Thai Spoon- Downtown Chicago

I arrived in Chicago as one of Target’s representatives at the NSHMBA Conference (National Society of Hispanic MBAs) and had a little time to kill before our team member training and needed some lunch. I decided to go for a walk around the hotel to find something to eat and to my delight, there was a Thai restaurant two blocks away!

I decided to go with a standard- Pad Thai with Chicken. Thai Spoon did a great job and the meal was delicious. I also enjoyed that there were size options- small and large- for most dishes. I was there at about 2pm and there were tons of diners and others coming in to order takeout- looks like the place did well.

Thanks, Chicago!

Decor: fine
Price: average ($10-$15)
Spice level: order higher than normal

For more information:

Thai Spoon & Sushi

632 South Wabash Avenue

Chicago, IL 60605

http://www.thaispoonsushi.com/

Mt. Fuji

As I walked past Mt. Fuji on my way home to eat a healthy meal with tons of veggies, I thought to myself...I wonder how this sushi restaurant does with Pad Thai....? A few minutes later I was inside ordering take-out (whoops!). Although the wait for the take-out was a little long (20 minutes), it was totally worth it.

I ordered Pad Thai with chicken, their only Thai dish on the mostly sushi menu, and was so impressed with the presentation, flavor and SPICE. The dish was prepared to perfection and would give Roat Osha a run for their money. I'm not sure why a sushi restaurant has Pad Thai on the menu, but if you can do it right, then why not?

I'd highly recommend trying their Pad Thai...hopefully their sushi is just as good?!

Decor: good ambiance

Price: average ($10-$15)

Spice level: perfection

For more information:

Mt. Fuji
2819 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55408

www.mtfujimn.com

True Thai #2

This weekend, I had the opportunity to return to True Thai. I was definitely looking forward to this since it is so critically acclaimed, yet has never impressed me to the same extent. Yet again, I think that do a decent job, but they definitely don't scream best ever to me.

My dining companion and I started with Fried Tofu, which was delicious, but pretty standard. For dinner, my dining companion ordered Laab with Beef (Your choice of minced ingredients blended with healthy portions of lime juice, roasted rice powder, coriander, and shallots. Served with sticky rice), which he adored.

I ordered Southern Thai Bean-Thread Rice Vermicelli Salad (Deliciously seasoned with authentic Thai spices, mixed with pork and shrimp,blended with sweet and spicy dressing with lime) because I didn't recall seeing anything like it anywhere else. I ordered it as a 5 (out of 5), which the waitress recorded as "TH" (Thai Hot) and it in fact had an amazing spice level. The blend of flavors, pork and shrimp was a real win.

Like I said the first time I reviewed True Thai, their service definitely has room for improvement. It's just...so slow!

Rating- :) :) :) 3 out of 5 Smiles from Sukie

Sawatdee Express

After my most recent experience eating Thai food in the downtown skyway, I was a bit scared to try Sawatdee Express. My dining companion and I both ordered Pad Thai with chicken (they have quite a limited menu) and although it wasn't the best Pad Thai I've ever had, it was decent! I also had a spring roll, which was delicious and made me think of Sawatdee on Washington (definitely the best in their group) and my dining companion enjoyed cream cheese wontons.

The meals were quite expensive- over $10- for what we received, but I'll definitely be back to try their curry.

Decor: it's a closet in the skyway...

Price: average, but expensive for the skyway ($10-$15)

Spice level: definitely no spices added during cooking, but they provided them to add!

For more information:

Sawatdee Express
733 Marqutte Ave #211
Minneapolis, MN 55401

(in the Baker Building)

www.sawatdee.com

Royal Orchid- Downtown Minneapolis

Eek! Gag! Ugh! Blah!

That's about all I have to say about the "food" I was served at Royal Orchid in Downtown Minneapolis. If you ever find yourself wandering around the skyway looking for lunch, STAY AWAY! I would not have known I was eating "Pad Thai" and "Yellow Curry" had the signs not said so....this place is truly horrible.

I'm not even going to give you the address- you don't want it!!

Spice Thai

This weekend, I had a truly unique opportunity to enjoy Thai food with a newbie!! This dining companion had only tried Pad Thai once at Roat Osha (best Pad Thai ever!) and otherwise was a total Thai virgin! Obviously, the pressure was on for Spice Thai in Savage....and for me to pick some delicious dishes.

We started with Kung Pom Tong (Crispy Shrimps wrapped in golden fried egg noodles served with Thai spiced sweet & sour), which was tasty, but not very memorable. It felt like a good warm up for my dining companion though...

