Restaurateur Thoa Nguyen (pronounced "twah nwin") has scored success after success since opening the first Chinoise Café back in 1996. Let's hope she hasn't exhausted all her good karma because she's gonna need some with her latest venture, the Islander. Billed as "a Polynesian Cuisine & Tiki Lounge," the Islander opened Monday at 96 Union Street, a location that has devoured a number of hopeful restaurant ventures over the last few years, among them Leo Melina's, 96 Union (closed December 2001), and, most recently, Harbor Place. Nguyen's hoping that her casual Pacific-fusion approach will suit the neighborhood better than predecessors did, and we have to admit, items like geoduck corn chowder, volcano rolls (tuna, avocado, and papaya), fish pockets with spicy mango salsa and slaw, and moo moo coriander-crusted beef sound pretty intriguing, not to mention light enough for a downtown lunch.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/feature...od-hotdish.php