Growing up in Seattle, I always wanted my parents to take me to the flashy Chinese restaurants with loud neon signs and big parking lots. "That's what you don't want in a Chinese restaurant," my parents would say. "Look for a low-key restaurant filled with Chinese people." <p>And so we discovered Hing Loon. It's never crowded, but the clientele is mostly Chinese. And the mirrored walls covered with butcher paper signs advertising, in Chinese and English, daily and weekly specials (mostly things you've never heard of, utilizing the current bounty of asparagus, sea urchin or what have you) do not lend any pizazz to the ambiance. <p>Before ordering straight from the menu, take a look at the butcher paper signs. Chances are this will be the only place you'll encounter many of these special dishes. And they will likely be off the wall within a week, so even a return visit won't ensure you a second chance!<p>Menu favorites include the Singapore Fried Rice Noodle, Won Ton Soup (made with fresh vegetable dumplings) and the Hing Loon Chow Funn.<p>This is a great restaurant for a big group of people you want to impress - not with snazzy decor, but with authentic Chinese food and friendly, snappy service.<p>Oh, and the fortune in my cookie several years ago really did offer valuable, eerily accurate advice... I've carried it in my wallet ever since.

Growing up in Seattle, I always wanted my parents to take me to the flashy Chinese restaurants with loud neon signs and big parking lots. "That's what you don't want in a Chinese restaurant," my parents would say. "Look for a low-key restaurant filled with Chinese people." <p>And so we discovered Hing Loon. It's never crowded, but the clientele is mostly Chinese. And the mirrored walls covered with butcher paper signs advertising, in Chinese and English, daily and weekly specials (mostly things you've never heard of, utilizing the current bounty of asparagus, sea urchin or what have you) do not lend any pizazz to the ambiance. <p>Before ordering straight from the menu, take a look at the butcher paper signs. Chances are this will be the only place you'll encounter many of these special dishes. And they will likely be off the wall within a week, so even a return visit won't ensure you a second chance!<p>Menu favorites include the Singapore Fried Rice Noodle, Won Ton Soup (made with fresh vegetable dumplings) and the Hing Loon Chow Funn.<p>This is a great restaurant for a big group of people you want to impress - not with snazzy decor, but with authentic Chinese food and friendly, snappy service.<p>Oh, and the fortune in my cookie several years ago really did offer valuable, eerily accurate advice... I've carried it in my wallet ever since.