date: 9/20/11
location: st. paul
grade: a

this place will never win awards for beauty or convenience. stuck quite near the end of university avenue in st. paul, you walk through an asian grocery to get in to the restaurant side, plus there's a few more stores surrounding the eating area. it's like a food court, only different.

they did try a bit with the decor, but it's pretty plain and standard. the only thing that really stood out to me were the colorful desserts in the deli cases and the mtv-style video karaoke they have on top of the case. and they also have a really impressive selection of condiments on the table, including three kinds of peppers and shrimp paste (which i don't recall seeing as an add on before anywhere). heads up, though, if you're a salt fiend like me- the shakers flow very quickly indeed.

anyway, you're really not going to go here because it's pretty (or, as mentioned, particularly convenient for lots of people). you're going to go here because it's probably the best and most authentic thai food in town. so you won't notice where you are once you start eating.

though we had to send the server back to ask about a few things on the menu. i will cut the server a bit of slack as there's two different menus and they each have i'd say 50 or so things on them. like when we ordered the steamed fish with curry in a banana leaf ($6 for 2), we had to check to see if there was shellfish in it.

there wasn't. there was fish (not sure what kind, but it was salmon colored), cabbage, and what we thought was a bit of basil. the dish worked better when mixed up, the fish had a bit of an odd texture solo. when mixed that became less of a thing and actually worked in favor of the dish. though until we hit the veg layer (the fish covers it up) you wouldn't know it's there. one was a very nice starter size, too. it seemed odd the banana leaf was stapled, though.

one of the two dishes was the pra ram long song with chicken ($9 or so) with chicken, broccoli, red peppers in a peanut sauce with a side of rice. both of us thought that it was the first peanut sauce either one of us recall seeing that was based on actual peanuts, not peanut butter (not that there's anything wrong with that). that is how fresh this dish was, though. it's details like that that make this place stand out... and that's without considering all the veg is also fresh.

when i ordered, being that it was on the special menu in the soup section, i was a bit surprised when i got the egg noodle with duck, bok choy, and onion ($8 or so) but got over it quickly. i was looking for a dish with noodles and duck, and didn't need the broth experience. there was only one inedible bit of duck (seems like less than usual). if the dish had egg bits in it and didn't come with plum sauce, it would be quite like the upscale version of the mee goreng i get at satay 2 go. though this one has narrow egg noodles that tangle... it's not an elegant dish to eat, tasty though it is.

the prices here are seriously low, too. considering the mee gorgeng has chicken and not duck and is about the same price? insane. they must do a lot of volume and get some large families in here, judging by the table sizes. i'd like to try a full curry dish or two (red and green) to see what those turn out to be. and maybe get some of that peanut sauce to go...