Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, December 28, 2007

Stanwood's Chatter Box houses tasty Asian dishes

By Anna Poole
Herald Restaurant Critic

 STANWOOD -- A few days ago, a co-worker of my dining companion complained that there weren't enough good restaurants in Stanwood. I disagree. For a small town, Stanwood has more than its share of good restaurants that span the culinary choices, including a grill with great steaks, one of the best Thai restaurants in the county plus places serving Greek, Italian and Mexican cuisines.

A Herald reader sent an e-mail that said he'd counted and there are 114 places where a person can buy a hot meal in Stanwood. Add to this impressive list the latest addition -- The Chatter Box -- and Stanwood's got big-city choices.

The Chatter Box is in a converted house in Stanwood's historic area. It was a hamburger place -- Doug's Rockin' Hamburgers -- when I visited in 2002.

The Chatter Box, which opened less than a month ago, serves an eclectic menu of Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, American and Malaysian dishes. From Thailand, there's chicken satay appetizers ($5.95) and pad see yew ($9.95). Bento boxes hold Japanese combinations such as salmon teriyaki ($13.95) and chicken tonkatzu ($11.95). The Chinese choices include Hong Kong stir fry ($9.95) and Shanghai dumplings as an appetizer ($3.95). Then, the kitchen starts to fuse tastes by using traditional Indian spices to flavor fried rice.

The Malaysian main dishes are as enticing as they are rare in the Puget Sound area. There's Penang Char Guay Teow ($9.95), which the menu describes as "famous." It's a stir-fry dish that uses small, flat rice noodles, shellfish, chicken or tofu, bits of egg and bean sprouts seasoned with soy sauce and chili.

For my dinner, I decided to try the clay pot seafood special ($13.95). It's made with shrimp, sea scallops, calamari strips and mussels that are simmered with ginger strips, sliced onions and strips of green onions, carrots, Napa cabbage and snow peas in a rich brown sauce that has a splash of sherry. My friend had the spicy garlic chicken ($10.95) and we decided to split some pad Thai ($9.95) because it's always an excellent dish for measuring the kitchen's skill and quality.

The Chatter Box has a short wine list with uncomplicated pricing. Bottles are $19.95 except for one at $14.95, and a glass is either $4.50 or $6.25. The beers include a couple from microbreweries and imported choices from Asia ($3 to $3.75).

My friend's ample serving of chicken, along with sliced carrots and green onions, snow peas, baby corn and mushrooms, was generously sprinkled with garlic and had just enough red chili to give it punch. It was among the best we've tasted. My dinner was a wondrously complex combination of sweet and savory, crunchy and tender. Of the three dishes we had, the pad Thai was the weakest but definitely worth ordering again.

To end our meal, we skipped the cheesecake, fried ice cream and fried bananas ($3.95 and $4.25) and had the bread pudding ($2.95). It was like everything else we had for dinner -- rich and delicious. The Chatter Box deserves all the chatter it's generating.



Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers' suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.

Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
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