Bongos — Restaurant in Seattle

i got the BART sandwich

The first thing I have to comment on was the environment of this restaurant

I came here on a pretty sunny day - and it was absolutely the perfect time to be here - as they have a fantastic outdoor seating area they even have a sand pit! the layout, architecture, and art of this place gives off a great tropical/caribbean vibe, which is not something I'd expect from a place in Seattle

As for the sandwich itself - it was quite good The buns were roughly average I would say - there could've been more aioli added to it to give it a bit more flavor - and it was slightly harder than i would like

The best part, by far, though, was the pork When I say this sandwich was absolutely loaded with pork I'm not exaggerating. It was quite literally overflowing out of the sandwich as I tried to pick it up Eating this with one hand is practically impossible as you'll lose so much pork to the wrapper The taste of it was quite fantastic as well - it had a slight sour flavor, had tons of fat, and most importantly had a nice, dark, almost-brown color There were certain pieces that were actually charred enough to have one side be fully black - and these were incredible

Moving on to the other toppings, the sweet ham was also really good, as well as the cucumbers (which normally i don't like) and pickles I noticed maybe a couple jalapenos and didn't taste the onions much

the swiss cheese i felt was a bit inconsistent. I didn't taste it much for most of the sandwich, but it showed up near the end a lot

I recently got a similar sandwich from Paseo, so I feel like I should compare the two Paseo's sandwich certainly has a lot more oil, and this is less 'wet' than that one - this is also because the pork in Paseo is cooked to a lower temperature, which makes it more juicy so it releases more liquid, compared to the more brown pork we get here I do think i prefer the pork there slightly, but it's pretty close. You do get more pork here compared to there, though

While I liked the type of bun at Paseo better, I do really like the fact that the buns here are toasted - which is something they don't do over there The onions are certainly more prevalent, larger, and in my opinion better at Paseo They have more aioli as well, but I would give the edge to the rest of the toppings here

Pricing wise it's roughly the same - although I think Paseo's sandwich is slightly bigger and more filling

I think I would give the slight edge to Paseo on this one - but it's pretty close. Both places are fantastic

Overall, fantastic sandwich in a great...

I hate that I finally decided to try this place after having it bookmarked for over 1.5 years. This place is a certified banger, and probably one of the best restaurants I've had in Seattle. It's one of the only places I've found around here that's really committed to giving me flavor, and not afraid of hurting some feelings for it.

Desi plate is solid. They make the pork juicy enough without getting it too fatty. I find braised pork susceptible to drying out if overcooked, but they've nailed it the 5-6 times I've gotten it in the past few months. The shrimp will attack you with a spicy malice, but it might be worth the pain if you're that kind of person. All other plates have been 8/10 for me, but the Desi is 10/10. The bucco chicken plate is great, especially since they give the chicken a bit of a char. I hate slaw, but they do it right here, it isn't overbearing to me.

The sandwiches are high risk high reward for me. If I'm there, and I'm willing to cut a tree for the paper towels, I'll get it because they tend to be VERY juicy. The bread can get soggy quick, so I wouldn't get sandwiches delivered until someone invents a teleporter to get it instantly to me. The Desi Sandwich, the 1AM, and the Shrimp Po Boy have been great. Shrimp Po Boy has been a bit inconsistent with the spice level, but it still packs flavor.

Sides: I've ordered a side of the rice and black beans, and it's fine, but you really want to mix everything (like the slaw and meat) together for flavor. Yuca Fries are good, interesting, but I would only get them if you're REALLY hungry.

Portions/price are good. If anyone has any recommendations that are on Bongos' level, please let me know. I just might not have explored properly, so I'm open to...

UPDATE: Editing my previous 3-star review to a 5-star, as Bongos deserves. I’m still sad about the loss of my favorite dish, but I can’t justify bringing down their score because of it.

Bongos is the greatest restaurant in Seattle, an absolute gem in every possible way. I can’t believe I’m leaving a less than 5-star review (I’ll balance it by leaving a 5-star next time, when I get something better). The Spicy Shrimp Plate has been my go-to for years, but in the last few months it was taken off the menu - I thought they just changed the name, but today I got the Sos Ti-Malice Shrimp Plate, and was incredibly disappointed. Not only is it not the same dish, the sauce is very lacking in flavor and spice compared to the old shrimp plate. It tastes smokier, but otherwise hard to describe… just not what I used to love and was hoping for. I used to wolf it down, and this time I forced myself to eat half before giving up. I wouldn’t say it tastes bad, it’s just not tasty and to me definitely not worth the $17 I paid for it. The slaw and maduro were also somehow worse this time, the maduro not being as sweet as usual and the slaw rather dry. Lesson learned I guess, I’ll be permanently switching over to my other fave from them, the West Indies sandwich. BONGOS, PLEASE BRING BACK THE SPICY SHRIMP PLATE!! 😭🍤 You can keep the new dish too, but I miss...