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

Ban Thai

My mouth is still tingling...mmm

I was excited to try Ban Thai in White Bear Lake. I've seen very mixed reviews on the restaurant; positive from Lazy Lightning and negative from Twin Cities Restaurant Blog. I also tried to go there once already, to find it closed due to a death in the family.

Based on their cute website, the restaurant was what I expected- a small, family owned business. I was eager to see if the owner (who is Thai) would be our server, but instead we got her husband! His knowledge of the menu and different dishes was impressive.

When I arrived, my dining companion had already ordered Fried Wontons with cream cheese (Deep-fried wonton stuffed with cream cheese, pork or shrimp. Served with Ban Thai's own homemade sweet and sour sauce) and Veggie Egg Rolls (For the veggie lover. Stuffed with fresh cabbage, mushrooms, carrots,eggs, onions and mungbean thread noodles. Lightly deep-fried). Both of these dishes were fine, but nothing super memorable. I don't think Ban Thai's sweet and sour sauce tasted any different than normal sweet and sour. We were off to a slow start, but not for long!

My dining companion decided to order Gang Panang Curry with chicken (A thicker variety of red curry with ground peanut and sweet basil) since we've been to Big Bowl together several times and I regularly order Panang Curry. I was absolutely blown away. This was definitely the best Panang Curry I've ever tasted...I had several bites of hers and could have easily eaten the whole thing...what a surprise!

I've had Thai food the last two days, so I was yearning for something a little different. I decided to try Laab Moo (A favorite in Northern Thailand. Coarsely ground pork marinated in a spicy combination of Thai peppers, limejuice, onion, fresh mint, green onion, cilantro and roasted rice powder. Served on a bed of lettuce and cucumbers. Served with an order of sticky rice to complete the experience) based on the interesting description and the server's suggestion. I ordered a spice level 3 (out of 4) and he seemed nervous for me. This was one of the best meals I've had since I started this blog- absolutely perfect! He was right about the spice level- I might not have been able to eat the meal if it was a 4! The 3 had me with a bit of a runny nose, burning mouth and tingly lips- LOVE IT!!

Overall, the experience at Ban Thai was thrilling and memorable...I can't wait to visit the cute couple who own this place again soon!

Decor: fine

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: HOT!!!

For more information:

Ban Thai

2186 3rd Street

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

www.banthaionline.com

Answers to FAQs

I've been getting a lot of questions lately about my quest to try all that the Twin Cities has to offer for Thai Cuisine.

Here are some answers:

• I've gone to over 30 places, which is about half of the list (I think)
• Urbanspoon definitely has the most accurate information on Thai restaurants, but I'm still making changes and updates regularly. For a while I submitted updates all over town, but now I'm only updating information for Urbanspoon. I love their website!!
• I'm going to try and go every place on my list 2-3 times. With three experiences, I can try a curry, a noodle or rice and something else. Anywhere that was horrible will only get me to come back one more time.
• I don't foresee doing a follow-up blog when I'm done with this research; I can't eat any other cuisine this often.
• I read other bloggers' posts on Thai food- it's quite fun!
• If I could blog as a profession, I probably wouldn't. I love my day job :)
• My goal is to go two places a week whenever possible
• I try and get dessert and/or appetizers to try more items at a restaurant
• I love feedback from my friends.
• I have a dream that Andrew Zimmerman will want to grab a bite with me sometime!
  
• I'm trying to come up with a rating scale...something similar to Coldstone's "like it, love it, gotta have it"

If you have any other questions....let me know!!

1st of Thai Restaurant

Today, I had the opportunity to grab some take-out over the lunch hour. I arrived at 1st of Thai Restaurant in Plymouth to a sizable crowd for a Monday lunch. I arrived really hungry (why do I always do that?!) so I ordered an egg roll as an appetizer for the car ride back. Although the egg roll had good flavor, the insides were not connected to the wrapper, so they kept sliding out...it weirded me out a little!

After looking over their menu, I was feeling indecisive, so I ordered Pad Thai with chicken (Rice stick noodle, stir fried with eggs, bean sprouts, green onions, garlic and topped with roasted grounded peanuts). The packaging and appearance of the food was pretty standard, but oh my gosh was it delicious!! I was really impressed with the sauce and the chicken was perfect- it feels like I've had more weird chicken than ever lately!

I am excited to try this place again...hopefully for a sit down meal!

Decor: nice, nothing out of the ordinary

Price: normal ($10-15)
Spice level: good! She seemed very suspicious when I ordered a 4 out of 5!

For more information:

1st of Thai

10100 6th Avenue North

Plymouth, MN 55441
(For GPS, use Minneapolis)

Taste of Thailand- St. Paul

Va-va voom!!

After a so-so experience at Taste of Thailand- Downtown Minneapolis, I warned my dining companion that I wasn't sure how this would be (she is one of my regulars, so I wasn't worried about her feelings!). This Taste of Thailand was WAY different from the one in downtown Minneapolis. We had an awesome dinner! We started with Special Spring Rolls (The best spring roll in the Twin Cities made even better with lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots, cilantro, shrimp, pork, rice noodles and three different types of fresh mint wrapped in rice paper and served with a delicious sauce- and always fresh!) I was definitely skeptical about these being the best spring rolls (I've seen that tag line once or twice...) but I have to say these were the best I've had to date. You could definitely taste the mint and we loved the rolls and the delicious peanut sauce.

For dinner, my dining companion strayed from her regular Pad Thai and ordered Pra Ram Long Song with chicken (Another Twin Cities favorite, this traditional Thai dish feautres a mild peanut curry sauce over steamed spinach). I was so proud of her for trying something new, especially since she was unsure of the spinach. She loved the dish and I also thought it was excellent. The peanut sauce was perfection!!

I ordered Vegetarian Red Curry (Tofu and red curry in coconut milk with broccoli, carrots, green beans, napa cabbage, potatoes, pea pods and jumbo onions) because I was really feeling like some vegetables after all of the delicious (but unhealthy) holiday food. This dish was absolutely perfect. I have a rule that I only take leftovers when it is just about the best thing I've ever tasted...and I took leftovers! The flavor was rich, but not overpowering and the vegetables were delicious!!! (the carrots and green beans could have used one more minute cooking!)

For dessert, we had to try Buttercup Squash with Custard. I love Thai custard and had ever seen butternut squash on any menu so obviously I was intrigued. Even though my dining companion and I were full, we enjoyed the dessert a lot. What is it about Thai custard that makes me weak in the knees?!

Overall, I am so excited to have tried another Taste of Thailand!!! So far St. Paul is shaping up to have the best Thai food...

Decor: strip mall-ish

Prices: average ($10-15)
Spice level: absolutely perfect

More information:

Taste of Thailand
1671 Selby Ave
St Paul, MN 55104