Little Uncle

Love the vibe here! I felt like I was back in Bangkok, ordering food from a vendor on Kao San Road. Except I wasn’t, I was in Seattle, ordering food from a vendor on East Madison.
Anyway, The standout here is the khao soi gai, but the phad Thai is also a classic and super worthy. Wash it all down with a Thai iced tea. If you’re lucky, the might also have some tasty pork steamed buns on the menu too! If you go during lunch hours, be prepared for a small line and seating can be pretty limited.

This review is specifically about Little Uncle’s khao soi. After living in Thailand for four months and eating as much khao soi as humanly possible, I was hoping that Little Uncle could not only recapitulate the Thai dining experience in both aesthetic — tables propped up outside and toilet paper as napkins — but also taste. Unfortunately, they only delivered on the former. Hard to tell if any curry paste was in the broth, which was very coconutty. Peppers should be in the paste, which would then be in the broth, rather than served as a topping. The cooked noodles were lackluster, and the chicken a bit dry. Found the portion size satisfactory

Umm, yes. Amazingly good food and friendly folks behind the counter. This is as good as it gets.

I tried this place for the first time a couple of Fridays ago… I had a medical appointment in the area and picked up take-​out lunch on my way home. As other Unilocal’ers have reported, this is a tiny walk-​up window/​kitchen and a few tables on the sidewalk. They’ve done their best to make it cute and chic (and it was a sunny day), but there is no way I am going to freeze my tooshie in December!
Please note that I had ~20 min drive home, so I do realize that may affect the dining experience given that the food cooled off a bit during that time. In my (and hubby’s opinion), I think the items to order here are the appetizers– the sala bao (braised pork belly in a steamed bun w/​shredded pickles and peeks pantry bun jam) and a daily special (steamed bun with crispy chicken skin) were both EXCELLENT! I also really liked the specials board’s Kanom Gui Chay ([Sticky] Rice Cakes filled with garlic chives, and topped with fried garlic and soy). Less impressive was the (specials board’s) Khao Phad Bu (Dungeness crab fried rice), but the most disappointing IMO was the menu’s staple phad thai. It had the perfect ingredient list, including my tamarind barometer (rice noodles, organic eggs, NW tofu, tamarind, bean sprouts) and a packets of dried chilis, peanuts, and other goodie toppings… but still somehow came short. It was just missing the flavor, and the chewy/​sticky texture I demand when craving this iconic noodle dish!
There was enough good stuff to make up for the disappointing phad thai, and by the lines of people who queue’d up after me (I lucked out in just beating the crowd– my credit card transaction was at 11:50am, fyi) it is definitely a popular joint so perhaps the chef was having a bad phad thai day. I also really appreciated the cute (authentic?) take-​out packaging of wrapping the food artfully in brown paper rather than utilizing the usual (and very un-​sexy) to-​go containers. Very cute!

I love this place. I live nearby and eat here every couple weeks. I always get the Khao Soi Gai and my girlfriend gets the Phad Thai, and both are great. They have a rice cake /​coconut custard dessert that I really like, too.
A heads up, too, y’all — these guys prepped a ton of family-​style takeaway food for a party we had at work recently. They did a fantastic job, for a really reasonable price, on really short notice. It was the perfect spread, and we ate our faces off. Make sure to hit up Little Uncle for your next party!

This place makes me wish I lived in Seattle! I was up there recently and staying in the neighborhood. Heard about this place from Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover. Was drawn in by the promise of khao soi, which is one of my favorite all-​time dishes. Maybe my favorite, actually… Anyhow, we walked over and the place is super no-​frills. Literally a hole in the wall stand with a couple of small tables with folding chairs on the sidewalk and one more in a nook.
Food was a little pricey (about $ 11 per dish), and I did think the portion was a tad on the small side. However, my judgment on the size of the dish hinged on two things: 1) the khao soi was delicious and I could eat it forever, and 2) American portion sizing tends to be on the large size, so maybe this size of serving was actually reasonable?
The khao soi was fantastic and I was sorely tempted to get another one right away but was actually glad I didn’t in the end because once the food settled I felt pleasantly (and not disgustingly) full.
We loved it so much that we went back the next day and had it for brunch! So two consecutive meals of khao soi. Their other stuff looked really good too, but I love khao soi and it is all I want. Their Thai ice tea is pretty good too!
Kinda weird to be right next to a bus stop. But the food was so good I’d eat it on the sidewalk. Well, I guess technically I did eat it on the sidewalk…

