Chicken and beef combo @ Toshio’s Teriyaki (Atlantic)

After posting my short food diary from Seattle the other day, several of you pointed out that I missed out on one of the city’s core culinary specialties: teriyaki.

While I did leave to head up to Vancouver for half a week, I was back in Seattle on Tuesday, to fly out of SEATAC, and had time to stop off for lunch. I asked a friend who grew up in Seattle what teriyaki place she’d recommend we try and she suggested Toshio’s.

I’ve had this style of teriyaki for decades but it’s not a dish I normally would ever think to go out of my way to order. These days, I only have it at summer obon festivals and the like. When the plate arrived, I did crack a smile because there’s something very familiar and comforting about that goopy sauce draped over both the meat and rice.

This was…fine. The sauce, as I expected, was cloyingly sweet. Both the beef and chicken were still relatively tender though the chicken pieces could have been cut more cleanly IMO. For $19, it was a hefty, generous plate of food: enjoyable enough but not particularly memorable. 7/10

Even if I wasn’t blown away, I’m really glad people suggested I at least try a spot; in all the years I’ve been coming up there, 25 and counting, I think this is the first time I’ve ever had teriyaki up there.

(For the record, my personal favorite “cheap eat” in Seattle is still Ivar’s though I didn’t go this time).