Cozy up to fall with the best soups and stews in the Seattle area

Pumpkin spice lattes have hit the internet as the sometimes ironic culinary symbol of fall.

Seattle’s soup-loving citizens have long absorbed Vietnamese pho and Japanese ramen so thoroughly that every neighborhood has a “best” version, an important development considering the comfort and proximity of comfort food.

But if you need a special soup or stew, some places in the city offer uniquely delicious dishes that are well worth driving around the city wherever you live or work.

Masita, Casa Mixteca

Despite the American obsession with Mexico’s tacos and tortas, the real gems of Mexican cuisine come in soup and stew form – the sticky consomé, hearty pozole with hominy filling, and regional specialties like this corn and chilli stew. At Casa Mixteca, which serves Oaxacan cuisine in Burien and Renton, the deep red dish is mashed and accompanied by homemade tortillas to transport the pieces of the slowly cooked goat barbaacoa from the bowl to the mouth.

Flank beef soup made from traditional Korean beef soup

Jae L./Yelp.com

Ox bone soup, Korean traditional beef soup

The name says it all: this store with locations in Edmonds and Federal Way focuses on perfecting a single dish. The menu has side dishes, starters and variations, but everyone comes here for the sullungtang or ox bone soup. The only real decisions are choosing the exact cut of meat – flank, tongue, thigh, tendon, or a mixture – and choosing white or clear pasta. The creamy appearance is created by the hours of boiling down the eponymous bones, and the bowl comes on the table only with the meat and the broth, with a tray full of spicy side dishes that everyone can customize to their own taste.

Tomato Niku Tama from Azuki.

Ellie W./Yelp.com

Kerala Egg Curry, Kathakali

The common brownish color of the curry, like everything in this Juanita restaurant, belies how much flavor there is in it. Scooped up with chunks of flaky parotta, the sweet cherry tomatoes, sour tamarind and fragrant curry leaves come through with every bite. The rest of the year, the oversized dosas and tantalizing lobster tail beckon diners, but this time of year the simplicity of hard-boiled eggs floating in a rich sauce deserves their starring role.

Signature beef udon, azuki

The intimidating size of the bowls that serve the handcrafted udon noodles in this Madison Valley spot takes just an iota from the overall comfort of drinking large sips of the dashi and soy sauce broth. The chewy noodles, thin beef slices and the sharp contrast of the green onion and the pickled mustard leaf seasoning quickly crush any concerns and justify the need for such a large serving vessel. The sweet formality of the free starter and side dish makes this comfort meal look a little fancy – but not like taking off your sweatpants before dinner.

Blue crab congee with soft-boiled egg by Secret Congee.

Richard U./Yelp.com

Tom Yum Shrimp Congee, Secret Congee

Various forms of congee exist in East and Southeast Asia, and a local foodie Facebook group was once teeming with second-generation Congee immigrants who admitted they could never tell their parents how much they liked for the usually simple Pay for food. Bowls cost between $ 12 and $ 16, a decent amount for lunch, though they cost more than twice the standard version in many local restaurants. But here, that simplicity is just a starting point, and every post has been proclaimed to be worth every penny. This Thai-inspired version packs a seemingly impossible number of large, plump shrimp into the midday serving of saturated rice with chicken broth. The bright red tom yum sauce permeates every bite, while ginger, lime leaves, and peanuts above add a roller coaster of texture.

Oxtail with rice, comfort zone

As the restaurant’s name suggests, anything that comes out of Talya Miller’s kitchen at the Royal Esquire Club in Columbia City is an instant pick-me-up, but the ultimate soul-gratification stew comes in the form of oxtails and rice. A rich broth, thick and cloudy with tomatoes, weighs a generous handful of oxtails and catches the pieces of meat that seem to pop off the bone with even the slightest nudge, while the rice is helpful in transporting the bowl to the mouth.