For any of the Unilocalers that said Little Uncle doesn’t give enough food — y’all are crazy! Little Uncle is not shy when it comes to giving its customers generous portions.
I called ahead on a Tuesday night and ordered Khao Mun Gai and Phad Thai. The food was ready by the time I got there (about 15 to 20 minutes). They wrapped the food in paper for that authentic kick :)
The food will fill up a room with such a lovely scent. The Khao Mun Gai had delicious Hainan chicken and delicious, delicious rice with bits of fried pork fat. The Phad Thai was just as good, another great rendition of a classic dish.
Little Uncle is definitely one of my new favorite places. :)

Excellent food. Love the atmosphere. Street side seating. Cucumber soda Yum. Delicious dishes.

Little Uncle resembles the typical food stalls on the streets in Thailand. There are only a few chairs and tables set up on the street and you can order your food, then grab a table to sit and wait your food or take your food to you.
We ordered their Khao soi, the bao and the typical pad Thai. The food took a little long to wait, but I was glad the Khaosao was quite awesome. My SO enjoyed the soft and tender meat in the bao and were were both glad the pad Thai wasn’t drenched in ketchup like many other restaurants would have cooked the dish. I also like that the plates that they serve on tin dishes, the toilet rolls they use in place of napkins and the way they wrap their pad Thai to go for customers, totally remind me of how people do it for street eats in Thailand! :D Prices though seem a little high for the ambiance but the food is decent. I wouldn’t say it’s 100% hit for Thai food. Pad thai was actually a little too dry for my taste, but at least it resembles more of how we serve Pad Thai in Thailand (e.g. tofu!! – and not meat. people! :)).
Overall, I wouldn’t hesitate stopping by here again. It’s a little pricey for a take out dish and for street side concept ($ 10ish for a padthai), and the selection is a little small (a few options to pick from). However, if you get lucky to stop by on a day that they offer special dishes, you might hit a jackpot for other traditional yummy Thai street eats, too!

It’s easy to miss this street side gem when cruising down Madison ave. Its been on my list for a while and I finally made it!
I got the Khao mun gai for 3 important reasons:
1. It was the first item on the menu
2. It looked baller
3. Megan Rapinoe posted about it on IG a few weeks ago
I was far from disappointed. I could live off this dish for the rest of my life. I also appreciated that the server caught on to my emanating noobiness and instructed me on how to properly eat this dish. Good looking out, my friend.
5 stars: fast, friendly, and freakin’ delicious

I love this place! I brought my boyfriend here when he came to visit because it was walking distance from my house and it was all he could talk about when we reminisced about his trip. I was so excited to take him to the Pioneer Square location, but unfortunately it shut down before we could go.
The menu is simple and straight forward the folks behind the counter are alright. Love the location and space.

I had the khao gluk gapi (shrimp fried rice) and khao mun gai (poached chicken with broth and rice). The shrimp fried rice is so unique to taste buds — every ingredient is bold and intense. Nothing is subtle about that dish. The other dish (chicken with rice and broth) is my new comfortable food. I LOVED THIS DISH!
Heads up: It is literally on the sidewalk on a hill. Expect the bus to stop in front the place and you will get pretty intimate with the building’s wall as you eat. I can’t complain because service was friendly and fast and great music was playing. But when the weather get gross, cold, and wet, it would be best to order to-​go.

