Chay Concept Vegetarian & Bar — Restaurant in Bellevue

This is a solid 3.5 star but I'm rounding up because there's good parking which is rare in Bellevue.

I been to the sister restaurant before in Renton and enjoyed it a lot so was really excited that they open another location in Bellevue. However, I thought the dishes weren't as good and the price is pretty steep.

Service, our waiter is really nice and informative. He made a few good suggestions for us which we enjoy. The place is nice, it took over the former fogrose atelier restaurant so it's not super big. We were the only customers there for a while,but it looks like they do a lot of take out too. The weird part for us is that they set the AC right at the entrance so you get a bast of really cold air as you enter and it's like a struggle to get in/out of the restaurant.

Foodwise: We got the pho rolls and the salted egg tofu as our apps (roughly $15 each). The salted egg tofu was definitely the better of the two. Love how soft it was and the flavor was spot on. The pho rolls was definitely a misnomer if you're Vietnamese. I was expecting actual pho noodles used but it looks like they use the rice rolls in banh uot instead. There's basically a slight hint of pho but it was mostly a smaller version of banh uot. Kinda disappointed because of the name.

Entree: banh mi skillet and the ginger fried fish (both around $25 each). The fish dish was refreshing. It was like mango salad with fish. The fish was a little tough but the flavor was really good. I also like the crackers it came with. The skillet dish was ok. some components worked while others kinda missed. The Cha was a little dry and tough. The mushroom was pretty salty. The banh mi with pate was good and the egg as well. For lunch you also get a complimentary soup. I'm glad it was free because it wasn't that good to be honest. They should have used soft tofu because the firm tofu was too tough and chewy. The soup itself was very bland, we used other sauces that was in other dishes to give it some flavor

We also got a tea ($6) which was decent.

You can get 2 hours free parking at soma tower. I think their ticket machines aren't updated yet because it still gives you 2 hours instead of 1 hours like it's advertised everywhere, which is nice. The food does take a while for it to come out and 1 hour might be stretching.

Overall, it was a nice...

With all the hype around town, Chay quickly made it to my must-try list. We decided to check it out on a Friday evening. The restaurant was packed, but we got seated in under 10 minutes. The ambience was pretty standard—nothing extraordinary, just what you’d expect from a decent restaurant.

We started with the Dragon Fruit Iced Tea and Marina Park Margherita. The iced tea was a letdown—lacking flavor and definitely not worth the $12 price tag for a non-alcoholic drink. The Margherita, on the other hand, didn’t tick all the boxes but had a nice fruity flavor.

For starters, we ordered the Salted Egg Tofu. The presentation was a solid 5/5, and it tasted great, especially with the dipping sauce. The texture of the soft tofu was interesting—something I hadn’t tried before. However, the garnish powder on the side (which tasted like rice flour) was completely inedible.

Sesame Beef Lotus Root – Easily the best dish of the night. The mock beef was incredibly flavorful and paired well with the rice and veggies. Probably the best mock beef I’ve had! My only complaint? The portion didn’t justify the $25 price tag. Also, the same white flour-like garnish appeared again, and once again, it wasn’t edible.

Ginger Fried Tofu – This was disappointing. It didn’t resemble fish in texture or taste. it was just honey-glazed tofu with an unpleasantly gummy texture. The thick dried honey stuck to my teeth, making it an overall unsatisfying experience for $25. The salad that came with it didn’t complement the dish, and the rice crisps felt like plate fillers rather than an actual component of the meal.

I left the restaurant feeling disappointed. Would I recommend it? Probably not. Worth the price? No. Ambience? Just okay. Service? Decent.

Advertised as modernized cuisine, but in...

If you think vegetarian food can’t be indulgent, flavorful, and deeply satisfying, Chay Concept in Seattle will prove you wrong. From the very first bite, this restaurant delivers a dining experience that is both thoughtful and memorable.

We ordered the salted egg tofu, bao buns, veggie curry, and sesame “beef” with lotus root, and every single dish was a standout. The salted egg tofu had the perfect balance of crispness and richness; the bao buns were soft, pillowy, and filled with vibrant flavors; the curry was fragrant and comforting without overwhelming spice; and the sesame “beef” with lotus root was a revelation—beautifully textured and layered with flavor.

What elevated the experience even further was the owner, Long. Warm, open, and genuinely passionate, he guided us through the menu with care, making sure I avoided anything too spicy while still enjoying the depth of the cuisine. His personal touch made us feel welcomed and taken care of in a way that’s rare to find.

The drinks deserve their own praise—creative, refreshing, and well-balanced. On the rare occasion a drink wasn’t quite to my liking, Long happily swapped it for something better suited to my taste, which speaks volumes about the level of service and hospitality here.

We loved the food so much that we found ourselves coming back multiple times during our stay in Seattle. This is not a place for someone who just wants a “meat substitute.” It’s a restaurant for those who are truly open to exploring vegetarian cuisine and can appreciate the delicate yet deeply layered flavors that only a thoughtfully crafted menu like this can offer.

Chay Concept is a gem—an experience that feeds both the palate and the soul. Highly...