Facing East Restaurant — Taiwanese / Chinese, Bellevue
Facing East is the Taiwanese restaurant that Bellevue's large Taiwanese and Chinese-American community has made its standard — a kitchen that serves the dishes that the diaspora grew up eating, prepared with the specific flavors that genuine Taiwanese cooking requires.
The beef noodle soup — the Taiwanese national dish, a rich braise of beef shank in a soy and spice broth served over hand-pulled noodles — is the kitchen's most important preparation. The version here is the one that Taiwanese-American diners compare all others to.
The scallion pancakes, the oyster vermicelli, and the three-cup chicken (sautéed with basil, soy, and sesame oil in the Taiwanese tradition) represent the broader Taiwanese culinary canon with the faithfulness that only a kitchen cooking for a community that knows the food produces.
The cultural authority of Facing East is conferred by the Asian-American community that chooses it — a community with access to more options than any non-Asian food critic, whose endorsement is the most reliable quality signal available.
Best Occasion: Great for Birthdays
The beef noodle soup, the three-cup chicken, and the Taiwanese culinary canon executed for the community that knows it. The birthday dinner where authenticity is the gift.
Best Occasion: Works for Team Dinners
Communal Taiwanese dishes, scallion pancakes to share, and the cultural education that the Bellevue technology corridor's Asian-American community has always deserved.