Capsule Cafe

I love their fried chicken fillet. It is crispy and tender with good amount of flavor. They have a wide variety of braised food. The veggies in the braised sauce/soup is so delicious! Braised food is $14.99/lb which I found not too bad. The capsules are cute! And I love the mandarin songs they play in the store.

As a Taiwanese American looking for more plant based options, I was delighted to see they serve Fried King Oyster Mushroom (like Popcorn Chicken). It’s very good, and you can customize the spice.

We had a great lunch here today. Taiwanese braised food is similar to hot pot, but more flavorful because of sauces and cooking style. Meals are fresh and yammy as well as everyone can decide the spicy level -- its good for customization. Last, I really like the braised pork over rice and (fried) mac & cheese. I cannot wait to visit it AGAIN!!!

超好吃！First time being here and the food and atmosphere is soooo on point! I only have the picture for pop up chicken rice but highly recommend their braised pork over rice and braised vegetables too! They also sell cute DIY knitted items.

Delicious style of popcorn chicken. Pork was fattier and meltier than I usually find in the U District, was great.

This is an amazing place for people eating keto / low carb. Just pick what vegetables and/or protein you want, skip the noodles, and let them know how spicy you like your broth. Delicious and very healthy! Plus your friends can have popcorn chicken. :-)

Simple menu, all delicious Taiwanese food, healthy (buffet style), and good value The only thing that might be confusing is that it wasn’t immediate clear for my non-Taiwanese friend how ordering works. You go in and grab a plate and get whatever you want (they charge by weight), and they’ll boil it in this soup base for you and serve the noodles separately from the other ingredients. The fried food are also pretty good

The braised food tastes very good! So do the popcorn chicken, french fries, and other fried foods🤤 Highly recommended!!

Wow if you get any noodles, you get a huge noodle soup! the noodles come in a decadent soup separately from the rest. What a cool concept! I didn't get to try the non-buffet section but heard amazing things. Ambience - 9/10 -- love the cozy vibe Service - 9/10 -- food is served quickly! Quality - 8/10 -- low on variety + but delicious for what they do have! Value - 9/10 -- $14.99/lb solid for the concept! especially if you get noodles Overall - 8.8/10

Food is not bad but sometimes the flavor can be a little bland. Good for a casual quick bite. They have gacha machine if you spend over 25 before tax - very fun! They also have affordable menu items to order like popcorn chicken, braised pork over rice - nothing to write home about but flavor is good! Personally i think if you're picking your own items for them to cook then YGF up the road has more selection and better flavors. I like the ambiance here though, and it's usually not as crowded.

Popcorn chicken portion size was very small. This was how it was packaged for us. Not crispy and not worth $8. I've had cheaper popcorn chicken orders with much greater portion sizes. The corn dogs and mozzarella sticks were packaged together tho charged separately. Only got 3 mozzarella sticks in the order.

Pretty fun concept located in UDistrict! Just like a lot of gacha related stuff, a lot of money is involved - here, for a chance to use the capsule machine to get either toys or some promotion, you need to spend $25 before tax and tip which is fairly high if everyone in the party wants one. We did end up doing that, by trying out the braised soup as well as some of the hot food menu. The braised soup is $14.99/lb and is a similar concept to that of YGF Malatang in UDistrict, where you get a bowl and tongs to put in whatever you want and they will cook it for you. They have vegetables, tofu, noodles, fish balls, and sliced beef you can choose from. I got a little bit because we also got hot food, and it was solid. I opted for a little bit of spicy so there are some spicy peppers thrown in a rich, thick soup. They separate out the noodles from the other ingredients in a bowl which is interesting. We also tried the braised pork over rice, popcorn chicken, chicken fillet, and fried king oyster mushroom. The braised pork over rice is very flavorful and good, and it is perfect to pair this with one of the other dishes like popcorn chicken or king oyster mushroom. The popcorn chicken itself is well-spiced, though portions are on the smaller end for the price of $8. The chicken fillet has more chicken overall and less breading, but it has spices and preparation similar to the popcorn chicken. The king oyster mushroom also has similar spices and preparation methods, and is like the vegetarian option. Overall, the food is decent and the bonus is that even though after tax and tip our order is over $75, but we were $1 short of 3 coins (3x$25), the cashier still let us have it since the 4 of us ordered so much food overall. However, in terms of price versus quality, I have had better and the food here is priced in a way that it is hard to go just over $25, and you end up over-ordering as you feel like you are just so close to getting the capsule that not spending a few bucks more will trigger sink cost fallacy.

I came here for the gatcha capsule! I had to eat 25 dollars worth of food for it, which I felt was a bit too pricy. I got a cute bunny though! I thought the ambiance was nice with little figurines decorating a wall. I came here 20 minutes til close so I could only do take out. I got braised pork over rice which was delicious! I also got corn dogs, mozzarella sticks, fried king oyster mushrooms and sesame balls. I told them to cover it in hot spice since I like it spicy. Theres a lingering kick that you should definitely watch out for! I ended up in a food coma on account of all the food I ate. Just look at the photos of all the food I took. Tell me that wouldn't put you in a food coma! I hear the main dish is the soup so I will need to try that the next time I come here.

