Apart from occasional requisite trips to the airport and Forever 21 at Southcenter Mall, I don’t make it down to the Renton-Kent-Tukwila corner of our region all that often. But now that I’ve traversed the 405 with some of my favorite intrepid eaters, the Renton/Kent area has revealed itself as a glorious, abundant land of food options.
The crown jewel of Kent is the Great Wall Shopping Mall (18230 East Valley Hwy, Kent; 425-251-1600, www.greatwallmall.com), an expansive shopping center filled with Asian restaurants and stores. Great Wall is home to Imperial Garden Seafood Restaurant (425-656-0999), which serves some of the best dim sum around (including shrimp dumplings with corn and soft tofu in a light ginger syrup). There’s also 99 Ranch Market (425-251-9099), a mother of an Asian supermarket with impressive seafood and meat selections (and free fish-frying services!) and long, confusing checkout lines. It’s awesome. A little deeper into Kent, nestled into a strip mall, is Punjab Sweets (23617-C 104th Ave SE, Kent; 253-859-3236), a small, lovely shop whose glass cases are filled with rows of Indian sweets and savory vegetarian snacks. And, of course, there are always the pickled herring and meatballs at IKEA.
