Fortuna Cafe

Nope. We went there before a show. I came home with a really bad MSG headache. I’ve had better in the ID. Prices were decent, but I should have known, being the place was completely empty.

I ordered a one meat lunch box, I selected crispy pork and it came with rice and bak Choy.
The crispy pork tasted slightly old and the portions were pretty small (compared to other options in Chinatown) I felt that it also lacked salt/​seasoning.
I decided to try this place due to reviews, but unfortunately I was disappointed.
I didn’t try the duck or BBQ pork so can’t review those meat options, I just know the Crispy pork wasn’t very crispy or flavorful.

One of the most overlooked restaurants in Chinatown! Cheap prices, great food. Everything is under $ 10. Their Hainan/​Cold Chicken is the best I’ve had. They have a very flavorful green onion and ginger sauce to go with it, and I always ask for extra. Every time I am there, someone is ordering a whole cold chicken to go. The people who work there are extremely nice and very personable. Very fast service as well. Definitely a hole in the wall worth going to.

This place makes the best BBQ Pork I have ever tasted. The roasted duck was also superb. A surprise standout was the cashew chicken — a stir fry of chicken, green and red peppers, red onions, fresh green beans and peas, and mushrooms with a generous helping of cashews. To say this dish was done perfectly is an understatement. Highly recommended.

I work at ICHS on 8^th and Dearborn so I’m constantly looking for great cheap places that are close. I was craving for BBQ and came across this place. I was skeptically about the price at first and wondered how big the proportions were for their $ 5 lunchbox. It was definitely way more than I expected. I was in disbelief almost. I kept telling her to take more money but she refused… not only was the food cheap but it was delicious! The service was also delightful. She’s the sweetest lady ever. Very humble and kind. She made me think of my own grandma. The service honestly will keep me coming back. They don’t even have a tip jar but it’s hard to not tip. I definitely recommend this place! Well worth the trip and money !

After 49 hours on a train, I was overjoyed to eat at Fortunate Café. Five dollar BBQ pork plate was exactly what the doctor ordered. Excellent comfort food. Don’t come here for the environment — it’s a basic BBQ shop with five tables. Come for the excellent grub!

3.5 stars
I heard this place was known for their steamed chicken with green onion and ginger sauce. My BF and I decided to stop by for lunch so I could finally try the chicken.
The downstairs seating area was full so they told us to go up the stairs and seat ourselves. It is a tiny place with not very many tables.
The cook brought us our menus, a bowl of vegetable and bone broth, and took our orders. Their lunch specials are insanely cheap. Half a steamed chicken was only $ 5! I decided to go for the steamed chicken with rice lunch, which was only $ 4.50. I can’t finish half a chicken anyway. At that price I expected about 3 – 4 pieces of chicken, but I was given about 8 nice sized pieces. I loved the green onion sauce that they also sell in jars for $ 3. My BF ordered the beef brisket rice for I think $ 5. He was really full and could barely finish. The bill for the both of us was under $ 10!
The only thing I did not like was the rice. It wasn’t inedible but it was mushy. I hope this was just a one off sort of thing, because a Chinese restaurant should definitely know how to make rice.
I’d definitely come back to try their other lunch specials.

Came here on a Saturday evening to get my Chinese BBQ fix. There seems to be a dearth of BBQ choices in the ID, it’s a bit surprising. I’ve been craving Ton Kiang but it never seems to be open in the evenings.
The cha siu at Fortuna is very sweet and very lean. You can really taste how much honey they use, which isn’t really my preference. I also prefer the meat being a bit fattier.
The roast pork was a bit dry, and the pieces were not the best quality. We actually got some of the last cuts of meat for the day, so that might explain why.
One dish I’d never seen before was lamb brisket over rice. It was really delicious — felt almost like a home recipe or something.
Despite the mediocre meat, I liked the place. Prices are really good (meat + rice plates for $ 4.50) and the place has a comfy family vibe.

Oof. I love to try new places in the ID because it’s really almost impossible to get really bad food. Unfortunately last night was was one of those times. After seeing that the line at Jade Garden was crazy, we decided to walk across the street to Fortuna. Maybe it was a sign there was no one in the place, but we decided to forge ahead.
We Ordered:
— Chinese Broc. in Oyster Sauce:
You cannot ruin this dish. It was Chinese Broc., and it was the only dish with a texture other than baby food.
— Pork Chow Mein:
The crispy noodles were burned, and the pork was in a goopy, congealed sauce that I think consisted of corn meal and broth. Everything was drenched in this mucus like sauce. The pork was REALLY soft, like it had just soaked in this goop. There was no real flavor.
— Beef with Ginger and Garlic:
Again with the crazy goop sauce! No real flavor here either, except when I accidentally bit into a giant piece of uncooked ginger… That woke me up.
If you put the beef and the pork in front of me for a blind taste test, there is no way I would have been able to tell the difference. Both meats were oddly soft and covered in the thick sauce.
I gave this place two stars because the service was so friendly and attentive. Unfortunately the food is the most important part of a restaurant, and it was without texture or flavor.

I absolutely canton chicken here. Not only is the food delicious but the service is quick. The female owner is so friendly!

Each year for Christmas, our family goes out for a Chinese food dinner, trying a new place each year. This year, we decided to try Harbor City. Got there around 3:30 and the line was out the door, with lots of disgruntled people crowding the entry way (rumor was they were not taking people in order of arrival, etc.). Anyways, we decided to be patient and put our name on the list anyways. To kill time, my husband went for a walk around the block and found Fortuna Café. It was nearly empty, which was amazing considering the amount of people who were enduring long waits just two doors away. We thought maybe this meant the food wasn’t very good there (Fortuna), but after checking online, the reviews weren’t bad, so we decided to go for it. So glad we did!
The food was great. We got the last of their BBQ pork (which tasted like actually BBQ, not just sugar), and also ordered the Pea Vine Rice, Won-​Ton Soup (SO good), Chicken with Black Bean Sauce (Boneless), Prawns with Chinese Broccoli, and one of the chow meins. All this for only about $ 30! Great deal, great food, will definitely be back.
BTW, just after we got seated, a whole lot more people started arriving, so we think their emptiness was a momentary fluke.