For dinner, we ordered Gaeng Ka Ree with chicken (Yellow curry with coconut milk and potatoes) and Basil Noodle with scallops (Thai rice noodle stir-fried with basil, onion and chilies in our own special sauce. One tasty noodle dish). We ordered both dishes medium (2 out of 5- don't worry, we got a spice tray too!!) and they both had really rich and delicious flavor. The curry was on the thicker side, which is how I prefer it and the potatoes were cooked to perfection. Although Basil Noodle is not something I regularly order, I was particularly impressed with the flavor combination of this sometimes so-so dish.

Although Spice Thai is a touch out of my way (not sure I have many other reasons to be in Savage...), I will definitely be back. YUM!

PS My dining companion dropped his business card in the fish bowl to win a giftcard and 3 days later, they emailed him that he in fact won $25 to Spice Thai!

Decor: just right

Price: average ($10-$15)

Spice level: jury is still out....we ordered medium!

For more information:

Spice Thai
3989 County Road 42
Savage, MN 55378

www.spicemn.com

Chiang Mai Thai #2

This weekend I was thrilled to go to Chiang Mai Thai where I knew I'd get a great meal. On this particular visit, I truly struggled with the menu. I love all Thai food and it felt like it had been ages since I'd had curry...and pad thai...and soup....and laab essan...in the end, I decided to get a Sriracha Stir Fry with chicken. Sriracha sauce ALWAYS hits the spot and Chiang Mai Thai did a fabulous job!

My dining companions ordered pad thai, fire noodles and pad see eiw....all delicious. Thank you, Chiang Mai Thai for consistently delivering a delicious meal.

Now I just need to try their bicycle delivery service!!

Rating- :) :) :) :) 4 out of 5 Smiles from Sukie

Chino Latino

After quite a hiatus from my spicy food addiction, I enjoyed some tantalizing Thai dishes at Chino Latino. Our group ordered two Thai items- Black Laab and Coconut Shrimp Curry. We also dined on some other delicious food, but obviously the Thai food was the highlight of the meal for me (and for a few of my other dining companions too!)

We ordered Black Laab (Thai lettuce wraps with spicy ground beef, mint, cilantro, sprouts and nuoc cham dipping sauce), as a small plate to share and it was absolutely delicious. We struggled a little bit assembling our lettuce wraps (so many things to combine!), but the end result was a great mix of flavors. The cilantro truly complimented the nuoc cham dipping sauce. We were hooked!

For one of our larger dishes, we chose Coconut Shrimp Curry (with pineapple and red bell peppers in a sweet Thai coconut red curry sauce over jasmine rice), which my visiting dining companions order every time they go to Chino Latino. Although it wasn't spicy enough for my liking (when we share dishes- I forgo my usual spice level!), the flavor was right on. For a restaurant that has so many different types of cuisine, they truly nail Thai food. The only thing I'd do differently is keep the rice separate from the curry instead of all mixed together....the rice just takes up space in my stomach and I just want the curry!

This was a delicious first official Thai experience at Chino Latino and I'm hungry for more!

Decor: awesome

Price: above average ($13-$18)

Spice level: good

For more information:

Chino Latino
2916 Hennepin Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408

www.chinolatino.com

Thanh Do #2

Thanh Do, mmm good! After a second experience at Thanh Do filled with Spring Rolls, Cranberry Curry and Vietnamese Curry Coconut, I am totally sold on Thanh Do!

The Cranberry Curry (Chicken white meat, fresh mushrooms, onions, scallions, Thai curry, coconut milk and cranberries) literally blew my mind it was so delicious. The flavor combination of sweet and spicy....it's making me salivate to think about it. It was thick and rich and really coated the vegetables and chicken to a T.

My dining companion enjoted Vietnamese Curry Coconut (Chicken white meat marinated with vietnamese spices, curry, coconut milk, onions and topped with crushed peanuts and served over a bed of lettuce and bean sprouts), which she also devoured like there was no tomorrow.

I can't wait to return....I'm craving it!!

Rating- :) :) :) :) :) 5 out of 5 Smiles from Sukie

Tum Rup Thai #2

Recently I returned to Tum Rup Thai, which can always make my food spicy enough (love that), but I have to say that I think the food is just a touch blah. There is nothing wrong with it and I can't really describe why it's blah (weak, I know), but my dining companion and I agreed that it's just really forgettable.

The place is quite cute with great happy hour specials....so they have that going for them!

