Everything was great--service, cocktails, appetizers, plates, and dessert. The banana bread dessert was phenomenal.

Had the shrimp vermicelli, loved it. It was filling and refreshing. I would get this dish again the next time I return.

Very marginal in a city of great SE Asian restaurants. Came for the Saigon crab that is plastered on their website but no such luck. They acted like it was a seasonal thing but not mentioned of their website. Oh well. The food was not very flavorful and the textures were off. The ribs had the best flavor along w the crayfish. I would not go back simply put especially given the $300 tab (inc tip) for 4 of us. I had high hopes but very disappointed. read more

Monsoon is a neighborhood standard that never disappoints. Whether it's a special occasion with family, happy hour on the rooftop, or just a tasty lunch, the service, food, and ambiance are always top notch. Don't miss the crab fried rice. read more

This place is quite enjoyable. Not exactly authentic vietnamese, but after the dungenss and crab roll, you won't really care. the environment is very pleasantly modern and hip vietanmese, dimly lit and all that. it works. The servings ar fairly generous and things are surprisingly good for being a pinch trendy. the peach salad ($11) was excellent, with wonderful sweet tomatoes and peaches an and a very well-placed tofu cream. The crunchy hazelnuts were not Vietnamese but a great touch. A few more would be better. The dungeness crab and shrimp rolls ($12) were amazing and served with lettuce and glass noodles. This was more quantity than i planned so i wrapped up with the chicken celery dumplings as it was late night happy hour pricing! The liquor selection is something else (especially gin). Very well priced and delicious. read more

Upscale Vietnamese cuisine in a cool setting. Multiple gluten free options. Rooftop seating for those golden Seattle nights. My favorite dish was the Asparagus. The flavor was top notch. Our server was very accommodating to my gluten allergy and spent several minutes walking us through which items were gluten free or could be modified to be gluten free. I recommend Monsoon for date night, an upscale family dinner, or a corporate event (I hosted a farewell dinner here a few years ago). I will definitely be coming back. read more

Monsoon Seattle - Vietnamese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Weird for a restaurant to have a way bigger lunch menu then dinner. I don't recommend this place for dinner, there aren't that many options and it's just kind of overpriced. I got the vegetable fried rice and there wasn't much flavor. They were very accommodating of me and my friend though because she has celiac disease and we're both vegetarian so our waiter talked with us about what we could get. If you do come , come during lunch because that's when it will actually be worth your time. read more

Great bar with wonderful drink options and pretty good food! Way too cold to eat outside in the winter, however!

I was REALLY skeptical about this place because it's an Asian fusion shop and there was only one Asian employee working. I was afraid this place wouldn't be authentic and that my drunken chicken would taste like orange chicken bought from Trader Joe's. I was wrong. My tastebuds were pleased with my meal. It was actually delicious. I was afraid it would taste Americanized but I didn't find that issue at all. The drunken chicken burst with flavor and the egg was cooked to perfection (the egg whites were not rubbery, thank goodness). The broken rice are smaller grains and it complimented the chicken well. The wait for our food was felt long though. There was not much of a crowd either. read more

Monsoon Seattle - Vietnamese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This place is not good Asian food. It seemed like upscale mall food. We got the drunken chicken and it's not at all like real drunken chicken and more like general tso's chicken from panda express. The fried rice and noodles tastes weirdly of lots of butter. It's basically the place I would recommend to people who don't want actual Asian food. Side note. Definitely not a place for kids. The wait staff on the first floor literally ignored us when we came in and looked exacerbated that we even existed. Totally understandable since we clearly made a mistake in coming. But the food being not good? Not worth it. read more

What a gem! Finally got to try this spot. Highlights were the pork spare ribs, noodles, and claypot catfish, but everything we tried was excellent. read more

