Fu Kun Wu

Say wha??? Thaiku and Fu Kun Wu might be closing? I hope they figure out this lease deal b/​c I will REALLY miss Fu Kun! The Oolong Tea AND the bartenders! Truly miss them.

Fu Kun Wu was one of the bars left on my must-​try list before I leave Seattle, for the sole reason that their herbal cocktails caught my eye (well, okay, the apothecary-​like décor sounded pretty awesome too). Attached to the back of Thaiku, their actual entrance is on 22^nd Ave, which is also the only way to get into the bar if you need something wheelchair accessible, as there are steps within Thaiku itself.
Their specialty cocktail list isn’t massive, with somewhere around 10 options, three of these being yohimbe drinks, made with a bitter herb that is a purported stimulant and mild hallucinogen (to the point where they only allow one per person). On the recommendation of our waitress, Andrew D and I start off with yohimbe drinks, with me getting a Yohimbe Manhattan, then following up with an Oolong Tea-​ni afterward. And I can safely say that neither drink had much affect on me except getting me incredibly drunk (strong drinks on an empty stomach will do that to me — and everyone else?).
Fairly inexpensive drinks (under $ 10 I believe), that are made strong and fairly tasty. The décor is neat, although not quite as outlandish as I was hoping for — sit further in, along the corner with the couches to get the full effect of the décor. Three stars though because the drinks, while unique, weren’t particularly amazing (but are totally worth coming in during happy hour for, at $ 5 per).

This place was nicely tucked away, off the street in the back of Thaiku, although later I saw they had their own entrance.
It is my strong assumption that this place is owned by the same folks that own the Coppergate, which is also nice, but it equally unauthentic. The similarity between the two was uncanny, from the overflowing mini cabinets with bricka back to the cleverly layered faux textures.
We are beer and wine folks, so this apothecary cocktail lounge didn’t really suit us. But to be fair, the menu looked great.

This is kind of a hidden bar on the backside of Thai Ku. I actually used to live a block away for 2 years and did not know about it until recently. It’s easy to miss. For some reason, the décor of the place reminds me of the movie Big Trouble in Little China. The theme of the décor is of a Chinese/​Asian apothecary. There are all sorts of curious looking potion bottles and herbs behind the medicine cabinets and on the shelves. There is a portrait of a devious looking old Asian man (hey I’m Asian, I can say that) that seems to be looking directly into your soul (after you’ve had a few too many drinks). There is definitely something mystical and mysterious about the place. The drinks are pretty unique too. There is the Yohito which has Yohimbe, a purported sexual enhancer. I skipped this one, since I had no reason for it on this particular (every?) night. Instead I had the Tea-​Ni (?) drink which was a black tea infused vodka cocktail. It was delicious and highly drinkable, but packed a punch. The other cool part of this bar is that they have live Jazz on Wed and Thurs nights. Definitely an original, cool bar worth checking out.

Escape to this apothecary themed hideout for a clandestine rendezvous. Enter through the back way, not through the Thaiku front entrance, if you want your date to think you are mysterious and dangerous. Their specialty cocktails are only $ 5 during happy hour, which lasts until 7:00pm. Order the Radiant Flower without the sugar rim, unless you’re into that. Sneak into the super secret opium den downstairs and see how long you can stay before they kick you out.

I am in love with the Saturday night waitress and the handsome bartender who always on top of it and make me the perfect drinks.
give me more, give me more of those Hornitos.

Good service, great atmosphere.
The happy hour was quite happy. Good lighting, not overlit.
Try the dragon beef — quite good, the cocktails lean heavily towards the sweet side of the spectrum.

Happy Hour (5:00 –7:00pm):
$ 5 cocktails
$ 4 appetizers
I had the Radiant Flower cocktail with flavors of lemon, mint, and peony. Peony! Awww. My favorite flower! It tasted «fuzzy» and interesting at first, but grew on me. By the time I was finished, I was dismayed that it was all gone. Yum!
Try the fried tofu! It’s delicious. Enjoy dipping it in their peanut sweet and sour sauce.
Chicken satay. Comes with thick, flavorful peanut sauce and a light cucumber salad!
The bar (in the back of the restaurant) was roomy and a great location to hang out and chat with friends. We found the music a real hoot! Reggae/​mellow music in a dimly lit thai restaurant. Not sure what I was expecting! But perhaps not that?! Very mood setting though and I actually really did appreciate it quite a bit.
Overall, fantastic happy hour!

Great Happy Hour deals from 5−7pm. Got to love the late ending happy hour in a city where most end at 6pm. Walk through Thaiku restaurant and grab yourself a cozy little table in the dark bar of Fu Kun Wu. HH specials include $ 5 specialty house drinks which are creative and not overly sweet. Most HH food is $ 4-​$ 6 and is quite tasty. The place was pretty dead at 5:30 on a Friday night but by 6:30 it was packed.
The fried tofu was good and the papaya salad was light and fresh with a nice hint of spice. My friend really liked his prawn skewers and larb. There are quite a few items on the HH menu so I will have to return to try out some more dishes.

