Homestyle Hong Kong Cafe

Congee here was great. Cheap, too. Added some soy sauce and chili for additional flavor, which made it perfect. I had the pork and preserved egg congee, but they had about a dozen different types.
Service was fast. I will say, serving hot tea with hot soup is nice, but a glass of ice water would have been great! Mostly asians dining here, and the place is packed with a wait. They will ask parties to sit together if they’re comfortable with it.
Parking was a bitch. Cash only establishment, FYI.

My fishball had a mini volcanic-​like eruption in my congee.
Usually when I dine at a Chinese restaurant my congee comes in a bowl so I was really surprised when it was presented in a bubbling hot clay pot. My co-​worker and I sat near the window. Many curious people looked through the window and into the restaurant and some decided to come in and have lunch. The menu is extensive: More than 50 choices.
I ordered the fishball congee. The rice portion tasted great. The fishballs are a whole different story. I wanted to eat a fishball but it was too big so I tried to cut it in half with my soup spoon. As soon as I put pressure on the fishball yellowish/​orange fish eggs spewed through the top of the teardrop like fishball. I have never had fishballs infused with fish eggs before. I tasted it. I didn’t like it. Once I actually cut it in half I tried to scoop the fish eggs out with my soup spoon. When that didn’t work I used my chopsticks but I had a hard time doing so plus it probably didn’t look right that I was playing with my food. I left the rest of the fishballs in the clay pot and ate the rest of the congee.
It was a new and fun experience. I definitely won’t order the fishball congee again but I’ll probably be back to try the chicken congee.

This is my go-​to restaurant in the ID. Besides being open late, having good value and polite service, their basic Hong Kong Café style dishes are perfect. Though note, when I say perfect, I mean very well done but nothing to write home about (who writes home about Hong Kong Café style food?)
They don’t have whacky spaghetti dishes like Purple Dot and their menu seems to break down primarily into: Congees, Noodle Soups, Clay Pots plus assorted Appetizers. They also have cook it yourself hot pot, but I haven’t tried it.
Their congee is just the right amount of flavorful and HOT. Their soup noodles have good clean ingredients, but they don’t compare to the flavor or variety of, say, Mike’s Noodle house. The clay pots are flavorful, a bit heavy, and a bit one note so share with friends to get a variety!
I know this doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement, but trust me – if you spend any time in the International District., you’ll find yourself going again and again.

The amount of delicious, authentic food you get for the amount of money you spend is incredible. Anything cooked in the stone pot is bound to be awesome, make sure to scrape the sides when it comes to the table so you can get all the yummy, crispy rice! I haven’t yet tried the congee, but it’s next on my list.
The décor is simple, stainless steel tables, sweet waitstaff, and there is always some zany asian game show or concert blaring from the tv in the corner.
One warning, don’t order the bubble tea! The tapioca was hard, the milk tea was warm… just don’t do it.

I wandered around the International District looking for something cheap to eat. I didn’t have enough cash for the Unilocal Dim Sum event, so I found this place and apparently the Seattle Unilocalers seem to like the congee here. I’ve never had congee in my life, so I decided why not.
The décor of the place is bland at best and it seems like the restaurant takes pride in their blandness. The restaurant twice posted a review on their walls about being «Leaders of the Bland.» Sure, they don’t have much to show off at the restaurant and bland Cantopop videos and a painting but the food can’t really be all that bad, right?
So I ordered the fishball congee because I wasn’t in the mood for eating intestines. The congee is served piping hot – it bubbles in this stone clay pot. The congee is infused with scallions and ginger, which is not quite bland at all. I guess the food critic needs to check his taste buds.
I’m satisfied with the food, but the bland décor knocks it off one star.