We found this place on Goop and we decided to give it a try. We shared the coho salmon, the Dungeness crab fried rice and the snap peas. The food was really good! The restaurant itself was very cute just on the side of a very nice street with lots of people walking around and a good community feel. read more

saw this place on Check Please! (a regional tv show about food reviews n experiences) like 8 yrs. ago? n been 2 their Bellevue location.. was looking 2 try their regular menu, but got there during wkend brunch hrs. .. so brunch menu only! n w/ prices that r double the cost of a regular ol' Vietnamese restaurant, it better b good! there4, an elevated or not? type of review is in store 4 this place Review style: Elevated or not? I guess the owner is probly Chinese/Vietnamese since they have dim sum on their brunch menu.. or perhaps some kind of Chinese connection or something.. 2 start out w/ right off the bat, their Shrimp Dumplings is probly their best dish n that's not saying much.. it was steamed perfectly, tasted decent, I mean 4 each piece u get a big ol' shrimp; however, I recommend if ur going 2 have dim sum on ur menu, ur going 2 need 2 have soy sauce n vinegar on the table; even though, the fish sauce mix was the only resort that I had 2 use that n fortunately, it put an interesting twist on the shrimp dumplings Elevated or not?: that will b a NO.. just a simple looking 3 pieces of shrimp dumplings that normally cost $3 @ a dim sum place is double the price plus 50 cent.. nothing stuck out that was unique about it.. came in a steamer sticky rice was ok.. it came in two n didn't have much flavor or much 2 offer; although, the highlight was that the rice was easy 2 scrape out of the leaf it came in Elevated or not?: NO again.. $6 for just two small pieces that has no extra ingredients like let me recommend 4 them 2 add like dried shrimp or scallops or something 2 turn it up 2 elevated? n most of all.. flavor? noodle dish needed more seasoning, oh wait the sauce is all @ the bottom of the plate when I was almost finished, but I did mix it but evidently I guess I didn't mix deep enough, but good thin crispy pork.. egg noodle was not tender enough n I recommend 4 them 2 crisp it 4 a little Elevated or not?: looks elevated in presentation a little bit, but w/ all the ingredients on the plate as it came sitting on my table, I am like this most likely cost $3, but is 4 times the price.. I can understand if u charge twice the amount b/c of Seattle labor costs n rents, but ur dish doesn't have any ingredient that elevated like maybe add duck or lobster in2 it? something more so that it can b justified for $13 dollars? oh yeah.. that will b a NO my wife's Banh Xeo dish is like picture this.. it is sitting down across the boulevard/corner holding a sign that reads need more meat! Elevated or not?: NO, nothing eye popping or fancy looking; just a regular ol' looking plate of Banh Xeo crepe that needs more meat n my wife wasn't even satisfied w/ it as it was ok n she had better service was here n there, they were nice n brought out the dishes n took our order but during times of need, didn't come as much 2 cents summary: I'm good; I rather go 2 a real Vietnamese place that is $7 a plate 4 better food n quality.. plus place wasn't really elevated like that as presentations n quality did not wow read more

I had been looking forward to trying this place! I ordered the egg rolls as an appetizer. The first half of the egg roll was pretty good, it did feel a little extra that the waiter advised us to eat with lettuce wraps. The second half... I bit into something that felt like it almost broke my tooth off. I had bitten into an actual ROCK that was about the size of a split pea. When I notified the waiter he seemed a little dumbstruck and said he would let the manager know. My friend and I watched him amble around the restaurant, helping other patrons, and came back with our check 2 minutes later. No manager notifed, no re-mention of the incident, no apology. I know everywhere is understaffed right now but please try to do a little better when training your staff. read more

Venue - Place is very nice and cozy. Bar - Full bar is only open between certain hours but seems like a good decent selection. Service - Was greeted right away as we walked in and our server was very nice and prompt. Food - Portions are great and the food was actually really good and definitely enjoyed it. Price - Avaerage pricing as any other place. I would come here again and recommend it. read more

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Excellent modern Vietnamese food with fresh, local ingredients served in a cozy, modern space. The dishes are always tasty and well-seasoned and the congee is a personal favorite. Service this time around was very prompt and attentive. The cocktails are tasty and creative but could use just a touch more sweet (just a touch!). Interior was a bit chilly on this September Saturday and it can get a bit dark indoors. read more

I've been meaning to write a review for Monsoon for a couple of years now. Just now finally getting around to it, but it truly is one of my favorite spots in Seattle. My favorites are the crispy imperial rolls and the drunken chicken. The banana cake is also AMAZING. We've always had great meals at Monsoon and hope to go back soon for another visit. read more

Vietnamese food is my favorite :) This place definitely hit the spot. There's one down the road from my work in Bellevue and the Seattle one didn't disappoint! read more

Swung by Monsoon on Aug 8 to grab some lunch. I was very disappointed by the person at the Host station - super rude, curt, and unfriendly. I've had a good experience previously at Monsoon and thought the staff were great, this was decidedly unpleasant enough to make me not want to return. read more

