915 E Pine, 2nd fl. (Capitol Hill), 320-8458. Brunch Sat-Sun, 8:30 am-3 pm; lunch Mon-Sat 11 am-2 pm; dinner Mon-Wed 5:30 pm-midnight, Thurs 5:30-10 pm, Fri 5:30 pm-midnight. $

With the renowned Chef Rip at the helm, the Century Ballroom Cafe is capable of achieving great heights. Red curtains and tidy white tables offer a hint of elegance, contrasting with the funky space. The menu offers tapas, salads, soups, desserts, and beer and wine. Red and tangy, the Chick Pea and Harissa Spread ($3.50) serves as a perfect complement to the delightfully nutty house bread. Both the Pacific Snapper ($8.95) and Portobello Mushrooms with Snap Peas, Mustard Greens, Fresh Mozzarella, Roast Onion, and Tomato Sauce ($7.95) are done in parchment paper, which achieves its age-old goal of locking in freshness and moisture. JIM ANDERSON

Doong Kong Lau

9710 Aurora Ave N (Greenwood), 526-8828. Mon-Fri 10:30 am-11 pm, Sat-Sun 9:30 am-11 pm. $$

Doong Kong Lau's cuisine is a compromise between the spicy northern cuisine of Szechwan, Hunan, and the tamer Cantonese. The massive menu (180 items) even includes Hakka (Chinese "gypsies") dishes. The food gets its intense flavor from strong stocks and special seasonings, but without MSG and peppers. We started with vegetable pot stickers, which were homemade, aromatic, and tender. The boneless, stuffed, mochi rice duck arrived all brown and crispy, produced by a complicated Hakka technique of marinating, frying, hanging, and marinating and frying again. Another semi-legendary dish is the eggplant with garlic sauce. MICHAEL HOOD

The Eating Factory

10630 NE Eighth St (Bellevue), 425-688-8202. Lunch daily 11:30 am-2:30 pm; dinner 5:30-9 pm (Thurs-Sat until 9:30). $

The Eating Factory and its Japanese-style, all-you-can-eat format offer many things most buffets don't. There's the space itself, smartly designed and artfully adorned, with comfortable booths and chairs and a light, spacious feel. Get in line, grab a plate... and it's goodbye, hunger! The Eating Factory does tempura splendidly. A thin, crispy coating of batter hugs broccoli, carrots, and sweet potatoes, creating a firm and crunchy vegetable ingestion system. Juicy pieces of squid are mild and substantial without being tough. Succulent steamed clams sit smartly (if briefly) on our tongues, washed back by Sapporo beer (a steal at $4.95 for a large bottle). I had fretted about the freshness and quality of sushi in a buffet setting, but all worries were cast aside as we dug in. JIM ANDERSON

El Greco

219 Broadway (Capitol Hill), 328-4604. Tues-Fri 11 am-9:30 pm (Fri until 10 pm), Sat 9 am-10 pm, Sun brunch 9 am-2:30 pm. $$

El Greco serves some of the best-prepared food in one of the least comfortable rooms on Capitol Hill. The room is narrow; an L-shaped corridor with a hard tile floor. That said, I have loafed there many nights and loved it. The food and wine are that good. The wine is excellent and affordable. The menu is largely Mediterranean: pastas, panini, hummus, tzatziki, and baba ghanoush share space with lamb, pork, chicken, and fresh fish. Basil, oregano, garlic, and tarragon are favored. Pork and lamb are invariably tender and moist, threaded with spicy marinades. El Greco also has some terrific vegetarian fare, especially their Crispy Penne ($10), tossed with eggplant, tomato, kalamata olives, and capers, then grilled; it's every bit as complex as the richly marinated pork loin ($13). MATTHEW STADLER

Hall's Mr. Bar-B-Que

7302 1/2 15th Ave NW (Ballard), 706-9429. Tues-Sat, 11 am-8 pm. $

When you walk into Hall's Mr. Bar-B-Que you're hit by the aroma of greens, corn bread, and sauce. With Phillip "Dino" Hall standing behind the counter, you'll feel like you just got home. The ribs ($6 for 1/2 pound) -- prone and dark from their time well spent in Dino's smoker/roaster -- shimmer in the bright Ballard sun. The chicken (a steal at $4.95 for a semi-bird), cut attractively to offer a tempting white meat cross-section, looks as though it's been laid out by a food magazine designer. Also worthy of mention is the appropriately peppery potato salad, long on flavor and short on mustard -- the natural enemy of any potato salad. JIM ANDERSON

Luau

2253 N 56th St (Wallingford), 633-5828. Sun-Thurs 5-10 pm, Fri-Sat 5-11 pm; bar open until 2 am Fri-Sat. $$

Luau's take on Polynesian is both original and delicious. The cozy space is small enough that the bar and dining area are, for all practical purposes, in the same room; and while there's plenty of Polynesian kitsch, it's not overdone. We started off with the Hawaiian Flat Bread, served with a sweet onion relish, which comes gratis for diners. We ordered Lemongrass Mahi Mahi ($14), and damn if it wasn't fantastic. Served with big chunks of grilled vegetables, the serving of fish was hefty and appropriately seared, with an almost crunchy outside, sealing in the juicy freshness of the white and tender Mahi Mahi. Two giant soba cakes tagged along, and the pie-slice-shaped wedges were as clever as they were satisfying. JIM ANDERSON

Malay Satay Hut

212 12th Ave S (International District), 324-4091. Open daily 11 am-11 pm. $$

Nestled in a small strip mall, sitting between a dry cleaners and a seafood market, a restaurant sits beneath a sign that reads simply, "Malay Satay House." Perhaps anticipating the wariness of the less adventurous, the menu includes color pictures of the dishes. Everything looks beautiful and hearty, but I don't make it past page 7, because a dish called Buddhist Yam Pot captures my imagination and stretches it. Yam Pot turns out to be impossibly rich and too much to finish, particularly when accompanied by the Belachan String Beans, stir-fried in shrimp paste and glittering with scarlet crushed red pepper. The lychee ice drink comes in a large pint glass, full of respite and encouragement to travel to this world again... and again. RIZ ROLLINS

"Where to Eat" Price Scale (per entrée)

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