610 S Jackson (International District), 682-1828. Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30 am-1:30 pm, dinner Mon-Sat 5:30-8:30 pm, closed Sun. Sake and beer. $.

"Tako" is Japanese for octopus. "Hachi" means "Excellent fried food here!" I think. Their menu caters to every comfort food need, combining an infinite variety of treats--the common thread being that everything, at some point, enters the deep fryer and is the better for it. The Fried Chicken & Croquette combo ($7.25/$6.25), so large it requires an annex plate, is everything you need. Croquettes are the Japanese cousin to Cuban papas rellenos--mashed taters laced with ground beef, deep fried. All fried items were light on grease, perfectly crisped, tempura-style; I got the spicy Teriyaki Teri-Kari ($6.50), which, quite simply, is fried chicken plus spicy and sweet teriyaki sauce. Everything comes with a mountain of rice (imbued with a slightly smoky flavor from ham and mushrooms), crunchy pickled bean sprouts, and a shredded cabbage salad dressed with special sauce. Hallelujah. The man behind Takohachi's deep fryer reverently fries chicken with respect for the art form and excellent craftsmanship. RACHEL KESSLER

Kolbeh

1956 First Ave S (South Seattle), 224-9999. Sun-Wed 11:00 am-10:00 pm; Thurs 11:00 am-11:00 pm; Fri-Sat 11:00 am-2:00 am. $$.

You'd hardly expect to find a sumptuously decorated Persian restaurant on the ugly strip just south of Safeco Field, but Kolbeh has been serving up their exquisite fare for the last decade, largely unnoticed by hot-dog-lovin' Mariners fans. And what a feast they're missing: spicy stews, barbecued kebabs, slow-roasted meats, and exotically spiced beverages and desserts. The Kabob Joojeh ($15.99) is a giant skewer of remarkably tender and juicy Cornish game hen marinated in lemon, saffron, and onion juice; the Khoresht Bomeyh ($8.99), a vegetarian, chicken, or beef stew, need not be so modestly described on the menu as "maybe the best way of cooking okra"--the stewed vegetables are perfectly complemented by the intensely flavored tomato sauce. On weeknights one can't imagine how the cavernous space could ever reach capacity, but Kolbeh's Friday and Saturday nights are filled up with Iranians and others, there to enjoy the belly dancers (!) and amazing food. MELODY MOSS

Southern Kitchen Restaurant

1716 Sixth Ave, Tacoma, 253-627-4282. Mon-Thurs 7:00 am-8:00 pm; Fri-Sat 7:00 am-9:00 pm; Sun 7:00 am-6:00 pm. No alcohol. $.

In a red shack up the hill from downtown Tacoma, Gloria Martin wipes the countertop, chats with customers, and washes dishes, slathering customers with love and country gravy. Of course I bellied up to the Fried Pork Chops ($6.95/$8.95) with eggs, grits, and biscuits, but what pushed me right over the edge was the Mango Lemonade ($2.95). Mango slices floating in fresh lemonade, topped with real whipped cream and served in a mayonnaise jar begs the question: beverage or dessert? The Chicken Fried Steak ($7.95) was the best and biggest I have ever devoured, and devour I did, unmindful of the swell straining against my jeans. The Southern Fried Chicken ($6.95/$9.95) knocked Ezell's socks off, with its tender flesh ensconced in the perfect balance of spices and crisp breading. Besides hangover-curing REAL mashed taters, you can also choose from homemade mac 'n' cheese, collard greens, black-eyed peas, red beans, rice, buttered corn, cornbread dressing, fried okra... and Gloria's yams glisten with butter and have a bite of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, rendering them sweet without being cloying. RACHEL KESSLER

Dong Khanh Restaurant

5300 Rainier Ave S, 722-5466. Open 8 am-10 pm every day. $$.

Dong Khanh is not a quiet place: Vietnamese music bubbles over television commercials. Layered on top is the tinkle of glasses, the hum of conversations, the crash of water cycling through fish tanks. The kitchen rumbles, broken by the snap of oil. And then our food came. Plate by plate, an incredible range of texture and flavor appeared, starting with charbroiled pork skewers and egg rolls over rice vermicelli noodles ($5). Standard Vietnamese fare, but lordy--that pork, sweet and lemongrassy, perfect carnivorous beauty, set against cool vegetables and noodles... such superior execution. The Crab Meat and White Asparagus Soup ($8.50) followed, sweetly bland, the rich, creamy crab meat and strong asparagus cradled in a thick stock. Cold shrimp and pork with sweet, chewy jellyfish salad ($8.95) appeared next, heaped with basil and cilantro, green papaya, carrot, and cucumber, bound with a fishy vinaigrette, a masterful warp and woof of culinary architecture for the tongue to climb around on. Submitting to the restaurant's fuzzy swirl of color and light, the auditory machinations of the place eased into the foreground of my senses. Dong Khanh filled me with its voice. RACHEL KESSLER