The food was great! However I took stars off cause the TV playing food network was strange, the service was alittle slow and also they added a 3% credit fee to our bill which was not advertised . This charge should have been clearly communicated beforehand. Overall I will be going back just now prepared for the additional fee and the food network playing in the background... read more

Food is good, however quality has gone down in the last two months, I used to love the drunken chicken and yesterdays version was quite average. What has gotten really bad is the how the host handles reservations, its the same "disease" that hit the Nue a few years ago, and made it an unpleasant experience sometimes. Its the front of the house combo of a bad reservation systems, with a intransigent hostess that refuse to let you choose what table you can take, from all the identical two people tables, even after you reserver and put comments on what you wanted. So they choose one, and force to it. If you ask how can you actually reserve one for the next time, they tell you they dont reserve tables... lowering my visits from once a month to once a year. read more

Disappointing for the price. Portions were surprisingly small and didn't care for the wait staff. The female in training was very nice though. read more

The food selection was good. We had the papaya salad, the crispy imperial rolls, the drunken chicken and the catfish in the clay pot. It was all delicious. It came out hot and beautiful and the flavors were incredible. The service was quick and courteous. They took a to go order for us and had it hot and ready when we paid, That was the Vermicelli noodle combo. We had tea and ginger beer to drink. Three of us and we had to take some home. The ambiance was nice and calm.. there was seating inside and out. read more

Went here as a group of 3. We split everything - green beans, Brussels sprouts, vegetarian rolls and drunken chicken. The food was really good, plus plenty of vegetarian options to make it easy for the friend who is vegetarian. The drunken chicken tasted like a sesame chicken unexpectedly but was also good. Nice list of cocktails as well read more

Wow!! This place has the most amazing food Definitely a MUST when in Seattle!! Would go out if my way to come here read more

Higher-end Vietnamese in a quieter part of Capitol Hill, Monsoon has been a staple of the neighborhood for years. Recently, the space has expanded, adding on a gorgeous bar and a rooftop deck for balmy Seattle days. Somehow I always end up sitting in the bar, which is fine by me - the decor is lovely and the big windows make it open and airy in good weather, cozy and warm in the rain. The food here is fantastic. The catfish claypot is one of my go-to items, the fish meltingly tender and perfectly caramelized, the flavors a perfect mingling of sweet-salty-savory. The bo la lot is juicy and flavorful. The pho, although about double the price of your average bowl, earns its cost with quality ingredients and delicious flavors. My biggest gripe is that the pho is only available for lunch/brunch, not dinner, because there has been many a time when I craved a hot bowl of pho during a drizzly evening. Service has always been good to great, very prompt and friendly. My biggest issue with Monsoon is the prices. While I understand that quality ingredients cost more and that restaurant margins are slim, the menu prices elevate Monsoon above a neighborhood joint to more of a special occasion or destination dining location. (Although with the influx of new California/Amazon money to the Hill, this may not be an issue for long.) On a recent visit, desperately craving scallops, we were served five medium-sized bivalves for $23. They were tasty, and Monsoon definitely goes for quality over quantity, but there is still a bit of sticker shock at times. I lived across the street from the restaurant for a few years, and I'd have been over a lot more often if the prices were slightly more reasonable. read more

Visiting Seattle, we wanted a nice restaurant near the place we were staying in the Capital Hill neighborhood. We decided Vietnamese sounded good. The restaurant was so cold we kept our coats on. Our server literally came to the table one time and only asked ONE OF US what we would like to eat. My husband had to get up to tell the server that he, too, would like to order some food. The food itself was pretty good but wow, the service could not have been more disappointing. What kind of server comes to the table once? He even left a drink menu in case we wanted one. Guess he wouldn't know if he never bothered to return. Someone else even brought our check so we could leave. Obviously, since we don't live here, we won't be going back, but felt the need to warn others to think twice... read more

This place is DELICIOUS. We had the green papaya salad, tofu fresh rolls, drunken chicken and steamed rice. I had the seasonal shrub, my husband had a mocktail with ginger beer in it. Everything was VERY fresh, down to the mint in the salad being un-wilted, and the drinks with fresh garnishes. The fresh rolls were perfectly wrapped, packed full with vegetables and the rice paper still soft. The drunken chicken was good, but honestly too rich for me (it was made with thigh meat, I would've preferred breast). But that's a niche opinion, my husband *loved* it. The sauce was tangier than orange chicken, and clearly just came out of the fryer. The coloring was good on it, the oil clearly fresh too. I'd come back here in an instant for high quality, very fresh Vietnamese food. The ambiance is pleasant. It's not as warm as I like, kind of austere, but it was clean and modern looking. Our waitress was great, very sweet and gave good suggestions. She moved quickly and we felt taken care of. Can't wait to come try other dishes! read more

