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

Sawatdee on Washington Ave

Fourth times the charm...

On Tuesday, one of my favorite dining companions and I went to our first meditation class, hosted by the owner of Sawatdee, Supenn Harrison. We enjoyed, but struggled, as we tried to learn the basics of meditation from two Thai monks. It was quite an engaging experience.

After our class, we decided to have a late dinner. I'll admit, even though the restaurant was beautiful and we loved the ambiance (minus the freezing temperature), I was a bit nervous for dinner. This was my fourth Sawatdee experience of the five in the area (there is a sixth in St. Cloud) and the first three had been bad to okay, but nothing outstanding.

My dining companion ordered her favorite, Pad Thai with chicken and for the first time since I've known her joined the clean plate club! I think she probably still favors Roat Osha's Pad Thai (gosh I feel like I mention theirs a lot...), but it was really well done.

I ordered Supenn's Thai Style Pasta with chicken- spice level 4 (Rice noodles & mixed steamed vegetables are topped with zesty green curry sauce- cannot be prepared mild. For the adventuresome diner only). When I saw the description online, I wanted to try the dish since I think I'm fairly adventuresome! I was genuinely impressed with this dish. I'm not sure if it would surpass Bangkok Thai Deli's green curry, but it was pretty amazing. The vegetables were done perfectly and the dish was very very hot!

I was very pleased with this experience and our overall night at Sawatdee.

Decor: awesome

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: great- they can make it spicy!

For more information:

Sawatdee on Washington
607 Washington Avenue S
Minneapolis, MN 55415

www.sawatdee.com

Sawatdee- Bloomington

Blah...

For my third Sawatdee experience, I took my dining companion to Sawatdee in Bloomginton. After a disappointing experience at the downtown "bar and cafe" and a pretty good experience at the location in St. Paul, I was eager to see what Sawatdee in Bloomington had in store for us!

Unfortunately, it was pretty darn boring. We started with a Papaya Salad, which was okay, but boring and NOT spicy (even though we ordered a 4/5). My dining companion ordered her favorite, Green Curry with Pork (pork simmered in coconut milk, green curry paste with bamboo shoots and green peppers), which was extremely disappointing. It almost reminded me of Bubble Me's all salt, no flavor curry. She had been really craving Thai and this was not what she had in mind!

I ordered Pad Thai with Pork (stir-fried rice noodles with egg, crisp bean sprouts, onions and delicious spice. Topped with ground peanuts), which was okay, but again SUPER boring. It was not spicy (another 4/5) and just lacked overall flavor. It made me sad as I thought of the Pad Thai at Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine and Roat Osha...

Overall, this experience was really disappointing....the service was even only so-so (and it was 4:45pm so the restaurant had just us...oh and no music!)

Decor: fine

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: maybe they thought we wanted more salt?

For more information:

Amazing Thailand

8501 Lyndale Ave S
Bloomington, MN 55420

www.sawatdee.com

Amazing Thailand

Pleasantly surprised!

Before I started my journey to conquer all Thai in the Twin Cities metro, I tried Amazing Thailand and was quite disappointed. Thus, I've been a bit slow in getting there...even though I live down the street!

My dining companion and I decided to start with Thai Crispy Noodle (a famous northern Thai dish, crispy rice noodles with fried tofu, shrimp and roast pork sauteed in a tangy sauce). We were totally blown away with how delicious this appetizer was. The combination of meat, noodle, and a sauce similar to sweet and sour garnished with carrots and more was a great treat before our lunch. I'd definitely order this again.

For lunch, my dining companion ordered Tom Yum soup with tofu (hot and sour soup served with mushrooms and cream). I found myself quite jealous as I stared at her hot pot...the soup was extremely flavorful and the tofu was cooked perfectly. It definitely warmed her up in the middle of a frigid day.



It had been quite a while since I'd had a rice dish, so I decided to ordered Sriracha Fried Rice with chicken ( rice fried with egg, onion, sweet peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and sriracha sauce). I forgot how much I loved sriracha sauce...it has such good flavor. I was definitely impressed with the spice (level 4 of 5 was quite good) and the overall flavorful of a sometimes-boring dish!

Decor: loved it

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: about right

For more information:

Amazing Thailand

3024 Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55408

www.amazingthailandrestaurant.com

Sawatdee- St. Paul

Last night, I met a dining companion at Sawatdee in downtown St. Paul. I was a little unsure of how this would go since I'd been to a different location (different owner) and had a very so-so experience. Luckily, this was much better!

The first thing I noticed about the restaurant was that they desperately needed a second entry door. Every time someone came in or out, the icy air filled the restaurant...it was quite uncomfortable!

To start, my dining companion ordered a Papaya Salad- spice level 3 that he really liked. For his main dish, he ordered Roast Duck Curry- spice level 3 (Sliced roast duck simmered in coconut milk, red curry with sweet peas, tomatoes & chili). He liked it a lot, but it definitely wasn't as spicy as the waitress seemed to think it would be. He also found a few bones in the shredded duck, which was a pretty big turn off!

At the waitress' suggestion, I ordered the Pineapple Red Curry with tofu- spice level 4 (with coconut milk, pineapple chunks, tomatoes and peapods). I absolutely loved this dish! The veggies were really good and it had a fair amount of spice (I'd get a 5 next time though).



For dessert, we decided to try Durian and Sticky Rice since I'd never seen that as an option before. My chef dining companion assured me that durian was a fruit. After some research, I discovered that it's smell is so strong (some love it, some hate it), that the fruit is banned on mass transit in Singapore- weird! I definitely didn't like the taste of durian because it was not sweet at all. Additionally, the sticky rice wasn't sweet either so the whole dessert was pretty gross. This is the first time I've disliked a Thai dessert. I wish I could have at least eaten the sticky rice with coconut milk...oh well!

Overall, I was impressed with this experience compared to the other Sawatdee restaurant I tried, but with bones in the duck and a terrible dessert, the experience was just okay.

Decor: a really cool space, but freezing

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: about right

For more information:

Sawatdee St. Paul

486 Robert StreetN
St. Paul, MN 55101

www.sawatdee.com