Inexpensive, sure, and authentic… perhaps. But this truly is a hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant that lacks atmosphere and more. It didn’t seem like a restaurant when I first walked in… reminded me of a very very old Chinatown store. Like it was kept as a time capsule. For that. it was worth a shot.
Wish I could be more friendlier on the review because the staff seemed like sweethearts. but I’d rather eat elsewhere in Chinatown.

Excellent value Chinese food. Feels like comfort food: rich but mild taste with extra plum sauce and chili sauce on the side. Very helpful, attentive service. Fresh, delicious veggies! Pea vines were especially good.
Our party of 7 filled most of the dining space, though there are more tables upstairs. We’ll be back for more of the roast duck.

Staff= Phenomenal
Food… Let’s just say I rolled on outta there!
So good! Fresh cooked and fresh ingredients! Not oily.
REASONABLY PRICED

Tiny place in the heart of the ID with great barbecue and super cheap prices. Their barbecue is really quite fantastic, especially for the price (about $ 5 – 6 for a pretty big plate of food), but I would caution against getting the egg beef if you’re not used to the texture of snot-​like eggs. The flavor was nice, but the texture really was unusual. The service was friendly, and the whole place has the air of being the owner’s hang out that also just happened to be a restaurant. It was very relaxed and unassuming.

I consider myself a connoisseur of whole roasted pigs, since the majority of my family birthdays/​graduations/​weddings/​gatherings always feature one. Personally I find Fortuna Café’s roasted pig as my favorite in the area.
Their roasted pig is a little different than the Filipino-​style pigs I grew up with. Let’s start with the skin: perfectly crispy and airy, similar texture to chicharon. I admit, I probably could have just ate that alone with a beer and call it a day. The meat was juicy and tender but my favorite parts of the meat were the slightly darker portions which had so much flavor packed: smokey and slightly sweet.
Typically when I eat roasted pig at family functions, we pair it with Mang Tomas Sauce but there’s no need to do that since Fortuna Café gives you a container of house made sauce, which enhances the pig even more. I even mixed a little bit with my left over pig before warming which made it so much better.
Some things to consider:
* You must order your pig at least a week in advanced, since they have to order it plus the time it takes to roast.
* Roasted pigs are CASH ONLY and you must pay in person ahead of time. I wasn’t aware of that when I came in to pay for it but luckily they let me put down $ 100 cash as a deposit and I paid the remaining the day we picked up the pig.
* You can have the pig on a wooden board, which is a $ 50 deposit and you have to return it back to the store. I found the standard cardboard perfectly fine to transport the pig.
* Prices are given as an estimate. The pig I ordered was larger than expected but they charged me a reasonable amount. I found Fortuna Café’s pig the most reasonably priced compared to other places in the Seattle area.
* Ask for Maggie. She is easy to communicate with and always updates with any changes to the order.

Review for catering/​out order option only:
The whole roast pig offering is SO worth it. Reasonably priced for the all that is involved, ordering (done by event co-​host) proved simple, and when the little porker came in 30 lbs heavier than originally expected and quoted– the did not gouge on a price increase.
Overall, super happy with the choice to go here. They did all the work, made pick-​up simple, and the piggie was still piping hot after a trek from the ID to Kirkland.
A super fun (and extraordinarily tasty) experience all around. Tender, juicy, with perfectly crispy skin all around, it was very good, a super fun experience and well worth it.
*edit* Ok, well. I’m not using mobile so now I can’t tell if the photo is linking in the review or not. The goal was just the simplest of reviews and to let the picture speak for itself.
So, if you can’t see the photo right in the review, go find it.

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Seattle! Great food at a great price. Excellent value. Their lunch specials are $ 4.50-$ 6.00 and they are actually available all day. They are great. I try a different one each visit.

I came here on a Friday evening for some take out Chinese BBQ pork with rice and veggies. For $ 4.50 it’s a deal that’s hard to beat.
In terms of quality of the BBQ pork, I really enjoyed the flavor of the meat and the juiciness as well. Oftentimes, the BBQ pork at restaurants is dry and decently flavored. The meat I had here was pretty spot on. My only complaint would be that there was more fatty meat than I would have liked. But I’m sure that contributes to the juiciness, which is fine by me.
The portion size was a little smaller, with way too much rice, but as mentioned before, it was a good deal for $ 4.50.
I plan to come back and try some of the other food. As for the Chinese BBQ pork, Fortuna Café makes some good stuff.

Cant believe I haven’t posted a review of this place yet even though my family has been coming here for years!
First, I would like to say something in regards to another review here. Their «rice with chicken» is a type of chicken call «qing ping gei» in which the chicken IS cold. And is chicken, it has bones, dont understand why is a big deal. This particular is my favorite dish and I come here specifically to get it once a week. The fat on this chicken is the best part. Is salty fat and when you dipped it in the green onion sauce provided, is amazingness in one bite.
As for everything else, the price is amazing here. $ 12 for an entire chicken & 2 bowl of rice. It was enough to feed my family of 4. I also love their pea vine! Unlike other restaurants that always say «is not in season», Fortuna always have it. And the family that owns the restaurants are extremely nice and caring. I think there is about 3 generations of the same family here and is a different atmosphere from other restaurants in Chinatown.