Bud Margie Monsoon

What do these three things have in common? Why, my Monday of course!

Yesterday I went to visit Bud for a while and then Margie and I grabbed a bite to eat at Monsoon's before going back to her house and working on our ongoing project to de-clutter and organize things. I did bring my camera along so I could get an updated picture of Bud and Margie but do you think I remembered to take it out of my purse? Noooooo. Next time.

Mmmmmmmmmmmm good. There aren't enough m's in the world to articulate how mmmm-good lunch with Margie was at the Vietnamese restaurant, Monsoon East, which is located right around the corner from Bud's place.

Margie is right in the middle of having her master bath completely redone and with all the chaos that is creating, she needed to get order somewhere in her world (we all know how that feels). After a couple of hours tucked into her back bedroom office, we managed to purge, pack and re-stock the closet and 2 chest of drawers. According to Margie, the end result was perfectly pleasant :)

Anyway...back to lunch. If you get a chance you really must try Monsoon East in Old Bellevue. If you don't go with someone familiar with Vietnamese cuisine just ask the server for advice; they were so kind and helpful and didn't make me feel foolish for not knowing a lot about the food. Everything we had was fresh, crisp, light, satisfying and delectable. The atmosphere was subdued, peaceful and oh so clean; almost spa-like. It might get noisy during the middle of a lunch rush but the crowd was beginning to thin when we arrived so visiting was easy. My pet peeve in a restaurant is having to lean into someone to hear what they are saying and having to shout to be heard. Totally takes the joy out of the time together.

By the way, I finally learned how to pronounce Pho. Our server explained it sounds like the letters f and u with the u being soft; *fu* (I know most of you already knew that but that was my knowledge nugget for the day). That's what Margie had. I had a seafood noodle bowl. We shared a vegetarian wrap for our appetizer. My favorite part? Even after an appetizer and generous noodle bowl I didn't experience that horrible why-did-I-eat-so-much stuffed feeling.

That said...this is not the right restaurant for plain jane's - or meat and potato fanatics - and it's definitely not for people who think the real meal deal is a plate piled high with greasy food straight off the griddle at their local diner ;) But if you crave fresh local produce; lightly prepared seafood, poultry and meats, if you enjoy new, interesting and different flavor components, then this is the place for you.

Did I mention mmmmmmmmmmmmm? I want to go there right now!