Broadway New American Grill

314 Broadway E (Capitol Hill), 328-7000. Mon-Fri 9:00 am-2:00 am, Sat-Sun 8:00 am-2:00 am. $$.

It's right on Broadway, the stumbling-drunk center of weekend, um, drinking, and as such the Broadway Grill qualifies as a more-than-decent place to get munchy food like mashed potatoes mixed with corn, as well as chicken strips, dinner salads, pastas, etc. The decor is nothing nauseating--sleek and sometimes sunlit (although if you smoke you'll be relegated to the dim back section), with a very narrow sidewalk cafe section in the summer. If you're gay, sidle up to the bar: The servers are energetically dedicated to hooking you up. Every Halloween the place turns into the center of Broadway costumedom, the results of which can be seen in photos on the front wall. But watch out: there's live jazz on Mondays; it's sometimes overrun by college kids; breakfast is mediocre; and be prepared to wait! TRACI VOGEL

The Metropolitan Grill

820 Second Ave (Downtown), 624-3287. Lunch Mon-Fri 11 am-3 pm; dinner Mon-Fri 4:30-11 pm, Sat 4-11 pm, Sun 4:30-10 pm. $$$.

So much style, so much attitude... so much meat! Be warned that this much-fabled downtown establishment specializing in steaks and seafood has a well-heeled, semi-snooty clientele, some of whom bear fair resemblance to the cigar-puffin' businessmen depicted in American Psycho. But if you want to splurge, the Met's food--served in waistband-bustin' proportions and prepared carefully by a team of sweating young grill chefs--is excellent.

Prime rib ($28.95), Australian lobster tail (market price, usually $65 and up), and any steak on the menu are stellar standouts; try ordering steaks with half or no seasoning as a way to really study the vicissitudes of meaty terrain. Keep in mind, too, that the Met's vegetarian plate ($17.95), including grilled portobello mushrooms, garlic-butter mashed potatoes, and truly astounding creamed spinach, is no trifling matter.

Servers here are the essence of eagerness--and who can blame 'em, considering their tip potential any given night of the week? My advice is to eat here early in the day, and leave the evening to its lurid dangers and industrial-strength yuppies. STACEY LEVINE

Mike's Noodle House

418 Maynard Ave S (International District), 389-7099. Mon-Fri 9:30 am-8 pm, Sat-Sun 9:30 am-9 pm. $.

Mike's is a better, cheerier version of the International District's Canton Wonton, a Chinese soup-only cafe that specializes in homemade dumplings. Mike's, however, raises the bar with larger, fancier won ton and sui kau dumplings; plus, Mike makes his own squid balls (more tasty and less erotic than they sound). Here, the first-rate broth doesn't call too much attention to itself with wild, meaty overtures, and there's no MSG used at all. Mike orders his soup noodles from Vancouver, B.C., because, according to him, they taste better than locally made noodles.

The regular-sized Sampan Congee ($2.95) is a lovely, slightly salty rice soup garnished with light strands of jellyfish, roasted Spanish peanuts, shredded lettuce, and green onion strips: an amazing meal. This is served with a Chinese "donut" (75¢)--a type of fluffy, fried bread cut into pieces, which can be plunged into the soup. A side order of jewel-green Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce ($2.95) rounds out this incredibly inexpensive experience. STACEY LEVINE

Bistro Antalya

327 Broadway E (inside Broadway Grocery, Capitol Hill), 860-1911. Daily 2-10 pm. $.

I had forgotten there could be any joy between folds of pita bread until I stumbled into Broadway Grocery and met Seattle's sandwich prince, Bulent Ertur. He offered me a bite of his fresh, handmade kebap: strips of lamb and beef slowly roasting on a spit. Then Sir Ertur assembled a magnificent Doner Kebap ($5.50): plenty of the aforementioned beef and lamb, greens, pickled red cabbage, yogurt sauce, and ripe romas on his own freshly baked pita bread, sprinkled with black sesame seeds. I nearly wept. Consequently, I became obsessed with this elegant man and his sandwiches.

Ertur carves his kebap meat lovingly, scoops up the slices with a customized kebap utensil, toasts his pita in a special sandwich-maker from Turkey, and constantly tends to his roasting meat. Always prepping, his every movement conveys love and care for the food he creates and his joy in sharing it with others. I returned and ordered the Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich ($5.50), one of the best to pass these lips--a hint of curry, plus celery, small, sweet grapes, toasted almonds, and delicately poached chicken ensconced in the usual Bistro Antalya treatment: greens and cabbage on that thick, hand-sliced pita perfection. RACHEL KESSLER

Zig Zag Cafe

1501 Western Ave (Downtown), 625-1146. Daily noon-2 am. $$.

Zig Zag is appropriately dim and quiet except for the occasional unbearably loud and bland drum 'n' bass (oh, I am old and cranky). A fine place to get a fabulous cocktail assembled by a sympathetic bartender, the place has a varied and loyal clientele; it was here that I drank the kind of Bloody Mary one probably remembers when old and exiled.