We got here around 2:40. I noticed the kitchen is full of non Vietnamese workers, bad sign! They only served brunch menu, which doesn't have much to offer. We ordered one pan cake sort of thing, maybe named ban Xao, and one mushroom pho. The shrimp in the pancake is full of sh*t, literally! And the pho is very small and lots of MSG. Server was rude acted like a ***** for most of the time. Overall, As I was expected, it is a overrated, food with crap sort of place. read more

Monsoon Seattle - Vietnamese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Kind of blowing the basics. We had lunch and ordered bowls. The bowls were supposed to have pineapple and soft boiled egg, neither of the two we ordered had either. No pineapple, which I was looking forward to balance the dish with a sweet juiciness, and the egg was hard boiled, so none of that soft yolk to add moisture and umami to the dish. So the dishes were pretty meh. When we asked the wait staff about the egg, they admitted to us that the "soft boiled" eggs were often hard boiled. We asked them to check with the kitchen and they came back to say that "all we have are hard boiled eggs today". Whaaa?? Too much money and too much positive buzz to be so lazy. read more

As a vegetarian I haven't loved Vietnamese food that much because of the use of fish paste. The tofu dish with mushrooms and onions was the best dish. Loved it! Appreciated the outdoor tables and the friendly staff. read more

Pho for brunch? WHAT? That's right, Monsoon actually recommends their oxtail pho for brunch. Monsoon's pho is a paradox -- the noodles, soup base, and meat are all really good separately, but together it was only alright. The soup is well seasoned, the noodles are cooked with a bite, and the beef.... oh, the wagyu beef. The quality of the beef definitely deserves mention -- perfect amount of tenderness and fat-lean ratio. At $10, Monsoon's pho is double the cost of the pho from Pho Than or any of the other pho restaurants. Although all parts of the pho tastes great separately, all the pieces together was only OK and is comparable to the cheaper pho places. However, I do recommend the mushroom oxtail pho that my friend ordered. Three types of mushrooms -- hon shimeji, oyster, and shittake mushrooms make for a more unique bowl of pho! For dessert, Monsoon serves a steamed banana cake with a savory coconut sauce. The cake itself was bland, but the coconut sauce was salty so at the end of the meal, I didn't feel like I ate dessert at all. read more

The drunken chicken, with a Mad Hatcher egg over rice, is good. The predominate flavor is sour. Not sweet like General Tso's, which unfortunately is what my corrupted western taste buds require. The egg could've used some salt. Corrupted. Western. The restaurant is so little and cute though, tucked away and easy to miss. I'm sure I'll be back. read more

Monsoon Seattle - Drunken chicken $12 - Vietnamese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This rating is actually 3.5 stars, but of course Yelp does not do half stars. Will someone get on that? This area known as North Cap Hill is actually really nice and I have been wanting to explore this place more now that Seattle summer has arrived (kind of). I first heard about Monsoon from none other than my Yelp community. After seeing the pics online with dim sum goodies, my buddy and I wanted some dim sum. When we got here, they told us dim sum was served on weekends. That day was a weekday. Damn. So we opted for the Drunken Chicken, and to be completely honest it was just alright. Just think of a glorified Panda Express dish: sweet and sour chicken-looking entree with some sesame seeds sprinkled on top to make it look all fancy, and then add on a sunny-side egg with some veggies to be healthy. That's what the Drunken Chicken dish was in a nutshell. It tasted fine---just nothing special about it, and it was definitely not the cat's meow. The interior of the restaurant is nice, and there is seating available outside on a nice, sunny Seattle day. I might come here again to try other dishes, but it will not be anytime soon. read more

