A few years back, my family traveled to Vietnam in the days leading up to Tet, the annual lunar new year celebration. As temperatures crept into the 90s each day, we found eating was something best done early in the morning or late at night, with plenty of iced coffee to tide us over in the middle of the day.
It was a routine easily recalled last week as Seattle experienced its string of 90-plus degree days. One steamy evening turned out to be the perfect backdrop for my first visit to Tigerly Ox, Wallingford’s new Vietnamese-inspired eatery at 4405 Wallingford Ave. N, in the old Julia’s bakery space.
Tigerly Ox takes its lively name from the Eastern zodiac signs of the owners of the restaurant, John and Jodie Tran. John told me the couple’s birth signs are regarded as opposites, which can foster conflict as well as build on complementary qualities. The challenge is to find balance.
Similarly, the flavors of Vietnam — spicy peppers and cool cilantro, comforting cucumber and vibrant pickle — pull from that yin-yang dichotomy. At Tigerly Ox, a simple menu guides diners through the choices that lead to balance.
The entrees are based on four foundations: rice, noodles, greens, or bread. The price of each — pennies on either side of $7 — depends not on the base, but on the choice of protein: grilled tofu, beef, pork, or chicken. Once you’ve made your choice, sit back and let the magic happen. There are a couple of options for sauce if you select noodles, and you’ll need to determine how adventurous you want to be with the sliced fresh jalapeño peppers.
My partner tried the cold vermicelli noodles — the bun — with orange-ginger flank steak. 
The vegetables were plentiful and the steak flavorful, if a tiny bit overcooked. The honey-lime soy sauce gave the dish a nice zing.
I ordered the classic Vietnamese sandwich — the banh mi — with honey-lemongrass marinated pork. The baguette was delicious, the pork juicy and plentiful, and the pickled vegetables and cilantro added the perfect bright note to the savory meat and pate. In Vietnam, the French-influenced banh mi sandwich is a breakfast dish, often purchased from a street vendor. It’s a humble meal that draws on a rich overlay of traditions.
That dichotomy — the earthy yet refined, accessible yet exotic — extends beyond the menu to the infrastructure of Tigerly Ox. The vibe is slick but homey — a spotless ceramic counter is faced with weathered pine paneling, the retro-style drink cooler hums next to the stainless steel eat-in table.
I’m already planning my next visit, and I’m not going to wait for the next 90-degree day. With a thoughtful menu and great prices, the Tigerly Ox is a welcome addition to Wallingford eatery scene.
Tigerly Ox, 206-402-4381
4405 Wallingford Ave. N
Open 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m., seven days a week
If you are gluten free tread cautiously. This restaurant is not very accommodating…which was a surprise to me honestly. There are no gf french rolls for the bahn-mi like at Bol over off Roosevelt and the pork option for the bun has soy sauce mixed into it. I didn’t ask about the other meat options as I was pretty put off at that point and left. Both of my first wants being off the menu and the man’s answers to my questions being pretty dismissive and contradictory were not a good first impression for me. Just giving others who are GF a heads up.
less than 1% of the US population has celiac…
I like the ellipsis (…) – punctuation that usually means something was omitted, so here we have a “complete this sentence” game.
Unfortunately the gluten thing is kind of complicated, and the rest of the sentence could easily be 3 pages of occasionally heated commentary over phenomena that don’t have anything to do with celiac, which is relatively cut and dried, but statistically less common. Those who for whatever reason strictly avoid gluten are well served by the heads-up here.
soooooooooooo true, people think they’ll lose weight when something is “free”
Thanks for the heads-up Kristian. Maybe they’ll have more options for GF folks as they get settled. At least it sounds like they’re not adding MSG to things like many Vietnamese restaurants so that’s something to build on.
I had a chance to stop by this place last Thursday and the food was delicious for the price! My fiance and I ordered 2 banh mis and 1 bun(noodle). Our meats: pork, steak and chicken. All were well marinated and refreshing. Staff was friendly and the shop has style.
