Dining: Strip Mall Style

The first time we hit Ding How was a fluke.

Our 16-year-old, Kegan, was just days into his “all things Japanese” phase, and Eric and I were taking our roles as supportive parents very seriously. In a show of solidarity I suggested dinner at Panda Express (long live Orange Chicken) but something about their cafeteria-style service seemed less than authentic on this particular occasion. Besides, “They serve Chinese food, not Japanese. Duh.”

So there we were, hungry and searching for a way to prove our wordly wisdom to a teenager who thinks he already knows everything – when we spied a bright Japanese-y looking sign glowing like a beacon of hope from the confines of a teeny tiny Liberty Lake strip mall storefront. Yes, that’s right. They have strip malls in Japan, don’t they?

One glance at the menu and we knew our search was over. (Which was good, because we were starving.) Surprise! It’s not just a Japanese joint – they serve Chinese, Thai and Korean delights, too. Pad Thai, Miso soup, Szechuan beef … all from a clean little kitchen in a strip mall. Plus there’s a real live sushi bar where they make up raw seafood delights (not possible, imho, but Eric and millions of others heartily disagree) right before your very eyes. Cold silver cans of Sapporo and hot heaping servings of broccoli beef (that actually taste like broccoli and beef) make this one of Eric and my favorite ethnic eateries.

But, in an ironic twist, Kegan’s not so hot on Ding How because, get this – “It’s too authentic.” Ahem. That’s because “It’s not totally Americanized. Duh.”