Posts filed under ‘Thai’
Our Favorite Restaurants
I was inspired today by Kevin and Annmarie’s list of their top 9 favorite restaurants and I thought it was time for me to bring you a list of OUR favorite restaurants!
We really love food. And we really love for other people to cook for us…especially after a long day of driving! When we’re coming into a new area and we don’t know where to go, we almost always rely on the Yelp! iPhone app. The reviews are usually quite accurate…love it.
Here is our list of top 10 restaurants around the country (in no particular order) that we have enjoyed eating at. Most of them are vegetarian, vegan, and/or raw. I have put a * by the restaurants that are not vegetarian. I won’t go into specific details for each one, but each of them use super fresh/local ingredients and are very creative with their dishes.
Kalachandjis – Dallas, TX
Daily Juice – Austin, TX
Govinda’s – Eugene, OR
Red Avocado – Iowa City, IA
Cafe Gratitude – San Francisco, CA
The Grass Root – Tampa, FL
Brasserie Ten Ten* – Boulder, CO
Emerson Grill* – Bozeman, MT
Whole Foods Market Salad Bar – Everywhere USA
The Sprout – Mount Pleasant, SC
And now for our top 10 favorite Thai restaurants! We are Thai food fanatics…I would guess that we’ve been to over 100 Thai restaurants around the country in the past 3 years. These are the places that stand out for us as being amazing at that point in time. 🙂
Titaya’s Thai – Austin, TX
Thai Flavors – Des Moines, IA
Khow Thai – Boulder, CO
Tum Rup Thai -Minneapolis, MN
Joy’s Pattaya Thai – Richfield, MN
Marnee’s Thai – San Francisco, CA
Lotus of Siam – Las Vegas, NV
Malee’s on Main – Scottsdale, AZ
Thai Spice – Omaha, NE
Basil Thai Restaurant – Charleston, SC
What is the name of your favorite restaurant right now (and why)?
Have you been to any of the places we listed?
Green Curry Revisited
I am pleased to announce that there will be a drastic reduction in my dining out bills in the future. The green and red curries in a can that I bought last week are YUMMY. They aren’t too hot at all, and are very tasty. I added some broccoli, tofu, and shitake mushrooms and ate it all over some short grain brown rice. My wallet is happy and so is my tummy. Of course, there is nothing like having the chef hand-grind the spices for your curry, as they do in my favorite little Thai restaurant in Des Moines…but when you’re trying to save money and you have a craving for Thai, this is it!
New Oriental Food Store
I love ethnic food…but I had never been to an Asian grocery store. Until TODAY! Oh my goodness. I went to the East Village, where there is a nice little grocery called The New Oriental Food Store. I wanted to buy it all. I was trying hard not to hyperventilate when I found the green and red curry in a can. Heat and serve! Now…I know that goes against my good ‘ol home cookin’ philosophy. But…it’s green curry in a can! I am trying not to get too excited because Denise told me that it’s going to burn my mouth off. I’ll have to report back on that. I had to get it…it was only $1.79. Much less than the $10.00 I pay to eat it at my favorite Thai restaurant.
I also found coconut milk for 89 cents a can ($1.00 cheaper than my grocer), green curry paste for $1.89 for a large tub, organic soba noodles for $2.59 ($1.00 cheaper) and 2 cucumbers for 89 cents. There were sauces galore…including my favorite sweet thai chili sauce.
The store was large, bright, and well-marked. In the back they had freezers and coolers of lots of food that I can’t pronounce. In the middle they had TONS of fresh produce. Chilis, bananas, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, lemongrass…and more. Even though it’s not certified organic, any time I talk to the Asian vendors at the Farmer’s Market, they assure me that they have not used any chemicals on them.
I will defnitely be back.
Thai Goodness
This is green curry with tofu from Cool Basil in Des Moines. It’s a local favorite around here…if you’re in town, don’t miss it! If I’m having a bad day, green curry can make it better. If I’m having a great day, green curry will top it off. If I’m hungry, green curry hits the spot. If I’m not hungry, it doesn’t matter…I can’t turn down green curry. It’s so perfect in every way. I crave it.
I sometimes go to their “sister restaurant”, Thai Flavors (same owners). They are both great…but have different atmospheres. Cool Basil is a little fancier and they don’t have fresh spring rolls…my favorite. Kristin and I had some when she was in town.
We budget money each month specifically for Cool Basil. Yes, I love it that much. There are several other Thai restaurants in town, but we haven’t gone (Pho, The King and I, and Nut Pob). Maybe I need to branch out…but hey, when you find something good, why mess it up?
Whenever we are traveling, I make a point to search out the local Thai restaurant.
Omaha, NE: Thai Spice and Thai Kitchen (best pad thai)
Ames, IA: The Spice (best service)
Iowa City, IA: Thai Spice (community activists)
Fargo, ND: Thai Orchid (surprisingly delicious)
Apple Valley, MN: Taste of Thailand (amazing spring rolls)
Bloomington, MN: Ketsana’s Thai Restaurant (right off I-494, easy take out)
Kansas City, MO: Thai Place (great atmoshere)
Boulder, CO: Know Thai (fast service…more like Thai fast food)
Please let me know your favorites too! Get out and support your local Thai restaurant TODAY!
Happy Foody 