I wanted to like this place, but I don’t. Little Uncle is an attempt to create the street food atmosphere that is predominant in many Asian cultures back in the motherland. There is MINIMAL seating, so don’t bring your 20 friends to this place. Also, the seats are outside so there will be an occasional bus that stops in front of you.
I got the Khao Soi Gai, which is the chicken noodle and curry dish. Flavor-​wise it was okay, but the chicken was not that impressive, and they should not leave the spice packet in the broth because some dumbass might actually try to eat it.
The second thing that my friend and I got were the pork tongue burgers. As the Thai version of the Taiwanese pork burger counterpart, I expected the pork tongue to have this tough, chewy texture. Instead, it was soft and hence very disappointing.
Maybe we got the wrong dish, but I was not at all impressed. There are numerous high-​quality Thai restaurants in the greater Seattle area, and I’m not sure this is one of them.

I had the phad Thai to go. Just so you know, the phad Thai is tofu only, and you cannot request them to add meat (fyi all you chicken phad Thai people, myself included).
It took me about 15 minutes to get home and by that time, my package of phad Thai was dried up. Still, not bad — actually quite good considering it was tofu only. The package comes with sugar and chili flakes. Word to the wise, those chili flakes are serious business. I usually eat those like nothing so I dumped the whole package in — it was definitely hot. Just be careful. Half sugar is about right I’d say, although you can find the balance that works for you.
I give it 3 stars because it’s not really special — I was expecting more from a literal hole in the wall joint that has a unique menu and style. The higher price also hurts the rating because I wouldn’t mind spending less elsewhere for phad Thai. Still — I’d come back for the experience of decent sidewalk eating any time.

Our go-​to for fresh and easy after long haul flights — tasty, great service, excellent little menu, super handy on Madison, recommended.

walked to healeo. saw their prices. walked right back out.
then spotted little uncle right across the street. literally a hole in the wall — al fresco dining. kinda feels like you’re eating in the streets of asia! unfortunately, the food was just alright. we ordered the spicy beef salad and the pad thai (w/​o noodles). the leaves in the salad were too soggy (keep ‘em crisp guys!) and the beef was a bit chewy. after a few bites, though, i couldn’t taste anything cuz my mouth was numb from the spice! the noodle-​less pad thai was also just alright — not the most flavorful or memorable.
i love street dining but these dishes are restaurant prices (maybe even a little higher) without really delivering on taste.

I would give it 2.5 stars
To be honest nothing wow. One of the dishes was their curry and to be honest it was tasteless. The other dish was the ground pork with fried egg on top and it was pretty good. The pad Thai, not really pressure.
I would say quite pricey for the quality and amount.
Also ordered the Thai iced tea, it was just milk. I don’t think they used condensed milk as it supposed to be.
Not a big fan

Literally a hole in the wall! This is a little kitchen cut into the side of the building — think food truck but actually in a building.
The menu is small but delicious! The Pad Thai is excellent and huge!

You know, I had a not-​so-​great Pad Thai experience at the old Pioneer Square location, so I was pretty hesitant to try it again at this location. I got off the bus a few days ago and thought, why the heck not. I ordered the Pad Thai and yum, I was not disappointed. I would now say that I really enjoy Little Uncle’s Pad Thai. It’s not your typical ketchup-​y red, dry Pad Thai that you get at all the Thai restaurants. It’s just flavorful, just the right amount of oily and so good. I’m a convert. I’ll probably be stopping by more often, maybe trying some specials, but most likely just stopping by for a Pad Thai fix. Like today.
Cool, friendly staff. Cute little location. Yummy Pad Thai.

I stopped by on a day I was off of work —
They definitely do their Pad Thai a little differently, but I liked the fact that they gave the flavoring in separate packets. It was a challenge to eat when you take it on the go and try to eat it in your car, but it was still flavorful and the second best Pad Thai I’ve had in Seattle!