date: 7/26/11
location: minneapolis
grade: a-

after an absence of who knows how long (and i am too lazy to look up)... maybe a few years? anyway, naviya is back on the twin cities restaurant scene. i never got to the kalico elephant, but thought the thai kitchen offered up some of the best pad thai in the twin cities. this was in large part due to the freshness of the ingredients. it was the only place i can recall using fresh bamboo shoots.

after not looking at what i had the times i went to the thai kitchen, i got a very similar meal to what i had before... though without any shrimp, natch. i started with the crispy natural turkey spring rolls ($7), "golden fried roll stuffed with cage-free natural ground turkey, cabbage, carrot, cellophane noodle, shitake mushroom and seasonings wrapped in a fresh rice skin." several reviews noted that the rolls here are crispy and not greasy, and indeed they were. and you can still taste all ingredients individually.

the rama thai (apparently now that spell that differently), "slow cooked peanut, sweet coconut milk and red curry paste tossed with choice of meat served on bed of vegetables" ($14 with chicken, i of course couldn't so much do the shrimp this time ) was not quite as memorable as last time. they roasted the veg, and make everything on the spot when you order, so roasted the veg gives everything not enough time to meld, flavorwise.

it wasn't quite as hot (there were no peppers in it this time, other than bell) or piquant, or peanutty either. it was still fresh and tasty, but this time it's not something i covet. but i would eat it again. and i will say i miss the pad thai- i did think about getting it without the shrimp paste, maybe i would do that another time.

the fresh shrimp & chicken spring rolls ($7). "lettuce chiffonade, carrot, cilantro, basil, cucumber, rice noodle, shrimp, grilled chicken wrapped in fresh rice skin served with sweet & sour cucumber sauce," though a bit heavy on the basil, was also heavy on the fresh ingredients and flavor.

and since it was ordered as a 4 of 5 on the heat scale, which was not enough for the person ordering it- they added bird peppers i didn't so much try the spicy red curry (i just got the standard 2.5, which wasn't quite hot enough, i'd maybe go 3 next time). on the menu, it's listed as "elegant & thunderous... big taste profile with a slower spiciness flavor to the palate blended with sweet coconut milk and wok-seared bamboo strip, red – green pepper, yellow onion, kaffir leaf and sweet basil' ($13). it also was heavy on the basil plus the kaffir leaf.

service was good, though i think once more we had the least 'present' server. and what seemed ironic is that rice paper moved out of this space into bigger digs in edina, yet there were a lot more people here at naviya's than there was at rice paper (and the food was much better, so there's that) and they hit more than one demographic- i'm glad to see them doing so well. the space is more elegant than the previous naviya's... cleaner lines, and more modern decor, with a motown-heavy soundtrack which seems to fit the place.