Monsoon is a beautiful, upscale, hipster Asian fusion restaurant, which I somehow expected to be similar to Stateside. Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of Monsoon as it reminded me a little bit of PF Chang's. In good news, it was easy to make a last minute reservation for two on a weekday and service was friendly and prompt. - LA LOT - 3 STARS: This is one of their "most popular" dishes, and it was a bit unimpressive. This version of La Lot was so much better than at the restaurant, La Lot. It was a little bit burned, and came with two skewers. - BRUSSELS SPROUTS - 3 STARS: I love mushrooms, and I love brussels sprouts, but I thought this was pretty mediocre because it was too soggy. - CRISPY CHICKEN - 3.5 STARS: I was on the fence about getting this dish because it looked like something from Panda Express, but alot of Yelpers (and the waitress) recommended it. I never order chicken at restaurants, but I'm glad I did because this was tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside, and I was a fan of the sweet-and-sour sauce. I - CATFISH CLAY POT - 3 STARS: This was a fairly small claypot with about two fillets, and it was a little too sweet and overcooked, and covered in way too many onions. I've had much better catfish claypot elsewhere so I wouldn't order it again, but this was decently good. - WHEAT NOODLES - 2.5 STARS: This was a huge portion of very bland noodles. read more

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My first time dining here was pleasant. It's well decorated. I came for lunch and ordered the papaya salad while my friend ordered the fried spring rolls. I wasn't a fan of the dressing as it was too salty, and was overpowering with what I think was fish sauce. The shrimp seemed fried rather than grilled as the menu mentioned, which I disliked. My friend enjoyed his spring rolls despite it being a hassle to wrap. We ended the meal with a banana cake with a coconut creme. It tasted like a denser banana bread. My friend felt it was too sweet and for me, it was too dense and an unattractive brown color with a creme I didn't like. I'd come back to try their entrees since we both ordered from the small plates section. read more

Monsoon Seattle - papaya salad and spring rolls - Vietnamese Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Do servers in Seattle even care about friendly service anymore? Why is there a sense of entitlement? I mean isn't it your job to provide good service? Are servers that pissed about being a server in Seattle? My gf and I came to eat during lunch last Sunday. Our server seemed to want to be anywhere but at Monsoon. I mean this server never smiled once and had this vibe like we were a bother just by eating there. It truly isn't a great feeling when the atmosphere isn't welcoming. Maybe the server was having a bad day? Either way, it was their duty to be a good server and unfortunately that wasn't the case with the attitude. We ordered a few dim sum dishes and the banh xeo with just shrimp. The shrimp dumplings were extra large and quite delicious. I enjoyed the daikon cake, my gf thought it was okay. This is definitely not your cheap dim sum, the quality is higher. The banh xeo was disappointing. It had very little shrimp and we asked to not include the pork, thus you would think they would give you a bit more shrimp. The banh xeo was not crispy at all, quite the soggy sad thing. Oh and they were out of congee that day. Just my luck. I had not been to Monsoon in many years and this visit was not the best. The ambience is very nice in general. p.s. I still left a 20% tip. read more

Pan fried noodles with duck egg and mushrooms is a must try! Go here for dim sum on the weekend, Asian/ Vietnamese food with a flare and pretty setting. Catfish Claypot : good Duck egg noodles: OMG!!! Foodgasmmmmmmmmmm!!!! Rolls & Bun Salads : Meh ( Pho cyclo does it better but this is fusion!) Drinks : Not bad. Over all: delish!! read more

Paying top dollar for glamorized Asian food was not a plan I had during my first visit to Monsoon. In fact, for most Asian fusion restaurants, its hard for me to justify the eclectic nature of combining food and charging 4x than what its worth. I decided I'd chance it and see if indeed it was any better than the other places. The restaurant itself was beautiful. From the forks to the walls, things were organized in a way where one would detect that quality is their mantra. People had to walk around the restaurant like a labyrinth, which is probably not a good thing in terms of a plausible layout. For the customers who ate there, it looked as if it the majority of the folks who ate here would be too scared to head further into the international district or even Chinatown. Even the service was a little pretentious in their attempt to sound like chefs who prepared the meals and explaining the meals while butchering the names. Prices were absurdly high and dining here may have been just as pricey as some of the steakhouses nearby. At least with the prices you get a fabulous presentation. Drunken Chicken shouldn't have to cost $15.00 when it can be had for half that in a standard Thai place. The filet mignon was decent, but unimpressive and ultimately disappointing. read more

Over priced and mediocre food. Why am I paying $14 for a glass of cheap wine? We were seated at an incredibly small two seater and then had total strangers seated on the outside right next to us, literally six inches from out table. The staff and management seem oblivious to what a good dining experience is all around and we spent $140 for two of us. I'll avoid this place in the future. I. An make that level of food for $40. read more