I’m gonna start by saying satay skewers of psychadelkic vintage weirdness!!! This bar’s décor is totally cool! Old apothecary cupboards, bamboo wallpapering intertwined with chinese leaflets, a baby grand in the middle of the bar, pussy willows and beautiful paintings in the bathroom along with beautiful mirrors, statues, moldings etc etc etc. The music is a sort of funkadelic trip loungy stuff a little too down tempo but still cool.
Here’s some clarification about this place… this bar does not open until 5 O’clock on the dot. So if you get there early go hang out in the restaurant and get an appetizer or head up the block to check out some of the more interesting stores ballard has to offer. Happy hour goes from 5pm-​7pm.
The sign outside is pretty small so its easy to pass right by it and totally miss it, so keep your eyes pealed! The bar is in the back of the restaurant so it easier to just look for Thai Ku’s sign. Go in the restaurant and through the restraunt up the stairs and there you are.
I enjoyed their drinks but teh yohimbe ones kinda made me feel a little headached and tired. The food was totally awesome and I’ll definitely hit the connecting restaurant again a few more times… Fun little place definitely worth the stop in.

Fu Kun Wu is a cool, hip place to hang out with a couple of friends, kick back a couple of (very potent) specialty drinks and enjoy freshly made, tasty nibbles.
It can get loud inside the lounge, so groups of more than two or three may suffer a bit for conversation. Other than that, it’s a great deal of fun.

Fun place to meet up for happy hour. I had to try a signature cocktail, and wasn’t disappointed with the oolong tini. Happy hour food portions are ample enough to support the cocktails. You need to get there early to score a table, so plan ahead and get out of the office and into the bar. All items on the happy hour menu, including our drinks, were in the single digits. Will probably go back when I’m not driving to try the mysterious cocktails that are limited to one per person. A warning like that is guaranteed to spark curiosity!

I’ve tasted all of the signature cocktails here over the last four years or so, but I keep coming back for the oolong-​tini. The tequila-​jujube tincture is worth trying once, but jujube really goes better with rum, which they haven’t yet discovered here. For that, you must come to my bar. My bar can’t be beat, except if you go to Sambar or Zig Zag.
I only take a sip of the radiant flower if Hiromi orders it, because I just can’t take myself seriously if I order it on my own, but it is nice. I didn’t really dig the piña colada variation, but I only rarely appreciate the standard one. The Yohito works, but I’d rather have Sambar’s moshiso.
Vibe is quirky, but really self-​consciously kitschy. Only offensive if you take it to be something other than that. Bar food is greasier versions of the Thaiku stuff downstairs, but you might as well order off their restaurant menu. The bai chu pla-​based miang kum makes a far better drinking snack.
There’s never enough room here if you come in groups larger than six. Unfortunately, that’s a problem for me, because I usually come here with an entourage, since I’m hipper than you. OK, not really. But I often try to use this as our second gathering spot when I’m in Ballard with my Japanese meetup, and it only works out about half the time. I could say that’s a weakness, but it’s obvious that other people see something in this place, too, and you can’t complain about that.

the Oolongtini is very dangerous, because it tastes like candy, but acts like vodka.
Yum yum!
The food here is great, and the happy hour appetizers rock.

The bar is kinda small, I did like the ambiance however.
The drinks were very interesting. I went on a thurs when they had Avant Garde Jazz and it was great. Sadly I messed up and got there too early, so we only got about 15 min of jazz.
Great place for a date, didnt seem like a great place to meet people, however.

This is a very unique place with unique drinks. If you’re in the Seattle area, definitely drop by and try the drinks. If you’ve had kava, they have a kava collada that’s really good and strong.

I love the yohimbe mojito. It’s not going to get you high, but it tastes great and its alot of fun. You can only have one, so go slow. Parking is free out back so that’s also a huge plus in Ballard.

There is a great scene in Woody Allen’s movie «Alice» (ties into the «favorite movie scene topic on the talk thread), where Alice goes to Chinatown to an herbalist «Dr Yang» for help with her back.
The problem with Alice is not really in her back, its in her heart, manifesting itself as back pain. Anyway… This place reminded me of Dr. Yang’s office and I found it to be absolutely enchanting. The Oolong tea-​ni and Radiant Flower were both delicious and memorable.
The service was a wee bit on the slow side, and although I hoped and hoped that the Mojo Juju would make me invisible (it didn’t…shocking I know), I had one of the best experiences at a bar since moving here.

Stopped in last night for a nip. I have been there before, and was a little disappointed at the service this time. Also, they were out of Yohimbe, so that eliminated three drinks off their list. I guess you have to get there early before they’ve been sucked dry! Our waitress was pleasant enough, although sometimes I’m not sure she was on the same page as us.
We each had the Kava Kolada. I found it pleasant, while my man found it eye watering. I didn’t mind taking it off his hands though!
There was also less seating than when I had been there before, due in large part to a baby grand piano that was in the back of the bar. Just weird. No one playing it, just sitting there, taking up space.
I will go back, but probably not for a while… and probably in the afternoon hours. Maybe I will catch the mystery piano man.

I think I like this place best for the ambiance. It’s dark, and everything is made out of wood. There’s a cool little smoking room off to the side as well. I feel comfortable drinking here.
But I also order appetizers, because they are killer. Come during happy hour and try many things for cheap. If you go any other time the bill will add up fast.
Thai beer and satay… how can you beat it?