monsoon bellevue

brunch and the claypot!. i've recently discovered monsoon east's brunch. the first time i had the pho it was ahhhmazing. the meat quality is so much better than what you get at cheaper pho places. that said, i still love my cheaper pho places and the broth wasn't nearly as rich/good the second time, so i'm not sure how many times i'll go back to pay $10 for a bowl of pho if it's not consistent.

my friends partake in the pancake bar each time and they seem to love the variety of toppings available.

i also enjoy their sticky rice - it's one of the better ones i've found in the seattle area. i also like the shrimp and chive dumplings, but would stay away from the daikon cakes - highly disappointing.

for dinner i looooooove the catfish claypot. i've never gotten to eat one by myself because everyone at the table always wants a bite, and though i want to be selfish and hoard it i always give in and share. some day i will be selfish and eat it all by myself.

it’s modernized vietnamese food, in a cleaner environment, and friendlier, yet slightly slower, service. standard vietnamese places used to feel like the cutlery still had some leftover fish oil, and the food would come out within 5 minutes of ordering, since all they really had to do was pour soup into the bowl of noodles. while the service was slower at monsoon (it took a while for them to bring all the food out), i’m sure it was because we had a 17 people group. the food tasted good, but i’m sure they used plenty of msg, as we were parched for the rest of the day. i had the pho bo, so basic beef noodle. look how pretty the onion garnish was:

this is a far best vietnamese restaurant i have ever tried. of course it is a kind of the fusion restaurant, an americanized vietnamese cousin. i would rate the food is 4.9, the deco is 4.5, the service is 4.5. the regular pho is fantastic of course. but the mushroom pho is also something you should try. the combination pho is a good size meal. i love also their thai-french inspired, americanized fusion dishes as well.

got the gift card from costco and went for it. the setting is pretty nice and good for an intimate date. i went to the bar area for the happy hour. 1) sai gon slider - the ingredients put together perfectly and i can't get enough of the savory taste.2) grilled marinated pork belly - a decent dish with the pot belly grilled to perfection. the marinate is decent. however, this dish has some room to take it to the next level.3) bo la lot - the exotic taste makes this dish stand out. again, ingredients are put together to provide a complex profile of taste and texture.4) crispy vegetarian roll - this is a simple dish and yet very delicately put together. 5) calamari - fresh and deep fried well! the dipping sauce can use some innovation to stand out from run of the mill dipping sauce.6) five spice shrimp -  the five spice is there, but not quite distinguishable. shrimp was fried well.7) wokked bok choy - yum! i wish i could have some more! 8) diver scallops - the texture and freshness are good. however, it needs to kick it up a notch to deserve the price tag. 9) frog legs - deep fried frog legs! unfortunately, it was a bit fishy. 10) spicy albacore - genius! i spicy albacore salad on shrimp chips, wish i could have thought of that. 11) night shade - bubbly drink with some citrus emphasis 12) hold on to summer - house made non-alcoholic drink, averageservice was above average due to the courteous and attentive wait staff. the bill came to about $100.

tasty, fresh. went for lunch with my mother and 5-year-old discerning eater. the little one devoured the chicken skewers. my mother enjoyed her lemon grass chicken salad. friendly service. i'd go back in a minute.

worst happy hour ever! staff rude. food not worth the $5. menu descriptions don't match the plate served. very misleading. go to wild ginger instead!

always delicious!. i do not eat seafood of any sort, and i love this restaurant! there are many options to please any palate and every dish is memorable and amazing. a favorite hang out for me and my girlfriends, or date night with my husband. just walking in, you will be hooked by the delicious atmosphere!

i wasn't impressed with the drunken chicken or organic brown rice. the seating arrangement was odd. i wouldn't go back.

monsoon east is a great upscale vietnamese restaurant in old downtown bellevue. it is part of the monsoon family of restaurants that includes a location in seattle, ba bar and baguette box.

boo for monsoon. i ate at this restaurant a couple of times when it first opened and i loved it. so i thought it would be a special place to bring my out of town guests. big mistake on my part! the service and the food was horrible. their famous catfish claypot was too salty and the drunken chicken and the ribs were both the consistency of shoe leather. not only was it not good, but the portions were extremely tiny compared to their inflated prices. i was so embarrassed i picked up the whole tab which was not intended. i couldn’t expect people to pay for such an expensive mess of an evening. shame on you monsoon east for letting me down. i won’t be back for a 2nd chance.
for better food, service, and price i highly recommend the tamarind tree in seattle. it’s worth the drive over the bridge.

we just discovered this fantastic restaurant late last year and we've been back twice since. it is of the gods and we cannot wait to go again in order to explore further.

came for happy hr, place looks nice..good ambience for the time of day (5pm ish). the happy hour menu looked interesting if a little pricey and you have to order a drink which didn't look like happy hour prices. i ordered the beef bo la lot and shrimp fresh roll. the roll was ok. didn't come with hoisin or sriracha which i'm kind of used to. and by the last couple of bites the veggies were getting a bit gross to chew. other than that they did seem very fresh and carefully prepared. the bo la lot beef was kind of like mediterranean style grape leaf wraps with beef in them. they oozed some sort of greasy liquid so i couldn't really stand to eat more than one. i pushed the plate back mostly uneaten yet no one seemed to notice or ask how it was so i just paid and left. for the two cheapest (tiny) happy hour foods and one beer and tip my total came to $18 which i think is up there for happy hours. i'd give it one more try because some of the other menu items look like they'd be really interesting to try, as maybe the non happy hour meals are different.

we loved the seattle monsoon, but the one in bellevue, not so much. the food was quite bland. not worth the price.

salt & pepper chicken wings!. i just ate here for the first time and it was great! well, the food was amazing, the service left a lot to be desired but the food was delish.

the salt and pepper chicken wings were so awesome - crispy delcious coating on the outside and some of the juciest chicken i've ever had. wish i would have taken a photo. i'll be sure to snap one next time.

consistently great. we eat out a lot (more than we should) and me has turned into our "go to" restaurant. the flavor quality is high on every dish..even the side dishes are terrific. i tend to place extra emphasis on creativity, and this is an area where me really shines. if all you want is meat and potatoes, then maybe you'd be happier going somewhere else (more for the rest of us). service is about average (they always seem pretty busy). what puts them over the top is that their prices are quite reasonable. the wine is a little pricey, though.