Seattle's beloved Ba Bar goes green
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The kimchi fried rice from Ba Bar Green. My daughter deemed it "herbal and tasty." Photo: Lewis Kamb/Axios
Ba Bar has gone green.
What's happening: The latest iteration of Seattle's beloved Vietnamese street food-inspired restaurant offers an all plant-based grab-and-go menu from a take-out window at its South Lake Union location (500 Terry Avenue North).
Background: Ba Bar Green launched in mid-November from a 200 square foot space where the restaurant formerly made pastries until the pandemic hit.
- It primarily serves take-out and delivery orders, but if you get a beverage or appetizer from the adjacent restaurant's regular menu, you can dine-in.
- The menu consists of vegan spin-offs of East Asian street food favorites, including dan dan noodles, kimchi fried rice and chorizo banh mi.
Between the lines: In the decade since they launched Ba Bar as a cousin to their more sophisticated Monsoon, brother-and-sister partners Eric and Sophie Banh have expanded their casual take on noodles and cocktails from its original Capitol Hill digs to SLU and University Village.
- Ba Bar Green is a collaboration between Eric, his wife, Teresa Nguyen, and the Banhs' longtime chef de cuisine, Chris Michel.
What they're saying: "I wanted to design the menu around dishes that were well-known to see if I could make them plant-based," Michel toId Axios. "It was a little bit tricky, but I think we've done a successful job. It's really a menu for everyone. Most, if not all, meat eaters will like these dishes and not miss the meat."
Yes, but: All three of Ba Bar's sit-down spots continue to serve up their traditional meaty favorites, including beef, oxtail and chicken pho, and vermicelli dishes.
- And yes, the spicy Sai Gon chicken wings are still a highlight of Ba Bar's happy hour menu (2–5pm).
Lewis here. My vegetarian daughter and I recently visited Ba Bar Green's take-out window and dined-in after ordering drinks inside.
- Her take on the kimchi fried rice: "Herbal and tasty."
- I feasted on the dan dan noodles and can confirm Michel's assessment: I could hardly taste the difference between the plant-based version and the traditional meat dish.
The bottom line: Yum!