The Tapas Platter ($15.50) is rather like having a harem, so wide is the variety of pungent cheeses, olives, hummus, baba ghanoush, chicken and lamb kebabs, cured meats, spanakopita, and dolmades with pita bread. The kebabs--gloriously moist lamb and zesty chicken--would have sufficed, but our dear sampler plate kept giving love, embracing our tongues with flavors. Kebapches (pork and beef spiced like gyros, $9.50), all rolled up together, were presented like two enormous sausages without their pants on. These heavy, bold, damn delicious trunks of ground goodness came flanked by a light, vinegary chiffonade of mixed greens--which was really very thoughtful, considering their heft. The rest of Zig Zag's focused menu is just as successful, with spare, elegant pizzas and pasta. It's a good thing the food occupied us so completely, because the service was, on the whole, atrocious. RACHEL KESSLER

E & M Grocery & Deli

1123 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (Central District), 323-8360. Mon-Fri 10:30 am-10 pm, closed Sat-Sun. $.

I ordered the Chitlin Dinner ($11.50) at E & M Grocery & Deli's takeout window. The expansive menu said, "Ask for Ethel or Melvin."

"Chitlins are fresh, too," approved a man whom I assumed was Melvin.

"Honey," Ethel poked her head out the takeout window, "where are you from? Do you know what chitlins is?" The deep-fat fryer gurgled.

E & M specializes in Cajun deep-fried catfish and cod, not to mention mountains of hush puppies ($1.85) and fried okra ($2.50), rising hot and crisp. Call ahead--hell, they'll even deliver. I happily slurped at Ethel's Gumbo ($4.50/$9), brewed so deep and dark that crab legs clack and sausage appears more frequently on the spoon than rice. "The hog's intestines," Ethel spoke after a brief guffaw. "I can't get enough of 'em." I nodded and chewed. Ethel slid over a hot piece of her peach cobbler ($2.25). "Eat this," she commanded. Sticky layers of pastry and peaches, flecked with nutmeg, melted like butter. I decided to eat dessert right in the middle of dinner. RACHEL KESSLER

Serafina

2043 Eastlake Ave E (Eastlake), 323-0807. Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2 pm; dinner Sun-Thurs 5:30-10 pm, Fri-Sat 5:30-11 pm; bar open later. $$.

Peopled by wealthy, young standard-jazz aficionados dressed in stretch cotton, Serafina offers "rough" Italian country fare, which seems to mean that the bread is chewy and the dishes are covered with lots of cheese. The signature New Zealand pork chop ($21.95) is very popular, along with a spicy Penne à la Cubana, with tomato, cream, prosciutto, and arugula ($13.95). Stick to the standards--the specials tend to be iffy. The Serafina Melanzane (eggplant) is a standout--rich and complex, though awkwardly presented over a bed of capellini ($14.95). Serafina offers seven house-made desserts, and the real reason to stop by this darkly lit Eastlake haunt may be to knuckle up to the bar, get yourself a juicy drink, and dip into the tiramisu. TRACI VOGEL

Bandoleone

2241 Eastlake Ave E (Eastlake), 329-7559. Dinner Sun-Thurs 5:30-10:30 pm, Fri-Sat 5:30-11 pm; brunch Sat-Sun 9 am-2:30 pm; Monday nights are Havana nights, with cigar smoking permitted. $$.

I call Bandoleone humble only because of its size. Smallish, a tad bit larger than intimate, its size makes it appear as little more than a neighborhood bar. But the gifted mixologists can serve ample and mature cocktails; the bar boasts a cigar menu and wine tastings; and the dining room is cozy. Bandoleone offers the nouvelle cuisine of Mediterranean Spain, tinged with flavors of Portugal, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Such a wide berth of influences can sometimes lead to palate confusion, such as the case with some of the more elaborate, "busy" tapas items. But my companion and I fought over the Estrella de Cordero Asado ($21), a rack of lamb served amid complex flavors, and the Pato Rojo ($17), a breast of duck with rhubarb glaze and a lovely cornbread pudding speckled with red onion. My compañero wanted to try the Pesca Tarifa (seared tuna), but I checked him with the hunkahunka Chuleta Ahumada ($16)--a smoked and grilled pork loin wading in a veal/sage demi-glace, confronted with pineapple-mustard salsa and accompanied with signature honey-chipotle whipped potatoes. This dish best exemplified the aim of Bandoleone: to quietly but firmly gloat in its Latin authenticity. RIZ ROLLINS

Price Scale (per entrée)

$ = $10 and under; $$ = $10-$20; $$$ = $20 and up.