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!