The Room
Kau Kau opened on King Street in 1974 — Seattle's longest-running Cantonese-BBQ roast-meats institution and the working argument for what International District Cantonese cooking can mean. Fifty-one years later the room is one of the city's most-enduring family-restaurant institutions.
The format is intentionally non-fine-dining: a counter at the front, casual seating, hanging roast meats visible from the dining room.
The Food
The char-siu programme — Cantonese-style barbecued pork, glazed and roasted in-house — is the menu's signature. The roast duck, the soy-sauce chicken, the seasonal-rotating Cantonese-BBQ programme handle the menu's wider draws.
Beer programme runs Asian-import. Service is counter-and-runner.
Best Occasion Fit
Solo Dining: The counter at Kau Kau is one of Seattle's most-honest solo-dining seats.
Team Dinner: Kau Kau handles team lunches better than most International District counters.
First Date: Kau Kau is a casual first-date alternative for the diner who wants the night to register as Seattle-historic.