Downtown there’s always the speed vs. taste dilemma. Here’s a win-win solution: Bites Asian Tapas & Wild Sushi. It has no wait to be seated, no wait to be served, and no reason not to be packed. Right near Safeco (with tons of parking in front for you nonwalkers), Bites is a dream for meat lovers, vegetarians, and pescatarians alike. You get plenty with each lunch tapas meal ($9.95), which lets you choose two tapas and comes with miso soup, a small salad with soy vinaigrette dressing, and a bowl of rice. My lunch date and I shared two lunches of gyu negi (beef wrapped scallion sautéed with teriyaki sauce), kalbi (Korean-style beef short rib), salmon cheese wontons (lightly crispy on the outside, totally creamy in the middle), and soy Dijon wings from heaven. We also added a fifth tapas order—we couldn’t resist—of Tofu Jon ($4.95), onion and tofu with sesame-flavored soy sauce, from the newly expanded vegetarian offerings. Full and slightly buzzed from Bites’ dangerously drinkable Asian Pear Saketini ($7), I tottered back to the office and vowed to soon return to where taste and speed intersect. KATIE BECKER