Pike Place Market’s Pike Place Chinese Cuisine, and its sibling store Mee Sung Pastry, hold a special place in my heart.  When I moved to Seattle in 1992 and lived at the youth hostel in Pike Place Market for a week, I ate my first meal in Seattle, a plate of pork pot-sticker dumplings, at Pike Place Chinese Cuisine.  It is a tiny, long narrow restaurant with, what used to be stunning views of Elliott Bay, that are now partially obscured by a parking garage that was built between the market and the bay.  But you can still see a little of the bay and the water.  The restaurant has an extensive menu of Chinese-American classics, the scale of which is way out of proportion to the tiny kitchen.  Mee Sung Pastry is the go to place for steamed and baked stuffed buns.    

The Dumplings:  I had full day of eating planned, with Pike Place Chinese Cuisine squeezed in between trips to Shanghai Garden and Din Tai Fung, so I only got a plate of pork pot stickers.  I am not going to pretend that these dumplings were great, but there was a lot of nostalgia bundled up with them.  It seemed like they had been quickly deep fried to heat them up and then lightly pan fried on the bottom, so the entire wrapper was slightly crispy and the bottom of the dumplings had a slight char.  The filling was a little bland, but nothing that a some dipping sauce couldn’t elevate.   Go there and have a plate of dumplings, a Tsingtao and check out the partial view.  Then go to Mee Sung Pastry and get an excellent BBQ pork Bao. Also, while you are in the market get a Piroshky at Piroshky Piroshky.

The Location:  Pike Place Chinese Cuisine is in Pike Place Market on the mezzanine level, below the Main Arcade.  Mee Sung Pastry is across the street from the main markets.