Meh. Homestyle is one of a handful of HK cafes in Seattle. I stopped by on a cold weekday evening for dinner looking for something to warm me up. Typical fare you would expect from a HK café establishment. I decided on the baked Portuguese chicken ($ 7.80).
So, what is Portuguese chicken? Essentially this is a baked rice and chicken dish with a coconut curry like sauce on top which I believe originated in Macau. I first had this dish at a place up in Richmond and have been looking for a better version. Unfortunately, Homestyle is not that place.
The dish does take some time to prepare as it needs to be baked, so it kind of exacerbates your feelings about it whether good or bad. After several bites I knew it was going down the latter road. The rice in the dish was not good. It is of the sticky-​gummy variety. The kind that I get sick of quickly. The sauce was not up to par either. It hardly tasted exotic or mildly spicy as it should be. The chicken itself was fine and the dish was edible. It just did not have much of the spark that I was looking for in this dish. Perhaps I should just stop looking for a good version of this here and just go to Macau.
I would not write off Homestyle based off this experience though. They do have a good variety of noodles, congee and potted dishes that seem worthy of a try, but two stars is all I can give now.

I like!
Mydao H. introduced me to this place, that I’ve been wanting to come for years since they opened.
They have excellent congee served in a stone clay pot.
We ordered:
Thousand year old egg congee w/​salty pork (the pork was sliced thick, not tiny bits like other places)
Sampan congee (mixture of seafood with peanuts)
Seafood congee (mixture of seafood with lots of shrimp!)
Dumplings: fried (excellent!)
Chinese doughnuts to go with the congee.
I’m satisfied, and will be coming back! The prices seemed low, compared to other places as well.
To me, this is comfort food.

I have been missing out. Never even heard of this place until I went with my cousins and gramma. I had the pan fried dumplings and the wonton and tendon noodle soup that came in a big ol’ bowl. Great place for cheap eats. Also, if you get the soup on the side, the portion is not as big. I love how you can pick and choose what you want in your soup. It’s like Cold Stone, but for noodle soup. I’m not sure if I am willing to try their other exotic dishes. My gramma had like the rice in a clay pot with frog legs or something. Uh… hmm… I don’t know, but I will be back for sure. 5 stars from me!

I haven’t been back since my last review in 2008, but I came back today to give it another shotand I’ve upgraded to 4*.
The century egg & chicken congee wasn’t bad at all! It comes bland, but is perfect with some soy sauce, a couple drops of vinegar, and ½ a tsp of chili oil. What I do love about this café is their stone pot rice! We tried the minced pork w/​chinese sausage and it was SO SO good. The burnt rice in the stone pot is flavorful and crispy– especially good when you dip it in the special soy sauce that comes with each stone pot order. I’m glad to have come back again! I’m sure there will be many more visits to come.
P. s. Wouldn’t recommend the chinese donut. it’s previously frozen and comes out stale/​doughy

In retrospect, I probably ordered the wrong things.
The boy got a noodle dish with the soup on the side, I got a rice pot casserole thing and dumplings.
I was impressed by nothing — and indubitably, because we sauntered in at around 2, the music was off, the tv was off, everything was off. And the cook literally sat there staring at me for five minutes.
Oh? A staring contest? Done.
It was just a sufficiently awkward experience for all (especially when I started asking the waitress for recommendations which I think totally befuddled her).
But next time I’ll come with my Cantonese friend and perhaps it will be four star worthy.

If you’re anything like myself and tired of the late night Purle Dot Café or Honey Court encounters, drive around the block!
Their stone pot rice is prepared just the way I like it with a large selection of ingredient and topping with a light soy sauce for flavor on the side but I always ask for a extra. Every time I come to these cafes I always get a Ovaltine which reminds me of my childhood day, but it was not sweetened enough which kind of suck but I still finished it. The steam pork and cabbage dumplings are also pretty good.
The service was excellent but you can’t blame them there since we were the only group in the restaurant and it was cheap!

Just to clarify, my rating is a 3.5.
Their beef brisket and won ton noodle soup is the best I’ve had around here (the won ton didn’t seem to be leftover from dim sum, like you can find at some places).
Their pork chop red bean stone pot rice was AWESOME (also had the curry chicken stone pot rice and it was good). All their stone pot rice dishes sound delish.
Service wasn’t too bad and the place seemed clean enough (didn’t use the bathroom). Very fairly priced dishes.

