Chinatown-International District food tours create tasty cultural connections

 

Harry Chan, a third-generation owner of Tai Tung, welcomes guests at the counter

Seattle's Wing Luke Museum in the city's Chinatown-International District is where visitors gather to learn about the culture, art and history of Asian Pacific Americans.

There's a gallery devoted to Hong Kong martial artist and actor Bruce Lee; exhibits on how immigrant communities celebrate the New Year; and historic photos tracing the journey of the first Chinese settlers to Seattle in the 1860s.

On select Friday afternoons, however, the buzz revolves around food when the museum hosts its Tastes of Chinatown-International District food tours.

"The tours are just kind of an extension of the story telling we do," says Wing Luke staffer and tour guide Doan Dy. "People may not be familiar with the museum, but everyone likes food."

Started in 1985 as a way to draw people back into the neighborhood after a mass shooting at the Wah Mee gambling club, the tours were suspended during the Covid pandemic. Now they have resumed year-round as Wing Luke strives to help family-operated restaurants recover and combat anti-Asian sentiment.

 "While some restaurants we loved have closed, there is still a lot to love," says Dy. "We want to bring you into our neighborhood to taste, enjoy and find community while sharing our favorite dishes together."

Some, such as Tai Tung, the oldest restaurant in the area, opened in 1935, serve classic Chinese-American fare, a throwback to a time when it made sense to combined traditional Chinese recipes with inexpensive ingredients available in the U.S. Others innovate with dishes such as vegan pizza.

"The food that comes out of these spaces reflects the history of the times," says Dy.

Every tour is different as organizers alternate restaurants and dishes according to the season. Groups of 25 are divided into three as they embark on two-hour walks covering a distance of under a mile.

Pandan at the Wing Luke

A recent stroll started out in the museum's theater with savory appetizers called Pandan, a waffle-like treat made with leaves from a tropical plant, coconut and black sesame by Phin Vietnamese Coffee & Etc.

Around the Lazy Susan at Tai Tung

The walk continued along King Street, past buildings that used to be boarding houses for Chinese laborers. At Tai Tung, a favorite Bruce Lee hangout when he lived in Seattle,  Harry Chan, a third-generation owner, greeted us from behind the counter. Soon we were gathered around a Lazy Susan where we munched on fried chicken, garlic pea vines, tea and fortune cookies.

Cucumber and wood ear mushrooms at Jufeng Noodle House

 

The next stop was Jufeng Noodle House, a modest hole-in-the-wall Cantonese restaurant Dy says people could easily miss, or mistake for not being open. Served family-style at a long table decorated with red paper lanterns were bowls of cucumber and wood ear mushrooms and Singapore-style fried rice noodles seasoned with tumeric and curry.

Doan Dy of Wing Luke serves up tofu and noodles at Phnom Penh Noodle House

At the Phnom Penh Noodle House, a Cambodian restaurant that traces its origin to a mobile food cart on the streets of Battambang, we sampled noodles with ground shrimp, roasted peanuts, salted radish, tofu and pickled cucumber and Mee Katang (wide rice noodles) with chicken or tofu.

The tour ended back at the museum where dessert awaiting - Ube (purple yam) cookies from  Filipino Hood Famous Cafe & Bar. 

 Wing Luke staffers are constantly testing out new places to add to the tours, says Dy.

 "Our aim is to introduce you to a lot of the places that we enjoy. "Besides being businesses in the community, they are all our friends." 

 If you go:

Tours are held on Fridays from 4 p.m.-6:30. Vegetarian options are available. See link for reservations and upcoming dates. Cost is $55.95 per person. Children under 5 are free.