Finally got to stop by and take a visit here after wondering about it for so long. Was admittedly a little lost after walking in because of the wall of raw ingredients, but the employee was kind when explaining how it works (pick your foods of choice from the wall and pay by the pound, then have it braised in the back and delivered cooked) and it was fun to browse all the options. Was slightly concerned about the cleanliness of the tongs being used and the cross-contamination between veggies and meats, but it was a fun experience overall and worth a visit. The chicken katsu was slightly dry but tasted like it was made fresh. Also got a little panda charm out of the capsule machine for spending over $25. Cute!

Not sure how this can claim to be Taiwanese. Popcorn chicken. Which is a Taiwaneses classic had the wrong batter. Felt soft. Had no fried basil in it. The 'Lou way' another Taiwanese staple. Was simply not even Lou way. It was just some ingredients with sauce poured on top. Food was simply ok. But bugs me when places call themselves Taiwanese, but it's clear that either the chef simply doesn't care about authenticity or has never actually eaten proper Taiwanese food.

I love Capsule Cafe! It's my favorite restaurant on the Ave. their braised pork over rice is good, their mushroom and popcorn chicken are the best!

Craving for god-tier braised pork over rice? Capsule cafe is where you should go! The seasoning is well done and with the price - perfect. Their front door is pretty hidden which could be easy to be ignored but give it a try! Also, if you spend over $20, they will give you a token for the capsule machine for either a cute little toy or a free drink/sides. Fun! PS: Remember to check their hours in their yelp/Instagram since they have weird hours

always come here for their braised pork over rice... super flavorful and delicious. service was very nice and if you spend over $25 you get a coin to use the capsule machine for a mini toy

The concept of this place was different from any restaurant I've been to. It was like a little grocery store and you get a small basket and start "shopping". There is a good amount of variety of noodles, meat, tofu, vegetables, etc. Each item was around $2-5 and if you spend $20 or more, they give you a token that you can put into a capsule machine which can give you either a little toy, a free drink, or free food. Then you "checkout" and they make all the food you gave them. After eating, you bus yourself. Overall, the place was super clean and cute. I got quail eggs ($2), meat balls ($2), fish cake ($2), enoki mushroom ($2), beef slices ($4.50) which were all braised into one dish, udon ($3), popcorn chicken ($5), and braised pork over rice ($4.50). This was a total of $27.53 for two people and though it didn't seem like a lot of food, we were both very full afterwards. The popcorn chicken was probably the best popcorn chicken I've ever had. There were a few small details they could improve on, like the food being a bit too salty, but because it was the soft opening, it's understandable that it's not completely perfect yet. The customer service was amazing though, we were walked through the entire process and while we were eating, they asked us for suggestions on what they could improve upon, so you can tell they care about feedback.

Cute little restaurant with a capsule game for customers. Lots of flavors to choose from

I'll cut some slack since we went during their soft opening. It's probably a 2-3 starred restaurant. You have to be smart about what you pick and choose since its like a grocery market with food they can cook. When I went, they were sold out of the braised pork rice. So my bf and I got the popcorn chicken($4.50) and chicken filet($6.50) and a whole bunch of veggies and noodles, each coating ~2-3 bucks each. Some of the veggies looked somewhat old, so make sure you pick well. What really stood out was the $3 tiny pack of ramen noodles you would normally buy for 50 cents. But I wanted carbs so I bought it... Total came out to be ~$30 with tip. And fitting with the name, they had a capsule machine which diners could get a prize(food item, drink, or capsule toy) if they spent over 20 bucks. And we did, so we won an extra order of popcorn chicken, which we had already gotten. Tried asking to redeem next time, but said no... so we just got another order bc you can never have too much popcorn chicken!!! So for our dishes: - Popcorn chicken($4.5) was below average. Seasoning was weak. Not very juicy nor crispy. They used chicken breasts and not thighs, which is probably why. Not to mention, portions were small. I had 2 orders... but it looked like 1 order at other places. Would not recommend - Chicken filet($6.5) as the name says, a chicken filet but deep fried popcorn chicken style. There were about 5 decently sized pieces, but breading on this kept falling off. It was like eating mushy fried stuff and chicken. Like popcorn chicken but arguably worse. - braised items (broccoli, lotus root, noodles, Napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and noodles). 2 bucks each except for 3 dollar noodles... that still doesn't add up in my head. But bracing to them is just boiling food in a broth and serving it with a little of the soup broth. It's a decent amount of food, but I wasn't expecting how they were cooking it. Would solely get Napa cabbage and mushrooms if I came back. - Mac and cheese wedges($3)... not my bf's finest choice. But we got 4 little wedges of fried craft Mac and cheese triangles. Not much to praise or complain about. Overall: service was fine, food was mediocre, it felt somewhat overpriced for what we got. Maybe the braised pork with rice would be better, but they had sold out. Personally wouldn't come back due to limited choices and high price, low quality items.

