Pike Place Market is a jewel box, and Mee Sum Pastry is my favorite gem. The small take-out-only shop sells cheap Chinese eats: barbecue pork sticks, crab rangoon, wife cakes. The crab rangoon is heavy on the crab and light on the rangoon, which I think is ideal, but the real reason I go is for the cheap hum bow. For $2.50 each, the meat-filled buns come either baked or steamed and stuffed with chicken, barbecue pork, or curry beef. Find one of Pike Place Market's lookouts—now viaduct-free!—and watch the ships come in as you stuff your face. CHASE BURNS