The Seattle Metropolitan Magazine (which someone on the stranger forums describes as a ‘A little predictable and upper-wad stuffiness.’) just published a list of the best ethnic restaurants in the Seattle metro area. The list itself, and the inclusion of places like Udupi Palace in it, has been the topic of discussion in many a mailing list.

All of that aside, D & I – being the foodies that we are – decided to make it a point to visit each one of the restaurants in their list over the next few summer months. We started at the top, with the Afghan restaurant Bamiyan, but were unable to find it in spite of the fact that it’s somewhere in (the only) shopping area in Issaquah. Next on the list was the African restaurant ‘Pan Africa’. Given our plans of attending the Bollywood party at Baltic room on Saturday night, we decided to make it a downtown evening and head out to the Pan African Market in Pike Place.

So here’s my review:

Name: Pan Africa Market

Location: 1521 First Ave. Seattle, WA

Our Order: Beef Tibs, Chicken Yassa, Veggie Combo.

Pros:

1. Great Ethiopian Food – the beef & veggie combos were both excellent.

2. Warm, Cozy Ambience and a great location right on Pike & 1^st.

3. Reasonably priced.

Cons:

1. The Chicken Yassa was… er…interesting. It wasn’t spicy like the regular African fare. It had more of a Mediterranean taste. We didn’t expect that.

2. The place was rather small – we were lucky to get there late enough to get seating, but I’d imagine that the place is packed on a regular evening.

We weren’t adventurous enough to try the Senegalese chicken dishes or the fish stews from Madagascar, but overall, the food was great and reasonably priced, the ambience was warm and cozy and you’re right on Pike. Definitely an ‘A’, will visit again.