Contents and photos by Adelia Sindunata

Whaddup, Phins? Back at it again with Ebbtide Eats!

This time I decided to take over the Eats section and go on a food adventure without my Ebbtide teammates. (Sorry, fellas. I didn’t mean to ditch you.)

With three other girls who love food like I do, we headed to Wann Yen, a small Thai dessert cafe in the University District. This place was a bit difficult to find, but if you know where Sweet Alchemy ice cream is, it makes your searching process easier — Wann Yen is just across from it, next to Cedars restaurant.

As mentioned earlier in this article, this place is small; definitely not for a big group of people, but good for a party of two or three. However, if you’re lucky, you can get the table at the back corner which fits four to five people.

Our group was welcomed by a friendly lady who was the only server working. This is an order-at-the-counter place, where you tell the server your order, and they will deliver it to your table.
After a few minutes of being indecisive, we decided to try these items:

Thai Iced Tea with Milk (Cha Yen) – $3

This is a classic item that you can find almost everywhere: bubble tea places, Asian groceries, various restaurants… By restaurants, I mean not only Thai restaurants — as far as I can remember, some pho places sell Thai iced tea, too.
Yet, so far Wann Yen is the winner in the battle of cha yen. Their cha yen is a perfect combination of milk and tea. The only downside? Too many ice cubes. Maybe we can go with less ice next time.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Nom Yen – $3.50

Let me admit something: I ordered this drink just because the picture in the menu was so attractive. Nom yen is basically rose syrup combined with condensed milk and ice cubes.

I sipped it and it was too sweet for my liking. For those people who have a sweet tooth, this would be a good one, but as somebody who is not really a fan of sweets, this was not my favorite. It might have tasted better with evaporated milk (which is unsweetened) — but hey, if we did that it might not be nom yen anymore.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Kao Man Gai – $8.95

The only main course of the day! As a part of our indecisiveness, all four of us ordered the same dish. The waiting time was a bit long, so once the four plates of kao man gai arrived at our table, we four hungry kiddos ate our meal cheerfully.

It was worth the wait. The rice was not too salty and had a nice texture. The chicken was soft and tender, just perfectly cooked. Definitely yummy, but the soup was a bit bland. Still, we were satisfied. Holy moly.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Bubble Waffle – $5 (add $2 for a scoop of ice cream on the waffle)

So here’s the story: We didn’t order this, but the lady decided to make this complementary waffle for us as an apology because we waited too long for the kao man gai. With super bright smiles, we accepted this free waffle — ahem, everyone likes free stuff, right?

Guess what? This was actually the best item of the day.

The waffle was crispy outside and fluffy inside — heaven on earth. The powdered sugar and mango ice cream on top made it even better. We expected the mango ice cream to be sour, but it wasn’t. Yay for bubble waffle!

Rating: 5 out of 5

To summarize our experience, we exited through the door with happy tummies, big smiles and good moods. Would we go back to this place? Yes, of course.
“Come back again next time,” said the lady, smiling at us. “We’ll feed you!”

Address: 1313 NE 43rd St. Seattle, WA 98105
Opening Hours: 12-8:00 p.m., Tue-Sat, closed on Mondays and Sundays
Bus Route from Shoreline: 5, then transfer to 44 or 45