Rating- :) :) :) 3 out of 5 Smiles from Sukie

Mango Thai #2

And that's how its done! I had a second amazing meal at Mango Thai.

After taking my sister to quite a few less-than-great restaurants (so sorry!) I was excited to take her somewhere that I enjoyed a lot. We ordered Laab Essan with Chicken to start and it was absolutely delicious. The waitress offered up the spice scale as medium-hot, hot-hot and Thai-hot. We went with hot-hot to start, which was definitely the right choice.

My sister ordered Pad Kee Mow cooked hot-hot and she absolutely loved it. They do such a good job with this meal! I ordered the Green Curry with chicken (her usual treat) and decided to go with Thai-hot. It was amazing and about as hot as I can tolerate...any hotter and my lips might have fallen off.

Overall, Mango Thai is a GREAT choice for lunch and dinner. Additionally, it is super cute with leather chairs, cozy corners, and hip decor. I would highly recommend it!!

Rating- :) :) :) 5 out of 5 Smiles from Sukie

Rice Paper

I had been anxious to try Rice Paper in the super cute Linden Hills area of South Minneapolis. The decor was great and the walls were covered with a picture mural of a forest (see below), but the service and food were disappointing.

First of all, they were out of SEVERAL items! We tried to order an appetizer, out! I tried to order an entree, out! I was like...c'mon, you can't be running out of everything?! I ended up settling on the Curry Plate with Ruby/Jade Salad (wide rice noodles in a rich, deep peanut-curry sauce. Served with a red and green cabbage salad with coriander tossed in peanut-curry dressing) because the waitress said it was the spiciest thing on the menu. She described it as crazy-hot. Well, listen here, little lady, you obviously have either a) never tasted the food here or b) never had a spicy meal! It was barely spicy and this "rich, deep peanut-curry sauce" was pretty much flavor-less. Boring with a capital B!!

My dining companion enjoyed the Rice Paper Rice Plate, which he said was just fine. The decor was so cute that I had such high hopes...

As we finished our meal at the Asian Fusion restaurant, I asked the hostess/water girl if they had any fortune cookies and she snottily replied that "fortune cookies are for Chinese restaurants and this was Asian Fusion." I was so annoyed with her attitude (BTW pretty much every Asian restaurant has some type of fortune cookie!!!) that I almost said "yeah and usually when you order spicy food at an Asian Fusion restaurant...it's actually spicy!"

Decor: sooo cute

Price: above average ($13-$18)

Spice level: Boring

For more information:

Rice Paper
2726 W 43rd St
Minneapolis, MN 55410

www.ricepaperrestaurant.com

Roat Osha #2

After months of ignoring the siren's call, I was able to have my second experience at Roat Osha. I have to say, the feedback is pretty similar. I had the Green Papaya Salad and flavor-wise they do an awesome job, but spice is another story. Why can't they make their food spicy enough?

Has anyone else struggled here? Let me know...

Rating- :) :) :) 3 out of 5 Smiles from Sukie

Thai Krathong- Duluth weekend

On a recent visit to Duluth, I was able to dine at Duluth's best (and only!) Thai restaurant, Thai Krathong. We had several curries and a Pad Thai and it was fantastic- I would highly recommend you try it if you're ever in Duluth. It's in the Canal Park area, which is super fun!

Funny fact: they have two spice scales; 1-5 is Minnesota, 6-10 is Thailand

Big Bowl Fresh Chinese and Thai

And it's official....Round 2 has begun! (Unfortunately Round 2 starts before I'm able to finish Round 1...). I returned to Big Bowl, but this time to their Edina location and yet again had a fantastic meal.

We started with Spring Rolls, which were pretty standard in my book, but there is nothing wrong with standard. I then moved on to Panang Curry with Chicken, which is hands down the best Panang in town! It may surprise you since Big Bowl is after all a chain, but it's true! In fact, I dare you to find better Panang...seriously!!

I'd tell you about what my dining companions ate, but unfortunately they enjoyed the Fresh Chinese part of "Fresh Chinese and Thai," so I don't care about their food!

Na's Thai Cafe

This weekend, I was joined by a delightful dining companion on an excursion to Chanhassen, MN! I know Chanhassen isn't that far, but for some reason I felt like it was REALLY out there....well after driving there...I realized it wasn't!

Na's Thai Cafe is a cute little place that you'd miss unless you were looking for it. We started by ordering Yum Woon Sen (silver-thread noodles with onions, shrimp, chopped pork, tomatoes, peanut, cilantro & freen onions), which I don't think I've seen anywhere before. They were delicious and had great flavor!

