Congee Is Our New Favorite Comfort Food

This article appears in print in the July 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.

Comfort food has a way of tasting like home, even if it’s not the home you grew up in. Such is the case at Congeez, a humble stall in the Uwajimaya food court that’s been slinging steaming bowls of savory rice porridge, an Asian breakfast staple known as congee (among other names), since February.

Owner Akavin Lertsirisin envisioned Congeez first as a door-to-door service catering to University of Washington students, particularly Asian students missing traditional breakfast items in the ’hood. (Indeed, you can still order via Postmates and Uber Eats.) He and chef friends Ittipol Summanuch and Wisit Chanabun (both formerly of Ballard’s Pestle Rock) operated as a delivery service until the opportunity arose to set up shop at Uwajimaya.

The congee ($8.95)—rice long simmered in chicken stock and then topped with green onions, cilantro, shredded chicken or pork meatballs and enough grated ginger to keep you healthy all week—isn’t the only thing on the menu, but it is the best. At press time, they were planning to broaden the scope: congee served with sustainable sea scallops and fresh Northwest oysters. We’ll stick with the original, thank you. 

Chinatown/International District, 503 S Weller St.; 206.556.6498.