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