I have no intention of making restaurant reviews a regular part of this blog because:
A) Most of my readers are outside of the Twin Cities.
B) I eat at Chipotle more than any other restaurant, and if there's one near you, you've already had it.
C) There's other people who do it better.
That being said, Steve and I were putzing around on Saturday afternoon when he announced he wanted to get something to eat. I answered with my standard one word reply, "Chipotle." He responded with his one word reply, "NO."
We were in the drive thru of Walgreen's picking up some antibiotics for him, and he suddenly declared "I know where I'm taking you."
I feared the worst, and I replied, "I am NOT going to Denny's."
"No, we're not going to Denny's. I was going to go to lunch at Papa T's the other day and they were closed. I ended up at this Thai restaurant in that same strip mall, it was excellent." (Papa T's is a pizza buffet. YUCK.)
I love my husband, I really do. His taste in restaurants is extreme. It is either terribly expensive (Capitol Grill) or greasy spoon (Denny's.) He favors those wretched Chinese buffets that cater to the easily offended Minnesotan palate-rather than authentic fare they have mountains of overcooked snow crab legs, stacks of greasy egg rolls, salad bars with a trough of iceberg lettuce and jello and a watered down ice cream machine. What I'm trying to say is, I don't trust his judgment when it comes to cuisine. I'm a food snob and proud of it.
Reluctantly, I followed him into the Mekong River Thai Curry House. It is unfortunately located in one of Burnsville's uglier strip malls, but that is the only negative thing I have to report about this establishment. The restaurant was surprisingly pleasant inside. There were two tables with floor seating-not my style, but they were low key and not garish. We were able to pick any table, and we were greeted by a friendly young waitress right away. Steve immediately ordered Cream Cheese Wontons, which I like, but they're so cliche. I could tell this was not the average Asian restaurant, so I ordered a bowl of Tom Yum soup in addition to that appetizer.
The waitress returned with a carafe of ice water with lemon slices-a very nice touch-and I asked her to recommend a spicy dish. She advised me that they would make any dish spicy to order on a scale of 1 to 5, so I decided on the Eggplant and Thai Basil with Chicken. I played it safe and went with a spicy level 3, but would definitely do a 5 next time.
Our cream cheese wontons came out, and I have to admit-they were excellent. The talented chef adorns dishes with a carrot garnish intricately carved into a butterfly-it doesn't sound like much, but it's a wonder to behold. The five large wontons weren't overly greasy and were accompanied by a sauce that was a perfect complement. She brought my soup out and after tasting the first spoonful, I looked at Steve and said, "I can't believe you found this restaurant."
"Why?"
"Because it's excellent, that's why. You never find good restaurants."
I kept working on the soup. It was delicate, yet so complex in the flavors. I drank every last drop. Just when I had finished, another waitress brought us our entrees and she recognized Steve from his visit a couple days earlier. She remembered how she steered his dainty Scandinavian palate away from the spicier dishes. I rolled my eyes and told her that as far as I was concerned, the hotter the better. She was genuinely friendly, and made recommendations for future visits. We told her how delicious the food was and it was obvious she was flattered by the compliments. My eggplant and chicken was incredible. Even though I would order a higher spice level the next time, this was a pleasant slow burn that doesn't catch up to you until you've had a few bites. Again, nothing heavy handed about the dishes-it's obvious the chef is extremely conscientious and skilled.
Steve ordered the fried bananas for desert much to my horror. I detest bananas. He did order strawberry ice cream on the side, so I had a few bites, but I was stuffed. The waitress was obviously disappointed that I didn't have the bananas, so she recommended the mango with sticky rice for our next visit.
On Sunday, I looked at Steve and said, "I could totally go for Thai food again."
That's all I had to say. There were quite a few more people in the restaurant yesterday, including a couple with two children under the age of 3. They were sitting at one of the tables with floor seating, which seemed to give their unsupervised children the idea that running around the restaurant was a great plan. I chose to ignore the toddlers' disruptive behavior and silently cursed the parents for not being more vigilant.
Our waitress was overjoyed to see us again, and I told her I loved the food so much I just had to return for the second day in a row. We ordered the fried wontons again, and I ordered the Tom Yum soup again too. The place was quite busy, and our waitress was juggling all the tables by herself. She brought me a bowl of Coconut Soup by mistake, and Steve told her we'd just try that-thank GOD. It was even better than the Tom Yum. Even though it was positively steamy outside yesterday afternoon, that soup was amazing. I was practically rapturous by the time I reached the bottom of the bowl.
In between the appetizers and the entree, we chatted up the waitress who told us they've only been open for a year and her husband and she are the owners. She said her husband was the "big chef" and prior to them opening, he had never cooked before. We were astounded. "You're kidding," we said in unison. She reported that her husband felt she was too friendly, but I told her that the service was part of what made the restaurant wonderful. We had overheard two other patrons telling her how incredible the food was, and that they would be back as well. She said several people would walk into the restaurant and leave after looking at the menu and asking if chow mein was available. Typical Minnesota restaurant patrons.
I had the coconut and red curry chicken, and was raving about the quality of the food with each and every bite. I'll definitely be back this week for the lunch buffet.