She ordered Massamun Curry, which proved to be delicious and had full-size peanuts, which was a fun surprise! I ordered a Silver Thread Noodle salad which game in a gallon-sized bowl filled with lettuce, noodles, chicken, onions, peanuts and tons of delicious sauce. It was definitely different form what I usually feast on- curry or at least spicy food, but it was great!

This tiny little hole-in-the-wall was cute and I'll be excited to return.

Decor: fine

Price: average ($10-15)

Spice level: so-so

For more information:

Na's Thai Cafe
566 W 78TH St
Chanhassen, MN 55317

Pei Wei Asian Diner

I decided to truck it through the snow to Pei Wei Asian Diner in St. Louis Park. I hadn't had Thai food in what seemed like years and was eager for some curry!

Pei Wei was almost exactly like Noodles & Company, but the Asian version! I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of this chain until seeing it on Urbanspoon. The atmosphere was fun and quite busy for being a snowy night. The waitstaff was helpful, but I realized that there was a drive-through (!) and wished I had seen that before going through the trouble of parking, etc.

I ordered the Thai Coconut Curry with vegetables and tofu (we use green curry with coconut milk to give this dish a nice, velvety texture and a smooth curry kick. Fresh ginger, Thai basil, red bell peppers, onions and long beans combine to give this dish wonderful flavor). I was impressed that they offered brown rice (healthy me ordered it!) and tons of vegetables. The tofu was tasty, but different then any other tofu I'd ever seen. It had dark edges and was long and flat, similar to lasagna-type noodles.

I asked for my dish to be prepared extra spicy and while it had some kick, I was definitely disappointed with the lack of burning lips!

This would be a cute place to meet a friend or bring a date and is definitely reasonable with most dishes under $8.

Decor: trendy

Price: cheap (under $10)

Spice level: blah

For more information:

Pei Wei Asian Diner
5330 Cedar Lake Road
St. Louis Park, MN 55416

www.peiwei.com

Chiang Mai Thai

This past weekend, I went with a nice sized group to Chiang Mai Thai. Although I've been there several times before, this was my native voyage as a blogess. We started with appetizers that were both pretty good- Fresh Springrolls (Rice paper rolls stuffed with noodles, lettuce, cilantro and bean sprouts with curried beef) and Happy Shrimp (Six coconut and tempura battered shrimp, deep fried to a golden brown) and of course, a couple of bottles of wine.

I knew before we arrived that I would order Pad See Yew (Rice noodles or egg noodles stir fried with egg, broccoli, napa cabbage, soy sauce, garlic and spices). A few years back, I ordered this dish to split with a friend and we ordered a 3 out of 4 for spice. It was so insanely hot that we couldn't eat it and they had to remake it (we felt HORRIBLE!). Now that I've been exposed to a lot more heat, I love spicy so I ordered this dish as a 4. The waitress seemed uncertain, but I had to do it!! I am so glad I did since it was absolutely delicious. The flavor was right on and so was the spice- I was quite impressed.

The rest of the table pretty much stuck to curry- Panang, Massamun and Sweet Green Curry, all of which tasted like heaven to me. I was genuinely impressed with the night, but because of the chic atmosphere, it just doesn't feel that traditional to me.

Decor: really nice- great for a date!

Price: average ($10-$15)

Spice level: right on!

For more information:

Chiang Mai Thai

3001 Hennepin Avenue S
Minneapolis, MN 55408

www.chiangmaithai.com

Reuan Thai Restaurant

I met several dining companions in Osseo to try Reuan Thai Restaurant, which was recommended by a coworker. All of the servers working there were young women that didn't quite look old enough...but we did enjoy their wall of pictures showing menu items (even though they didn't quite match the food we received).

To start, we ordered Spring Rolls, which were fine, but nothing special. One dining companion ordered Reuan Thai Fried Rice (house fried rice with chicken, BBQ pork, shrimp, onion and snow pea pods), which definitely didn't look like the picture and was boring as heck. She had also asked to add mushrooms...but that didn't happen! This dish was pretty much just fried rice.

Another friend ordered Chicken Curry (chicken simmered in coconut milk, red curry paste, bell peppers, peas and carrots) since there was no green curry on the menu and she had been craving it. This had great overall flavor but the chicken was so weird (sort of slimy and cubed) that she had to stay away from it.

Pad Pak- Reuan Thai's Special (stir-fried vegetables including fresh mushrooms, celery, broccoli, onion, pea pods, napa, green beans, bell peppers and carrots with your choice of meat) was the final choice of my dining companions. This had tons of delicious vegetables, but we agreed that the sauce could use more flavor and spice.

