151 Days — Restaurant in Redmond

Four of us had lunch at 151 Days October 18. Discovered the neighborhood restaurant through "Google." Reviews were really positive and rated well. We found "rock star" parking right in front. Luckily, we did because 2 of us are mobility challenged. We were seated right away, and it wasn't too busy at noon. The waiter was great! We were served water, and he asked if we wanted anything else. We asked for hot tea, and we were totally shocked that they had run out of tea. What? Yeh, what? BUT, he took our food order and advised us not to get the cod dish because it wasn't fresh. Thank goodness, he was so honest. We ordered 1) Taiwanese pork burger, 2) Dry Satay String Beans w/minced kurabota pork, 3) Crispy chicken with/spicy sauce, 4) Stir fry vermicelli with pork, dry shrimp and mushrooms, and 5) Crispy prawns with salty egg yolk. Everything came out one by one. but quickly. Our group enjoyed all the different dishes. Each had a distinct flavor, texture and taste.

1. Taiwanese pork burger. The bun is like a steamed how box bun, but folded around the pork belly and brushed with, I think, plum sauce. Beware of crushed peanuts on it if you have a peanut allergy. Yes, the waiter asked if we had food allergies. It was pretty good but I didn't expect the pork belly to be soft.
2. Dry Satay String Beans w/...pork: Served on a huge oval platter. Even though it is marked as a spicy dish, it wasn't that hot at all. Avoid eating the dried red peppers. So delicious! 3)Crispy chicken w/spicy sauce. This dish was exceptionally delicious. It was very crispy/crunchy, and the sauce had some vinegar to add a more complex flavor to the thin soy-sauce based sauce. The portion was also HUGE!
3. Stir fry vermicelli... I haven't seen dried shrimp in many Asian dishes and really thought it brought more flavor to the vermicelli. All the ingredients were well balanced with the noodles and tasty! Beware of the long noodles because they are hard to serve. We ended up cutting it up with the serving spoon.
4. Crispy shrimp with salty egg yolk. I wasn't sure what to expect with this dish, but many reviews advised others to try it. I'm glad we did. The dish came out piping hot out of the fryer. I think that the shrimp was covered with the salty egg yolk. The egg yolk gave it sort of a chalky texture which was surprisingly delicious! I think there was a smidge of sugar in it because there was a tinge of a sweet taste to the shrimp. I'll say this was the best entree that we ordered but the rest of them were tied at a close second. You should not be leaving the restaurant hungry. Portions were huge, and we even had leftovers to take home. BTW, they tasted great just heated up in the...

I had high hopes for this restaurant after hearing about the owner's methodology and backstory.

My husband and I went shortly after opening on a Wednesday. There were only two other tables seated, so it was quite empty. The restaurant's atmosphere was very cozy, comfortable, and quiet. Very clean and open dining room. Our waitress was friendly and polite. At the table, there's lots of custom stamped plates, and I LOVED the cute soup spoons!

There's a bar area, with lots of beers on tap, but nothing on the menu about. beer or wine. Maybe the license just isn't up yet?

Right off the bat, my husband was excited to try the chicken stuffed rice balls, but the waitress said that they were not available. Bummer! But it happens. We opted to start with some potstickers and braised peanuts, and we both ordered a bowl of the chicken noodle soup.

The star of the show, and I mean the ENTIRE show, was the braised peanuts. Like, WOW. So good! My husband isn't one for ordering peanuts at a restaurant, but he couldn't stop eating them, and neither could I. They were boiled in beef broth and had a delicious flavor and a texture that reminded me more of beans than peanuts. The potstickers were also very tasty, and we both agreed they were better without the sauce that it comes with.

Now... the soup. This is where things fell apart. I grew up raising chickens and eating ones that we slaughtered, so I'm fully aware that older chickens have a tougher texture. I had no problem with that! I actually really enjoyed the flavor of the chicken. But the soup itself was quite uninspiring and lukewarm. And I mean that literally - the soup was not hot at all. I could have chugged the broth straight after serving, and my husband actually did exactly that. Looking around, several other diners were slurping on the same soup and none of them seemed like they were hot either. There was zero steam coming off of the bowls, and nobody seemed bothered by it. But I saw another table order the Coconut Chicken Soup and it was served piping hot, so maybe the chicken noodle soup is just served cold? I have to wonder if that might be a slight food safety issue though, given that hot foods have to be served at a certain temperature?

The egg that came in the soup was delightful at least. I love tea eggs though, and could eat them all day.

Ultimately we were left disappointed because of that soup. And I feel bad saying that because I had high hopes after reading about the backstory and seeing all the rave reviews on social media and food blogs. I do want to come back and try that coconut chicken at some point, but more than anything I just want more of...

Easy location to get to, and has a small garage for retail parking with a north and south entrance. I thought the food was decent, maybe just a tad under 4 star quality. The staff were friendly, but not too great at the service part of the job? They were all polite, but didn't make me feel welcome if that makes sense.

The food came out quick. On top of the regular Bresse Chicken Meal, we ordered the creamy mushroom soup and millet doughnut and it was just the right amount of food for the two of us.

The flat bread with the sauce was a great appetizer, and had good flavor to it.

Pickled radish side dish was great too! A little bit on the sweeter side but very yum. Just a tiny plate though.

We got the chilli oil chicken, and it was okay, I would have liked it if it was a bit more tender. There were a few pieces around the bones that were very chewy or dry, but overally it was fine.

The garlic mushroom broth was simple, but had good taste to it and since it's on like a mini hot pot, was really enjoyable. They did forget to give us the ladle for the soup, but a quick reminder and they were able to bring it right out.

The millet doughnuts were good, not too sweet and not too sticky. A little bit on the expensive side I felt like? I think it was like $3 for each?

The creamy mushroom soup was good too. We just wanted something filling on the side.

They did brought out complimentary mongolian milk tea to everyone in the restaurant. It wasn't too sweet. I probably would have preferred it to be less milk and more tea? But maybe that's how mongolian milk teas are. The person I went with said the mongolian milk tea they had when they were younger were actually salty and not sweet, so this wasn't quite their 'cup of tea'

Another thing was the water tasted off. Not sure what's...