Definitely the best Chinese restaurant in Seattle. UW staffs and students should definitely come often and have a try! Clean, great food, great environment!

I had the 卤肉饭 and fried chicken thigh. The lrf wasn't very flavorful or saucy. The chicken was pretty soggy and also not very flavorful unfortunately. I know their specialty is the build your own braised dishes, so I might come back someday to try that.

We have visited this place 3 times within 2 weeks, would have been 4 times had they not closed for mid-autumn festival. We like their fried chicken steak, taiwanese style braised goodies, and friendly service & staff. Wait! Did I mention their price is incredibly reasonable?! Looking forward to going back again next week already

Visited during their soft opening and ordered a couple of their popular items on the menu: popcorn chicken and braised pork over rice. Hands down the best popcorn chicken I had, perfectly seasoned and fried. Rice was very tasty too. Portions were decent. The concept of the restaurant is very unique, you go in and pick your own dishes right off of the display racks for them to cook or fry. I also ordered some mushrooms, vegetables and fried onion rings. You then get to play a raffle if your order is more than $20. I got a free drink from it so it worked out great. Would definitely come again to try some other dishes!

A quality and lovely Taiwanese eatery with super delicious food and nice staff. A capsule is guaranteed when you've spent $25 -- They'll give you a token and you can play the capsule machine. I got a very quite little toy. Definitely will come again!

The braised pork over rice is probably the most authentic one I got in Seattle so far and it's pretty close to what I had in Taiwan. The braised spinach is a little too salty though. But overall they are tasty for a Taiwanese stomach! It's 7 dollars for these two dishes. Compared to other restaurants on the ave the price is really good imo.

Tasty food! Staff is pretty nice, you grab your own food and they cook it for you. I think they charge by pound but i got two full bowls and paid around ~ $15. Also got a chicken fillet and its sooooo juicy. Would come back again!

Delicious! The braising food is light but seasoned well. $9 food can really get me full, and I also feel I am eating so healthy this way. It is very authentic Taiwanese food. I am so glad that we have one here. The restaurant is very nice and clean inside. However, the entrance door is somehow easy to be ignored when walking by. The service is good too.

I love the food here. It is so good. The service is amazing too, especially Drew, who is the cashier!!

I was a UW student from Taiwan and live in Seattle. If you like me miss real Taiwanese food, you should definitely visit Capsule Cafe. The Taiwanese braised food, braised pork over rice(滷肉飯), popcorn chicken and chicken fillet are amazing and authentic, especially adding key spices imported from Taiwan. If one is Taiwanese, you would miss braised pork over rice that is classical comfort food in Taiwan. At Capsule cafe, the chief cooks the soul braised pork over 24 hours to make it tender -- it just melts in your mouth. Last, you can find by chance special menu like tea egg, Portuguese egg tar, wintermelon lemon juice, and plum sweet potato fries etc.

I have been to this place 4 times in the last week so that should tell you how great it is! Such a cool layout, with picking raw vegetables and proteins and they will cook it for you. The pricing is also good- i went with a friend and got 4 dishes for $20 and another time 5 different ones for 30. Interior is also very cute! I would recommend!

Best Taiwanese food I ever had in Seattle! The braised pork over rice is my favorite and 100% authentic as what I had in Taiwan. Super delicious!! The braised food is another feature. You can select every single items of your choice including tofu, meat, vegetables and noodles ranging from $1 to $3 dollars.

I've been coming here twice a week this past quarter, and it is consistently delicious! The braised items on the grocery wall are always great, and their popcorn chicken is the best in u-district by a mile. Highly recommend their braised pork over rice as well!

Delicious! Clean and quiet setting. Meat and vegetable of your choice braised in a rich taiwanese broth. The braised pork over rice was so yummy!

Small business big taste! Being a Taiwanese I'm happily announce the best popcorn chicken in the town. But the ordering process is kinda confusing, also the waiting line is way too long. I hope less ppl know this restaurant.

Soup was extremely tasty. Well run. Nice ambianace. Would def come back. Chicken filet was delicious too with generous serving size

Their foods are scrumptious and probably the most authentic Taiwanese cuisine I've eaten in Seattle. I wish they can open soon.

The first thing I noticed was how cute the restaurant was! There are a lot of graphics placed around the shop and the way everything is organized is pleasing. I like the experience of picking out my own foods into a basket, it adds another level of fun that I wouldn't get from simply ordering a food. I gotta say my favorites so far are the popcorn chicken and the pork over rice- must haves.

Went there for the soft opening and it was great. You pick the ingredients and they cook them for you. Chicken was amazing and am definitely coming again.