I ordered Tom Yum with chicken (a delicious lemon flavor soup with straw mushrooms, celery, galanga, kaffir leaves, lemongrass, cilantro, green onion and Thai chili), which had a great flavor! I was impressed with the broth flavor, but the chicken was weird and a bit tough (although different from the other weird chicken) so I mostly stayed away from that.

Overall, the meal was okay, but a little so-so for everything....

Decor: fine

Price: cheap (mostly under $10)
Spice level: not spicy enough

For more information:

Reuan Thai Restaurant
311 Central Avenue
Osseo, MN 55369

Hong Thai- Rogers

I was enthused on the trek out to Rogers, but even more excited when we couldn't figure out where it was and after calling a husky man answered the phone and called me "hon" as he provided directions.

Before we ordered, our server (the husky man) asked us if we were familiar with Thai food (we were quite a distance from the big cities!) and offered to help us. He asked us how we found out about the restaurant and when I said Urbanspoon, he hadn't heard of it (!). I told him that I'd been to the other location in Albertville and in fact updated all of their info online. With that, he gave me a side hug!

To start, we ordered Fried Tofu with special sauce (my dining companion was quite drawn to the special sauce concept). The tofu was good, but nothing too thrilling and the sauce was quite tame.

For dinner, my dining companion ordered Hot and Spicy Lemongrass with beef (your choice of meat sauteed with lemongrass and onion, bamboo shoot in spicy sauce), which the waiter informed us was a good choice because bamboo was high in iron and low in calories. We loved him! It was quite a good dish flavor-wise, although not very spicy and a touch too salty.

I ordered Spicy Fried Rice with Basil with chicken (fried rice with spicy garlic sauce, basil, onion, bell pepper and scallions). I ordered a 4/5, but would definitely suggest getting a 5 for spice! It was by far the most flavorful fried rice dish I have EVER had. I was truly impressed- so delicious!!

Overall, this was quite a memorable dinner, partially because we talked about the funniest/weirdest stuff, partially because of the mountain-man waiter (loved it) and lastly because the food was surprisingly delish!

YUM!

Decor: fine

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: pretty good, order on the higher side

For more information:

21301 County Road 81
Rogers, MN 55374

www.hongthairestaurant.com

Mongkok

To end Monday on a high note, I headed out to Mongkok in Shoreview. Restaurants with Thai, Chinese AND Japanese (including sushi) now scare me a little. Would there really be Thai food??

Yes! To start we had some eggs rolls, which were fine, nothing that blew me away. My dining companion ordered Pad Thai with chicken- medium spicy. It was surprisingly delicious and had a bit of a sweet flavor to it. It wasn't my all-time favorite, but she loved it!

On my drive there, I had already decided that I would order Yellow Curry if they had it since I hadn't had it in ages...okay a month maybe? The yellow curry with tofu was quite good and had a nice spice to it, but I couldn't quite come to terms with the potatoes. They weren't normal Thai potatoes that are cut into roughly 1-2 inch cubes, but instead they were like french fries, but not fried! They were cooked well and tasted delicious, but it just felt bizarre to eat fries with my curry....I also would like more than 3 bites of tofu next time!

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with Mongkok and will be back!

Decor: fine

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: not super spicy, but good

For more information:

Mongkok
3594 Owasso Street
Shoreview, MN 55126

Asian Hon

So sick of bad Thai food...

I have had a lot of bad luck lately trying new places and it's getting to me. Tonight my dining companion and I drove to Shakopee to go to Asian Hon. Online and when I called, they said they have both Chinese and Thai food. The huge sign above their building says Chinese and Thai, but apparently all they had for Thai food was Pad Thai! I felt badly right away since this dining companion had already been to two other bad places with me...maybe she is a bad luck charm?!

After the worst cream cheese wontons I've ever had, my dining companion chose to order Chinese food and I sadly ordered the Pad Thai with tofu since it was basically my only option. This was by far the worst Pad Thai I've ever had. Yes, it had peanuts, rice noodles, and egg, but it tasted nothing like any other Pad Thai I've ever had. Use a gallon of salt or what?! We both ordered spicy entrees, but neither was spicy AT ALL. I ate the tofu off of it and left the rest. How disappointing!! I definitely won't be back!!

Decor: Chinese

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: salt does not equal spice!

For more information:

Asian Hon
1135 1st Avenue East
Shakopee, MN 55379

asianhonshakopee.com