Cilantro
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Asian
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Cilantro
93 Marion St., Seattle, 206-652-9300
p Hours: 11 a.m-8 p.m. Monday-Friday; noon-9 p.m. Saturday
MasterCard, Visa, Discover / Beer and wine /No smoking / No obstacles to access
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This 2-year-old Asian eatery is probably no secret to those who regularly hike the pedestrian walkway from Second Avenue to the ferries at Colman Dock because they pass it every day. Moreover, Cilantro is open just late enough on weekdays to allow commuters to grab a quick bite after work. If you have a hungry brood waiting on the other side, everything on the predominantly Thai menu is available to go.
Those with enough leisure time to stop in for a late lunch can relax in serene surroundings. Comfortably spaced tables are draped in royal blue cloths, pale walls are minimally adorned with Thai artifacts and the leafy potted plants will likely outnumber the customers in the dining room. The afternoon advantage is not only acoustical - quiet conversation is easy - but when the kitchen's not busy, you may be permitted to order dishes from the dinner menu that are normally not available until after 5.
Not that the lunch menu isn't appealing. The 18 selections, ranging in price from $5.25-$6.25, include a good variety of curries, stir-fries, noodles and rice. Any one of them is enough to fill the void between lunch and dinner, especially when preceded by a complimentary cup of hot-and-sour soup garnished with spring onion and cilantro, brought by a server minutes after you are seated.
The dinner menu runs three times as long and, like the mid-day offerings, reflects Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese and Thai influences. Look for chicken satay, Thai salads, wonton soup, coconut chicken and gado gado (vegetables, tofu and egg in peanut sauce). The priciest item on the dinner menu is Thai pla lad prig, a deep-fried whole fish that will set you back $8.25. If you haven't arrived on foot, that's two bits more than it costs to park your car for an hour and a half in the lot next door.
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Cilantro special noodle w/ chicken: The minced chicken is sparse and the wide rice noodles clump a bit in a faintly sweet soy sauce flavored with yellow curry, onion and a touch of tomato, but this is both soothing and filling.
Thai yum pla moug: The tenderest squid, scored to look like tiny white morels, peek out from under a bed of lettuce laced with cilantro, onions and green pepper and doused with a pleasingly tart, peppery dressing. Watch out for shards of lemon grass and whole Kaffir lime leaves.
Chinese shrimp green beans: Thai basil nicely accents tender green beans embellished with four medium prawns in a punchy fish sauce bolstered by chicken stock, garlic and chili.
Black sticky rice: The pearly grains of black rice in sweetened condensed milk have just enough bite to lift this dessert several notches above nursery food.
Thai iced tea and iced coffee: These sturdy brews topped with sweetened condensed milk are balm for a chili-inflamed tongue.
Itemized bill, meal for two
Cilantro special noodle $ 5.75
Thai yum pla moug 6.25
Chinese shrimp green beans 6.25
Black sticky rice 2.00
1 Thai iced tea 1.50
1 Thai iced coffee 1.50
Tax 2.11
Total $25.36