My fiance’s family is originally from Vietnam so I’ve had a chance to eat and learn to cook Vietnamese food. And trust me Kristian…they use fish and soy sauces together in lots of dishes. Plus, what do you expect for a low priced take out place that all items are below $7? It WON”T be able to accommodate everyone.
Also, found out from one other customer who came in before us. She told me that she asked them if they put MSG in their food and the answer is NO!
Bravo to this cute small place, no wonder your food tastes fresh, not too salty/over marinated as compared to several typical Vietnamese places in town. Your food reminds me of the dishes that my future mother in law makes for us at family gathering.
Hope you’ll stay around for a long time so that whenever we crave for reasonably priced, delicious, fast Vietnamese food, we know where to turn to!
Chloe
My husband and I stopped for lunch and were delighted with our choices. He had the pork bahn mi and I had the bun with tamarind pepper glazed tofu. Both were delicious!
It was very busy when we arrived, but the two people working there were cheerful and efficient. It didn’t take long at all for our orders to be ready.
By the time we finished the generous portions, the crowd had slowed and the gentleman behind the counter came out to clean tables and ask us how we enjoyed our meal.
He was happy that we liked our meal and said that business has been brisk and he is very pleased with the neighborhood. We gave him our assurance we’d be back!
Good. Hopefully this place can avoid the Wallingford curse. I am amazed daily that the Caribbean place around the corner is still open.
I stopped byfor the first time yesterday & took home the bun (vermicelli noodles) with chicken and sweet & sour fish sauce. For $7 plus a $1 tip, it was a great value and was plenty for a full lunch *and* dinner. Whatever they use as a marinade & method for the chicken strips makes it crunchy on the edges and tender in the center, and the combination of flavors was exactly what I was hoping for: really fresh but complex, with lettuce, chopped mint, pickled carrots, daikon radish, and sliced jalapenos easily avoidable for those who don’t love them. The couple was friendly and talkative, and I love that they’re open every day and with predictable (practical!) hours for mealtimes. At about 1:30 on a Saturday, I was the only one there when I ordered and when I picked up about 20 minutes later.
I am a complete Vietnamese food addict, and am thrilled that we have a full-menu fast-food Vietnamese place in the neighborhood (am not that crazy about Than Brothers, and all they have is pho). I started with a pork banh mi (my go-to). The baguette was fabulous — perhaps the best I’ve had. The pork was tasty but a little on the dry and tough side. The staff are obviously still trying to get their act together, but that’s part of opening a restaurant. I’ll definitely go back and plan to eat my way through the menu. Hope they consider adding pho at some point.
Kristian, sorry but being not being gluten free is not a fair criticism of this place.
Try finding a gluten free eatery in Vietnam.
Thanks for the great review, Karin! Reading it this morning inspired me to try out Tigerly Ox for lunch, and I’m glad I did. It was fantastic. (I lived in VN for a year in my 20s, and miss the food dearly.)
I appreciate the simplicity and freshness. The prep area is small and in full view as you order and pay for food, which is fun. You can watch them cook and chat while waiting for your food. The couple who run the place are sweet, personable and eager. I really hope they succeed.
Kristian — I know it’s important for gluten-sensitive individuals to avoid gluten, and there’s a value in alerting others to the fact that there may be limited GF options, but seems like you can be polite about it.
I ordered the pork sandwich and it was good but I wished they used the traditional french bread. The bread got soggy and it is pretty dense. Overall it is a good place to have in Wallingford. I will order the noodle and rice dish instead of the sandwich.
Ordered the pork bun (vermicelli bowl) last night for take-out — delicious! The pork was perfectly done, and the combination of noodles, pork, lettuce and cilantro was a real treat. I ordered off their web site; very easy to choose what items to add.
The staff are very pleasant — I enjoyed chatting with them when I picked up my order. While small, I like the feel of the place — would be quite happy to eat there next time.
This is definitely going to become one of the places I frequent.