurant.

Before I go on any further, I have to say I don't understand why they chose to open the restaurant at their current location. It is in this small little strip mall plaza with absolutely no street frontage, and their neighbor is a pizza delivery service with a business plan that does not include attracting street traffic. In fact, it took me a few spins around the block before I located the restaurant, Google maps and all. However, I knew I found the holy grail when I saw the long line of people snaking out the door and spilling unto the sidewalk, a testament to the rave word-of-mouth reviews the restaurant has garnished from the Taiwanese and Asian community. A cursory glance revealed that the restaurant was 90% filled with Asians, which I took as a good sign that this was not your typical P.F.Chang's. I was also reassured that I was in for a good meal by the lack of American-style Chinese foods on the menu (you know what I am talking about; if I hear one more person order General Tsao chicken, I think I would scream).

Since the wait for a table was going to be over 20 minutes, I decided to get my order to go. I settled on the chicken and rice, and an order of the pork burger.

The food at this restaurant is distinctly Taiwanese style, with an emphasis on the street food you would find at most night markets. Having visited said night markets and eaten said street food before, I thought the food tasted remarkably on target.

If you are going to get just one item on the menu here, I highly recommend the pork burger. It is a slice of pork with ground sugared peanuts, picked vegetables and cilantro, all wrapped in a fluffy white steamed bun (the kind also used to wrap Peking duck). There are only two differences between this pork burger and what you would actually find in a Taiwanese night market. The first difference is that Facing East uses very high quality ingredients and tries to present the food in a more healthful way, so their pork has much less fat compared to their original night market counterparts. The tradeoff is you don't get the luscious fat oozing off the burger, but you also don't have to worry about having a coronary attack afterwards. The second difference is the price; a the pork burger at the restaurant costs approximately three times what it would cost at a night market in Taiwan. Some people grumble it is too expensive. Me, I would rather just spend the $3.95 here instead of exploring the remaining option of buying a plane ticket to Taiwan.

While I was waiting for my order, I saw the waiter bring out a plate of shaved ice with traditional toppings of red beans, mung beans, sweetened taro, peanuts and condensed milk. The shaved ice dish was impressive; in fact, it was quite amusing to watch all the customers eyeing the dish as the waiter walked by. Also popular here is the spiced pork stew over rice, a staple among many street vendors in Taiwan.

Facing East: 1075 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: (425) 688-2986