My sister and I eat here most Sundays. We like this place for its congee (the best in the city), served bubbling in a clay pot. We also appreciate the flexibility of the cook, who’s willing to let us order off menu — we order ours with tofu, gai lan, spears of fresh ginger, and chopped scallions.
The servers are always cheerful and accommodating. The bleach-​y clean washrooms, brushed stainless steel tables, and cool Lucite chairs are also a plus.

rice porridge, lugao or congee… the ubiquitous asian comfort food. My mom would always make this for me when I was sick at home as a kid. This place does a really good bowl of congee with an incredible variety to boast with anything from century egg to frog legs and everything in between. Great to have on a cold rainy day in Seattle! Next time will try the stone pot dishes.

Ambiance — B+
Food — A (Congee)
Service — A
Price — A
I’ve walked by this place several times when visiting Int’l District and so many choices, so wanted to try something NEW… and finally mustered up the courage to walk in… small (seats around 35), tidy, and noted for a Chinese restaurant… pretty clean! I went around 10:30 a.m. for a Chinese breakfast of congee (rice porridge).
I created my own special combination with the Wonton and adding Century Egg to the Congee.
This was a special order I requested and cost around $ 7.00. The congee itself was nicely seasoned and light. The 4 wontons were nicely stuffed with ground pork and a nice chunk of whole «tiny» shrimp… the century egg (black/​grey yolk w/​black gelatinous white — I can only eat this as an accompaniment… otherwise, too stinky for me!) … also julienned slices of ginger and cut green onions topped the soup… perfectly delicious!
…and let’s not forget the unlimited pouring of free hot tea!
I like the idea of the stone pot keeping the congee hot and then warm until I literally licked the bowl clean! I can’t wait to go back again and try other choices/​combinations.

True to its name, Homestyle is a good place for homestyle comfort food.
I personally like the «cart noodles» — you choose a type of noodle (e.g. egg, rice, flat rice) and select various toppings for $ 1.50 each (e.g. bok choy, mushrooms, curry fish balls, beef balls).
They also serve inexpensive lo mien, wonton noodles, and congee. There’s a selection of curry as well as baked dishes. A friend who loves Portuguese chicken says Homestyle has the best Portuguese chicken in the ID.
The place is very small and cozy. The crowd is mostly older and Cantonese-​speaking, so expect a small amount of harmless staring if you don’t quite fit in. The wait staff move swiftly, and food is served quickly as well.

My bf and I walked around the International district the afternoon of our first day in Seattle and being from San Francisco, I expected a bustling busy Chinatown, but there really wasn’t much to see. However, I did notice how crowded this restaurant was when we walked by it…
Fast forward 3 days later and it’s our last day. We were on our way to the airport and wanted to grab lunch. My dbf got sick early in the morning and couldn’t eat anything so he wanted something safe and cheap, like congee. It so happens that we remembered this place (and I remembered the Unilocal sticker outside), so we came back.
He ordered the chicken congee and I ordered chicken curry. Suffice to say, it was better than I expected. i found myself full but kept eating it. It was that good. Service was good.
I’ll remember this restaurant for my next trip for sure.

No change in the review or rating, but I do want to point out one thing.
I started using the phrase «my friends» first! So there! Read it for yourself!

Great inexpensive place for Hong Kong style comfort food– congee, rice plates, noodle soup, etc. The congee was very tasty (some of the tastiest I’ve tried), the curry rice place was simple and delicious to the last morsel, and the noodle soup was crisp and refreshing. And a meal for 4 came out a bit over $ 30.
Bottom line: HK comfort food haven. And lots of Chinese people eating there, so that must be a good sign.

UPDATE: the recently changed owner… I was a little disappointed the last time I visited Seattle and had my food their… (dropped one star)
Every time when I go or stop by Seattle, I would come to this little restaurant… Welcoming, friendly, and casual… Reasonable price and Good food!
The service is excellent compare to restaurants nearby.