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